Weiss Farm Developer uses Chapter 40B to his advantage

Hi everyone,

If you haven't already you should read the Boston Globe article this morning about the Weiss Farm project.

A letter to the editor is necessary to respond to Ms. Murphy, the real estate marketing agent for the developer.

She says the traffic from this development is only in peak hours well if they put 300 or fewer units with 1.9 cars at peak hours that does not equal existing trucks at Weiss Farm going in and out of the property.  Peak hours are when our teenage children drive or walk to Stoneham High School.

Parents of small children drop off their children to Stoneham KinderCare at 136 Franklin St, which is open from 6:30 am to   6:30 pm. This does not even cover peak hours of residents of Melrose using Franklin St to access Routes 93 or 128.

We have to also push that the water and sewer problems will be increased.  Can Franklin St handle discharge of Storm Water and isn't this drainage system subject to Conservation Commission approval.  If the developer uses 40B will this by pass the Conservation Commission?

We also need to make a formal request to the Massachusetts Environmental Protection agency to review this development as they did with the Boston Medical Center project years ago since this is 26 acres and are covered by this agency.

We also need to investigate how the building of the assisted living is doing on Franklin St and what pitfalls have they had to overcome.

We need to say it as it is. Chapter 40B has already raped many cities and towns with the excuse of low income housing and potential of tax revenue without consideration that this projected development is not conducive to a sense of community nor is the building scale consistent with established traditions in Stoneham.

We need to tell the public at large of many small communities like ours that have fallen asleep at the switch that 40B is an invader of small communities as infringes on our existing town services and reasons we all chose the town we live in. We need to enlighten communities to take advantage of Chapter 40 R and awake all communities to "smart zoning plans" and thereby guide developers to locations that will benefit our community and their projected developments