December 2023 – Mugar Update
The Conservation Commission is continuing its public hearing on the proposed Thorndike Place 40B development project on the Mugar property on Thursday, December 14, at 7 pm, via Zoom.
As reported previously, the Con Com received an official Notice of Intent (NOI) under the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act (WPA) in September from Arlington Land Realty, LLC, the owner/developer of the site. The NOI describes work within the FEMA 100-Year Floodplain / Bordering Land Subject to Flooding (BLSF), as well as within the Buffer Zone to Bordering Vegetated Wetlands (BVW).
The public hearing on the NOI began on September 21 and was continued into November while the commission solicited peer review consultant firms to supplement their own analysis of two specific portions of the NOI. At its November 16 meeting, the Con Com voted to hire Hatch to review the stormwater management plan and SWCA to review the planting and habitat plans.
As part of the Land Trust’s efforts to gather accurate and comprehensive information about the complex environmental challenges on the site, ALT retained hydrologist Scott Horsley to review the NOI and other documents relating to stormwater management. His report is posted on the Conservation Commission’s Thorndike Place web page along with other related materials.
At the December 14 meeting, Scott Horsley and the Hatch and SWCA peer reviewers are expected to present their findings. Click here to review the agenda and register in advance for this Zoom meeting.