Old English Square Zoning Articles Postponed

A number of articles relating to the Old English Square development have been postponed by Town Meeting until June 20. These articles deal with the decreasing of town wide retail Parking Ratio and the increasing of Business Village building height from 35 to 40 feet.

Public Hearings for the ballance of the proposed zoning articles will continue before the Planning Board on Tuesday June 7 and Tuesday June 14 in the Holbrook Town Hall, 50 North Franklin Street at 8:00 PM.

Letter to the Town Meeting Members - May 3, 2005

As we mentioned in our letter to you dated April 15th, 2005, the Mullins Company has filed a series of zoning articles for Town Meeting this month. To help you learn more about the proposed articles, we have enclosed a brief summary packet for your review. The Planning Board will hold public hearings on these articles on Tuesday, May 10th and Tuesday, May 17th. In addition, we have scheduled three informational meetings and encourage each Town Meeting Member to attend at least one. At each meeting, we will make a brief presentation about the articles and allow time for each person to ask questions. The meetings will be held in the Holbrook Town Hall, 50 North Franklin Street, in the Upstairs Meeting Room at the scheduled time below:

Thursday May 5, 2005, @ 7:30 pm

Monday May 9, 2005, @ 7:30 pm

Tuesday May 10, 2005, @ 8:30 pm (Planning Board)

Tuesday May 17, 2005, @ 8:00 pm (Planning Board)

Wednesday May 18, 2005, @ 7:30 pm

We appreciate the opportunity to present this brief summary packet to you. Please contact either myself or Mike Mullins at (781) 849-3388 with any questions or comments you may have. You can also learn more about Old English Square at our websites, www.oldenglishsquare.com and www.oldenglishsquare.blogspot.com.

Letter from the Natural Heritage on the Issue of Spotted Turtles - May 3, 2005

I am happy to report that we have made great progress on the issue of spotted turtles. We received a letter of endorsement from the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) this morning regarding our Phase 1 - Retail Village development.

"Based on a review of the information that was provided and the information that is currently contained in our database, the NHESP has determined that this project, as currently proposed, will not adversely affect the actual Resource Area habitat of state-protected rare wildlife species."

Thomas W. French, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Division of Fisheries & Wildlife

Retail Village Development Update

We are pleased to report that Old English Square is moving forward quite well. We submitted the Retail Village portion of our project to the Planning Board for Site Plan Review earlier this month. A public hearing is scheduled at the Holbrook Town Hall on June 7, 2005.

Concurrently, the Conservation Commission is reviewing the wetlands and stormwater impacts of that project. Public hearings are ongoing. We hope to resolve all site plan issues and receive permits in about 3 months. Construction of the first retail building may start as early as October 2005.

At this year’s Town Meeting we plan to present several zoning articles that relate to our project. Working with various Town committees, the development team has identified a number of technical modifications to the current Holbrook Zoning By-laws that would enhance our project, as well as others in the community. For example, we prepared a comprehensive parking analysis for the Industrial Development Committee which was well received. The report recommends adjusting Holbrook’s retail parking ratio from its strict requirements to a more mainstream figure such as that found in surrounding communities like Braintree and Randolph. This proposed change could increase Holbrook’s potential retail development by 20 percent, while maintaining a responsible parking requirement.

In support of the Soccer Committee, we submitted an article to change the underlying zoning of our proposed soccer field from Business / Commercial to Residential to allow necessary access. If our soccer field proposal is accepted by the Soccer Committee, this article will be needed. The current Zoning By-laws do not allow commercial land to be accessed through a residential neighborhood.

Another important zoning modification the development team proposed is a mix-use article. The proposed article would allow us to deliver the Old English Square plan as presented at last year’s Town Meeting, enabling us to create a master condominium under single ownership, all on one lot. Under current zoning, we need to create a subdivision, something we feel will negatively affect our plan for a cohesive, pedestrian friendly development on Union Street.

The Planning Board will hold two Public Hearings at the Holbrook Town Hall to receive comments on our proposed Zoning By-laws changes: the Soccer Field rezoning and Mix-use articles will be presented on May 10, and the Parking Ratio and remaining articles will be presented on May 17.

Site Plan Review Application submitted to Planning Board - April 12, 2005

The Mullins development team submitted a Special Permit Site Plan Review application for the Phase I of the Old English Square Retail Village development to the Holbrook Planning Board on April 12, 2005. A public hearing on the proposed project will take place at the Holbrook Town Hall on June 7, 2005.

Retail Village Sketch - Central Green

Copyright 2005 The Mullins Company

Retail Village Sketch

Copyright 2005 The Mullins Company

Notice of Intent submitted to the Conservation Commission - March 31, 2005

The Mullins development team submitted a Notice of Intent for the Retail Village phase of the Old English Square project to the Holbrook Conservation Commission on March 31, 2005. Additional phases include Residential Village, Recreational Field and Senior Affordable Housing which will be addressed under additional NOI filings.

The Commission will be reviewing the stormwater management and the wetlands buffer zone impacts of the propose project in the coming months. The development team expects to receive an Order of Conditions for the Retail Village project by the middle of June 2005.

Phase 1 - Retail Village Plan

Copyright 2005 The Mullins Company

Draft Town Warrant Articles submitted to the Selectmen

To create a vibrant, pedestrian friendly retail gateway to Holbrook, the development team of Old English Square submitted a series of Town Warrant Articles to amend the zoning by-law to the Board of Selectmen this afternoon. The Board would then forward these articles to the Planning Board for review later this week. A public hearing will be held by the Planning Board within sixty-five (65) days on these proposed changes. I strongly encourage the residents to attend these hearings, and look forward to speak to many of you on these amendments in the coming months leading to the annual town meeting in May.

Conservation Commission Meeting - March 14, 2005

Our NRAD filing before the Holbrook Conservation Commission was continued again last night. Due to the extended weather related delays in the past few weeks, Dr. Wang (a wetlands consultant hired by ConCom) could not finish the wetlands boundary verification on the Mullins porperty. However, we do expect to close our current application before the Commission on April 4, 2005.

Retail Village concept rendering

Copyright 2005 The Mullins Company

Letter to the Town Meeting Members - March 10, 2005

On the behalf of the Mullins Company, I would like to thank you again for your support for Old English Square at the annual town meeting last May. Since last Fall, we have met with the various Boards and Committees in Holbrook 41 times, and have made significant progress on the planning of Old English Square. At this time, I would like to give you a brief update on the project.

The Mullins Company is a Braintree, MA based real estate developer. At Old English Square we plan to create a vibrant new gateway to Holbrook with a pedestrian friendly mix of residential, retail and open space featuring traditional New England architecture. The project that was passed at the annual town meeting last May consists of three components: Retail Village, Residential Village and Senior Affordable Housing.

This month, we hope to make filings to the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission on the Phase I – Retail Village plan. Working with both Boards, we expect to resolve all site plan issues and secure those permits in about 3 months. Concurrently, we are addressing the sewages issues working with the Department of Public Works. With proper mitigation on the existing infrastructure, construction of the first retail building could commence in late Summer of 2005.

With respect to the new Holbrook residents – the spotted turtles that were found on our property, we are currently in negotiation with the Natural Heritage to create a protected nesting habitat, and outline the boundary of the Residential Village development. Please look for the new turtles crossing signs throughout Old English Square in the future.

Lastly, we have met with many of the senior residents in town to hear their housing needs. In response, we are creating some Senior (55+) affordable condo units as an extension to the existing Ramblewood development (no access from Old English Square). We would like to hear your thoughts on this option.

I appreciate the opportunity to present this project update to you and look forward to discuss the Old English Square development and other important issues affecting Holbrook in more detail in the coming months. Please contact either me or Mike Mullins at (781) 849-3388 to address any questions or comments you may have. You can also learn more about Old English Square at our website, www.oldenglishsquare.com

Old English Square web-log (blog)

The much anticipated Old English Square blog is finally here. What's a ‘blog’, you may ask? To put it simply, it is an informal web-log where we, the developer can post Old English Square project updates and get feedback from you, the residents of Holbrook. This blog provides a public forum where the residents can directly voice their opinions and discuss any issues concerning the development of Old English Square. I strongly encourage you to share your thoughts with us and others in Holbrook. If you have any questions regarding the use of this blog, please feel free to contact me at victor@jrmco.net. Thank you.