Protect Belmont's Natural Wildlife Habitat
Donation protected
What's going on?
The Belmont Hill School proposes to clearcut a vibrant woodland in a residential area in North Belmont to build a 150 car parking lot and mechanical facility.
There are many many reasons why this development is a bad idea:
- The parking lot will have 43,000 sq. ft of pavement.
- This land is home to hundreds of species of animals. Owls nest in trees that will be removed and an active fox den is very close to the proposed lot.
- The land houses numerous magnificent stately 100-foot-tall maple, oak and spruce trees.
- The proposed lot is uphill from a protected wetland which will be impacted by runoff.
- Having 150 cars off of Park Ave will exacerbate already serious traffic in that area at peak times.
- Air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution and runoff from the parking lot and maintenance facility will be devastating for the local area.
- The development will encourage single-driver commuting.
- The proposed maintenance building will house fuel tanks that threaten the wetlands.
We cannot let the Belmont Hill School get away with this!
Why should you care?
Climate change is real. We need to make smart decisions as a community to preserve the natural space we have left and not encourage more driving and pollution. If the Belmont Hill School is allowed to build this lot it will set a dangerous precedent for Belmont and Massachusetts.
What will my donation support?
The Belmont Planning Board has voted 3-2 to approve the project. In its decision, it interpreted the Dover amendment as giving carte blanche to the school to build whatever it wants as long as it is related in some way to educational use. In fact, the Dover amendment states explicitly that towns can impose "reasonable restrictions" on use. The Planning Board is not a court of law and is not qualified to interpret the Dover amendment. The next step is to appeal the decision, first to the Zoning Board of Appeals, then to Land Coard or Superior Court.
In addition to appealing the Planning Board decision, we are appealing the Conservation Commission's decision that the proposal is outside of its jurisdiction. This appeal is currently before the Department of Environmental Production. A ruling in our favor will result in the DEP coming to the site to doing a proper environmental assessment. We are being represented by the law firm Sugarman and Rogers https://sugarmanrogers.com, an excellent law firm with tremendous experience and success in both land use and environmental law.
To continue this legal effort, we need your help. To advance the legal cases for both the Dover amendment and the DEP appeal we estimate a need for $50,000 total. Please give what youcan; even a few dollars is meaningful! We appreciate your support.
What else can you do?
Sign the petition https://www.change.org/belmontwild
The Belmont Select Board needs to know that the Town of Belmont and the broader community think this project is barbaric and unnecessary. Write to them with your concerns. A link to send letters can be found here www.belmontwild.org.
How can you get more information?
Check out our website www.belmontwild.org.
Email us at belmontwild at gmail dot com.
The proposal and other relevant materials as well as letters from the community can be found here
By the way, when you go to donate, Gofundme will add by default an outrageously large "tip" (15%). You do not need to donate to gofundme -- their business model is that of a bank and they also take 3% automatically. Please donate what you like, but be careful not to give gofundme more than you intend.
Fundraising team (2)
Belmont Wild
Organizer
Belmont, MA
Barry Lubarsky
Team member