Sudbury Gives Bid For Melone Property To Quarry For $1M, Land

SUDBURY, MA—The property known as the Melone Property in Sudbury, which has been operated as a gravel pit, has been awarded to Quarry North for re-use.

Sudbury Board of Selectmen awarded the bid to Quarry North for the re-use in exchange for the Sudbury Station land and $1 million dollars, and contingent upon a Town Meeting vote, a development agreement, the Sudbury Water District disposition of land and a comprehensive permit process, said an announcement from the town.

The Melone property, 36.7 acres on Route 117, was acquired by the town in 1992 and had operated as a gravel pit. In July, after a charette-style focus group, a town-wide online survey, a series a public meetings and a public procurement process, the town received three bids for the reuse of the property: Cavicchio Greenhouses, Inc., EDF Renewable Development and The Quarry North Road LLC.

The board weighed feedback from department heads, committees and the public and evaluated the proposals.

The Quarry North proposal includes 300 rental units and 33 senior age-restricted townhomes under a local initiative program or “Friendly 40B,” said the announcement.

In exchange for the Melone property, the developer would give the Town $1 million and approximately 40 acres of land in center of town where the Sudbury Station project had been proposed. The Sudbury Station 40B project would be withdrawn, preserving 40 acres of land in historic Sudbury Center and ending expensive litigation. The town has been opposing the Sudbury Station proposal in various legal venues, including the Housing Appeals Committee.

“This is a chance to prevent Sudbury Station and preserve our historic Town Center,” Chairman Bob Haarde said, of the decision. "Given that towns very rarely prevail over developers at the Housing Appeals Committee and the forceful dismissal of our lawsuit, this is our best chance to prevent Sudbury Station from being built in historic Town Center. All the professionals with whom we have consulted agree that Quarry North is a better location because the traffic mitigation which can be implemented along route 117 will do a much better job of reducing impacts than anything we could have done at Town Center."

Quarry North would be the first and only 40B housing development in North Sudbury. Other 40B developments such as Avalon at Meadow Walk, Coolidge, Landham Crossing, Carriage Lane, Longfellow Glen, Orchard Hill and Villages at Old County Road are all in South Sudbury. MusketaquidVillage and Fairbank Circle are in Central Sudbury.

The next step for the Town is for the Board of Selectmen to negotiate a development agreement with Quarry North.

“Through negotiation of this development agreement and the comprehensive permit process, the Town will be able to mitigate or address many of the concerns of Town residents and departments,” said Melissa Rodrigues, town Manager, in a statement. “I look forward to working with the negotiation team to make certain that the Town’s best interests are addressed.”