East Campus Project

The following letter was mailed on May 26, 2023 to property owners abutting the project.

Dear Neighbor,

Belmont Hill School invites you to join us from 7:00pm to 8:00pm on Monday, June 5, 2023 to hear about construction plans for our East Campus project. The meeting will be held in the Wadsworth Room located in the Jordan Athletic Center. 

This is the first in a series of quarterly meetings that we will hold with our neighbors to provide updates on construction. Work is expected to begin on the Prospect Street/Park Avenue parcel in June, and work in the areas adjacent to the Jordan Athletic Center and in the main parking lot is currently planned for the Summer of 2024. 

While we are notifying you of this first meeting by mail, future meeting dates and times will be posted on our East Campus project web page, which is located at: www.belmonthill.org/east-campus-project

Between these meetings we would encourage you to visit the web page to stay up to date on project schedules, key milestones, and other important project developments.

We hope that you can join us on June 5. RSVP to Beth Girioni at girioni@belmonthill.org.

Sincerely,  

Gregory J. Schneider 
Ronald M. Druker ’62 Head of School 

• Removing the proposed outdoor above ground fuel storage tanks 
• Shifting the parking lot layout to increase the distance from the closest abutter
• Moving the fence between the parking lot and the property line (between 5 feet and 9 feet from the pavement)
• Relocating the facilities building further away from an adjacent property (reducing the number of parking spaces)
• Planting either English or Boston ivy along the façade of the facilities building facing an abutting property
• Planting an enhanced vegetative buffer with substantial plantings in the area between the facilities building and the abutting property 
• Maintaining the changes agreed to last fall

• A new 7,000+/- square foot Facilities Building
• 144 new parking spaces across campus in three lots; one new 43,500 square foot parking lot
• Reconfigured off-street parking, screening, egress, utilities, drainage, and lighting

• 1007 shrubs (669 in east campus, 338 in main campus) to be planted
• 199 trees (128 in east campus, 71 in main campus) to be planted

• Third party review (conducted by BSC) concludes the project will have no material impact on traffic
• The project does not include/encroach on any defined wetland areas or their buffer zones
• Updates to planting plan, fence design, and project design limit impact on local wildlife

While there is no plan to increase enrollment, over the next five to six years there is a need to provide on-site student parking, offer visitor parking for academic and athletic events, improve the flow of traffic in our upper parking lot off Marsh Street, and replace the existing Facilities Building with a purpose-designed structure.

Belmont Hill prepared an application for Design and Site Plan Review to address these needs for the construction of a new 7,000+/- square foot Facilities Building, the addition of approximately 150 parking spaces across campus in three lots, and changes to the configuration of off-street parking, screening, egress, utilities, drainage, and lighting. Extensive materials related to the project are public record and are available on the Town of Belmont website. The purpose of this webpage is to provide a better understanding of this project.

Fact:

BSC Group, Inc. (BSC) conducted a peer review of the Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) prepared by Vanasse & Associates, Inc. (VAI) dated August 2022 for the proposed project located at 350 Prospect Street in Belmont, MA. In their peer review letters dated October 12, 2022 and January 12, 2023, BSC agreed with Vanasse’s methodology and reasoning and does not believe that the Project will have an adverse impact on traffic.

The Vanasse study concludes that:

1. The Project will not result in a material increase in traffic as the elements of the campus improvements are focused on facility upgrades, parking improvements and enhancements to pedestrian and bicycle access and landscaping, with no changes proposed to student enrollment or staffing levels;
2. The Project will benefit (improve) operating conditions at the Park Avenue/ Prospect Street/Marsh Street intersection through a reassignment of existing school-related traffic from the Marsh Street parking lots on the main campus to a new parking facility that will be situated east of the Park Avenue/Prospect Street/Marsh Street intersection;
3. The Project will not result in a significant impact (increase) on motorist delays or vehicle queuing over Existing or anticipated future conditions without the Project (No-Build conditions), with the majority of the movements at the study intersections shown to operate at LOS D or better under all analysis conditions, where an LOS of "D" or better is defined as "acceptable" traffic operations;
4. Independent of the Project, operating conditions for one or more movements at the Park Avenue/Concord Turnpike, Park Avenue/Hinckley Way and Park Avenue/ViIlage Hill Road intersections were identified to be operating at or over capacity (i.e., LOS "E" or "F"), with Project-related impacts at these intersections generally defined as a predicted increase in overall average motorist delay of up to 3.5 seconds and in vehicle queuing of up to one (1) vehicle;
5. No apparent safety deficiencies were noted with respect to the motor vehicle crash history at the study area intersections;
6. The proposed parking supply is appropriately sized to accommodate the existing parking demands of the campus and to allow for the elimination of the reliance on off-campus parking to meet current demands; 
7. Lines of sight to and from the Project driveway intersections meet, exceed, or can be made to meet or exceed the recommended minimum sight distances for the intersections to function in a safe manner based on the appropriate approach speed.

Fact:

The area consists of 6 residential lots, 5 have houses and the 6^th lot is a paved driveway.  The house on this lot was removed from the site about 16 years ago and the house lot has grown over since then. Together these 6 lots total 7.06 acres. New clearing for the Project will occur over 1.7 acres of the site.

Fact:

The Dover Amendment states that local zoning bylaws may not prohibit, regulate or restrict the use of land or structures for educational purposes on land owned or leased by ... a nonprofit educational corporation; provided, however, that such land or structures may be subject to reasonable regulations concerning the bulk and height of structures and determining yard sizes, lot area, setbacks, open space, parking and building coverage requirements.
 

Fact:

This is not accurate. The Belmont Zoning Bylaw schedule of use regulations indicate that Educational Uses exempted from prohibition by MGL ch 40A section 3 are allowed by right

Fact:

The number of square feet of pavement in the parking lot is 43,500 square feet.

Fact:

The Project has been designed to address heat island impacts, improve habitat for native wildlife, and manage pollution and noise. 

• 1,007 evergreen and deciduous shrubs (669 in East Campus and 338 in Main Campus). Many of the shrubs are fruiting or flowering and will enhance pollinator and wildlife habitat.
• 199 deciduous canopy, and deciduous and evergreen understory trees, 3–4-inch DBH that reach a total height of at least 30 feet will be planted (128 in East Campus and 71 in Main Campus). Species have been selected to fit into the vernacular New England landscape, grow quickly, and create a diverse hardwood canopy that can resist future climate impacts, including expanding pests and diseases.
• Mature trees will shade much of the East Campus lot, reducing the heat island effect.
• Woodland groundcovers and naturalized grasses will be used instead of lawn to reduce the need for mowing and intensive maintenance.
• The Stormwater Management Plan prepared by Langan has been approved by BSC, the towns peer reviewer. In BSC’s peer review letters of October 12, 2022 and January 12, 2023, BSC agrees with Langan’s conclusion that the information provided in the site plans and Stormwater Management Report meets all state and local requirements regarding construction period erosion and sedimentation control, that the proposed stormwater system will improve treatment of the runoff from the (existing) Upper Parking lot, and that appropriate calculations have been provided demonstrating that the project provides sufficient groundwater recharge.
• A noise study was completed by Cavanaugh Tocci and indicates that as currently designed, estimates sound levels from the mechanical units at the Facilities Building at the nearest residential property line will be less than 30 dBA. The town allows 55 dBA during daytime hours and 45dBA during nighttime hours. 

Fact:

Planning Board Chair Matt Lowrie has stated that the removal of parking spots at Belmont High School were due to budget restraints, not environmental concerns.

Fact:

The school always encourages students to carpool when possible. With more than 450 students from over 80 communities, biking to school is not practical in a vast majority of cases.  The average traveling distance for our students is 15 miles. For those students who may be close enough to bike to school, the project provides bicycle parking racks at the Upper Parking Lot.

Fact:

The school receives multiple, and often angry, complaints each year from neighbors. Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac stated that during primarily athletic events the Police Department receives many complaints from neighborhood residents complaining that vehicles are parked in front of their homes.  The Chief has stated that in 2019 (pre-pandemic) the department filled 85 requests for police details, primarily for athletic events and that during an average event there are 29-75 cars parked on the street and for large events, there are well over 100 cars parked on the street.