Auburn Select Board endorses ULI plan to invest in Auburn Pond as economic development anchor

AUBURN — June 8, 2026 — Auburn boards hear Urban Land Institute pitch for Auburn Pond as economic catalyst. The Auburn Select Board and Economic Development Committee received a full-day technical assistance panel presentation from the Urban Land Institute Monday, with panelists recommending that public investment in Auburn Pond and Goddard Park — a combined roughly 11-acre site, with a pond larger than the one in the Boston Public Garden — be the town's first economic development priority, creating a "beating heart" that could attract private investment to the fragmented Drury Square corridor. Panel co-chair Richard Lampman called the town's pond "a destination that I would go to," while co-chair Michael Wang, an architect, told the board the 35-foot height limit in Drury Square is likely too low to make mixed-use development financially viable and recommended exploring height and density bonuses. Mass Development's Rob Anderson added that Auburn's streamlined, pro-business permitting culture is "almost as valuable as incentives." A full written TAP report is due in 10 to 12 weeks. In other action, the board unanimously approved a $1.8 million roadway reconstruction update from DPW Director Joanna Paquin covering five roads, authorized the Fire Rescue Department to apply for a FEMA grant to replace 32 aging self-contained breathing apparatus units, and endorsed a conservation restriction protecting the historic Pakachoag Nipmuc settlement site on Ellie Way.