SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts - The town will hold it's first public hearing this evening at the planning board, to discuss the potential rezoning of two parcels of land by town meeting in May.

The first parcel is the Glavin Center, on Lake Street, which had, in the past been slated for closure by the Commonwealth.   While this closure never materialized, the concern among members of the Board of Selectmen is that a decision to close the facility could result in a rapid disposition of the land by the state, as was the case with the adjacent property on Route 9.   As the property has a residential zoning component, the concern would be it's ultimate development into over 180 homes.  They feel as though allowing it to be developed residentially could result in more families moving to Shrewsbury, and filtering into the school systems, and the resultant cost that would be incurred to educate them.   I am clearly biased on this issue, I must admit, and I'm more of the trickle down economic person.   I feel that it would ultimately benefit us, as a community, to have 180 homes, paying taxes, with 180 families bringing their $20 Million dollars a year in annual income to spend at Shrewsbury businesses, thus growing our commercial base.  I think growth is a great thing, and given the choice between a 200 unit low income housing project,injecting the same number of children into the schools,  and a 200 luxury home subdivision, I think that latter brings far more to the table.  Anyway, just my own personal bias, as I said.

Of course, the ultimate use, in my personal opinion, for this property, might be for it to be acquired by the Town of Shrewsbury, and developed into a special education facility (which is essentially already is), that would allow us as a community to further reduce the out of district special education budget, which hovers around the $7 Million annual mark.   If it could be acquired at a token sum, and developed in such a way, it would allow Shrewsbury to first and foremost provide a higher degree of special education services, which would enable us to keep additional pupils in district.   At the same time, these services could then be offered on a fee-based model, to other communities, both within and outside the Assabet Valley Collaborative, and be a huge financial benefit to Shrewsbury, and a personal benefit to many local families who currently have their children bussed over an hour away to receive quality services that these students require.  More on that topic another time. It is important to note that their are no imminent plans for Glavin, and that most people, myself included, are hoping that it remain just as it is for the foreseeable future.

The other parcel is the Post Office facility on North Quinsigamond Ave.  The USPS has indicated that they are looking to close facilities around the nation, as they deal with incredible deficits.  The Shrewsbury facility has never been indicated for closure on any of the lists, but never knowing what may happen, the Selectmen are viewing this as a potential property where going in and rezoning it away from it's current capacity of 70+ single family home might be the prudent thing to do.

For those who wish to be heard on any of these issues, the planning board will be meeting this evening in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at 7PM.