Photo: A spring bloom
Take a walk through the Mass Audubon Habitat. The turtles are back in the pond, the deer are out in force, and all sort of flora are making their way though the winter canopy of leaves and brush. Soon the goats will be out in their pens and patrons will be readying the annual plant sale. Spring officially arrives this Thursday, March 20, at 5:01 a.m., but you wouldn’t be wrong to say it’s already here.
Photo: The “new” Belmont Center? (all images: Able.City)
A hotel in the heart of Belmont Center? Or one across Concord Avenue from the new library? How about a series of three-and-a-half story residential and retail buildings hugging Leonard Street and Claflin Street where the municipal parking lot currently is located?
Presented to the Planning Board’s Tuesday, March 11 meeting was a series of architectural drawings picturing the latest aspirational version of the future of Belmont’s business and retail center if the annual Town Meeting passes this latest draft incarnation of the Belmont Center Overlay District
As one observer said after the meeting, “This isn’t want will be, rather, what it could be.”
The night’s highlight was a first draft “look-see” from consulting firm Able.City just how a proposed overlay district would transform Belmont Center from its current tired 60s traffic-based facade into a mix of Tudor- and Colonial-styled multi-story housing and storefronts that comes right out of the New Urbanism playbook.
Able.City’s leading philosophy and design ethic in rebuilding the center is that “the street is very important. The public realm is very important,” said Belmont Planner Chris Ryan. “There is a mix of uses, integrated of natural features, the consideration of neighborhoods, possible introduction of parks … definitely providing additional density, shopping opportunities and preserving building that need preserving.”
The district encompasses Leonard Street, Claflin Street, the Parking lot, the land opposite Town Hall, and the stretch of Concord Avenue beyond the commuter rail tunnel adjacent to the US Postal Service office and across from the new Public Library now under construction.
The Overlay District establishes five form-based districts (FB1 to FB5) based on location, with their own characteristics, such as how structures look, height restrictions, and frontage standards. An example: Known as the General Zone, FB2 encompasses the west side of Leonard Street and Concord Avenue adjacent to the commuter rail tracks. Its role is to transition the adjacent residential neighborhoods with the main commercial business area with buildings 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 stories tall with a maximum height of 48 feet.
Ryan presented the meeting with a series of renderings of the new center, showing Leonard Street with a stretch of tall mixed-use buildings, noting that the proposed heights on the street’s west side are not as high as previously cited.
The slides showed a complete transformation of the Claflin Parking Lot – known as the home of the Belmont Farmers Market – into “a second main street” consisting of a new retail/residential hub with a “structured parking deck” that would “wrap around the development and hidden in the back.” It would also include a four-story residential building near the intersection of Channing Road.
The development of the Claflin lot would likely require Claflin and Leonard to become one-way streets, creating a “round-about” for the center
Ryan did clarify that the consultants and the board “haven’t decided at this point whether we may want to go ahead and include the Claflin lot [for a vote at Town Meeting].”
Some questions still need to be answered, such as how much additional square footage each new structure will add to the center and the need for new parking to accommodate the new supply of business and housing.
“Obviously, both the Claflin lot and the Locatelli Properties lot (the parking adjacent to the back of the retail/office buildings located on Leonard Street) are very important in terms of decisions that the board needs to make … of what we go forward [to present to Town Meeting] in May,” said Ryan.
Yates expressed his unease with the current overlay design on parking. “I did not walk away with a really clearunderstanding for how we were going to make parking work [in a redesigned] Center,” said Yates. Ryan said a solution will come by first making a “complete inventory” of parking there today while seeking opportunities, such as “expansion of street parking … beyond the district” and parking opportunity districts. Also known as parking benefit districts, they are specified areas in the center where the parking revenues raised are reinvested back into the district for a wide range of transportation-related improvements.
Thayer Donham warned her fellow board members that “without having an integral parking plan that goes along with the [overlay district], it will not pass Town Meeting.
The five districts each have a consultant-created “use table” – outlining what uses are permitted within each zoning district – and also grants uses not currently allowed in the town’s bylaws. One such use, it turns out, is hotels.
Hotels and other lodging units have been a priority of many, including economic development advocates and those promoting commercial real estate, such as Belmont Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne, who has called hotels “low-hanging fruit,” as each pays multiple fees and taxes on parking, meals, and real property. It is no secret the town is attempting to work with the Tosi family, who own five acres along Hittinger and Brighton streets, to locate a hotel on the property.
Despite several half-hearted attempts in the past, town officials never got around to including a hotel bylaw in the zoning book. And because the town lacks rules on lodging structures, the Able.City’s “use table” permits hotels “by right” in the FB4 and 5 zoning areas, including the Claflin Parking lot and Concord Avenue.
When Yates asked if the use table would override the overall existing zoning, Ryan replied, “Then it would, probably be, yes.” Ryan added that many towns surrounding Belmont have special sections in their zoning books for particular uses like hotels which “flesh out some additional requirements” such as room count and parking numbers.
Belmont actually has a proposed hotel bylaw in the works. Yates revealed that he, Ryan, and the Planning Board’s Associate member Andy Osburn had initiated work that would allow hotels and Bed & Breakfasts “by-right” in all business districts, defining types of lodging (i.e., what is a boutique hotel) while proposing to “relax parking requirements” for hotels. Yates said the group had to pause their efforts due to a deluge of competing demands that “overwhelmed us,” such as work to pass the MBTA Communities Act and the Accessory Units bylaw.
The board will want restrictions on any “by-right” hotels in the overlay district. “Hotels, in general, have been a very popular point of discussion. But there’s been a lot of conservation about, should they be boutique? Should we have 200 rooms” said the board’s Carol Berberian. “I think that as long as there are some standards in place, it’ll just give us an idea of what to expect.”
At the latest public meeting in February, many in attendance and online were supportive of that first overlay draft with the hope that greater development will increase the percentage of commercial real estate coming to the town’s coffers to ease the property taxes on residential homeowners, and the need of an operational override.
Yet stubborn opposition to the current overlay plan continues from residents who live adjacent to the center, those concerned about traffic impact from new housing and businesses, and notably from the chair of the Belmont Center Association and long-time Center business owner, Deran Muckjian, who at past meeting question the financial viability of developing at the proposed scale.
“It’s kind of sad that the town is moving forward with [the overlay district] without listening to the local businesses in town who have so much at stake,” said Muckjian.
An updated draft, with comments from the Planning Board and its staff included, will be presented in a public meeting tentatively scheduled for April 10, a month before the Town Meeting vote.
Photo: Poster of the BHS PAC spring musical Rock of Ages
It’s a story about just a small town girl who took the midnight train going … to Los Angeles. It’s a story about a city boy born and raised in South Detroit who took the midnight train going … to Los Angeles. Both with stars in their eyes and a song in their heart.
That’s the set up for the musical “Rock of Ages,” (Teen Edition) this school year’s spring musical produced and performed by the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company.
“Nominated for five Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Rock of Ages will take you back into the iconic music era of the 80s, where rock-n-roll dreamers line up to turn their fantasies into reality — and you can be in the front row to watch it all come to life.” – Playbill
“Set in L.A.’s “infamous” Sunset Strip in 1987, Rock of Ages tells the story of Drew, a city-boy from South Detroit and Sherrie, a small-town girl, both in L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love. Rock of Ages takes you back to the times of big bands with big egos playing big guitar solos and sporting even bigger hair!” – BHS PAC
ROCK OF AGES
Book By Chris D’Arienzo, Arrangements and Orchestrations by Ethan Popp Including music by a bunch of Sweet 80’s bands including Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and more groups you’ll can ask your parents about.
Photo: Belmont High goalie Jil Costa making one of her 37 saves against Hingham High in the quarterfinal in the MIAA Division 1 quarterfinals.
Speaking in the narrow hallway leading to his team’s locker room in Stoneham Arena, Belmont High Girls Hockey Head Coach Brendan Kelleher was trying to find the right words to describe the game his team played on Wednesday night. In the state quarterfinals for the second consecutive season, the Marauders fell just short, 2-1, against Hingham High on a final-minute goal.
Despite the disappointment of the result, Kelleher looked back at the effort and toughness of his team against the top Division 1 team in the state.
“We knew it was going be a one-nothing game, a two-to-one game,” said Kelleher.
“Well, the customers got their money’s worth today,” said Kelleher with a shurge and a smile.
In a tightly fought contest that spotlighted both team’s top players, Hingham finally broke through Belmont’s stout defensive game plan on a reflexive pass toward the Marauder’s goal, “And you had a couple of sticks in there that ended with the puck in the net, and that’s the difference maker.”
For 44 minutes and 7 seconds, Belmont’s junior goalie Jil Costa stood as Belmont’s resolute redoubt, the last line of defense as the Marauders took on the onslaught from number 1-ranked Hingham.
“She stood on her head like she does every day for us,” said Kelleher.
With her typical calm demeanor, Costa was rock solid between the posts. Only once in 38 attempts did Hingham get past Costa on a second-period goal via its all-star center Caroline Doherty.
“They were just trying everything. I mean, they had girls coming and going all the time. We just tried keeping the outside, which we did for three periods,” said Kelleher.
The match was finally resolved on the Harborwomen’s 39 attempt: the game’s final shot. Hingham’s Callie Crean, who was parked just outside the crease, stabbed at a Doherty-induced rebound that slipped between Costa’s pads into the net. 2-1 with 53 seconds left in the game and the season.
“They were bringing it,” said Kelleher. “We would bend a little, but we didn’t break. And then it was just a puck that popped in.”
It was nothing less than a dream start for the Marauders when first-year winger Alexcia Fici, cycling behind the net, found co-captain Sadie Taylor alone in the slot. The team’s only senior whistled a slap shot by Hingham’s Izzi Puleo, and Belmont grabbed a 1-0 lead on the Marauder’s first shot on net just 2:37 in the first period.
“Sadie drove the ship all year for us. Her work ethic is stays alone. She drove the first line – Mackenzie and Alexi – which was the reason our season was such a success,” said Kelleher.
The top D line of sophomore Elise Lakin-Schultz and eighth grader Amelia Long and Kelleher’s second line, Middle School Kate Townsend with junior co-captain Thea Menovich, were in top form. On several occasions, the defenders tracked down Hingham’s talented forwards, pushing them to the outside where their shots were a leisurely game of catch for Costa. Lakin-Schultz was often took on the laborious task of rooting out Harborwomen and screening her goalie.
The offense in the first half of the game was buzzing the Harborwomen’s defense. “We had our chances,” said Kelleher. Belmont’s leading scorer, junior Mackenzie Clarke, had three chances as the clock wound down in the first period, which ended with 10 shots for Hingham and 7 for Belmont.
The start of the second period turned out to be a bright point for Belmont as momentun sided with them, with Menovich coming close when her shot confused Puleo. But the 10-minute mark would be the zenith of the Marauder’s attack as Hingham would reestablish their dominance as it kept possession for long stretches, forcing Belmont deeper into its own end.
Hingham’s breakthrough came after Long blocked a shot that Doughty collected to the right of Costa. The Holy Cross-commit picked up her own rebound and buried the puck at 8:35 of the second to knot the game at one. The one-way play was evident as Hingham held a more than 2-1 advantage in shots, 12-5, in the period.
The ultimate period saw Hingham pressure the Belmont defense, adding a fourth forward on the ice as they sought to finish the job before the vagaries of sudden death would decide the game. Costa would be peppered with 17 shots as Belmont mustered four in the period.
The winning play began with a positive play as Belmont’s Long tracked down attacking winger Hannah Lasch and sent her to the boards. Lasch turned and quickly passed the puck toward the crease, where Lakin-Schultz covered a pair of Hingham players. Doherty redirected the puck that Costa saved. The rebound was directed to Hingham’s Crean, who came from the blind side, and she squeezed the puck between Costa’s pads.
“What can you say? Hingham is a great team, solid up and down the lineup with great coaches. They deserve their placement, and we proved tonight that we can play with them for an entire game. I’ll take that,” said Kelleher.
In the postgame wrap-up in the Stoneham hallway, Kelleher said his team’s despondency from the loss – consecutive MIAA quarterfinals that ended up short – should not overwhelm its achievements: one-loss season, a top 10 power ranking, a place at the end of the regular season in the Boston Globe’s Top 20, and notably, consecutive Middlesex Liberty titles.
“This [game] takes nothing away from what the season was and what they accomplished,” said Kelleher. “Someone said to me before the season that this was a rebuilding year. So I think what they did was something else.”
Photo: State Rep. Dave Rogers
State Rep Dave Rogers has announce his March office hours in and around Belmont. They will be:
Feel free to contact Rep. Rogers’ office at any time with questions by phone at 617-722-2263 or by email at dave.rogers@mahouse.gov
Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (and, yes, Jackson Browne for all you Boomers) asked the question: “Oh, won’t you stay/Just a little bit longer?” You can now add the trio known as the Belmont Select Board with their own version of the classic doo-wop song. Will you stay Patrice?
A day after it was revealed that Town Administrator Patrice Garvin was a finalist for a similar position in Danvers, the Select Board approved a significant pay increase to convince Garvin to continue her tenure in Belmont for the next five years.
Using a hastily added item snuck into the board’s Wednesday meeting agenda – inserted just within the two-day notification requirement for public meetings – the board voted unanimously to increase Garvin’s salary from $216,800 (OK’d in September) to $229,500 per annum as of Jan. 15.
The salary includes a compensation package in which Garvin will receive a 2 percent annual pay increase over her contract and a $5,000 retention bonus paid out at the beginning of the fiscal year.
Garvin’s new pay package came about as the town administrator’s future in the “Town of Homes” was suddenly viewed as tenative as she perpared for her interview in Danvers.
“This was not welcome news,” said Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne of Garvin’s possible departure, noting the town is facing many “mission critical” issues such as major zoning bylaw reform and a possible 2007 budget override. With the pool of qualified town administrators “vanishingly small” and with the knowledge it would likely take anyone hired at least two years to get up to speed, “I asked Ms Garvin a key question, would she consider an improved employment contract from Belmont?” said Dionne. While surprised by the offer, Garvin “agreed to talk.”
With time of the essence, the board acted quickly to keep the town administrator that one board member recently described as “spectacular.” First, it revised the board’s meeting agenda before Monday’s Special Town Meeting (whose members approved the town’s new Accessory Dwelling Unit bylaw) to add an executive session that was later reveiled to knock out the details of Garvin’s new salary contract.
The board had scheduled a Wednesday meeting to prepare for a second night of Town Meeting if it had run long on Monday. Usually, this “extra” board meeting is cancelled. But late Monday, the board hastily added to the board’s Wednesday meeting agenda an item on the “Discussion and Possible Vote to Ratify Amendment to Contract for Town Administrator (Item Added)” just within the two-day notification requirement for public meetings. At Wednesday’s meeting that lasted 13 minutes and no public discussion, the board reupped Garvin contract for five additional years.
Some citizens – while expressing support to retain Garvin’s services, where less than thrilled by the board’s transparency. “It was like they wanted to keep this quiet,” said one resident who viewed the meeting on her smart phone while attending the Belmont vs. Hingham Girls Hockey state quarter-finals in Stoneham.
For other residents, the cost of keeping Garvin is an issue. According to World at Work, a global advisory company, the 5.9 percent jump in her annual paycheck is a step up from the average pay increase of 3.6 to 4 percent in the US last year. At her new salary, Garvin earns more than Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy, who takes home about $222,000.
However, according to Dionne, the board’s action is to bring Garvin’s pay and compensation package to a comparable level to her peers, an issue Dionne said was not fully addressed in September when the board supported a merit increase for Garvin.
“Her current compensation package is not competitive,” Dionne said. “We have looked at all-in compensation comparisons for other town managers and administrators, and Garvin is near the bottom of the list despite having significant experience.” The Select Board knew this when we conducted her annual review last fall.”
While noting the subject of Garvin’s salary has been a topic of “enduring interest” to many Belmont residents, Board member Roy Epstein said her salary is based on the town’s assessment of the market, with a reasonable set of benchmarks for town administrator, police chief and fire chief, and the salary is completely in line with those competitive benchmarks.
“Retaining [Garvin] is something of great importance. I don’t think we have any reasonable alternative but to pay a market based salary. It’s not at the top of the scale, but it’s certainly not at the bottom. It’s in the middle, and that’s where I think we ought to be,” he said.
A comparison to eastern Massachusetts municipalities of similar size to Belmont shows that Garvin will just above the mid-line of the salary conversation:
For Garvin, returning to her office on the second floor of Town Hall is gratifying as it provides her the opportunity to continue the work she and her team have begun.
“You could start to see how all the work was starting to kind of intertwine with each other, and all the small decisions that we made years ago really coming to fruition now, and how it impacts other departments,” she said.
“So it’s really exciting to see all those things come together, and I appreciate the board’s willingness and opportunity to be in town to really to just keep going and then continue to build off of everything that we’ve done, and be able to do that with the team that’s in place,” Garvin said.
Photo: Belmont Town Manager Patrice Garvin
According to a March 5 post on the town’s website, Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s Town Administrator for the past seven years, is one of three finalists to become Danvers’ next town manager.
Garvin and the other two finalists – Gloucester CEO Jill Cahill and former Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald- were announced at the Tuesday, March 4 Select Board meeting. The board will interview the three on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center.
“The Board will consider the candidates and potentially make a selection that night or at the following Select Board meeting on March 18,” according to the notice.
The job opening occurred when Steve Bartha resigned from the position in October to take the town manager job in Lexington.
This marks the second time Garvin has been a finalist to take a top spot in another municipality since arriving in Belmont in January 2018. In December 2021, Garvin was in the running to replace Reading Town Manager Robert LeLacheur but lost out to Chelsea’s Department of Public Work Commissioner Fidel Maltez.
With nearly the same number of residents (a population of 27,900), Danvers is at the intersection of I95, Route 128, and Route 1, which makes it attractive for commercial development.
Coming to Belmont after serving as Shirley’s Town Administrator, Garvin has had a successful tenure in the “Town of Homes,” receiving outstanding job performance reviews from successive Select Boards. Her tenure included steering the town through the Covid pandemic and budgetary difficulties, including a failed override in 2020.
After her latest merit increase in September 2024, Garvin’s salary is $216,800. The Danvers position statement indicates that Town Manager’s annual salary is budgeted at “$220,000+/- depending on qualifications.”
Photo: Belmont’s fans and the team celebrate the Marauders 1-0 shutout victory over Reading in the MIAA Division 1 Girls Hockey state tournament.
Belmont High’s MacKenzie Clarke has a knack for scoring big goals against Middlesex Liberty rival Reading Memorial on the field hockey pitch. In October, Clarke – a Boston Globe All-Scholastic – scored twice in a 2-1 win over a top-10-ranked Rockets, propelling the Marauders to a league title.
You can now add the ice rink where Clarke broke Reading’s heart as the junior forward buried a power play goal with two minutes left on the clock to put Belmont in the Division 1 state Elite Eight as the Marauders defeated Reading, 1-0, in a Sweet 16 match held at Watertown’s Ryan Arena on Saturday, March 1.
Belmont, the eighth-seed, will now face the epic challenge of facing number one-ranked Hingham High at Stoneham Arena. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5.
Clarke’s game-winner came while Belmont was on a 5-4 power play after Reading was called for a trip with 2:40 left in the third period. Off the face-off, first-year forward Alexcia Fici took the puck at the left circle and slotted a pass to Clarke who was waiting in the slot. With senior co-captain Sadie Taylor camped in front of the goalie, the season’s leading scorer redirected the puck into the back of the net with approximately 2:30 remaining.
“That was our first powerplay of the game, and we have been working on being up a player. We finally got into our positions … and Lexi Fici passed it to me, and I just tipped it in,” said Clarke.
The league rivals faced off on Saturday for the third time this season, with Belmont claiming a victory and a tie. Familiar with each other approach to the game, the match was tightly fought over the 45 minutes.
As throughout the season, Belmont’s second-year Head Coach Brendan Kelleher relied on his top defense pairing of sophomore Elise Lakin-Schultz and eighth grader Amelia Long to stifle Reading’s quickness. All-star junior goalie Jil Costa (giving up less than one goal on average per game) was solid in the net, especially when the Rockets swarmed the crease.
“Anxiety does have a tendency to build as a tie game goes on,” said Costa. “I instead focus on what I can control, which is keeping my body forward, keeping my hands in front, cutting off whatever angles are possible. My mentality the whole time is just save the puck and win the game.”
Belmont had its chances on offense with Taylor, the team’s only senior, showing her dominance along the boards, both behind and in front of the net. Taylor had a golden opportunity in the second period when she nearly slipped in a loose puck in the crease only to see it sneak off her stick’s blade.
The Taylor, Clark, and Fici line created scoring opportunities but could not find the finishing touch in the game. It didn’t help that Reading stole the momentum on three consecutive power plays, two in the second period. The Marauders’ second line of first-year Mia Smith, junior Sydney Mun, and eighth-grader Mackenzie Tierney effectively put their time in the offensive zone.
As the third period was winding down and the players and fans were preparing for sudden-death overtime, fortune struck for the Marauders when the Rockets were called for a consequential trip in the Belmont zone, a decision that isn’t usually called so late in a playoff game.
And Reading would be punished harshly for the infraction with Clarke’s poke. The Rockets did make it interesting in the final two minutes by pulling the goalie, a decision that Clarke nearly made them pay for when she rocketed a rink-long attempt that clanged off an inside post.
After a sigh of relief, Belmont’s attention now turns to Hingham (21-1-1) which defeated Shrewsbury, 4-2, on Saturday.The Harbormen have held the top spot in the D1 power rankings and the Boston Globe Top 20 poll for most of the season, while Belmont (17-1-4) is 17th in the Globe.
“It’s not worrying about their place in the tournament; it’s about fighting as hard as we can,” said Clarke. “It will be a hard game, but I think we can still give them a good fight.”
Photo: The fire at the corner of Pleasant Street and Alexander Avenue seriously damaged a historic house.
A historic 19th-century structure at the corner of Pleasant Street and Alexander Avenue was seriously damaged by a two-alarm fire that brought out multiple fire departments to Belmont on Sunday afternoon, March 2.
According to Belmont Fire Capt. Robert Wollner, the town’s dispatch center, received a 911 call at 1:48 p.m. from an unknown caller about a fire at 592 Pleasant St. When fire engines arrived from the nearby Belmont Center Firehouse, “smoke and fire were showing from the second floor,” said Wollner. Firefighters discovered that the two occupants in the house had escaped and were not injured.
A second alarm was soon made, bringing all of Belmont’s equipment to the site and mutual aid from Cambridge, Arlington, and Waltham, which covered both of Belmont’s firehouses.
Wollner said the fire left the dwelling “with a lot of smoke and water damage” and will force the five residents to find other accommodations “for a while” as the house – a 13-room Colonial built in 1850 and remodeled in 2001 – must undergo significant repairs.
Photo: Belmont High Junior Sophia McClendon (center) in action vs. Woburn
In its preview of the MIAA girl’s state tournament, the Boston Globe noted that the best first-round matchup in Division 1 will be 18th-ranked Newton North (12-8) at No. 15 Belmont (13-7) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28.
And why not think that? The Belmont High Girls are entering its third consecutive playoff run after a solid season finishing second in the Middlesex League Liberty behind 19-1 Woburn and earning a home game in the post-season. And for four-year head coach Shantell Jeter, the match will be her third attempt at winning her first playoff game since taking the helm.
Newton North has had nearly identical records and power rankings as Belmont for the past three years. With similar game scoring (Newton North at 52 points per game), the game will likely be a nick-and-tuck affair, so fans can expect to stay until the final buzzer.
“The girls have been improving through the season and I have been asking them to keep the intensity on,” said Jeter. “We’ve been looking towards the playoffs so we can’t let up.
The Marauders scored an impressive 54 points per game average behind senior co-captain forward Linda Sheng and league all-star and co-captain junior true forward Sophia McClendon, averaging double figures.
Joining the scoring pair include first-year youngster Sarah Geller and junior Sophia Pang, who play in the more traditional guard positions and are the keys to Jeter’s high-pressure person-to-person defense.