That is why Medfield's Town Meeting vote was significant, despite the fact that it was nonbinding. The outcome of the vote indicated that the town supports leaving 80 acres of the property as open space, asking the hospital re-use committee to consider a golf course for the site and developing up to 300 units of housing.

The hospital re-use committee, which is comprised of residents appointed by the town's board of selectmen, is supposed to have a draft of a plan for the property by the end of the month. A town representative tells GlobeSt.com that the committee's goal is to influence the request for proposal that the state sends out to prospective developers looking to buy the property. "We're saying what the town would like to see," she says. A small portion of the hospital's land in is neighboring Dover, which is buying that property to use for its schools. Medfield has made no indication that it plans to bid on the property, according to the town representative.