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Neighbors, It’s with much disappointment that I revive this website with the announcement that Winstanley Enterprises, owner of the Chelmsford Mall, has once again proposed a redevelopment of the mall including two restaurants. Apparently what’s happened is they’ve bought the 3 plots of land that were boxed in by the main Chelmsford Mall entrance and…
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Neighbors, With yesterday’s Planning Board agenda update we’ve found an attached letter from Winstanley Enterprises, formally withdrawing their application for the special drivethru permits at the Chelmsford Mall. The email continues, “We will not be proceeding with the development of these out-parcels at this time.” Thanks to everyone who got involved, got yard signs, and…
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Neighbors, Sorry for the late notice, but the Chelmsford Mall will not be on the discussion topics for tonight’s meeting. Winstanley Enterprises has requested a continuation without public testimony until the December 10th meeting of the Chelmsford Planning Board. It’s unclear what is causing these further delays. The developer should withdraw their submission rather than…
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Neighbors, With yesterday’s Planning Board Agenda upload for the October 8th meeting, we’ve learned that discussion of the Chelmsford Mall topic will be delayed yet AGAIN at the request of the developers. They have requested a continuation at the November 12th meeting of the Chelmsford Planning Board. We did however get some new documents uploaded,…
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Neighbors, With today’s Planning Board Agenda upload for the September 10th meeting, we’ve now learned that the Chelmsford Mall topic will not be discussed next week and is delayed again, this time until Wednesday, October 8th. The included letter also informs us that the site plan for the proposed development has changed. One of the…
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Neighbors, With the new Planning Board agenda uploaded yesterday, we’ve received the news that the Chelmsford Mall discussion topic is no longer on the agenda for the August 13th meeting. The next time this topic will be discussed is now planned to be at the Wednesday, September 10th meeting of the Chelmsford Planning Board. The…
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“Stop the Chelmsford Mall Drivethru Disaster” is a website set up in order to raise public awareness of a plan by the new owner of the Chelmsford Mall, Winstanley Enterprises, to redevelop the site to include two drivethru “fast casual” restaurants on the upper parking lot pad sites by the main entrance. Most of us…
Overview
The Chelmsford Mall, 265 Chelmsford St, also known locally as the Kohl’s Plaza, is seeking approval to build a new 8000+ sqft strip mall with 4 stores, including 2 restaurants and 1 drivethru.
Chelmsford residents, especially the Westlands neighborhood, have voiced their opposition to this project due to traffic impact on Rt-110 and other local roads, health and safety concerns, and other negative impacts to Chelmsford. The developer continues to pursue the project.
Coordinated action by Chelmsford residents is needed to ensure that the Planning Board hears our concerns and denies the drivethru permit, and ensures other retail development of the parcels is in the best interests of the Westlands neighborhood.
NEXT EVENT: Planning Board Meeting, Weds Oct 7th 2026 at 6:30 PM. Town Offices, 50 Billerica Rd, Room 204.
Project Details
As they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words:
The developer has apparently purchased the 3 parcels that were boxed in between the main Chelmsford Mall entrance and the far exit. The developer has submitted plans to knock down the green house on one of the parcels, and build the strip mall shown above. The plans include a new entrance/exit onto Chelmsford St between the existing two Chelmsford Mall entrances and exits. The developer’s plans clearly show what a disaster this will make of the already-congested traffic on 110.
The best place to get all the relevant documents is the latest Chelmsford Planning Board Agenda. Scroll to the section on the Chelmsford Mall and you will find all of the relevant documents including the cover letter, site plans and drawings, and the traffic study.
Neg. Impacts to Chelmsford
Residents have thus far voiced a number of negative impacts that this development would inflict on Chelmsford and Westlands residents, including:
- Traffic
- Traffic on Rt-110 is already saturated; adding an estimated 20% additional daily vehicle trips on this road (per the traffic study) will increase travel times exponentially. Residents are concerned the traffic study actually understates the true impact to traffic and increased waiting times at local intersections.
- Cut through traffic to residential streets was not addressed in the traffic study. Residents expressed concerns about Seneca Ave, Sunset Ave, Sylvan Ave, Dalton Rd, Westland Ave, Delwood Rd and more as these streets see considerable cut through traffic at peak times. The cut through cars often speed and pose a hazard to residents, pets, and children.
- Concerns were expressed about the lines from the drivethrus spilling onto Rt-110 or causing accidents in the entrance to the Chelmsford Mall.
- Health and safety
- Potential for rats and cockroaches generated by two fast food establishments, that will then invade nearby homes.
- Increase to crime, drug deals, and nuisance behavior occurring in the far rear corner of the parking lot, for which Manahan St residents have called Chelmsford Police many times in the past.
- Garbage thrown out the windows of vehicles, piling up on Chelmsford streets. Did you know that research suggests litter distribution forms “concentric rings” around fast food outlets? The highest concentration is near the restaurant, with a second ring further out along main roads, possibly due to individuals discarding trash from vehicles. TWO restaurants will almost certainly cause a significant impact in visible litter around Chelmsford. Will Winstanley Enterprises pay to clean up our roads?
- Impact to local businesses
- A Starbucks, although no deals are official, was one of the businesses explored by the developer. Residents expressed concern for impact to local coffee shops, and stated the tax revenue generated by these businesses would be negligible compared to the costs to the community.
- Devaluation of our town’s character
- “Fast casual” (really, fast food) restaurants do not add value to Chelmsford. Cars will exit from Rt-3 and I-495 to visit the drivethrus, cause traffic and leave garbage in Chelmsford, then immediately leave. Winstanley Enterprises will accrue all benefits from this development, while bearing none of the negative externalities.
- The vast majority of residents this has been brought to the attention of are strongly opposed to building drivethrus at the Chelmsford Mall. Why would we add two fast food restaurants that nearly no residents are interested in to one of the busiest areas of our town? There has to be a middle ground to developing this empty parking lot at the Chelmsford Mall that is not so disruptive to residents.
Timeline & Past PB Videos
December 2024: The Chelmsford Mall was purchased in an off-market deal for $28 million by Winstanley Enterprises of Concord, MA, and Surrey Equities of New Jersey.
April 9, 2025: Winstanley Enterprises approaches the Chelmsford Planning Board for an “informal concept discussion” of redeveloping 265 Chelmsford St to include two drivethru “fast casual” restaurants. YouTube link to discussion, from 11:18 to 1:29:50.
July 9, 2025: Winstanley returns to the Chelmsford Planning Board after contracting a traffic study and continuing to develop site plans, looking to pursue approval of the special permits. Over a dozen Westlands residents attended the meeting to voice concerns over the project. The Board requested a peer review of the traffic study be performed. YouTube link to discussion, from 1:28:45 to close.
December 8, 2025: After numerous delays, Winstanley formally withdrew the proposed development at Chelmsford Mall for consideration at the Planning Board.
Summer 2026: Winstanley bought out the 3 plots boxed in between the upper parking deck and the exit of the Mall. There is one green house here. They began making plans to knock down the house and build a strip mall on the land with 4 retail spaces, 2 of which seem to be food including one drivethru.
Future
October 7, 2026: Winstanley will return to the Chelmsford Planning Board to re-propose this project with updated site plans since they withdrew it and bought the 3 plots of land adjoining the Mall.
Get Involved
The most impactful thing Chelmsford residents can do to oppose this project is show up to the Planning Board meetings and provide input during the public comment sections. Board members are elected to represent the interests of their constituents, so the more residents who show up to vocalize the negative impact these drivethrus will have on Chelmsford, the better chances of convincing the Board to deny these special permits. On top of that, tell your neighbors who may not have heard that this is going on!
You can sign up for email or text message notifications of Planning Board Meetings here, and see all Planning Board agendas here.
If you want a yard sign, here is a template. An 18×24 double-sided sign can be printed by Signarama for $20.37. Tell them you want a reproduction of “Stop The Chelmsford Mall” sign. Note that Signarama in Chelmsford is in the process of moving to “Accent Printing USA” in Brick Kiln Plaza in Billerica: 99 Chelmsford Rd #13, Billerica MA 01862. Plan to pick up there. The door is around the back of the building. Their email: ChelmsfordMA@signarama.com. Their phone: (978) 362-8038. They are open Mon-Fri, 9-4:30.
If you have thoughts or input for the content of this website, please email admin@stopchelmsfordmall.org.
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