Busa Land Use Proposal Committee Report 03-14-2011

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• August 26, 2010: communication with the public (update); discussed design and program criteria for concept proposals; scheduled meetings with the Goldinger family and Arlington town manager; heard update on progress of the site survey; scheduled two open forums in Lexington • September 15, 2010: First Open Forum — approximately forty -five people came to the microphone with their ideas about the future use of the land. The thrust of each idea was recorded on chart paper and incorporated into the minutes of the forum. Those people who did not get a chance to speak were invited to speak first at the next forum on October 7, 2010. • September 28, 2010: met with James and Kimberly Goldinger; met with Arlington Town Manager Brian Sullivan, Selectman Clarissa Rowe, Director of Planning & Community Development Carol Kowalski, and Chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee Ed Starr; reviewed first open forum; finalized the information /criteria to be included by proponents in their presentations (concept proposals) at the November 4, 2010 forum (this was followed by distributing the information /criteria) • October 7, 2010: Second Open Forum - approximately forty people came to the microphone with their ideas. No one was left out! Their ideas are incorporated in the minutes of the forum. • October 21, 2010: reviewed open forum of October 7th; reviewed the evaluation criteria for proposals; discussed that the town had not conducted a traffic study of the streets near the Busa land; reviewed materials to bring to the Arlington forum; finalized the format for the November 4th "concept proposals" forum (three groups had filed — Lexington Community Farm Coalition; Lexington Housing Partnership; and the Lexington Recreation Committee.) • October 27, 2010: Open Forum held in Arlington by the Town of Arlington - 55± Arlington residents attended of whom 34± came to the microphone. 5± Lexington residents were identified in the audience in the auditorium in the Arlington Town Hall. Arlington Director of Planning & Community Development Carol Kowalski moderated the forum. Comments and ideas are incorporated into the minutes of the October 27th forum. • November 4, 2010: Concept Proposal Presentations (in alphabetical order) were made by the Lexington Community Farm Coalition; Lexington Housing Partnership; and the Lexington Recreation Committee. To read their proposals, please go to the BLUPC web page. (also in Appendix 7.4 of the final report to the Board of Selectmen) • November 18, 2010: met with Robert Pressman and received written information from him to support his contention that meaningful affordable housing, meaningful community farming, and a recreation field can co -exist on the overall site (Busa land). Further, he contends that, with cooperation, some land at Waltham Street could supplement the farm. (All of his communication with the committee is available on the BLUPC web page. (Also, see Appendix 7.7 of the final report.) The committee also voted to accept the Evaluation Criteria for Land Use Proposals that had been developed and modified; discussed information the BLUPC had read about contamination studies of the land; began to compare each proposal to the evaluation criteria; and examined the site survey to see what it tells us about the land and what it can accommodate and where. • December 7, 2010: reviewed responses to questions about proposals posed to proponents raised at the November 18th meeting; compared each proposal to the "Evaluation Criteria" for land use proposals (adopted November 18, 2010) • December 16, 2010: continued to apply the evaluation criteria to the proposals the BLUPC has received; discussed the implications of each, the pros and cons, from the members' perspectives • January 5, 2011: reviewed any pertinent correspondence, e.g., the form of the final report to the Board of Selectmen (BOS); progress report to the BOS to be presented on January 10, 2011; Busa Land Use Proposal Committee Report Page 14 / 52