With the Planning Board’s stamp of approval, a multi-million dollar project to consolidate educational and treatment services at McLean Hospital can continue forward.
“We’re still working on finalizing the construction documents, and then we’ll go out to bid,” said Chief Operating Officer Michael Macht-Greenberg. “We expect that would be in process later in the summer, and we’d like to begin our work at the end of calendar year 2025, or the beginning of calendar year 2026. … All of that is dependent, of course, on the appeal period. We’re not taking anything for granted.”
Following a series of public hearings that began in January, the Planning Board voted unanimously on April 8 to approve the design and site plan review. The vote initiated the 20-day appeal period, according to Director and Town Planner Chris Ryan.
“I thought the process was very well done by both the [Planning Board] and the applicant [McLean], who was very responsive for an applicant,” Ryan said in an email to The Voice.
The new campus will consist of two new buildings: the Arlington School, a college preparatory school, and Pathways Academy, a therapeutic school for students 6 to 22 years old on the autism spectrum. Macht-Greenberg clarified that both schools are already operational; this project would simply relocate them to Zone 4 of the McLean property.
“It’s an important project providing mental health services for children, adolescents, and families,” he said. “We were very pleased that members of the community and leaders in the town voiced their support for this kind of work, and we appreciate their support.”
As a Dover Amendment project, which essentially exempts the project from certain zoning restrictions due to its status as an educational institution, the project was effectively allowed by right; however, its approval came with conditions.
Some of those conditions include: the requirement of a new application if any modifications are made to the structure’s dimensions, yard sizes, lot area, setbacks, open space, building coverage and parking; no long-term parking; compliance with the Traffic Management and Mitigation Agreement (TMMA); and performing a post-occupancy traffic signal warrant analysis for the intersection of Pleasant Street and Olmsted Drive.
Over the course of the public process, three main issues were identified, according to newly elected Select Board member Taylor Yates, who plans to resign from the Planning Board on May 15, following the conclusion of the appeal process. One of those issues required the applicant to address and mitigate stormwater issues on a semi-paved dirt road from Pleasant Street up to McLean Zone 4. The other two issues included questions about fire access — which resulted in amendments to the proposal — and questions about potential impacts to Lone Tree Hill.
As for the issue of traffic, Attorney Stephen Kidder, who represents the hospital, said the revised TMMA is relevant to this project and was considered as part of the developer’s traffic analysis. The analysis was then peer reviewed by a town consultant.
According to Macht-Greenberg, the project is entirely philanthropy-funded, and the hospital is just a few million short of its $125 million goal. Donations are still being accepted, he said.
“I think it’s a great project,” said Yates. “The social need it fills is great. I’m glad there’s somebody out there doing this kind of work. It’s a fully taxable project, which means the town is foregoing no financial opportunity with this development, and I think McLean has been a pretty good neighbor. I’m looking forward to the project being completed.”