Littleton is “at an important crossroads” in its economic development, said Town Administrator Keith Bergman in his introduction to the town’s May 21 Economic Development Public Forum.
Bergman addressed approximately 50 individuals at this forum, a group comprised primarily of town board and committee members, with a smattering of business owners and interested citizens as well.
Their task, as Bergman explained it, was to discuss “as a community, the future of our town” and to help identify action steps for the town’s future economic development.
Cynthia Wall, Senior Regional Planner for Littleton’s newly hired economic development consulting firm MAPC, painted a positive snapshot of the community, and explained why businesses would be interested in moving within Littleton’s boundaries.
According to Wall, Littleton’s household income is in the top 20 percent of Massachusetts communities, and trends show that there has been a decrease in lower to moderate income households, and an increase in households earning more than $100,000 a year. These increases, which were not due to inflation alone, she said, indicate to businesses that residents have money to spend.
She explained that “Littleton is in an enviable position,” with its strong household incomes and outstanding access to Route 495 and the commuter rail.
In an overview of Littleton’s current economic health, Wall noted that commercial, industrial, and personal property tax have become an increasingly smaller percentage of Littleton’s total tax base over the past 25 years.
According to Wall’s colleague Mark Racicot, economic development will help change that trend, and reduce the tax burden on property owners. In addition, it will bring more convenient retail and jobs to town.
Redeveloping areas in town that “have lower value uses and making them higher value uses” could be one of many solutions for Littleton’s tax woes, said Racicot.
Racicot explained that the majority of Littleton is zoned for residential purposes, with 84% of the town being residentially zoned, 14% zoned for commercial uses, and only 2% zoned for business.
He also highlighted the differences in the assessed values of differently zoned parcels. A warehouse would likely be assessed at about $52 per square foot, he said, while an office building could be assessed at a much higher rate, such as $221 per square foot.
Littleton will “always need new revenues in order to provide the same level of service, because Proposition 2 ½ doesn’t really keep up with the costs of government,” Racicot explained to forum attendees. “If not for new growth, the town needs to consider overrides or cut back on services,” he continued.
But he cautioned residents to think of more than “the money question.”
“I don’t think that should be what drives your vision for the community totally,” he said. “You should decide what the community wants to look like.”
Attendees had an opportunity at the close of the meeting to offer their thoughts on the shape Littleton should take in the future.
Ken’s American Café owner Virginia Wood said that she’d like to find a way to draw Route 495 motorists to the town to spend their cash, and mentioned that she’d like to see parking bylaws and sign bylaws looked at.
Resident Jolanta Davis said she’d like to see improved sidewalks and better pedestrian access, as well as improved parking at the train station and the development of retail shops in the depot area.
Beverly Cyr wants to see an opportunity for bike paths in town, and Don MacIver would like to see the agricultural corridor scattered along Route 119 preserved.
Other residents asked for more restaurants, sewers in the downtown area, and the redevelopment of current office buildings to encourage full occupancy.
IBM representative Bob McDonald explained what his company would like to see in Littleton, which will soon be home to IBM’s largest software campus.
“A multinational company like IBM has certain requirements when we consider a community. We invite our customers from around the world,” he said.
“We want to bring clients like Toyota, General Motors [to town]. To do so, I need to host them in certain accommodations, whether it is a very nice hotel or restaurant. I can’t drive them to Chili’s. That’s not going to cut it,” he said.
He asked the town to consider some of the stakeholders, like IBM, that Littleton is bringing into the community when economic development plans are made.
“I’m excited about the prospect of [the proposed hotel on Monarch Drive] coming in, McDonald said.
He also identified other key needs for his employees. “We are working on daycare facilities,” he said. He also asked the town to consider “adult daycare” for employees whose parents are aging.
McDonald also addressed the need for better commuter rail access for the town. “We’ve met with the state about the commuter rail issue,” he said. “We can probably put some pressure on the state in a partnership way to get some shuttle bus services that we can share the costs with. We need to build up the infrastructure of the town,” he explained.
The brainstorming session was interspersed with comments by townspeople frustrated by Littleton’s progress on the economic development front, and the challenges that lie ahead.
Resident Jef Feehan wanted to see less talk and more action.
“I get frustrated with these sessions,” he said. “Everything I’ve heard tonight, I’ve heard before. The problem we have is that progress comes at a price. Part of the problem is the ‘not in my backyard’ issue. How do we sell this to the townspeople?” he questioned.
Former Selectman Paul Glavey told attendees he thought it was time for action.
“We need to get into some brass tacks business of getting some things done,” he said.
Ken Smith, who recently lost a close race for selectman, wanted to know how the town plans to move forward.
“Shouldn’t we be handing this off to an outfit that can put together maps and concepts [we can approve]?” he said. “We can hammer this to death and we could be discussing this for years and years again. We should kick out some money for a professional outfit who can show us what it is going to look like if [the town] goes down this path [of economic development], or that path.”
Planning Board Chairman Mark Montanari wanted to find answers for the development issues that are pressing the town immediately.
“We’re going to have developers before us in two months,” he said, referencing proposed zoning changes for two sites near the common area which were on the annual Town Meeting warrant, but pulled at the last minute. He expects the requests for Town Meeting approval of zoning changes will resurface for fall Town Meeting.
Don MacIver stressed that good planning would be the key to Littleton’s success.
“The problem is that you cannot control what someone wants to do with their property,” he said. He said the town needs to plan for “what you do want.”
“The trick is finding some leading planners out there and [creating something] that will bring about our visions and goals, rather than being stuck reacting to what’s proposed to us,” he said.
In a closing vote on some of the key goals culled by Racicot from Littleton’s 2002 Master Plan, the approximately 50 residents identified their top priorities for the town, which were: open space preservation; access to public transport; preservation of agricultural lands; design review for commercial uses; and town center village district zoning.