Kathleen Connolly letter to ZBA

To ZBA Board members: William Chin, Martin Cohen, Patrick Dignan, Arthur Kreiger, Anthony Lecesse, William Lovallo, Eric Smith, Becky Smith
 

Let me introduce myself. I am an abutter of Little Pond. My husband and I have lived at 37 Oliver Rd. for 22 years and before that 11 years at 35 Stuanton Rd which is across the street and down two houses.  

It is and has been a wonderful neighborhood to both live in and raise our family of four sons. I have participated in many activities concerning Little Pond over the years and continue to remain active.  

I was part of the initial study group appointed by the selectmen which recommended to keep the Uplands as an open space and commercially developing it with specific safeguards and improvements as the only acceptable last resort if monies could not be secured by the town to buy it and preserve it in its natural state.
 

Of course, since then a lot has taken place, and the town now finds itself in this deplorable dilemma of 40B development. The arguments against developing this area are many and varied from the loss of a splendid Silver Maple forest and all its native species and wildlife, the isolation of the development from any neighborhood and town centers and schools, the inevitable and unpredictable cost to the town in terms of services and delivery that will be needed for its residents, and my particular concern the irresponsible proposal by the developer, O'Neil Properties to tie in water and sewer mains into the sewer system in "the Garrison Road neighborhood" of Belmont!
 

The old and ailing sewer system in this neighborhood is completely overtaxed already! The Highway Dept. is always digging up and repairing in this area as the pipes are laid close to the road surface, as little as a foot below the surface in places due to the high water table indigenous to this topography and as such require frequent repair both due from the heavy volume of vehicle traffic and the vulnerable position of the mains as necessitated by the topography. In fact this particular neighborhood is the lowest point in all of Belmont. Our street was dug up for days and in front of our house numerous times in the year for the last few years.  Twice we've had raw sewage come up especially after storms as the entire area in the Winn Brook section is vulnerable.  19 visits to flush the main line on Oliver Rd. alone with two and three flush outs on Staunton Rd. and Lodge Rd. and none attributed to tree roots as is the usual reason according to town records obtained for the last 10 years.  I can only shudder to think what will happen to this ailing system if it is further burdened with roughly 600 or more toilets and 1000+ sinks and 500+ garbage disposals.
 

I was not in favor of a commercial development but the plans as evolved would not have impacted our neighborhood nor the town as drastically as this development does.  The town needs to have affordable housing but the cost for our neighborhood is too high. Neither the development as planned nor the impact on our neighborhood and town will desirable.
 

We implore the ZBA to use every means at their disposal to roadblock this ill thought out plan that will only cause irreparable damage for our town and this neighborhood and its residents.  
 

Sincerely,  Kathleen Connolly  37 Oliver Rd.   616-484-8864