Westwood - The four candidates for Westwood Planning Board - current Chairman Rob Malster, incumbent Bruce Montgomery and challengers John Walsh and Joseph Toffoloni - all said they recognize the significance of bringing a $1.5 billion, 4.5-million-square-foot, mixed-use project to a quiet Boston suburb.
On April 24, voters will decide who they want representing their interests on the project.
For a planner to vote on a project, he must have attended all public hearings on the application, and a project needs four affirmative votes for approval. If the makeup of the board changes due to the election, Station developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes would likely withdraw its application and restart the hearing process.
For Walsh, an environmental scientist and former Planning Board member, the Westwood Station plans have already undergone much of the revision process under the current board.
"It's already been out there, (gone through) the informal hearing process, if it requires the reinitiation of a formal one," Walsh said.
Walsh sees Westwood Station as a good idea "conceptually," with its smart growth potential.
"The challenge is minimizing the risk to the environment, public safety and schools," Walsh said.
Should he sit through the process, Walsh said he would push the developer to consider more senior housing options and revisit environmental, wetlands and water protection. The candidate believes traffic poses a major risk that requires a regional perspective.
Malster, who has a career in residential remodeling, has pledged since the beginning of the public hearing process to conduct a thorough and detailed review of the project while balancing tax revenue generation with preservation of the town's character.
After more than two months of working with the town's peer review consultants, CC&F presented its revised plan to the Planning Board last week.
"Now is the time of the real work with the board and the public. We're at the point of this is it, let's get into the meat of does it work," Malster said.
The chairman plans to devote an 8 p.m. meeting on Monday almost entirely to public input. No location has been set for the meeting.
Even as the project proceeds, Malster recognizes the need for various boards to cooperate. Particularly, Malster said he is pushing the Board of Selectmen to resolve the issue of whether or not Canton Street will be closed to through traffic. The plans for Westwood Station assume the road will be closed, but the town has yet to finalize the matter.
"It's difficult for us to do what we're trying to do with no answer there," Malster said.
Toffoloni, a retired graduate engineer, wants to preserve the town's character. Westwood Station, Toffoloni said, "is going to change Westwood, because it's a mini city."
The candidate said he has heard neighbors say the project is too large for the area. More personally, Toffoloni thinks traffic is the main issue tied to the development, and wants to see the number of residential units reduced and the height of the hotels diminished. Like Walsh, Toffoloni believes Westwood Station should be a site for affordable senior housing.
Toffoloni has also complained about the permitting process, where he feels CC&F should present more detailed plans at meetings.
Montgomery, general manager of the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, said he feels that Westwood, with its conglomeration of highways, commuter rail and Amtrak station, makes for the ideal location for a project of Westwood Station's type.
Although Montgomery recognizes his role as one of determining if the benefits of the project outweigh its detriments, he sees a need for the project.
"We need no more overrides for many years. I understand the character of the town concern, but I'm not afraid of change," Montgomery said.
Most important for Montgomery is controlling the amount of traffic produced by Westwood Station, and implementing development agreements that would force the builder to halt construction and fix any problems that arise.
As should be expected, neither Malster nor Montgomery wants a challenger to pull the Westwood Station rug out from under his feet.
Utilizing the recent Boston Marathon as an analogy, Malster said, "We're approaching Heartbreak Hill, and we want to see this through. We don't want to hand off the baton."
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