Politics & Government

ZBA Expected to Vote on Walden Proposal for Marist Property Monday Night

The ZBA has scheduled a vote on the Walden project for the former Marist property at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, June 16.

The Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to vote tonight, June 16, on whether to overturn Framingham Building Commissioner Michael Tusino’s ruling that the Walden Center for Education and Research qualified as an educational use under the state’s Dover Amendment.

Last week, the Framingham Planning Board approved plans for Walden to have a treatment center for eating and mood disorders on Pleasant Street, at the former Marist property.

ZBA Chair Phillip Ottaviani said last Tuesday night during a hearing on the Walden Center that a vote would come tonight after 8:30 p.m.

A unanimous vote of 3-0 is needed for the ZBA to overturn Tusino's ruling.

During last week's hearing, a couple of non-voting ZBA members said they were struggling with what is therapy and what is education under the proposed project.

"Treatment should be the primary goal," associate member Kevin Gatlin said. 

Walden Project attorney Marisa Pizzi said the project fits the "broad definition of education" the Massachusetts courts have allowed under the Dover amendment.

"I am wrestling" with how to "distinguish treatment from education" said non-voting member Ted Cosgrove. "Therapy and education are so intertwined."

More than 80 residents packed the Blumer room in the Memorial Building for the ZBA hearing last week.

In March, Tusino ruled that the newly-proposed Walden Center for Education and Research did qualify under the state's Dover amendment.

Right afterwards, seven Framingham home owners near the Marist property appealed the Dover ruling.

The Dover amendment allows applicants to avoid zoning restrictions, if they are a agricultural, religious or educational corporation.

Last fall, the Framingham Zoming Board voted 2-1 to issue a special permit for Walden Behavioral at the Marist property. A unanimous vote was needed for approval of the project. A petition with more than 500 signatures against the project was submitted to the ZBA.

Walden and the Marist Brothers filed an appeal of the ZBA vote to land court, but Walden also filed a Dover amendment application with the town, citing a change in the project to more of an educational purpose.

The first (non-Dover) plan called for a main building for inpatient care with 24 beds for patients with eating disorders, 24 beds for patients with mood disorders and offices for 20 Walden staff. Plus a smaller building with offices for human resources, finance, billing and accounting departments. Walden then planned to apply for a 16-bed residential two-story, 12,000-square-foot facility to treat adults who are obese or have binge-eating disorder, a 16-bed, 12,000-square-foot two-story residential facility for adolescents and a 10,000-square-foot, one-story building for program offices, and intake and aftercare services.

The new Dover plan includes the old plan plus construction of a Center for Research and Education. Komen, said last week, Walden's HQ would not move to Framingham under the new Dover plan.

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A therapeutic and educational on-site program would allow adolescents and adults to learn strategies and techniques to fully recover from their disorders, wrote Walden's lawyers in the letter to the Town of Framingham.

While treatment will still be provided under the Walden Center plan, an emphasis will be placed on education and research.

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“Even within the medical community, much needs to be learned about eating disorders, which affect about five percent of the population and a much larger percentage when you include individuals with weight management issues,” said Stuart Koman, who serves as President and CEO of both the Walden Center and Walden Behavioral Care in a press release.  “Our focus on education and research will, we hope lead to a greater understanding of eating disorders and a higher rate of recovery.”

Koman said Walden will continue to work with Framingham residents and town officials to address any concerns that have, adding, “We will be good neighbors.”

The non-profit Walden Center was created more than a year ago because of the need for greater education and research in the field of neurobehavioral disorders, such as eating disorders and mood disorders, Koman said.  Articles of organization for the nonprofit group were initially filed in 2002.

Koman said the project will maintain the natural setting of The Marist Center, with a significant amount of open space and an aesthetically attractive campus.  The project will also contribute to the local economy by adding new jobs, while providing a much needed service that previously was unavailable in Framingham.


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