On Tues. June 9, the Medway Planning and Economic Development Board met at Medway Middle School for a public hearing regarding the development proposal of a new apartment building and commercial buildings along Main Street known as "Heritage on Main." The meeting was originally scheduled for May 26 but was postponed after a large crowd showed up that could not be accommodated in the hearing room.

"We've done this many times in the past but we've never had a project that has been such a lightning rod in our community," said Planning and Economic Development Board Chair Andy Rodenhiser to the June 9 standing-room-only crowd, noting there was a security detail and fire detail present, if needed.

When opening the public hearing, Rodenhiser noted that the applicant's "preliminary concept was to construct 400 residential units with no commercial units. It included two multi-family units to be constructed at Kelley Street...The current proposal of 267 residential units and nearly 16,000 square feet of commercial usage, represents a much scaled down version of the plan."

He said the board appreciated the more than 300 emails the board had received from the public. "We understand the importance of this application to our residents and we appreciate the many thoughtful comments we have received."

At the start of the three-hour hearing, applicant Rte. 85 Realty Corp., whose principal owner is Kevin Meehan of Mendon, presented its plans for the quarter-mile section of Route 109. The 21-acre mixed use project consists of four new buildings from the former Mobil gas station west to Elm Street, to include a fuel station and convenient store (to be an Imperial Gas & Country Store), restaurant, bank, and four-story apartment building. The complex will also have a pool, outdoor patio area, playground, and dog park.

At the corner of Main and Elm Streets would be a public pocket park where the town's 9/11 memorial would be located.

The project would encompass 107-119 Main St. and 1 and 3 Elm St. Parcels equaling 5.7 acres at 0 and 26 Kelley St. - land that borders Kelley St. and Villa Dr. - are also part of the application but will not be developed and will be donated to the town. The town has asked the applicant to consider adding walking trails on that land.

Building design

Matt Mrva of Bohler Engineering, civil engineers in Westborough, said the project has been in progress since 2021. He said the applicant is proposing a mixed-use development that would transform "an underutilized commercial corridor into a vibrant residential and retail destination."

Mrva said they are proposing "a strong tree canopy" along Main Street "establishing that New England character for streetscape."

Aksel Solberg of HFA, an architectural firm in Franklin, said, "Our goal here is genuinely to create a legacy project that really will give people who are seeking homes, a local community that builds on the richness of the various uses already here, adds walkable site amenities and streetscaping, and also is designed in a fashion that will ensure that it stays relevant well into the future."

When Solberg presented a rendering of the apartment complex, there was an audible "oh boy" from the audience.

Solberg said their overall objective "was to come up with a design composition that resides at a harmonious intersection of a lot of different competing criteria. We have to ensure that the building form follows the function and, by that, we mean we can't just make superfluous design moves for a project like this, we have to ensure that the building functions for its intended occupants, and then the form of the building is created in such a way that we blend and marry the function of the building to the aesthetic desires of the surrounding context."

Regarding the apartment building rendering, he said, "The overall massing that you see here is a solution that does work with many of the criteria put forth in the town's design guidelines."

Solberg said the project would have a "New England style" to mimic local architecture. He said the rendering was "not just a flat plane of a building with different colors," but he described the building as a combination of different architectural features - pseudo columns, cornices at the roof, reliefs, and decorative lighting. He said the basic material would be a "durable synthetic material" with a "very convincing wood grain look."

He said the design was chosen specifically to reflect the design for the municipal complex planned for across the street.

Board member Sarah Raposa said the parcel should be redeveloped but questioned "whether this proposal, as designed, advances the long-term vision." She had questions about traffic, walkability, safety, and overall building design - "not just a massive collection of uses but how it contributes to the cohesive recognizable Medway, understanding that we are in a pivot from this sort of vacant or blighted situation that we have here now into this beautiful town center that we can one day be proud of."

She also asked that the applicant explain, at a later date, their definition of "traditional New England design" and how it reflects the character of the community.

Traffic

Scott Thornton of Vanasse & Associates prepared the traffic assessment for the project. He provided an overview of their findings, the details will be discussed at a future meeting related only to traffic.

All curb cuts will be on Main Street only; there will be no traffic onto Kelley Street. There will be five access points: three driveways with full access, two with one-way traffic.

Thornton said their research showed "a minor impact of vehicle delay and queuing at the intersections."

Many public comments were related to traffic.

Resident Gary Neubauer quoted data he found on the town's website from Vanasse & Associates. He is also concerned about the project's impact on traffic once the police and fire departments relocate to the municipal complex and need to access Route 109. "This summary says weekly daily traffic will increase three times from what it is before, and on the weekend, it will four times the amount of traffic. I'm just making that point that there appears to be a tremendous increase in traffic."

Chairman Rodenhiser said the traffic study will be peer-reviewed to provide the town with additional feedback.

Affordable housing stock

Medway's affordable housing stock is at 11.64%, well over the state-mandated 10%, according to Barbara Saint Andre, Director of Community and Economic Development.

Cell tower

There is a cell tower near the project. The board noted the height of the tower is regulated by the FCC.

Electricity

The project will have aerial power lines; the board asked the applicant to add those power lines to the renderings. A resident also asked whether the town's grid can support a project of this size.

Schools

Board member Raposa said this complex would likely not add a large number of students to the school system, noting the majority of units are one-bedroom units, and "Historically, multi-family developments tend to produce relatively modest school enrollment impacts compared to single family development."

Town Planner Jeremy Thompson noted the Hathon Apartments at 39 Main Street have 190 units and only added 31 students to the school system.

Residents noted there are apartment buildings not fully occupied and some that are still being built, and asked if the expected school-aged children from those buildings have been included in calculations regarding school impact.

Water and sewer

The project will have one master water meter going into the apartment building. It will draw 47,000 gallons per day sewerage will increase 42,000 per day. Rodenhiser said the current restrictions on residents are set by the DEP and, if the project increases demand, the town can apply to the DEP to allow for that usage. He also said that, because the complex will be using so much water, it will reduce the cost per unit which will benefit other water users in town.

Rodenhiser said the applicant will be paying $800,000 in mitigation to "buy additional sewer capacity" for the town.

Public comment

Members of the public grew impatient during the hearing, frustrated about not being able to make comments until two hours into the meeting. Rodenhiser stressed the importance of waiting until the public comment segment opens.

When public comment opens, residents were concerned about traffic, strains on police and fire personnel and response times, pedestrian safety, impacts on town services, impacts on skylines, environmental impact, noise pollution, and more.

Resident and real estate agent Paul Yorkis was the first to speak. "I support the development of the property, I'm very serious about that; but I think there is a responsibility that the developer has to develop that property in a responsible manner which will increase the quality of Main Street as opposed to detract from it," said Yorkis. "In my opinion, the apartment building is not New England style architecture; I'm not sure what it means by 'New England style architecture,' but I know what I've seen and I know that isn't it."

Steve Wettengel said he doesn't see the "New England look" in either the apartment complex or the country store, which he said is cute "but it doesn't fit in our town." He said this looks more urban. He also said he now has to wait to take a right out of his nearby Main Street residence, and he expects this project will create "a huge traffic problem."

Claire Bain said the 267-apartment complex is "over the top for our small town." She said her number one concern is traffic "and I can't see this place helping at all."

Brian Dalesio, who abuts the Elm Street properties, said, "We're supposed to be a farm town; it's going to look like downtown Natick." He is concerned about the elevation of the buildings and how that affects water mitigation, plus snow removal.

Drew McCloud said he and his wife just moved to Medway "from Franklin where all these monstrosities have been built."

Paul Fougere thanked both the board and the applicant for the presentations. "That area does need to be developed but it needs to be more in keeping with the aesthetics of a community that's really trying to rediscover it's aesthetics."

Courtney Murray Marshall, a 9th generation Medway resident, said, "This looks totally out of scale of what my forebearers when they came here and built this town back in the 1700s...This project is way too much. Yes, we all agree that this site needs to be developed; we all agree that it's going to be a mixed use site. But to have four floors in a town that most houses are still only two floors is insane."

Petition in opposition

Resident Jacob Attubato informed the board he had created a petition in opposition of the project which he will submit to Town Hall.

Next steps

The public hearing was continued to July 14 at 7 p.m. in the Middle School Presentation Room (Door #7). The hearing process is expected to go on for quite some time.

Public comments can be sent to [email protected].

Project materials can be found at https://medwayma.gov/heritage-on-main/.

A full recording of the June 9 meeting can be found at https://bit.ly/HeritageOnMainHearing06092026.