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April 2021 – Mugar Update

On Thursday, April 8, starting at 6:30 pm, the Zoning Board of Appeals will continue its hearing on the Comprehensive Permit for Thorndike Place, located on the Mugar land in East Arlington. This hearing was postponed from March 30 due to a family emergency on the Applicant’s team. The public hearing period will also be extended to Friday, April 23 or longer, as determined by the ZBA and the Applicant.

To register for this ZBA hearing via Zoom, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website.

A recent letter from Heather Keith-Lucas of the Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands outlines many local concerns by responding item-by-item to the ZBA’s Draft Decision from March 10. Among the recommended edits, also supported by the Land Trust, are the reinstatement of the 12 owner-occupied townhouses on Dorothy Road, further reviews of inaccurate or misleading traffic and parking plans, and cleanup and remediation of the undeveloped acres on the site, as outlined by the Town Manager. (See previous ALT posts for links to related documents).

Please send your own comments and concerns about this proposed project to the Zoning Board at zba@town.arlington.ma.us.

Arlington Land Trust continues to advocate for the permanent protection of the Mugar parcel as conservation land. The site is subject to regular and significant flooding, and is a critical stormwater buffer for the surrounding and downstream neighborhoods of East Arlington.

March 2021 – Mugar Update #3

On Tuesday, March 30, starting at 6:30 pm, the Zoning Board of Appeals will continue its hearing on the Comprehensive Permit for Thorndike Place, located on the Mugar land in East Arlington. This hearing may be the last opportunity for public input. Please plan to attend.

The Select Board and the ZBA have recently written to MassHousing to question the “substantial changes” that the Applicant (Arlington Land Realty LLC/Oaktree Development) has made since the project was originally deemed “eligible” in 2015. These changes include the removal of 12 townhouses on Dorothy Road that were compatible with the neighborhood and offered an ownership option. The current four-story structure and site plan fail to meet many of the criteria that were in fact highlighted as reasons for the original site approval.

Nevertheless, MassHousing has declined to consider the Town’s concerns and instead declared the Applicant’s changes to be “not substantial.” Thus, the hearing must be continued on the project as currently proposed: a single massive building of 172 units fronting directly on Dorothy Road.

Raising another significant concern, the Town Manager in a recent letter to the ZBA addressed the status of the approximately 12 acres of the site that the Applicant proposes to transfer to the Town or another entity for “conservation” as part of the project. He laid out numerous conditions that must be met by the Applicant before any transfer could occur and that should be part of the ZBA’s final decision, which is expected to be made in April.

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To register for the hearing via Zoom, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website. The 3/30/21 online agenda has links to current plans and documents. Please send your comments and concerns about this proposed project to the Zoning Board at zba@town.arlington.ma.us. 

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Arlington Land Trust continues to advocate for the permanent protection of the Mugar parcel as conservation land. The site is subject to regular and significant flooding, and is a critical stormwater buffer for the surrounding and downstream neighborhoods of East Arlington.

March 2021 – Mugar Update #2

The Zoning Board of Appeals has issued a Draft Decision on the application for a Comprehensive Permit for Thorndike Place on the Mugar land in East Arlington. The 40-page decision appears to grant a permit for the project as presented at the February 16 hearing: a massive single building of 172 rental units fronting immediately on Dorothy Road. Many terms and conditions are itemized, but significant concerns remain unaddressed.

The hearing on Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 pm is critically important and may be the last opportunity for public input. Please plan to attend.

To register for the hearing via Zoom, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website. Links to all the site plans, reports and correspondence received about this project can be found on the ZBA Thorndike Place page. Please review these informative documents and be sure to send your own comments and concerns about this proposed project to the Zoning Board at zba@town.arlington.ma.us.

At the Select Board meeting on March 1, Selectman Steve DeCourcey made a slide presentation on the Mugar/Thorndike Place Comprehensive Permit and the board subsequently voted 5-0 to send additional comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals, following up on the Select Board letter of February 22. The new comments call into question the validity of the project’s initial approval by MassHousing.

The current scheme, presented to the ZBA by Oaktree Development on February 16, eliminates the townhouses along Dorothy Road, consolidating the entire project of 172 rental units into one large structure fronting immediately on Dorothy. Removal of the townhouses takes away the only design element that was reasonably compatible with the style and scale of the neighborhood. It also takes away any opportunities for home ownership, leaving only rental units in the remaining four-story structure.

The original 2015 “Project Eligibility Approval” by MassHousing based its findings on the project having a mix of rental and ownership opportunities, and that “the proposed townhouse units on Dorothy Road were designed as a transitional zone between the duplex and single family homes of the existing residential neighborhood to the North and East of the project and the larger proposed apartment building to the South.” Both of these key elements have now been removed. The Select Board suggests that without the townhouses the original Eligibility Approval could not have been granted. The Board has urged the ZBA to request that the Applicant submit a new site approval application for review by MassHousing before any further action is taken on the current proposal.

State Senator Cindy Friedman has also sent a letter to the ZBA reinforcing her opposition to the proposed Thorndike Place project.

Next ZBA Hearing on Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 pm.

To register for the hearing via Zoom, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website. Links to all the site plans, reports and correspondence received about this project can be found on the ZBA Thorndike Place page. Please review these informative documents and be sure to send your own comments and concerns about this proposed project to the Zoning Board at zba@town.arlington.ma.us.

The Zoning Board of Appeals is continuing its hearings on the Thorndike Place Comprehensive Permit for a large housing project to be built on the Mugar property on Dorothy Road in East Arlington. The following hearings and topics are currently scheduled on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm.

• Feb. 16: continued discussions on traffic impact studies and urban design issues
• Feb. 23: topics to be determined

To register for each hearing via Zoom, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website. Links to all the site plans, documents and correspondence received about this project can be found on the ZBA Thorndike Place page.

In January the Land Trust commissioned Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc. to summarize critical climate resiliency considerations regarding the proposed Thorndike Place design in East Arlington. Their cover letter and report have been submitted to the ZBA. The Land Trust recognizes that predictable climate changes will directly impact the entire East Arlington neighborhood, site of the former Great Swamp and part of the Alewife-Mystic watershed. This W&S report is intended to provide additional evidence to the ZBA as it deliberates the significance of those threats to development on the Mugar property.

The Conservation Commission has also submitted its Recommended Permit Conditions for wetlands and storm water management issues.

Arlington Land Trust continues to advocate for the permanent protection of the Mugar parcel as conservation land. The site is subject to regular and significant flooding, and is a critical stormwater buffer for the surrounding and downstream neighborhoods of East Arlington.