Langwood Commons finally ready to move forward in 2008
Published on January 9th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The Gutierrez Company shed the last legal challenge of the proposed Langwood Commons redevelopment late last month, paving the way for a renewed push to break ground on the mixed-use project.
According to local attorney Charles Houghton, who represents the proprietors of the former Boston Regional Medical Center (BRMC), a group of doctors at the hospital site settled its challenge of the proposed affordable housing and commercial development.
In return for dropping the suit, the Gutierrez Company deeded the plaintiffs the medical condo buildings, as well as a parking area for the doctors' patients and workers.
"That was the last suit involving the 40B approval we got in 2005," Houghton explained. "And we've deeded the land with the medical office buildings to the doctors, including the parking lot."
The Burlington-based developer now hopes that it can obtain building permits for the project by as soon as the end of this year.
However, the company still needs to work-out how it will garner state approvals for the Langwood Commons development.
In August of 2005, after lengthy and contentious hearings on the request, the Stoneham Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) issued the Gutierrez Company and partner Simpson Housing, LP a comprehensive permit for 450 housing units.
The chapter 40B proposal for the BRMC site, located across from Spot Pond along the Fells Reservation, also included plans to redevelop the vacant 250,000 hospital building for commercial office use.
Chapter 40B, also known as the state's anti-snob law, allows developers to skirt local zoning bylaws, if a certain number of housing units are slated for affordable buyers.
However, shortly after that town approval, three separate suits were filed challenging the authorization.
The lawsuits, filed by a local environmental group and neighboring Medford and Melrose, Ravine Road resident Miriam Regan-Fiore and Melrose resident Kathleen McGourthy, and the medical office building doctors, all alleged that the project would draw a damaging surge in traffic along the Fells Reservation Parkways.
In the spring of 2006, Superior Court justice Nonnie Burnes dismissed the first suit, filed by Medford, Melrose, and the environmental group, ruling that none of the parties had legal standing to challenge the ZBA approval.
However, McGourthy and Regan-Fiore, long standing opponents of any large scale redevelopment of the BRMC site, fared better in their challenge.
In Dec. of 2006, the two abutters to the hospital property settled the suit, in exchange for a 10 percent reduction in the housing units and a 25,000 square foot reduction of the commercial aspect.
According to Houghton, he has recently amended to agreements with the Town of Stoneham, one with the Selectmen and the other with the ZBA, in order to reflect the reduced scale of the Langwood Commons project.
Last fall, the Selectmen endorsed the changes to its mitigation covenant with the developer, which guaranteed nearly $2.2 million for roadway improvements, as well as a lump sum payment based upon the number of housing units.
"We've made amendments to those decisions, because we're now at 405 units," Houghton said. "We did lose 10 percent of those units as part of the settlement with the Regan-Fiore and the doctors."
According to the local attorney, Gutierrez Company officials are now re-examining how the reduction in units impacts traffic figures associated with the development.
For years now, the developer has been stymied in its attempts to obtain state approvals for the project, largely because of concerns over traffic, site density, and other environmental concerns.
"We're reviewing those issues now that we're past the suits," said Houghton of the concerns cited by Mass. environmental agencies. "We hope, if all goes to plan, to file for building permits in late FY'08 or early FY'09."
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