Belmont – Page 3 – Belmont Citizens Forum

Belmont Embraces MBTA Zoning Challenge

Aug 312023

By Rachel Heller and Thayer Donham Belmont residents have yet another great opportunity to shape the future of our community. Under a new state law, Belmont will be creating districts where multifamily housing can be built. The multifamily zoning requirement for MBTA Communities, also known as Section 3A of the Massachusetts Zoning Act, requires municipalities with good access to transit to have zoning in place that allows for up to 15 apartments or condominiums per acre. The Multifamily Zoning Districts must be approved by Town Meeting by December, 31, 2024, and meet the following requirements: Comprise a minimum land area [READ MORE]

MBTA Rethinks Tunnel Construction

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Construction and Housing, July/August 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The MBTA recently changed its position regarding the preferred construction method for the new tunnel under the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line at Alexander Avenue. Now the plan is to use “cut and cover” construction rather than tunnel jacking. The change will lower the cost of constructing the Belmont Community Path by an estimated $5 million, shorten the construction timeline, reduce the construction footprint, and be less disruptive for nearby residents, the Belmont middle-high school community, and Fitchburg Line riders. The cut and cover approach will also permit a wider tunnel, which is preferable given the anticipated [READ MORE]

Letter to the Editor: Airplane Noise

Environment, July/August 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302023

To the Editor, Regarding your feature piece in the May/June issue [“Why is There So Much Plane Noise Over Belmont?” BCF Newsletter, May/June 2023], it is good to see attention to the issue. However, the author decided to use valuable print largely to explain simply what is, and not the effects, other than “disturbing” or “too much” noise. Imagine if all that ink was used for describing epidemiological evidence that points to negative health outcomes, instead of rote retelling of recent events and history, easily conveyed with a link or two. People end up in hospitals more often as a [READ MORE]

A New Weekly Voice for Belmont

July/August 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Sue Bass Once upon a time, Belmont had a real newspaper. Indeed, within living memory, it had two: The Belmont Citizen (1944–1988) and the Belmont Herald (1931–1988.) By the time Henry and I moved here in 1995, the merged Citizen-Herald was an acceptable but not great source of information. Still, I seem to recall that at one time it employed an editor, a reporter, and at least one stringer who might attend Planning Board or other committee meetings. Then it got worse, and worse, and worse. No coverage of school sports. No more police log. No more school lunch [READ MORE]

Ottavio Forte, Renaissance Man

Arts & Culture, July/August 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Fred Bouchard Tireless energy, intelligence, and curiosity mark the life and times of Ottavio Forte. Now in his 80s, he has enjoyed success in a colorful array of careers and hobbies: electrical engineer, beekeeper, sculptor, winemaker, distiller, gardener, and homespun philosopher. Born in Formia (near Naples) in 1940, Forte came to New York at 14, the eighth child of illiterate, hard-working parents. As a high school senior, he claimed second prize in the Brooklyn Science Fair for a model of a vacuum tube. Forte graduated from City College of New York in 1961 in engineering. MIT hired him in [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Dean Hickman

Environment, July/August 2023, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Elissa Ely Before he became chair of Sustainable Belmont, before the PhD in pharmacogenetics, before moving to the United States, certainly before any awareness of the environmental needs of a Massachusetts town next to Cambridge, Dean Hickman was picking up litter. “Have been picking up trash anywhere I go since I could walk,” his Instagram says. Growing up in farm country west of London, traveling the footpath systems, Dean took the “Keep Britain Tidy” campaign of the 1960s to heart. Many decades later, on a late rainy afternoon when he could have been enjoying a mug of tea, we [READ MORE]

BH Students Create Native Plant Garden

July/August 2023, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Audrey Brenhouse On Saturday, May 13, the Belmont High School Climate Action Club, with the help of adult and student volunteers, planted our long-anticipated native garden in front of the school. Our goal is to grow plants native to this area to promote and support native wildlife, helping to restore the land’s natural biodiversity. In the spring of 2022, we held a student-led concert where many families kindly donated to this process. After years of approvals and fundraising, we are proud and grateful to be able to display the result of your generosity. Over the next few years, these [READ MORE]

Belmont Will Phase Out Gas Leaf Blowers

Air Quality, Environment, July/August 2023, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Marina (Goreau) Atlas and Karen Cady-Pereira In recent years, Belmont residents have become acutely aware of the roar, fumes, and particulate dust emitted from two-stroke gas-powered leaf blowers. A new town policy will soon change the use of gas-powered leaf blowers that emit cancer-causing particulates, send out winds that can exceed Category 5 hurricanes, and stir up everything from road dust to pollen to particles left behind from Muffin and Fido’s morning walk. This policy is an important step to improve our relationship with lawns and encourage healthy landscapes that enhance our quality of life. From May 15 to [READ MORE]

Porchfest Returns!

July/August 2023 Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Mary Bradley Porchfests began in 2007 in Ithaca, New York, as a means for local musicians to perform for their friends and neighbors on porches throughout town. Little did the organizers know what an explosion of joy they had unleashed. There are now over 200 Porchfest across the world, the majority of which are right here in New England. Earlier this year, NPR declared the Porchfest Season* runs from May through September. And it’s true; the majority of Porchfests in New England do fall within this time, including Belmont’s very own. Belmont’s Porchfest has carved out the Saturday following [READ MORE]

Opinion: Parking, People, and Money

July/August 2023, Parking, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Max Colice A typical parking space takes up about 300 to 350 square feet. In Belmont, if you want to open a retail business or office, you’ll need one parking space per 250 square feet of retail or office space. That’s right: in Belmont, your parking lot will have to be bigger than your business. If you want to open a restaurant, you’ll need one parking space for every two seats. Again, that’s more land for parking than for people. Providing all of this parking makes opening a business in Belmont more expensive than it should be. Consider how [READ MORE]

How Can Belmont Use the McLean Barn?

July/August 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Carl Solander How can Belmont use the McLean Barn? The Land Management Committee of Lone Tree Hill (LMC), in consultation with the Belmont Historic District Commission, is seeking ideas to give new life to this remnant of Belmont’s agricultural past. The McLean Barn, also known as the Brick Barn at Rock Meadow, was conveyed to the town in 2005 by McLean Hospital following the 1999 agreement that created the conservation land now known as Lone Tree Hill. The barn has been unused since that time, patiently awaiting the next chapter in its long life. In 1892, as the central [READ MORE]

Unauthorized Bike Route and Vandalism at Lone Tree Hill

Bicycles and bike paths, McLean, Newsletter, Open Space, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Apr 302023

Unauthorized Bike Route and Vandalism at Lone Tree Hill

An unauthorized bike route off the Hillside Trail on the Lone Tree Hill, Belmont Conservation Land (LTH) property was reported on April 21, 2023. The route goes down a hill, over a rock ledge and lands below on a very steep hillside. The builders of the route cut down trees, broke branches, removed rocks and vegetation (trees and native perennial trout lily) from the hillside and excavated dirt by digging and leaving dangerous pits. There has been earlier unauthorized bike activity at Lone Tree Hill, but this is the most dangerous and damaging. At the ninth annual LTH volunteer day [READ MORE]

BHA Plans for the Future of its Senior Community

Construction and Housing, May/June 2023 Comments Off

Apr 262023

BHA Plans for the Future of its Senior Community

By the Belmont Housing Authority Board of Commissioners In 2018, Belmont Housing Authority (BHA) was awarded Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding by the town of Belmont to embark on an ambitious project: planning for the modernization of its Sherman Gardens apartment community. Situated between Sycamore Street and Thayer Road in Waverley Square, the 80-unit state-funded public housing community has provided critical shelter for seniors and persons with disabilities since 1971. After more than 50 years without a major renovation, the apartments are now expensive, difficult to maintain, and energy inefficient. Designed 20 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act was [READ MORE]

If You Just Sit Still

May/June 2023 Comments Off

Apr 262023

By David Morris When I was young, I had an uncle who was attuned to nature. He was an artist, a hunter, a forager, and truly fascinating to an eight-year-old. Recently, after a frustrating morning trying to see some wildlife, I remembered his words. He’d said, “You need to remember that you are part of nature, too. You need to find a nice spot and just sit still. Don’t wait for when it’s time to move, but just enjoy the looking, the listening, and the sitting still. After a while, once you start to seem like one of them, the [READ MORE]

Volunteers Plant, Clean Up at Lone Tree Hill

May/June 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Apr 262023

Volunteers Plant, Clean Up at Lone Tree Hill

By Radha Iyengar The Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its ninth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day on Saturday, April 22, an overcast and cool day. Volunteers included Girl Scouts Troop 82027, employees of Cityside Subaru, M&T Bank,and the Sai Group, and residents of Belmont and the surrounding communities. Many hands made light work. At the Pine Allee, efficient volunteers planted forty white pine saplings. The new plants replaced the Allee’s missing trees and some of the dead saplings from previous volunteer day plantings. At the adjacent meadow the volunteers planted slender [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Anne Paulsen

May/June 2023 Comments Off

Apr 262023

By Elissa Ely If you walk past Anne Paulsen’s house on certain days, you will notice sheets hanging in the backyard, like neighbors gathering in a friendly kind of way. If a wind is blowing, some drying towel may point its direction. It’s environmental, but also practically driven: Anne has never bought a dryer. Her parents were not conservationists or even drawn to the great outdoors, but when Anne was five and growing up in West Roxbury, her father sold the family car to support the war effort. Afterwards, they walked almost everywhere (“It was a long trip to Dorchester,” [READ MORE]

EPA Pushes for Alewife Sewage Cleanup

Environment, May/June 2023, Newsletter, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 262023

By Kristin Anderson and David White We are at an important point in the history of the Alewife Brook. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville are preparing a new long-term sewage control plan for the Alewife Brook/Upper Mystic River Watershed. Climate change, with its wetter rainy season, more intense storms, and sea level rise, is expected to result in more hazardous Alewife Brook sewage pollution and more flooding in the area. During some storms, the Alewife Brook floods into the houses, parks, and yards of area residents in environmental justice communities. Because of [READ MORE]

Why is There So Much Plane Noise Over Belmont?

May/June 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Apr 262023

Why is There So Much Plane Noise Over Belmont?

By Rachelle Reinhart with contributions from Myron Kassaraba Airplane noise over Belmont increased after major changes were made to air traffic control at Logan Airport in 2001, when the United States Congress authorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modernize air traffic control under a program called NextGen. NextGen moved air traffic control from a radar-based system to a GPS-based area navigation system (RNAV). RNAV allows aircraft to travel using a computer programmed with precise waypoints—designated flight path transitions—and GPS coordinates to control the plane’s flight path. Before RNAV, air traffic control instructed pilots to make turns and altitude adjustments [READ MORE]

Claflin Street Culvert Project

March/April 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 012023

Spot repairs of the trough of the old Claflin Street culvert took place in February 2023. The project includes the removal of the old grate system and replacement by a newly engineered grate with a larger mouth. The new grate is similar to the one behind the library and is designed to accommodate debris and greater precipitation. The new culvert will contain and direct higher water levels without limiting the flow. – Editor

Profiles in Belmont: Jean Devine

Environment, March/April 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 012023

By Elissa Ely There were woods behind Jean Devine’s house growing up in Manchester, New Hampshire. As a child, she liked pressing leaves and hated wearing socks; her mother would send her outside on ‘safaris’ with apple slices, the family dog trailing behind. She was always late to school. Jean was unafraid of bugs and fascinated by Daddy Longlegs. Woods and spiders did not turn her into the environmental educator, native-plant coach, and landscaper she eventually became, but they were her introduction to nature. Her mother belonged to the Garden Club in an era when plots were visually beautiful, organized [READ MORE]

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