Mar 022020
 
Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mugar wetlands are 17.7 acres of open land in East Arlington. Oaktree Development has proposed constructing a 207-unit apartment complex and six duplex townhouses on this site, to be renamed Thorndike Place. The Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands opposes building on the site, which is bordered by Route 2, Thorndike Field, and Dorothy, Edith, and Burch Streets. The following interview with Clarissa Rowe, one of the founders of the Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands, was edited for length and clarity. Why is the Mugar site important? I think the reason Arlington and Belmont residents [READ MORE]

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Fernald Site Update

 March 2016, Newsletter, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Fernald Site Update
Mar 152016
 

by George A. Darcy III On October 26, 2015, the Waltham City Council approved a $1.2 million appropriation for the demolition of 20 non-historic buildings in the northwest quadrant of the 196-acre recently acquired Fernald property. Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy submitted the CPA application for demolition to the Community Preservation Committee. The buildings that will come down include four Malone Park structures, 11 cottages, Site 5, Site 7, Activity Center, Woodside, and Brookside. The cottages were constructed as a result of Judge Joseph Tauro’s decree for the state to build residential-like structures for the residents of Fernald. Unfortunately, these homes [READ MORE]

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Cambridge Redirects Runoff from 400 Acres

 January 2016, Newsletter, Stormwater  Comments Off on Cambridge Redirects Runoff from 400 Acres
Jan 122016
 
Cambridge Redirects Runoff from 400 Acres

Cambridge Sewer Separation Makes Alewife Brook Cleaner By Anne-Marie Lambert On December 21, 2015, Cambridge celebrated a major milestone of the Alewife Sewer Separation project, a massive public works that separates sanitary sewers from storm sewers. When these two types of sewers are connected, heavy storms drive raw sewage into local waterways such as the Alewife Brook—as has been happening at the Brook for decades. As of December 21, the city will now provide water quality treatment of stormwater runoff from more than 400 acres of the urbanized Huron Avenue and Fresh Pond neighborhoods by directing it to the 3.4-acre [READ MORE]

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Mugar Site Plans May Mean More Flooding

 July 2015, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater  Comments Off on Mugar Site Plans May Mean More Flooding
May 122015
 
Mugar Site Plans May Mean More Flooding

Along the north side of Route 2 in East Arlington lie seventeen acres of wetlands almost entirely in the 100-year floodplain. Despite its potential for flooding, this parcel has been the subject of various development proposals over the years. Recently Oaktree Development of Cambridge showed Arlington town officials a preliminary sketch of a proposed 219-unit housing development on the parcel owned by the Mugar family and adjacent to the Alewife Reservation. The Oaktree developer intends to invoke the state Chapter 40B statute to circumvent certain local permitting processes and bylaws by including a certain percentage of affordable housing in the [READ MORE]

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