For close to 30 years, the property at 39 Hittinger St. and 30 Brighton St. — known locally as the location of the metal-plate-making company Purecoat North — has been the subject of environmental testing and oversight.
Throughout those years, testing and remediation — as well as a registered limitation on the site restricting residential use — have ensured the site has complied with state Department of Environmental Protection Agency standards for an industrial-zoned property.
However, with potential plans for redevelopment, the site owners are exploring the potential costs associated with converting it into a mixed-use building.
In a letter to the Select Board from Shephard S. Johnson Jr. of the Law Offices of James W. Marsh, potential demolition of the building is expected to cost between $750,000 and $1 million, with assessment and remediation costs adding between $1.6 million and $2.5 million.
“Even at the high end, these environmental costs are low in relation to total project costs and will not be a significant impediment to the proposed redevelopment,” Johnson wrote.
The site complies with state guidelines, according to a letter to the Select Board dated Oct. 18, 2024.
Reviewing Their Work
At a Select Board meeting on Oct. 21, residents, including Precinct 7 Town Meeting member Jeanne Mooney, emphasized a desire for the town to hire a licensed site professional (LSP) to review the work of the property owner’s LSP. An LSP is licensed by the state to follow the protocols for environmental investigations and cleanup.
In her remarks, Mooney referenced the environmental cleanup at what is now The Bradford Apartments in Cushing Square. Among the issues was contamination left behind by a dry cleaning business that occupied the site.
Doug Koplow echoed Mooney’s desire for a town-appointed LSP, saying the town would benefit from “a second set of eyes.”
“I’ve received multiple requests that we follow the precedent set by the Bradford and that the town hire its own licensed site professional,” said Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne. “I think that’s actually critically important. Of course, these are licensed professionals, but it does make a difference who one is accountable to.”
Town Administrator Patrice Garvin clarified that during the Bradford redevelopment, the town hired Waypoint Consulting, not an LSP, to review the work of the contractor’s LSP.
Redevelopment Goal
Laurence Tosi, whose family has owned the metal-plate-making company for 56 years, explained at a joint meeting of the Planning and Select boards last month that he has worked with the town over the last 25 years on ways the property could better serve the neighborhood.
“It wasn’t until the MBTA 3A that came up … that we realized that maybe we finally have an opportunity to do what we’ve always been trying to do,” Tosi said at the meeting.
He said the proposal is to convert the existing industrial sites at 39 Hittinger St. and 30 Brighton St. into a roughly 200-unit mixed-use building.
To do this, however, Tosi has asked for the property to be included in Section 3A zoning — the technical name for the MBTA Communities Act zoning law — which would allow redevelopment of the property to include ground-level retail and upper-floor apartments. In 2024, the town assessed the 39 Hittinger property and building at $4.3 million. The property at 30 Brighton is assessed at $5.6 million.
The site is included in one, but not both, of the MBTA zoning maps developed by Belmont that have been sent to the state for a compliance review. The new zoning will be the topic of a special Town Meeting, which convenes on Nov. 18.
In light of the growing interest around the property as a result of the zoning proposal, Bruce Haskell of Langdon Environmental, who serves as a consultant to the town on environmental issues, outlined the five-step process associated with most remediation efforts. In short, he said, it boils down to determining how big the problem is, how it will be fixed, and, when work is finished, how well the problem was fixed. Several of those steps have been taken, he said.
“The site has been an electroplating operation for decades,” Haskell said. “The chromium and chlorinated solvents are not uncommon to be found in those kinds of sites.”
Belmont resident Vincent Stanton also noted the property is within 30 feet of a railroad that has operated since 1844. In fact, a part of one building used to house railroad cars.
“Railroads over the decades, or centuries, have used a variety of toxic materials to control plant growth adjacent to the tracks, certainly including historical use of arsenic,” he said. “Even today, the MBTA has a vegetation management plan, with a list of the herbicides.”
Stanton said in light of that information, some parts of the site should be reviewed for possible contamination related to its historical railroad use.
According to Haskell, the property was designated in 2004 as a Public Involvement Plan (PIP) site, which means the owner must run any plans or documentation by a group of interested residents.
“It’s an opportunity for the involved public to comment, to have input to that process, and for [the LSP] to have to address those comments as things are developed,” Haskell said.
To that point, Mooney asked whether a new PIP would need to be initiated or if the original one would be kept apprised of future work on the site. Haskell said he wasn’t certain on the process, though he did acknowledge that the list was 20 years old and that the PIP process is a fluid one.
“I am quite sure we can put a PIP together on this if that’s what people want,” Dionne said.