Belmont’s Seniors Have Transport Options

 Newsletter, November-December 2021, Parking, Transit  Comments Off on Belmont’s Seniors Have Transport Options
Nov 022021
 
Belmont’s Seniors Have Transport Options

By Nava Niv-Vogel Belmont’s adults over the age of 60 and people of any age with disabilities can get around without driving thanks to transportation services provided by the Council on Aging (COA). Most rides are provided by well-trained COA-funded drivers, and the three-vehicle fleet has many safety and disability-friendly features. In the era of COVID-19, COA drivers have also been practicing special safety protocols. The vehicles are routinely cleaned for airborne and surface germs.  The rides offered are curb-to-curb. The passenger needs to be able to walk or otherwise get themselves to the van. Drivers are not permitted to [READ MORE]

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Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award

 Environment, January 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking  Comments Off on Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award
Dec 312020
 
Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award

By Jeffrey North The Town of Belmont and the Belmont Conservation Commission congratulates Northeastern University Civil and Environmental Engineering graduates Samantha Kinnaly, Kate Engler, Annie Lamonte, and Emma Totsubo on the recent awards for their design of the main entrance and green infrastructure stormwater management at Belmont’s Rock Meadow conservation area. The project was developed during the spring 2020 capstone course under the supervision of Professor Annalis Onnis-Hayden of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in partnership with the Belmont Conservation Commission. (See “New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, May/June 2020.) Their project won first place [READ MORE]

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Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All

 Air Quality, January 2021, Newsletter, Parking, Traffic  Comments Off on Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All
Dec 302020
 
Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All

By Sumner Brown Dana Miller chairs Belmont’s Transportation Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the Traffic Advisory Committee, the predecessor to the Transportation Advisory Committe (TAC), since 2009. I talked with Miller in November 2020. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. BCF The name of your committee changed from Traffic Advisory Committee to Transportation Advisory Committee. Why? Miller The Select Board changed the committee name in 2019 to make clear that the committee’s responsibilities encompass safety for pedestrians and those on bicycles, as well as those traveling in vehicles. BCF Who are the members of [READ MORE]

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Belmont Farmers’ Market Adapts to COVID-19

 July-August 2020, Newsletter, Parking  Comments Off on Belmont Farmers’ Market Adapts to COVID-19
Jun 302020
 
Belmont Farmers’ Market Adapts to COVID-19

By Mary Bradley The Belmont Farmers’ Market, located in the municipal lot behind Belmont Center, will be open from June 4 to October 29 this year. Market hours are Thursday afternoons from 2 to 6:30 PM. The Belmont Food Collaborative spent the months prior to the June 4 opening on zoom calls, in email discussions, and in webinars with other farmers’ market organizers and state officials. Their mission was to incorporate the social distancing rules and regulations mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Belmont’s Select Board and Board of Health into a [READ MORE]

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New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed

 Air Quality, Environment, July-August 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Plants, Stormwater, Traffic, Water Quality  Comments Off on New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed
Jun 302020
 
New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed

By Jeffrey North and Mary Trudeau The Belmont Conservation Commission recently engaged a team of Northeastern University students to explore parking lot and stormwater drainage improvements for Rock Meadow. As visitors to Rock Meadow can attest, the parking lot is inefficient, rutted, partially paved, and often filled with pockets of standing water. Improvements have been called for since at least 1968, when the report, A Program for Renewing Rock Meadow, stated the obvious: “The entrance is not attractive and does not do justice to the beautiful area beyond.” The arrival experience is incongruent with Rock Meadow’s value as a treasured [READ MORE]

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Cushing Square: What Did We Learn?

 Construction and Housing, July-August 2020, Newsletter, Parking, Town Committee Meetings, Traffic  2 Responses »
Jun 302020
 
Cushing Square: What Did We Learn?

By Meg Muckenhoupt and Virginia Jordan The Bradford development in Cushing Square disrupted Belmont’s streets, sidewalks, planning, and politics, and stressed local businesses over the last decade. Town Meeting adopted a new overlay district in 2006 to channel development and provide the Planning Board with tools to control the scale and look of Cushing Village, now the Bradford, a three-building project comprising 38,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 112 residential units on upper floors, and 201 parking spaces. In the past 14 years, the town has learned some lessons about managing large construction projects—and how large construction projects affect [READ MORE]

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Belmont Timeline

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Board of Selectmen, Historic Preservation, History, January 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Sewers, Traffic, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont Timeline
Jan 062020
 
Belmont Timeline

Belmont Timeline Featuring events significant to the Belmont’s history and Belmont Citizens Forum issues. 1654 The John Chenery house, 52 Washington Street, is built. The Chenery house is the oldest surviving house in Belmont. 1760 The Thomas Clark House is built on what is now Common Street. “Local tradition maintains that the Clark family witnessed the beginning of America’s War for Independence from the hill behind this house, seeing smoke and hearing the sounds of war breaking out on April 19, 1775.” —Joseph Cornish, BCF Newsletter,  January 2011. It was moved in 2012, and finally demolished in 2014. 1805 “Ice [READ MORE]

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Litigation Was Not in the 20 Year Plan

 Bike Paths, Board of Selectmen, Construction and Housing, Environment, January 2020, Newsletter, Parking  Comments Off on Litigation Was Not in the 20 Year Plan
Jan 062020
 
Litigation Was Not in the 20 Year Plan

By Sue Bass Litigation was not the plan when we considered forming what became the Belmont Citizens Forum. McLean Hospital blindsided us by filing for a Massachusetts Land Court declaratory judgment that the rezoning of its land was not “illegal contract zoning.” The initial BCF board members—none of whom were lawyers—had never heard of contract zoning, much less that it might be illegal. It turned out that Belmont’s deal met the textbook definition of contract zoning. The courts agreed but the Appeals Court ruled in November 2002 that Belmont’s contract was not illegal. Meanwhile, in June 2001, 20 Belmont residents [READ MORE]

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20 Years of Belmont Traffic

 Bicycles and bike paths, January 2020, Newsletter, Parking, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on 20 Years of Belmont Traffic
Jan 062020
 
20 Years of Belmont Traffic

By Sumner Brown Belmont has turned a corner about how we think of traffic. Twenty years ago, our hope was to find ways to make it easier for cars and trucks to pass through Belmont. Now our objective is to protect residential streets from rush-hour traffic and make life easier for pedestrians and bicyclists. The Belmont Citizens Forum has played a part in our traffic turnaround. In 2002, the Belmont Citizens Forum’s Planning and Zoning Committee brainstormed about Trapelo Road. They thought about bike lanes and lots of trees. The committee engaged graduate student classes at MIT and the Boston [READ MORE]

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Developing a Conservation Master Plan for Rock Meadow

 Environment, Historic Preservation, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Plants, Sept-Oct 2018  Comments Off on Developing a Conservation Master Plan for Rock Meadow
Sep 122018
 
Developing a Conservation Master Plan for Rock Meadow

By Jeffrey North “Rock Meadow is a beautiful and diverse landscape with differing microclimates, terrains, and experiences throughout the site. This diversity provides both design challenges and opportunities.”       —Excerpt from Rock Meadow, A Conservation      Master Plan (Michael Taurean Gagnon and Sam Freedman map) The proposed Rock Meadow design adds trails and other features such as: 1) a boardwalk; 2) a path bisecting the north meadow and leading to the former landfill site; 3) an extended loop emerging from the central woodland to an observation deck; 4) two groves of oaks and hickories; 5) a nature-inspired playground [READ MORE]

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