Residents not sold on Home Depot site
Published on July 26th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - An army of south Stoneham residents sardined themselves into last week’s Planning Board meeting to voice their opposition to a proposed Home Depot at Fallon Road’s former A.W. Chesterton Company.
Wilmington-based The Richmond Company, which purchased the 16-acre lot from the commercial firm last year for $7.4 million, recently submitted a request seeking a special permit for an 133,000 square foot Home Depot and adjacent three-floor 15,000 square-foot office park at the site.
According to various residents who abut the Fallon Road property, which is located near the I-93 north on-ramp near Park and Marble Streets, an effort is currently underway to mobilize a neighborhood effort to block the mixed-use proposal, which will pull an estimated 3,260 additional vehicles into the area on a daily basis.
“There are a lot of people who aren’t even aware of what’s going on over there,” vented Park Street resident Joseph Teneriello, who recently launched a neighborhood advocacy group called, Citizens for the Ethical Development of the Fallon Road Area (CEDFRA).
“The whole timing of this is kind of peculiar. People are more interested in going to the beach and vacationing. You know what people tend to do in the summer,” the Home Depot opponent charged. “We don’t want this to progress any further without being able to give our input”
The Planning Board, which is specifically being asked to allow more than 75,000 square feet of retail space in the commercial zone, didn’t allow many of the anxious Marble and Park Street area residents to speak at last week’s public hearing.
According to Planning Board Chairman August Niewenhous, the special permitting authority is currently gathering preliminary information on the plans, and will grant more than enough time for public comment during future deliberations.
Despite Niewenhous’ assurances that area residents will be given an opportunity to voice their opinions, various neighbors accuse the project proponents of leaving them in the dark about a dense development that will essentially be dropped in their backyards.
“This was a big secret in Stoneham,” contended Marble Street resident Douglas Carey. “If somebody hadn’t read a two-by-two inch Conservation Commission ad in the newspaper, it would have went through there and the Planning Board. Then we’d be fighting an uphill battle.”
“They [town officials and the developer] just want to stack this thing here so they can get $300,000 in taxes,” the Marble Street resident added. “That just makes me want to say, ‘What do you want Stoneham to look like in 10 to 20 years? This is a poorly planned project.”
Understanding that feeling, Burlington attorney Mark Vaughan, who represents the applicants, emphasized that his client has every intention to open-up a dialogue with those who abut the Fallon Street property.
According to Vaughan, while many residents feel slighted so far in the process — especially given the fact that talks have been ongoing for over a year with neighboring Winchester residents to the rear of the lot — there was never any scheme to keep the project secret.
“Certainly, we understand the level of concern expressed by residents in the Park Street and Marble Street area. And we have committed to meet with those residents,” the Reimer and Braunstein lawyer said.
“We’re not trying to avoid or shy away from any dialogue with residents. We just felt that we would have the opportunity to address their concerns during the public hearing process,” the attorney added, explaining why Stoneham neighbors weren’t approached at the same time as the Winchester residents.
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