Category: Mugar Site

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.

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.

• Jan. 26: architectural and urban design aspects of the project
• Feb. 9: 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.

Additional information is available from the local neighborhood organization, Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands.

You are encouraged to send your own comments about the proposed project to 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.

ZBA Hearings on Mugar/Thorndike Place Continue

On Tuesday, December 22, the ZBA will continue its environmental review of wetlands, stormwater and related issues on the Mugar property, with input from the Conservation Commission and the Town’s third-party reviewer (Beta Group) as well as from Oaktree Development’s representative (BSC Group) and others.

To register for this Zoom meeting and find links to the various plans and technical materials that have been submitted for review and discussion, visit the ZBA agenda page on the Town website. You are encouraged to send comments to both Town boards at concomm@town.arlington.ma.us and zba@town.arlington.ma.us. 

See the ZBA memorandum of the schedule for future hearings on Thorndike Place. The next meeting on January 12 will focus on traffic studies.