Selectmen say YES to SEC
Published on August 7th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The Stoneham Board of Selectmen are still in support of the Guitierrez Company’s plan for the Stoneham Executive Center Plan on Woodland Road, but directed Town Counsel William Solomon and Town Planner Michael Gallerani to draft a conditional letter of support for the project.
A fractured group of selectmen noted both the environmental concerns of abutters, and the fiscal concerns of town officials, and factored those concerns into the letter.
“The basic summarization of the letter would be to ask Sec. Durand to not put as much credence in the more generalized concerns with regard to the project,” said Solomon. “We should also recommend that the legitimate, documented concerns be heeded, and that the developer be required to perform mitigation in exchange for approval of the Environmental Impact Report.”
Gutierrez Company vice-president Arthur Gutierrez Jr. and Counsel Charles Houghton were on hand for the vote, and stated their case to the Board of Selectmen.
“The re-zoning needed for the project has already been overwhelmingly approved at Town Meeting, and I think you need to follow through on what the people of Stoneham want,” said Houghton. “Office of Environmental Affairs Secretary Bob Durand said that he was impressed with the concern that abutters showed in writing 230 letters to them.”
“Since when does 230 letters prove that there is environmental problems with a project,” added Houghton.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Tony Kennedy also contended that the appropriate time for public comment was during the public hearing and Town Meeting process.
“I think it’s important to point out in fairness to the process, the public had a chance to speak,” said Kennedy. “I encourage them to speak again, but they had a chance to speak.”
Gutierrez Jr. contended that traffic concerns were there before his project was proposed, and that the bulk of SEC traffic wouldn’t be travelling down Ravine Road.
Houghton also added their take on concerns about a large number of trees scheduled to be cut. According to Houghton, the fallen trees and street work was scheduled to be performed by the Stoneham DPW and Mass Highway Department, and that his client was footing the bill as mitigation.
“All of this was work that was scheduled to be done anyway,” said Houghton. “We’re footing the bill, and keeping the MDC from spending $400,000.”
Stoneham Selectman Charles Smith was the wariest of the environmental impact on the nearby residents, and the serene backdrop of the Fells woods.
“I believe something is going to be built up there. The way it stands now, I don’t support what he’s doing up there,” said Smith. “It’s a great project, but the neighbors have concerns and I want their voice to be heard.”
Miriam Regan-Fiore, of the Communities for Fells Preservation (CFFP) presented a list of eight discrepancies and problems with the project, and continued to call for a project scale down.
Houghton meanwhile contended that several meeting shave taken place between the CFFP and Gutierrez, and that the residents have never given specific requests for scaling back the project.
“It’s a zone designed for commercial purposes, and to hold out hope that it will be turned into open space is ridiculous,” said Houghton. “It will never be a new parcel for the Fells.”
Regan-Fiore hoped that Boards reservations would be reflected in any letter to Durand, and wanted the body to echo their constituents.
“This is the town’s chance to comment on the plans, and the problems,” said Regan-Fiore. “To just say the project is great and write a letter of support...I would like to see some due diligence this time around.”
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the conditional letter of recommendation to be sent to Sec. Durand.
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