Join Us In Protecting Spy Pond

Summary of Petition

Update as of Oct 16, 2018:  Please note, if you would like to contribute to legal costs for the current effort, you may do so at  https://www.gofundme.com/protect-spy-pond.

Below is the original 2016 text of this petition.

A developer plans to purchase a single-family house at 47 Spy Pond Lane and intends to split the lot into two lots and build two large houses. Both houses will extend into the 100’ buffer zone around Spy Pond, a stressed water body. The developer is asking the Arlington Conservation Commission to allow this. If built as proposed, this project will create water management problems in the buffer zone and set a dangerous precedent for future construction on the shores of Spy Pond. The Arlington Conservation Commission is considering this proposal right now. The sale of this property has not yet closed and the developer does not yet own it. Our understanding is that he has a contingency on the purchase and that actually buying the site will depend on if the Conservation Commission approves his proposal. We have a short few weeks to tell the Conservation Commission what we think and ask them to deny this proposal. Now is the time to act.

 

Full Text of Petition Against Proposal To Build Two Houses Deep in the Buffer Zone Around Spy Pond

We ask the Arlington Conservation Commission to fulfill its mandate to protect Spy Pond.

 We, a group of Arlington residents, are in favor of thoughtful development and home construction on the lots along the shores of Spy Pond. We seek a balance between fulfilling human needs and acting as stewards of Spy Pond, a natural resource that belongs to all of us and to the wildlife and ecosystem in and around it.

 Spy Pond is already stressed. We need to avoid further stress to this natural system in our midst.

 

 THE SITUATION: Seaver Construction proposes splitting one large lot at 47 Spy Pond Lane into two lots. This site is on the shore of Spy Pond. Seaver plans to build two large houses, one on each lot. Both proposed houses would be sited within the 100’ buffer zone around the pond. One of the proposed houses extends to within 50’ of the pond.

 Our understanding is that Seaver Construction does not yet own this property. We believe their purchase is contingent on whether their proposal is approved by the Arlington Conservation Commission.

 Now is the time for us as a community to act: before Seaver buys this site and has more leeway to move forward as the actual property owner.

 The Arlington Conservation Commission is charged with safeguarding the 100’ buffer zone around Spy Pond. The Con Comm ensures that construction within the buffer zone is done in ways that protect the pond.

 We the undersigned ask the Conservation Commission to deny this proposal. We ask that the Con Comm require the developer to rework plans such that any new construction be sited so that the back edge of any new houses be in line with the back edge of the existing house on the property and the neighboring houses on Spy Pond Lane.

 Just to be clear, this is not about reasonable expansion, renovation, or new construction on the pond. We understand these need to happen and should happen to meet the needs of community members and their families. In this case, a developer wishes to maximize square footage and footprint to increase profit on a waterfront site, all without accountability or consideration of the impact on Spy Pond.

 If built as proposed, this project will set a new precedent and compromise the Con Comm’s future ability to steward Spy Pond, a natural resource that cannot be replaced.

 How is the developer’s proposal harmful to Spy Pond?

• Two houses sited that close to the water in the 100’ buffer zone have negative impact on the pond in terms of: a) management of water runoff, b) protection of wildlife habitat, and c) create potential for increased pollution into the pond during the construction process.
• Buffer zones are critical to maintaining the health of water bodies. They absorb excess water from storms, floods, and other water events. If two large fixed structures are placed inside the 100’ buffer zone around Spy Pond, they will interfere with the buffer zone’s ability to do its job. Water runoff from two buildings on this site, one structure entirely new and both structures far larger than the existing house on the lot, will mean excess flows into Spy Pond. It could also mean potential risk to neighbors’ basements.
• How is this excess water flow into Spy Pond harmful to the pond’s health? When new structures are built on the pond’s shores, the result is an increase in the amount of impervious area on the site. Impervious areas are surfaces that do not absorb water (e.g., roofs, driveways). An increase in impervious area on a waterfront site means more water from storm runoff or other water events will flow into the water body. As it makes its way into Spy Pond, this excess water will wash along with it fertilizers, phosphorus, and other organic material. This material, especially phosphorus, stays in the pond for a very long time and results in increased growth of algae and other invasive vegetation. Eventually, this vegetation starts to take over the pond (and Arlington has had to do many treatments of Spy Pond for this in the past). This project would increase the amount of impervious area on this site by a large margin because the developer is proposing building two large houses on a site where there is currently only one modest house. 
• If this developer is allowed to proceed, anyone with a lot on Spy Pond will have a precedent to do similarly intrusive construction deep in the buffer zone around the pond. If everyone with property on Spy Pond gets to do this, it will have negative impact on the health and well being of the pond.

 As stewards of this public resource, we ask the Con Comm to protect Spy Pond and deny this proposal.

 In signing this petition, you are joining fellow citizens in asking the Con Comm to fulfill its mission to preserve and protect the sensitive 100’ buffer around Spy Pond, to protect the wildlife and ecosystem in the Pond, and protect our neighborhoods from adverse impact and adverse precedent.

 Please act now while we have time to influence this project.

 Please, also email your concerns to Emily Sullivan, Administrator of the Conservation Commission: ESullivan@town.arlington.ma.us 

 The petition asks that in addition to signing, you include your address. Please do include that so that the Con Comm will know that the signers of the petition are Arlington residents.