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May 7, 2008
Public Meeting to protect Fells Reservation against impacts from Langwood Commons development project. The meeting took place at Melrose Memorial Hall; speaking in this photograph is Friends of Fells attorney Barry Fogel. David Mussina photo.
LANGWOOD COMMONS FELLS PROTECTION CAMPAIGN
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Ten Year Citizens Campaign for Fells Protection Continues
A series of environmental impact review (MEPA) rulings issued by the Commonwealth since the year 2000 have rejected various iterations of the Langwood housing and office space development. The 2006 MEPA ruling stated that the size of the project was not small enough to qualify as a "reduced build alternative [that] can be built without adversely affecting the character of the parkways" as was required by the previous MEPA rulings. Also cited was the Adverse Effect Finding on the Project issued by the Mass Historical Commission, regarding changes to the parkways which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 2006 ruling stated, “as MEPA has previously stated, the appropriate scale is contextual, and will be determined by the relationship between the size of the project, the scope of measures necessary to mitigate for unavoidable impacts, and the capacity of the Middlesex Fells Reservation to accommodate that mitigation.”
The MEPA ruling required the developers to provide concrete information quantifying how traffic impacts from the project would be mitigated to protect the historic parkways and the Fells Reservation itself. The ruling said that the issue is the ability of the Parkways “to serve the recreational purposes of the parkland.”
The developers were required to present a new Environmental Impact assessment for state review.
But this is not what has happened.
Instead of submitting details of a smaller plan as required, in January 2008 the developers urged state officials to remove Langwood Commons completely from all further environmental review!
The developers asserted that they had determined that the project was small enough so they simply would not seek any permits to make any parkway changes. Thus, the developers claimed, the Commonwealth no longer has any jurisdiction for review of the project’s environmental impacts.
Did the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Office rebuff this attempt by developers to evade environmental review with the premise that DCR does not have authority to require them to implement the necessary parkway changes, solely because they do not seek a DCR permit to perform that work?
No, the state simply caved in, stating it no longer had jurisdiction over its assets!
In June 2009, the Environmental Affairs Secretary issued an astounding opinion which stated that "in the absence of a request for a permit or direct or indirect financial assistance from the (developers) I do not have the authority to assert MEPA jurisdiction over the private development."
In a March, 2008, article the Boston Globe quoted DCR showing the agency had fallen in line with this ploy,
“But DCR is unlikely to relent. Regardless of the level of traffic it generates, Langwood Commons requires a review only if the developer proposes to change the parkways leading to it, officials say.”
In response, the Friends of the Fells, City of Medford and other residents filed suit in Superior Court claiming that the state’s actions constitute violations of statutes or regulations designed to protect the environment, including GL. c. 92, § 35, which mandates that DCR "shall preserve and protect the scenic and historic integrity of its roadways and boulevards.”
On February 11, 2010 motions were heard in Superior Court. In March the judge dismissed the claims, asserting that there were no grounds.
An appeal of this dismissal was heard by the Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on May 5, 2011.
Then, in a unanimous decision issued on August 11, 2011, the SJC ruled in favor of Friends of the Fells and fellow plaintiffs, stating that sufficient facts had been presented regarding the case to require a hearing by the Superior Court.
When the boundaries of the Middlesex Fells Reservation were being drawn in 1894 there was a curious 40 acre ‘hole’ in the new park right across from Spot Pond. This was the location of the Langwood Hotel and for various reasons this property was not able to be converted into parkland. Metropolitan Park Commission landscape architect Charles Eliot wrote in 1896 of his concern that leaving this property in private hands could one day lead to the building of the ‘eyesore’ of ‘large or numerous buildings’ coming into view by Fells visitors. The effort to ensure that whatever development is built is in harmony with the Fells surroundings gives voice to the concerns raised over a century ago.
