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MassDevelopment In The News
Devens: The 352nd Town?
September 3, 2006: The Boston Globe, Editorial
The closure of Fort Devens a decade ago could have been a disaster for the surrounding region, but it hasn't been. As the Army's departure loomed in the mid-1990s, the state and the base's three host towns - Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley - agreed to turn the 7-square-mile area into a special "enterprise zone" supervised by the state's land bank agency, now called MassDevelopment. Ever since, the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone has attracted private investors such as Bristol-Myers Squibb with the promise of available land, quick and relatively painless decisions on permit applications, and a general pro-business orientation.
Devens's growth has raised thorny questions about where to house people who work there, where to educate their children, and whether the former base's business-incubator atmosphere fits into the fabric of its sedate host towns. A panel formed to consider the ultimate fate of the Devens site is proposing to turn most of it into an independent municipality.
The effort has gathered enough momentum that simultaneous town meetings in Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley will take up the plan Oct. 24, and residents of the three towns will also vote on the proposal in the statewide election in November. If the idea musters enough support, legislators would consider a bill to return portions of the former base to the host communities and convert the remainder - a chunk that lies mostly in Harvard - into the Town of Devens in 2010.
The basic questions in the debate - housing, education, taxes, the tension between economic needs and local control - are the same ones swirling about the state as a whole.
Whatever the merits of incorporating Devens, though, opponents of doing so now have raised some legitimate questions, both about the incorporation process and about the long-term consequences of such a change.
Movements to carve new municipalities out of old ones often begin on the grass-roots level, when disgruntled residents of an area feel slighted or neglected and decide to set out on their own. And there are indications that most residents who have settled on the former base would like the chance to form their own government. But in a number of ways, the drive for an independent Devens departs from the standard script.
For one thing, Devens is already disconnected from the three towns in which it is located. Because the land was in federal hands for so long, the towns have not controlled it in living memory. The area has about 250 residents, whose taxes go to MassDevelopment, and children attend school under contract with Shirley and Harvard.
The present setup is temporary, and sooner or later the final status of Devens will have to be settled. Housing is crucial to that discussion. When the enterprise zone was created, the number of residential units at Devens was capped at 282. Back then, few state officials were focusing on housing costs as a barrier to growth. MassDevelopment now sees a need for new housing. Devens could easily hold more than 282 units; the agency has suggested about 1,800.
Under the current setup, raising that cap would require the approval of all three towns, which is hardly guaranteed. Returning the Devens land to the jurisdiction of the three towns - an alternate scenario - could eventually put them in a position to reap the tax benefits of commercial development while restricting new housing and the education costs that come with it. Whether the towns would actually do so is unclear. Still, MassDevelopment appears disinclined to relinquish control of Devens without assurances that enough new housing will be built.
Making Devens independent would prevent an impasse. The housing cap would be raised in the bill incorporating the new town, and over time Devens would be responsible for paying for services out of its own revenues.
Under current rules, any plan for Devens has to be accepted by five of six parties: the three towns, MassDevelopment, Devens residents, and the Devens Enterprise Commission, the zone's regulatory board. Proponents say incorporation is the only course that can win approval. Opponents say these rules dilute the three towns' ability to control their own futures.
Opponents also wonder why the issue has to be decided now. Supporters of incorporation argue that Devens is filling out quickly, and that settling its final status soon will help it grow sensibly in the future. But the notion of a town that has lots of businesses but relatively few people is odd to contemplate. To provide services, the newborn town would need help from MassDevelopment for years.
Massachusetts does need more housing, and MassDevelopment is right to view housing as a key part of business development at Devens. Incorporation might turn out to be the best solution. Yet no new town has been established in Massachusetts since East Brookfield in 1920. In the weeks remaining before Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley have their say, proponents of an independent Devens must persuade voters that the numbers make sense and that all options have been considered.
The existence of 351 separate municipalities makes it harder to forge regional solutions on housing, transportation, and other issues, and has complicated efforts to promote economic development in Massachusetts. If the competing needs of hundreds of cities and towns are a problem, it would be ironic if the solution is to create one more.
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