Belmont – Page 4 – Belmont Citizens Forum

Opinion: Belmont Zoning Laws Penalize GR District

March/April 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 012023

Opinion: Belmont Zoning Laws Penalize GR District

by Chris Arthur The last article I wrote about zoning (“Belmont’s Zoning Needs Rethinking,” BCF Newsletter, January/February 2023) focused on changing the use of “nonconforming” properties so that all properties would have to abide by the same rules, and owners could build to the allowable requirements of the code. I also mentioned changing the code to create a smaller allowable footprint. This article focuses on the unfairness of the existing code to an entire zoning district. Belmont’s zoning map can be found on the town’s website. There are several residential districts. For example, SR-C (Single Residence “C”) and GR [READ MORE]

Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

Environment, March/April 2023 Comments Off

Mar 012023

Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

By Jeffrey North Eagles, owls, and hawks are dying. Of the 161 Massachusetts raptors tested at Tufts Wildlife Clinic in a study between 2006 and 2010, 86% had poison residues in their liver tissue. And according to the EPA, more than 10,000 kids are poisoned by toxic chemicals left around residences, restaurants, or public parks to poison rats. Take action Proven tactics to address the problem with minimal or no rodenticide use include Integrated Pest Management plans, engaging housing authorities, affecting retail and construction site practices, and a rat poison bylaw. And please support legislation currently before the House (HD [READ MORE]

Opinion: Staffing Shortages Imperil Belmont

March/April 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 012023

Opinion: Staffing Shortages Imperil Belmont

By Paul Joy In the last few months, Belmont’s trajectory toward the fiscal cliff has accelerated with alarming speed. The School Committee has already been asked by the Select Board to find ways to plug a $2.1 million funding gap in its proposed FY2024 budget. These budget shortages, projected to continue in FY2025 and beyond, would require untenable cuts to our schools and first responders. Are we capable as a town of changing our trajectory? Of investing in growth and renewal? In my opinion, as the co-chair of the Economic Development Committee (EDC), we must change. We must act now [READ MORE]

Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

March/April 2023 Comments Off

Mar 012023

Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

Each year, the Belmont Citizens Forum asks Select Board candidates questions about issues facing our town. This year, Elizabeth Harmer Dionne provided answers. She was limited to 1,000 words. BCF: During the time you have lived in Belmont, in what ways has Belmont improved as a place to live, learn, work, and connect? In what ways has the town “lost ground” as a place to live, learn, work, and connect? Dionne: In the 12 years since my family and I moved to Belmont, I’ve seen— and contributed to—a series of heartening improvements to the town. I have seen real infrastructure [READ MORE]

Opinion: Belmont needs to get serious about climate goals

March/April 2023 Comments Off

Mar 012023

Opinion: Belmont needs to get serious about climate goals

By Brian Iler While providing $290,633 to BMHS Building Committee to complete the full solar array is an encouraging development from both a fiscal and environmental perspective, this observer is discouraged by the fact that the Select Board’s deliberations never included a mention of the climate-positive effect of the scheme. Instead, it was a 100% fiscal argument that carried the day. There are obvious reasons for this. Everyone can agree with a proposal that saves the town money. It’s a political no-brainer. What’s not clear is whether the town shares a sense of its moral responsibility to decrease its contribution [READ MORE]

Belmont Needs School Roof Solar Panels

March/April 2023, Newsletter, Solar Power Comments Off

Mar 012023

By Brian Iler Photovoltaic solar panels (PVs) have been planned for the new Belmont Middle and High School (BMHS) since early designs for the project were presented in 2017. PV is integral to achieving this building’s Zero Net Energy goal. And to many in Belmont, Zero Net Energy was a big factor when deciding whether to vote for a hefty tax increase to fund this colossal project in 2018. Since this vote, the funds reserved for PVs have been on the chopping block three times to offset project cost overruns. Public outcry—with advocates crowding into Belmont Middle and High School [READ MORE]

‘Chickadee Tree’ Sings on Lone Tree Hill

Arts & Culture, January/February 2023 Comments Off

Jan 042023

‘Chickadee Tree’ Sings on Lone Tree Hill

The Belmont Citizens Forum and the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC) would like to remind readers that the installation of objects, decorations, signs or messaging of any kind on conservation or public land is prohibited without prior written permission of the LMC, Conservation Commission, or other Town authority having jurisdiction. By Yuval Gur Environmental degradation and climate-changing behaviors have been part of our lives for many years. Yet, we are still in crisis, whether from microplastics in our oceans, rising sea levels, air pollution, or diminishing living habitats. What if nature could signal us with flashing lights [READ MORE]

BHS Students Create Environmental Club

Environment, January/February 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 032023

By Claire Hlotyak If you were to ask current high school students what issues they care about, chances are they would say climate change. From science labs to social studies discussions, I have seen that Belmont High School (BHS) students show a real passion and drive to end climate destruction. This keen interest doesn’t just end in the classroom, though. Belmont High has student-run clubs focused on learning, raising awareness, and educating our community and surrounding areas about the impact of climate change. One new BHS club is Project: Environment, run by Jessica Rui and Christina Xi. Rui and Xi [READ MORE]

Could Town Buildings Generate Solar Power?

Climate Change, Environment, January/February 2023, Newsletter, Solar Power Comments Off

Jan 032023

Could Town Buildings Generate Solar Power?

By Aditya Jain and Vincent Stanton, Jr. Imagine a project that would produce a new recurring revenue stream for Belmont without any upfront cost, utilizing only town-owned land and buildings, while lowering electricity costs and helping the town achieve its green energy goals. That could be the payoff for installing photovoltaic (PV) panels on town properties. Suitable town-owned sites include non-historic buildings with large flat rooftops, parking lots, and open ground including the former incinerator site along Concord Avenue. Adding PV arrays on privately owned rooftops and parking lots could significantly expand the network of arrays and improve the economics. [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Hit 2022 Milestones

Environment, January/February 2023, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jan 032023

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Hit 2022 Milestones

By Jeffrey North In 2020, the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC) and the Judy Record Conservation Fund began a multi-year campaign to restore native plant communities in prioritized areas of the Lone Tree Hill conservation land. Step one in the restoration was to bring the invasive plant species under control. Planting natives would be a wasted effort and expense if they cannot compete with the pernicious plants that have come to occupy large swaths of our conservation lands and private yards. The work began with a broad brush, property-wide restoration survey conducted by ecological design professionals in [READ MORE]

Farewell to Royal Road’s Dirt Jumps

Bicycles and bike paths, January/February 2023, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jan 032023

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. In late July 2022, the town dismantled the dirt bike track built by Belmont teens on town land between Royal Road and the Fitchburg Line (see “Whither the Royal Road Woods?” BCF Newsletter, January/February 2022.) The bike track, originally constructed in 2020 shortly after the parks were closed because of the pandemic, was expanded in 2022 by a different group of teens. After winter and spring storms, which eroded the earthen jumps, it needed a complete rebuild. The 2022 bike track network at one point extended across the wetlands at the bottom of Royal Road (a [READ MORE]

Preserve Belmont’s Leafy Leviathans

Environment, January/February 2023, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jan 032023

By Fred Bouchard Tawny branches reach skyward around its diminished crown like a monk’s tonsure. Strafed by ligneous crows’ feet and tagged with a bowie knife by ”Oliver” (World War veteran?), its trunk is knobbled with rusts and growths. Golden wreaths of lichen encrust its bolus. The copper beech standing sentinel opposite the stone rail trestle in Belmont Center bears silent witness to a century and a half of local history. It was a mere sapling, perhaps part of the project when H. H. Richardson’s firm rebuilt the Unitarian Universalist Church in 1890. Wellington Station marked the adjacent train stop [READ MORE]

School Claims Parking is “Educational Use”

Climate Change, Construction and Housing, Environment, January/February 2023, Open Space, Parking Comments Off

Jan 032023

School Claims Parking is “Educational Use”

By Justin Roe Belmont Hill School submitted their long-awaited plan for the Belmont Hill woodlands area to the planning board in October. The response from Belmont’s residents was instantaneous and overwhelming in opposing the proposal. Within three weeks, Belmont’s Select Committee and Planning Board have received hundreds of letters voicing town opposition to the project. A petition in opposition has attracted over 2,200 signatures, and hundreds of lawn signs and banners are popping up in every district in Belmont. School action groups from Lexington and Waltham are taking an active role. All within a few weeks. The school presented its [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Zoning Should Reflect Actual Use

Construction and Housing, January/February 2023, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 032023

Belmont’s Zoning Should Reflect Actual Use

By Max Colice The intensity and use regulations of Belmont’s zoning bylaws don’t reflect how most land in Belmont is actually used. Changing the bylaws to match how land in Belmont has been developed and used would reduce the burden on town officials, promote growth while preserving character, and lead to fairer, more predictable outcomes for homeowners looking to renovate or expand their homes. It would also preserve open space, allow for small-scale development of more affordable housing, and remove obstacles to small-scale commercial development. Belmont’s zoning bylaw divides the town into different zones or districts; it permits varied uses, [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Zoning Needs Rethinking

Construction and Housing, January/February 2023 Comments Off

Jan 032023

By Chris Arthur The current Belmont zoning bylaw produces inconsistent and haphazard results. It requires vastly different paths to get a permit, and those paths produce vastly different results. Changes to the zoning bylaw can produce more consistency, greater fairness, and be in line with neighboring towns’ zoning bylaws, which have been updated over the past 10 years. Cleaning up the Belmont zoning bylaw to create more consistency and clarity will also help the town’s coffers by reducing the hours that the Belmont Planning staff spend on special permits and Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) projects, so that there is [READ MORE]

Letters to the Editor: Belmont Hill Plans, Bike Trails

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Climate Change, Environment, November 2022, Open Space, Parking, Plants Comments Off

Oct 312022

To the Editor: New England in the fall is renowned for its beauty—the trees are blazes of color, birds, squirrels, and other animals are busily preparing for winter, and the occasional whiff of woodsmoke floats in the air. Driving up Prospect Street, one is met with the pleasant sight of the pristine lawns and stately brick buildings of the Belmont Hill School—a self-described educator of “men of good character,” where “boys are expected to collaborate and become part of something larger than themselves.” Which is why it’s such a shame that the Belmont Hill School is apparently ignoring its own [READ MORE]

Why Care About Removing Invasive Plants?

Environment, November 2022, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Oct 312022

Why Care About Removing Invasive Plants?

By Joseph Hibbard and Jeffrey North The Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter has been printing articles about the perils and poisons of non-native invasive plant species on these pages for years. Readers have learned that garlic mustard changes the chemistry of the soil to gain an advantage over other plant species in forest and edge areas. Our article on black swallowwort described that plant’s deadly toxicity to Monarch butterfly larvae that mistakenly consume it instead of nourishing native milkweed. We have described how Asiatic bittersweet rapidly climbs native trees, blocks the sunlight, and eventually topples the tree while changing our viewsheds. [READ MORE]

Have You Read the Collins Center Report?

Newsletter, November 2022, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Oct 312022

By Jeffrey North Belmont is a relatively affluent community. Massachusetts Department of Revenue figures in FY2022 show that Belmont’s income per capita was $98,942. This figure is very close to the average income for residents of six comparable towns and significantly higher than the Massachusetts per capita income of $46,062. Yet Belmont is the 10th most expensive place in Massachusetts to own a home, while per-capita incomes ranked only 22nd in the state. The average Belmont homeowner can expect to pay $15,568 annually in property taxes, or approximately 15.73% of Belmont’s per-capita income. Among 12 comparable towns, Belmont has the [READ MORE]

MBTA Zoning May Change Belmont

Construction and Housing, Newsletter, November 2022 Comments Off

Oct 312022

By David Chase Belmont is an MBTA community. A new state law (Section 3A of MGL c. 40A) requires MBTA communities to have at least one zoning district of “reasonable size” and a minimum gross density of at least 15 units per acre within half a mile of commuter rail, subway, ferry, or bus station. The law specifies various formulas based on population and area that attempt to quantify “reasonable.” The zoning district must not have any restrictions that would make it unsuitable for families with children. Belmont must have an Action Plan complete by January 31, 2023, and submit [READ MORE]

Belmont Goes Electric! Will You?

November 2022, Solar Power Comments Off

Oct 272022

By Claire Hlotyak I had the chance to attend the Belmont Goes Electric Home & Garden Event in September. Presented by Belmont Light, the Belmont Energy Committee, and Sustainable Belmont, this event showcased options including electric vehicles, heat pump systems, and native plant gardens, and the Stihl company presented battery-operated yard equipment. I spoke with a few members of Healthy Lawns Belmont about the importance of biodiversity in our lawns and gardens. One of the main issues with lawns is that they are a monoculture, meaning there is only one type of plant in a particular area. Healthy Lawns Belmont [READ MORE]

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