We, the undersigned, oppose the requested rezoning of 475 Bedford Street in Lexington, MA, from residential (RO) to a Planned Development District (PD). The proposed 81-foot-tall, 180,000-square-foot biosciences laboratory building does not belong on this site.

• This (Article 39) is an attempted encroachment of the Hartwell Innovation Park District into the heart of a residential area 
• There is not another single commercial/industrial building on the north side of Bedford Street, from Simonds Road to the Bedford border
• The development would be only yards from Drummer Boy Homes, a 150-unit townhouse complex with many young families, and would emit noise and light round-the-clock
• It would turn over land designated for housing to commercial/industrial use, at a time the state is incentivizing MBTA communities such as Lexington to build multifamily housing or face disqualification from housing, capital projects and infrastructure grant programs
• The development will add 400 daily commuters to a stretch of Bedford Street that already has seen many accidents, some fatal, and before a Hartwell/Bedford traffic and pedestrian safety plan can be completed and implemented 
• Biolab emissions and accidents do occur and pose a danger to the surrounding neighborhood and Estabrook Elementary School students and staff
• Such a massive development could disturb the surrounding wetlands and exacerbate the flooding of homes on Eldred and Ivan streets
• Ample opportunity to raise commercial tax revenue already exists in the Hartwell Innovation Park District, which was rezoned in 2020 to allow these developments, as well as on Hayden Avenue

We are not resistant to change. We recognize the value of life sciences research. We acknowledge the need to raise revenue for capital projects. However, 475 Bedford Street is absolutely the wrong place for a biolab development. We urge Town Meeting Members to reject Cresset Lexington’s requested rezoning of this site.