Littleton Residents Favor Foster Street Parcels for MBTA Communities Zoning District

LITTLETON -- March 19, 2024, Littleton residents broadly favored low-density Foster Street parcels over an undeveloped industrial site for the town's MBTA Communities Act station-area zoning district at a packed community workshop Tuesday. More than 70 residents attended the session at which consultant Emily Ennis of Ennis Associates walked through compliance-model scenarios showing five parcels within a half mile of the commuter rail station, 245, 265, 295, 300, and 305 Foster Street, in single and paired combinations, all modeled as overlay districts at 2.5-story maximum heights and density caps as low as 5 dwelling units per acre. Most table groups expressed reluctance to include 245 Foster, an undeveloped parcel whose owners disclosed they had been in talks with a cold storage warehouse developer after the fall town meeting vote failed, and several groups coalesced around 305 Foster, which abuts Taylor Street, as a preferred site because it would route traffic away from Foster Street. Town Planner Maureen Tuhill called compliance "the $20 million question," citing the town's exposure across MassWorks and at least 13 other competitive grant programs if it misses the December 31, 2024, deadline. A public survey closes March 31, and the Planning Board's public hearing on draft zoning is set for April 4 at 7:45 p.m.