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During the Wednesday, November 6 meeting the of the Sudbury Select Board, the board discussed submitting a letter of opposition to a proposed “hostile” 40B housing development in Maynard, right on the border of Sudbury.
In the end the board was unanimous in opposition. Members discussed concerns ranging from environmental impacts, siting concerns because portions of the project might be on the Sudbury side of the border, easements on the Sudbury land, public safety, water sources, and wastewater.
A letter drafted by Member Charlie Russo covered most of those topics and board members provided input and suggested edits.
The primary takeaway from the conversation was that the project may be dead upon arrival. The development might require a connection to the Sudbury Water District for some or all of its water supply. The Sudbury Water District has no obligation to supply water to a project in another town, and it doesn’t even need to respond to such a request for service according to Town Manager Andy Sheehan.
Russo’s draft letter noted that Sudbury is already approaching the withdrawal capacity of it’s own water supply, and it would be endangering its own residents if the Sudbury Water District subsidized an out-of-town project.
The Sudbury Water District does serve some customers outside of Sudbury, which are primarily customers on the Sudbury-Wayland border near Boston Post Road. But the executive director of the Sudbury Water District has previously told the Zoning Board of Appeals that it’s a small number of customers.
While the Sudbury Water District hasn’t made any public comment about the project, Sudbury Town staff, the Sudbury Select Board, and Maynard are all in unified opposition to it. Maynard has also made it clear that they cannot supply water to the project.
The Select Board letter will likely be approved at a future meeting of the Select Board and submitted ahead of the deadline for comments in Maynard.
