Arlington filmmaker Glenn Koenig prepared this 5-minute video in 2015 as part of a presentation to Town Meeting. He used footage he had shot during previous storms, along with maps and still photos collected by the Land Trust. Town Meeting had been asked to vote its support of the newly-adopted Master Plan. ALT and other advocates proposed that the vote include specific mention of the Town’s long-standing goal of protecting the Mugar site. It passed overwhelmingly.
At 2:35 minutes into the video, Route 2 is shown flooded and closed in both directions during a 2001 storm event. Arlington Public Works crews are pumping water from the highway onto the only area capable of storing the floodwater – the Mugar wetlands.
The Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the comprehensive permit for Thorndike Place, located on the Mugar property in East Arlington, has been postponed again, from July 14 to August 11.
The delay will allow both town officials and the applicant to receive the initial report of the ZBA’s peer-review engineering firm, Beta Group, before the hearing.
The most recent project documents from the developer (dated in March 2020) are posted on the ZBA Thorndike Place webpage. Comment letters from various town boards, committees, and others, including the Land Trust, are also posted there.
In our May 2020 post “Walking in Arlington” we presented a number of maps and ideas for walking routes in and around Arlington. In this post we are pleased to suggest some additional routes and resources. Remember to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and follow other relevant guidelines as indicated at each site.
Arlington’s Great Meadows
Arlington’s Great Meadows (AGM) is a 183-acre parcel of land owned by Arlington but located in East Lexington. It is the largest nearby area of undeveloped open space with numerous looping trails and several boardwalks. The Minuteman Bikeway on its southern border provides access at several locations. Other parking and access points are shown on the AGM map.
Note that the parking area behind the former Golden Living Center nursing home complex is now closed. Demolition has started to remove the buildings and construct a number of town-house units. When the work is completed, a new parking area and public access trail will be provided from Emerson Gardens Road to AGM.
For more information, visit the Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows website at www.foagm.org
ACROSS Lexington
ACROSS Lexington is a network of marked trails and paths for walkers, runners and trail bikers, including access from the Arlington Reservoir path. The routes use existing public ways to connect the town center with various historic sites, schools and conservation areas. Several ACROSS Lexington trails loop through a number of conservation areas, most of which have their own networks of trails.
The Trail Guide to Lexington’s Conservation Land includes color trail maps for Lexington’s 26 walkable conservation areas. (Note that some of the maps may be-out-of-date. Please refer to the maps located on the kiosks at trail entry points.)
Mass Audubon and Trustees Sites
Mass Audubon Society and The Trustees have many properties in the greater Boston area, although some of them remain closed during the pandemic. Consult their websites for further information about which sites and walking trails are open.
Tuesday, July 14 at 7:00 pm is the new date for the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the proposed Thorndike Place 40B housing development on the Mugar land in East Arlington. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
Note: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the previously announced Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on April 14 to consider the Thorndike Place 40B development project was postponed until June 9. We will alert you to any further news about this project.
