Molly Farrar
A group of Belmont residents is launching a last-ditch effort to stop Belmont Hill School from clearing wooded land that would make way for a 140-space parking lot and a 7,000 square foot maintenance facilities building on a seven acre parcel.
Residents plan to make their case at a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) public hearing tonight at 7 p.m. in one of the most heated debates over local land use in recent history.
Even the scope of the project is in dispute, with residents claiming it would raze seven wooded acres, while the Planning Board put the figure at just over one acre.
The group of residents has been fighting Belmont Hill School for months, signing petitions, showing up at public hearings, and posting signs that exclaim: “Save the Trees!”
At the ZBA meeting tonight, two Boston law firms will represent more than 100 residents mostly from the immediate Belmont Hill neighborhood. One of the residents is Lois Pines, a former state senator.
“One hundred and fifty cars are going to be put in the middle of this oasis,” Pines told The Belmont Voice. “[They’ll be] emitting noxious fumes and extraordinary noise and coming and going as they will be impacting on the proximate streets.”
The Belmont Hill School denied a request for comment.
After months of debate, the Planning Board passed Belmont Hill School’s proposal in a 3-2 vote in April.
The Planning Board wrote in its decision that the environmental impact of the proposal is being overblown.
“There was a great deal of public input concerning the ‘destruction’ of 7 wooded acres,” the board wrote. “Signs even appeared on the street leveling this accusation at the school along with various other insults.”
The destruction of the wooded canopy will amount to just over an acre, according to the Planning Board.
Belmont Hill School worked with abutters on new plan
Belmont Hill School, an all-boys private school that sits on about 40 acres of land, last year proposed a 7,000 square foot maintenance facilities building with above-ground fuel storage tanks, as well as changes to storm drainage, utilities and lighting. The nonprofit school has about 450 students, 47 of whom are Belmont residents, and does not plan to increase enrollment.
The school’s proposal, initially submitted in July 2022, included changes to two existing lots and the new maintenance facilities building and large East Campus lot.
After initial opposition, the school worked with direct abutters to announce a modified plan in February that moves a proposed outdoor gas tank inside one of the facilities building, shifts the lot and facilities building further away from abutters, and adds additional plants. They will also put frequent breaks in fences to let wildlife pass through.
After the revised plan, neighbors Justin Roe, Tanya Austin and Donald Hafner, signed a letter to the town saying they were “pleased” that impacts on their properties and local wildlife would be reduced through the agreement.
“Both the near neighbors and the leadership of Belmont Hill appreciated the opportunity to participate in candid and respectful conversations that resulted in substantive changes to the original plan,” the three abutters wrote.
State law at heart of dispute
The Planning Board approved Belmont Hill’s plan, in part due to a 1950 law, called the Dover Amendment. It exempts nonprofit educational corporations from zoning restrictions.
Belmont’s town lawyer, George Hall, cited the law in a December 2022 memo.
“I do not believe the Planning Board’s powers here include the ability to deny BHS the use of this particular parcel for its intended purpose,” Hall wrote.
But lawyers for the opposition say the town misunderstands the Dover Amendment, and didn’t properly consider the environmental impacts. In a letter signed by more than 100 residents, the lawyers claim that the parking lot would create a heat island the size of a supermarket, increasing the temperature in the neighborhood and the town’s carbon footprint.
Pines, who is also involved with resident coalition Belmont Wildlife, is focused on protecting animal habitat.
“We have owls, we have foxes, we have turkeys, wild turkeys… that live in the canopy of those trees,” Pines said. “The removal of 50 substantial trees from the property, we think will have an extremely adverse effect upon the quality of the air and the ability of the wildlife to continue.”
Residents can attend the ZBA’s hybrid meeting at 7 p.m. tonight in person at the Homer Building at 19 Moore Street or via Zoom.