Our zoning helps shape our town's future

Wakefield: it’s 20 days to our town election. Your vote will help shape out Town Council, School Committee and the Planning Board for the next 3-5 years.

Today’s Boston Globe article “Another life sciences major” (Business, page C8) about pending zoning changes in Weston to encourage life sciences/lab and research space illustrates why our local zoning matters in terms of how we shape our community, plan ahead for future economic development but also for how we keep our community vibrant and sustainable. I’m not speaking about the immediate potential loss of the top of the Lake for life sciences uses. It appears that longer-term trends and specific site conditions preclude such uses there. Rather, the article illustrates why we need to review our zoning code, definitions, and dimensional controls. Are we zoned appropriately to plan ahead? Does our zoning encourage positive future residential, neighborhood business, mixed-use, and high tech/office/commercial uses? Will our zoning support the attractive, sustainable, and vibrant Wakefield we have now for the future?

We know we need to reconsider how we zone at the edges of industrial and residential areas; 60-foot industrial height at such edges are harsh. New state zoning law – housing choice – and our location as a Boston suburb and “mbta community” offer incentives and directives about mixed-uses near transit. These are all trends and opportunities we need our Planning Board to be mindful of. We need our Planning Board to help implement the goals from the Vision 2030 process, to do this thorough bylaw review, and help position Wakefield to remain a vibrant residential suburb balanced with an appropriate commercial base. The issues and opportunities are nuanced. That’s why I believe my experience as a planner and community development professional and my energy and enthusiasm make me the right candidate for the Planning Board. I hope you’ll support me on April 27. Let’s go Wakefield!