Category: Mugar Site

It’s been a while since we had any hard news to report, and we are still waiting. However, we do want to report on what has happened over the last several weeks.

In brief, the Conservation Commission held its final hearing on the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Thorndike Place under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) on March 6. Members reviewed and discussed the wetlands permit application and concluded with a 2-2 tie vote among the four eligible members, meaning the Commission recommended ‘No Action’ on the NOI.

On May 1, the Applicant (Arlington Land Realty LLC) filed an appeal of this vote with the Mass Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Georgia Pendergast, the environmental analyst with DEP’s Wetlands Program, accepted the appeal in accordance with the provisions of the WPA and scheduled a site visit for May 28. This inspection of the site with the respective parties and discussion of pertinent issues in the appeal is done in preparation for DEP’s issuance of a Superseding Order of Conditions (SOC). 

The Land Trust continues to be directly involved in this ongoing review process through the hiring of water resources consultants and legal counsel to monitor the appeal case and provide additional information to DEP and the Town. Our representatives at the site visit were able to present much of their research that had been part of the Con Com hearing, along with additional data gathered since March. The Select Board has also chimed in with a strong letter expressing the members’ concerns about the environmental impacts of the Thorndike Place project. We now await DEP’s decision.

The full records of the Con Com’s NOI hearing, including peer review and consultants’ reports, public comments, recordings of previous meetings, and the recent MassDEP appeal correspondence, are posted on the Commission’s Thorndike Place Wetlands Permit web page.  

The Conservation Commission held its final hearing on the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Thorndike Place under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) on March 6. Members reviewed and discussed the wetlands permit application and concluded with a tie vote among the four eligible members, with two members approving the permit with conditions and two members denying the permit. The split vote means the Commission will take ‘No Action’ on the NOI.

To date, there has been no news about any response from the Applicant or the state Department of Environmental Protection, which has jurisdiction over this aspect of the project. The Land Trust continues to monitor the situation and will report on next steps as they are known. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

On March 6, the Conservation Commission held its final hearing on the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Thorndike Place under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA). Members reviewed and discussed the wetlands permit application and concluded with a tie vote among the four eligible members, with two members approving the permit with conditions and two members denying the permit. The split vote means the Commission will take ‘No Action’ on the NOI.

The Applicant can appeal to the Department of Environmental Protection for a superseding order. DEP would then decide whether the application meets the requirements of the WPA. Once a decision is made, the Commission would then need to respond accordingly at the direction of the DEP.

The Land Trust continues to monitor these developments and will report on next steps as they are known. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

At the next Conservation Commission meeting on Thursday, March 6, at 7 pm, members are expected to review and discuss the findings from 18 months of hearings for the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Thorndike Place under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA). The NOI proposes 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). Mitigation measures are proposed to compensate for the impacts to these resources. 

At their previous hearing on February 6, Con Com voted to close the public hearing to further input, so now the members will discuss the project amongst themselves in preparation for their final decision to deny a wetlands permit, approve a permit, or approve it with conditions. 

Check the Con Com website for the March 6 agenda and click here to register for this Zoom meeting.

Brief Background

The public hearing on the NOI began in September 2023, covering two specific issues. One was a review of the Stormwater Report and Management Plan associated with the Thorndike Place development to determine whether it complies with the Massachusetts Stormwater Standards. The second was a review of the Thorndike Place Planting Plan for compliance with the performance standards for restoration work in designated zones and whether the plan will enhance wildlife habitat conditions. For both aspects of the NOI, the commission needed several months’ time to solicit and hire peer reviewers.

The Planting Plan was accepted relatively easily, but the stormwater plans became quite controversial and complicated. To supplement the proposals from the BSC Group, engineers for Thorndike Place developer Arlington Land Realty LLC, the Con Com sought feedback from several peer reviewers over nearly a year as the plans changed to address various concerns. The Land Trust’s hydrology consultants, Scott Horsley and Dr. Michael Mobile, also provided extensive technical comments based on their respective groundwater monitoring and stormwater mounding analyses and their review of the BSC reports and peer review documents. 

For more information, visit the Commission’s Thorndike Place Wetlands Permit web page.  It hosts all of the planting and stormwater-related documents dating to September 2023, including peer review and consultants’ reports, public comments, and other correspondence on the NOI hearings. 

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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.

At the Conservation Commission meeting this Thursday, February 6, at 7 pm, members are expected to review the most recent stormwater documents from the BSC Group, engineers for Thorndike Place developer Arlington Land Realty LLC, as well as the response from GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., the Town’s peer reviewer on this aspect of the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Thorndike Place under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA).

The Land Trust’s hydrology consultants, Scott Horsley and Michael Mobile/MMA, are also providing new information from their respective groundwater monitoring and stormwater mounding analyses and their review of the most recent GZA and BSC reports.

Check the Con Com website for the full agenda and click here to register for this Zoom meeting.

The Commission’s Thorndike Place Wetlands Permit web page hosts the current GZA and BSC stormwater-related reports along with previous peer review and consultants’ reports, public comments, and other correspondence regarding the NOI hearing.