UPDATED Aug. 31: The Arlington Select Board met for two and a half hours Monday, Aug. 19, considering 20 agenda items across a wide variety of topics. Chair Stephen W. DeCourcey led the hybrid meeting attended by Lenard Diggins, Eric Helmuth, John Hurd and Diane Mahon. They discussed the new master plan, heard concerns about redevelopment at the Alewife train station and agreed to standardize the town’s speed limits.
New master plan in the works
The meeting began with a presentation on the commencement of work on Arlington’s master plan, to be updated from its predecessor approved in 2015. Claire V. Ricker, director of the Department of Planning and Community Development, gave the presentation.
“So how do we know when it’s time to update the plan?” asked Ricker. “Well, first, we see how old our existing plan is. No one size fits all, but our last master plan did say [that it should be revisited in] 10 years. Have the goals and objectives from our previous plan been met?”
The updated plan will cover seven study areas: 1) land use/growth; 2) housing; 3) economic development; 4) arts and culture; 5) open space and recreation; 6) public services; and 7) transportation/mobility. The plan will include a statement of goals and policies and an implementation plan.
A Master Plan Update Advisory Committee is intended to have as many as 12 community members, two representatives from the Redevelopment Board and one from the Select Board.
Diggins recommended Hurd be appointed so as to have younger people involved. Mahon suggested that no Select Board member be a permanent member of the committee but preferred to appoint someone from outside of the board to act in this role.
“I think one of the things here is the committee; at the end of the day, it’s the redevelopment board’s document and what they’re approving,” said DeCourcey. “If no member of the [Select Board] is interested in being a full member, we’d make a request back that we’d like to make a designee.”
He said that the idea of having a designee and liaison should be further considered at the board’s next meeting, set for Sept. 5.
Proposed redevelopment at T station draws concern
The MBTA recently announced the proposed redevelopment of the Alewife Garage Complex in Cambridge. Though the garage is the focus, redevelopment could include all property owned by the MBTA there: the Red Line station, a 2,733-space parking garage, commuter rail right-of-way and ancillary layover and maintenance facility land.
Eugene Benson and Kristin Anderson, who brought this agenda item to the board, say that this development likely would result in yet more combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sewage flooding at ajacent Alewife Brook. Both are part of Save the Alewife Brook, an activist organization that aims to improve water quality and reduce flooding caused by climate change.
“If Alewife were any closer to Arlington, it would be in Arlington,” Benson said. “The redevelopment will have a profound impact on Arlington. We think now is the time to engage with the MBTA about the proposal … redevelopment at the Alewife Station could be good, or it could be bad.”
They both suggested incorporating opportunities for fixing CSOs and flooding as part of the MBTA’s redevelopment project.
“Last year, the brook flooded over its bank at least five times,” said Anderson. “We saw children riding bikes through untreated sewage flood water, we saw joggers running through it, and we saw parents pushing baby strollers through untreated sewage flood water.”
The board agreed that Benson, Anderson, Mahon, Town Manager Jim Feeney and Town Counsel Michael Cunningham should work together to bring something – possibly a letter to be sent to the MBTA – back to the board for them to vote on at the next meeting.
“There is a clear impact in Arlington if the Alewife garage closes … when I viewed this in the short term, I viewed this as strictly a CSO issue and [us having] a real need to get on the record on that,” said DeCourcey.
Arlington could become 25-mph maximum town
The board agreed with a recommendation for maximum 25-mph speed limits throughout town, for consistency and safety, and with 20 mph the maximum in “school and safety zones.”
The actual decision will be up to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Jim Stubee, vice chair of the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), presented the response to an issue the board brought to TAC in January regarding the speed limit on Broadway. TAC over the past six months had compiled a list of speed limits that are over 25 mph — some 30 mph and some 35 mph.
“Our recommendation is to change all of those ‘special speed’ regulations,” said Stubee. “They were placed back in the ’70s; there were different times and different needs then.”
In 2017, the town changed most of its speed limits to 25 mph but did not change its “special speed regulations.” Stubee said that this may be confusing for drivers.
“As the board became aware of some additional unfortunate pedestrian crashes on Park Avenue that regardless of speed being involved in those, there’s a long history of problems there,” said Helmuth. “This is a first step that I think makes a lot of sense.”
Other TAC recommendations
The board agreed with TAC’s recommendations for the Gray Street and Churchill Avenue intersection. Members opted not to add a crosswalk in these locations but instead to repaint the white edge lines from Bartlett Avenue to Endicott Avenue so as to have a consistent lane width.
They also discussed the unwieldy confluence of Churchill Avenue, Endicott Road and Gloucester Street. According to a memorandum, some residents, going back to 18 months ago, and members of the TAC believe the road is too wide, leading to unsafe pedestrian crossings and vehicle merging.
Appointments
The board approved Sara Goodrich to the LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Commission and Jeffrey Silton as Constable.
Elaine McNulty Knight and Marie Rapoza both were present and requested appointments to the Council on Aging. However, the board plans to consider these appointments later on.
In other business, some involving restaurants, the board:
- Approved the Russian School of Math to host a “Back to School Bash” at Whittemore Park on Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.;
- Approved four requests for contractor/drain layer licenses to Steve & Sons Contracting, Triad Associates, McLaughlin Corp. and 128 Plumbing Heating Cooling Electric and Drains;
- Accepted a $25,000 contribution from Leader Bank for the 2024 Battle Reenactment that took place last April;
- Approved two amendments for special one-day beer-and-wine licenses: changing the alcohol serving time from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. for the rest of the season and changing the alcohol serving time from noon to 6:30 p.m. for Arlington Town Day;
- Approved a request for a special one-day beer-and-wine license to Robbins Memorial Town Hall for a private event on Sept. 8;
- Approved free parking in the Russell Common Lot and Railroad for Arlington Town Day on Sept. 21;
- Approved temporary “no parking” signs on Bartlett Avenue on Sept. 21;
- Approved the National Coffee with a Cop Day special event on Oct. 2;
- Approved a wine-and-malt alcohol license for Makalu Nepali & Indian Cuisine at 352A Mass. Ave.;
- Moved a request for a new memorial and additional work at an existing memorial for late classical composer Alan Hovhaness to the town’s Public Memorial Committee; and
- Approved a common victualler license for Fiesta Bites Pizzeria at 1323 Mass. Ave., previously the location of the highly contested Boston Pizza and Gyro.
Watch ACMi video:
July 23, 2024: Select Board approves Brattle betterment order, outdoor restaurant seating
This news summary by freelance writer Jessie Castellano was published Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. It was updated Aug. 31, to add ACM=i video.
