Special Town Meeting Warrant Opens Tuesday, Closes Wednesday

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Photo: A Brookline town meeting warrant from the time of Belmont incorporation in the late 1850s.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen voted at their Monday, Oct. 15 meeting on the dates in which the warrant for the Special Town Meeting beginning Nov. 13 will be open and closed.

The Special warrant will open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16 and close a day later on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m.

The most prominent of the eight article coming before “the special” is the authorization to borrow $213 million to construct a new 7-12 High School. The overlay district maps for adult retail marijuana sales and South Pleasant Street will be on the warrant along with changing the tax deferral for seniors from 8 to 4.5 percent, a Community Preservation Act off-cycle request for $400,000 for design work on the Alexander Avenue underpass, an extension of the DPW/Belmont Police Committee and a pair of financial issues.

The warrant is a document issued by the Board of Selectmen to call a town meeting. Warrants are essentially a list of items to be voted on by the approximately 300 Town Meeting Members which represents the residents in Belmont’s eight precincts.

The selectmen and town committees, boards and staff can place an article in the warrant. Residents can also insert an article on the warrant through the citizen’s petitions process. In a special town meeting, the citizen petitioner must gather 200 signatures to be accepted. Once received by the town clerk, the selectmen have 45 days to call a special town meeting or place it in the warrant of an existing town meeting. 

After the warrant is closed on Wednesday, the selectmen will meet with Town Moderator Micheal Widmer this coming Monday to determine the order the articles will be taken up and if there are any issues pertaining to conflicts with any of the articles. 

Want To Vote Nov. 6? Registration Deadline Is Oct. 17; Early Voting Starts Oct. 22

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Photo: Now is the time to register to vote.

If you are looking to vote on the Belmont 7-12 School debt proposal, several ballot questions or for the slew of federal, state or district candidates seeking office this fall, the voter registration deadline is Wednesday, Oct. 17 to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 6 state election.

A person can register to vote in Belmont if:

  • You are living in Belm0nt; and
  • You are at least 18 years old or will be 18 years old on or before Election Day; and
  • You are a citizen of the United States.

Property ownership alone does not entitle a person to register to vote in Belmont; you must also live in Belmont.

In order to be eligible to vote in the upcoming state election, the voter registration must be received or postmarked by the 20th day preceding the election, on Oct. 17.  The Town Clerk’s office will remain open until 8 p.m. to receive voter registrations and changes to voter registrations on Oct. 17.

Check your current voter registration status at the Secretary of State website.

Are you a registered voter in another Massachusetts town or a different state?

If you were a registered to vote in another Massachusetts town or state, you must register to vote in Belmont in order to vote here.  See below for voter registration access.

Have you moved or changed your name since you registered to vote in Belmont or last voted in Belmont? 

The deadline for registered Belmont voters who want to make changes of address within Belmont, or name or party affiliation is also Oct. 17.  See below for voter registration change.

Online Voter Registration for residents who have a current Massachusetts Driver’s License or Massachusetts State ID issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Voter Registration Documents are also available at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 455 Concord Avenue or online at the Town Clerk’s web pages.

Find out if you are registered to vote and where you vote, sample ballots and more

Change of Belmont address forms for voters who are already registered to vote in Belmont

Change of Party affiliation forms for voters who are already registered to vote in Belmont

Early Voting will be available at Town Hall Oct. 22 starting at 8 a.m. through Nov. 2 at Noon.

Any registered voter of Belmont can choose to cast an Early Voting ballot for this election. Belmont’s Early Voting will take place only at Town Hall; the Early Voting Period is dictated by law.  Early Voting is different from Absentee Voting, in that any voter can cast an Early Voting ballot but only those voters who qualify may request us to mail an Absentee Ballot (see the qualifications below).  If you’ll be in Belmont during the Early Voting period, why not consider stopping into Town Hall to cast your ballot instead of having us mail an Absentee Ballot to your home?

The full schedule of extended Early Voting times and dates, including evening and Saturday hours, will be published next week and updated on the Town Clerk’s web pages,

Starting Oct. 1, Close Your Trash Lids Or You’ll Be Left At The Curb

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Photo: NO! The incorrect way to leave your trash carts for the hauler.

Starting Monday, Oct 1, trash carts whose lids are not fully closed will be left behind on the curb. And don’t go crying to the town about having to wait a week to have your garbage taken away.

That’s the word from Belmont Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte who told the Board of Selectmen at its Friday, Sept. 29 meeting that Waste Management – Belmont’s hauler of household garbage and recyclables since July 1 – has decided it was the right time to have the Town of Homes follow the procedures the company has at its service locations around the country. 

The reason the lids must be closed is to prevent spillage from overflowing carts when they are lifted into the receptacle trucks. 

For those residents who are scofflaws to this new enforcement measure, Waste Management will sticker barrels that are not closed or have unofficial bags on top of trash barrel lid. The town will not send the hauler back to empty stickered trash. Those citizens will have to wait until the following week and then the process must be done correctly; the cart lid closed and excess trash placed in official overflow bags next to the cart.

While Mike Santoro, the head of the highway division, said there is a little leeway for carts whose lids are slightly open, Selectman Mark Paolillo – who has become a crusader against wayward trash around town – was rigid in his support of a completed closed lid, saying there should be no wavering in the law’s application, noting he regularly uses the supplemental bags.

The overflow bags can be purchased at Star Market on Trapelo Road, Hillside True Value on Blanchard Road and the DPW Office at 19 Moore St. The cost is $15 for a sleeve containing five 32-gallon bags.

Voters Approve Marijuana Bylaw Limiting Pot Businesses in Belmont [VIDEO]

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Photo: Voters by a two-to-one margin approve limiting pot businesses in Belmont.

Belmont declared Tuesday, Sept. 25, that marijuana as a business should be kept at a minimum, as voters by a two to one margin limited pot to be sold at two retail stores.

At Tuesday’s special town election, a little more than 2,000 voters voted ‘yes’ to prohibit all types of marijuana establishments with the exception of retailers, just about double (2,004 to 1,160) those who opposed the measure, which would have permitted all sorts of pot commerce – such as growers and processors as well as an unlimited number of stores – to be located in town.

The special election was called when Town Meeting at its spring annual meeting approved the language which allowed the town to select the retail-only business option.

Approximately 18 percent of registered voters ventured on a dank, rainy day to the polls, a good size participation considering the non-financial nature of the ballot question.

Town Meeting members will soon decide where the pair of pot shops can be located when the Planning Board presents proposed retail marijuana overlay districts at the Nov. 12 Special Town Meeting.

While Belmont is now open for retailers to apply to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission for a license, past actions by town officials will likely place the Town of Homes on the back burner for pot entrepreneurs. In the spring, the Belmont Health Board increased the age of those purchasing weed and related products to 25 years old while prohibiting the delivery of products in town. With Belmont surrounded by communities with fewer restrictions – Boston, Watertown and Cambridge come to mind – the consensus is that businesses will skip over Belmont to those with more favorable bylaws. 

Belmont Votes Today, Tuesday, Sept. 25: Pot Bylaw

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Photo: Belmont voters head for the polls today.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Belmont votes today, Sept. 25, in a Special Town Election to determine the direction of a marijuana bylaw approved by Town Meeting in the spring.

What does your vote on the ballot question mean?

A Yes vote allows retail marijuana establishments to be licensed in Belmont and limits the number to 20 percent  of the number of “package store” licenses we have issued; currently that calculation would result in up to two licenses. This vote would also prohibit businesses that cultivate, manufacture or test marijuana from being licensed to open in Belmont.

A No vote allows retail marijuana establishments to be licensed in Belmont but there would be no limit on the number of licenses that could be issued. In addition, businesses that cultivate, manufacture or test marijuana could be licensed; likewise, there would be no limit on the number of these licenses that could be issued.

Both Yes and No votes allow the Town of Belmont to create time, place and manner Zoning Bylaws regulating where and how marijuana businesses may operate in Town, but only a Yes vote would let the Zoning Bylaw limit, directly or indirectly, the total number of retail stores allowed in Belmont. The proposed Zoning Bylaw regulating marijuana businesses is expected to be voted at the Special Town Meeting scheduled November 13th.

The Belmont Board of Health has already adopted recreational-use marijuana regulations. Marijuana licenses are issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; they not issued locally.

Polling places will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

  • Precinct 1 – Library, Assembly Room
  • Precinct 2 – Town Hall, Selectmen’s room
  • Precinct 3 – Beech Street Center, Multipurpose room
  • Precinct 4 – Butler School, Gymnasium
  • Precinct 5 – Beech Street Center, Multipurpose room
  • Precinct 6 – Fire Headquarters, 299 Trapelo Road
  • Precinct 7 – Burbank School, Gymnasium
  • Precinct 8 – Winn Brook School, Gymnasium (enter on Cross Street)

To find out whether you are registered to vote and where you vote, visit the web page: www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/

New Clay Pit Path Set To Open Mid-November; Vets Memorial A Bit Later

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Photo: Work has already begun on the new path around Clay Pit Pond.

It’s been more than two years after Town Meeting gave its OK, but finally, a premier Belmont recreation spot will soon have a new surface that the public will be able to use by Thanksgiving.

In fact, work on the Clay Pit Pond Intergenerational Walking Path had begun by contractor Ronald A Marini Corp. of Auburndale before the contract was signed by the Board of Selectmen on Monday, Sept. 17. The path’s route has been dug up and the ground is being prepped for the installation of the surface material

Marini, a firm Belmont Conservation Commission Agent Mary Trudeau said specializes in municipal parks and creating pathways, submitted the low bid of $388,000 which was accepted by the Selectmen.

The path will be permeable with a crushed stone top – quarried locally in West Roxbury – with drainage along the landscaped route.

Once completed, the path will “feel like you’re walking in a country meadow,” said Trudeau.

The path will stop where the proposed new high school will be built, but discussions with the school’s designers are for possible ways of “sharing” the area along the pond’s edge as a walkway, thus completing the path around Clay Pit. 

“It’s all very exciting,” said Trudeau.

While the contract signed by the board was for the path, in fact, the job includes work on the proposed Veterans Memorial at the Pond. “We really 

Glenn Clancy, director of the Office of Community Development, noted that the path and the Veterans Memorial were using Community Preservation Act funds – $216,550 for the path and $103,000 for the memorial – with an additional $68,450 being donated by the Belmont Veteran Memorial Fund to cover additional expenses not originally contemplated.

While the Veterans Memorial will take somewhat longer to complete – the low black granite markers for each of the conflicts Belmont residents are being made – “possibly the bulk of the work on the intergenerational path which will include hydroseeding the site will be completed by Veterans Day, Nov. 11,” said Trudeau.

Town, League Seek To Clear The Haze Over Pending Marijuana Bylaw Vote

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Photo: If Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski is baffled by the marijuana ballot next week, so are a lot of Belmontians.

Ok, let’s go over this once more. Belmont is voting on marijuana again despite the state legalizing pot sales to adults statewide in 2016, just this time if you vote “yes” there’ll be less pot use in town and if you vote “no,” the town will be open to more marijuana businesses coming here.

What? Like, now I’m really confused.

And the likelihood that many Belmontians will bring this same level of bewilderment to the polls next Tuesday, Sept. 25, has prompted both the town and local nonpartisan advocacy group to step forward to “clear the haze” concerning the marijuana ballot question.

The Belmont League of Women Voters Educational Fund is holding an informational session on the ballot question on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room at Chenery Middle School, 95 Washington St. The league’s Study Committee on Marijuana will provide information on the issue. The league has also invited Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman to be available to answer questions.

“Since Town Meeting in May, the Town Clerk’s office has received many phone calls and visits from voters who are confused and puzzled about the available choices,” said Cushman.

Voters will be asked to either accept or reject a new bylaw allowing Belmont to “opt-out” of permitting the five pot-related industries authorized under state law with one exception, which is up to two pot stores located in three commercial business areas around town. If the voters reject the bylaw, Belmont would be compelled to allow four marijuana business – if they applied – to be located in town:

  • Retail marijuana stores
  • Marijuana product manufacturers
  • Marijuana cultivators
  • Marijuana testing facilities

While seemingly straightforward, the major issue residents have is the language on the ballot itself, which reads as a legal notice residents receive on the back of their credit card statement. The reason for the legalize lingo is because the state’s Campaign Finance law allows only the actual language appearing on the ballot which was written by the town counsel. No explanation, no clarification. 

View the ballot here.

And that is what has election watchers worried.

“Yes, folks will get confused on this ballot question,” said Bonnie Friedman of the League of Women Voters. “That’s why we are trying to educate much more than the usual stuff for this election.”

Friedman points to a posting on a Belmont Parents Facebook group, that stated “A YES Vote” on Tuesday, September 25th, “Zones and limits how RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA is sold”, and a “No Vote”, “Does NOT limit how and where RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA is sold.” 

Besides the informational meeting, individual efforts have been ongoing to bring voters up to speed what’s on the ballot. 

“I handed out 86 info-sheets at the Farmers’ Market on Thursday. We were thinking that it would be awesome if we could stand at each polling place and do that, but the league doesn’t have enough members to do it,” said Friedman. 

Cushman is spearheading her two-pronged outreach effort which is her “attempt to help those voters along,” she said.

The first part was having a yellow-colored single page pamphlet included in Belmont Light’s September utility bills “to let voters know that the Board of Selectmen had called a Special Town Election for Sept. 25.”

The second part was Cushman authoring a “What your vote means” press release to help voters understand the two choices posed by the ballot language. (See the press release below)

It’s hoped that the final push to brief the public on the issues will keep voters from being confused and frustrated as they vote next week.

“I applaud all … efforts to educate and inform Belmont’s voters on the topic and the ballot choices and I look forward to their voter education event Sept. 20 at Chenery,” said Cushman. “We all hope for a strong voter participation and informed electorate.”

Here is Cushman’s press release on the two choices voters face on Sept. 25.

What does your vote on the ballot question mean? 

A Yes vote allows retail marijuana establishments to be licensed in Belmont and limits the number to 20 percent of the number of “package store” licenses we have issued; currently, that calculation would result in up to two licenses. This vote would also prohibit businesses that cultivate, manufacture or test marijuana from being licensed to open in Belmont.

A No vote allows retail marijuana establishments to be licensed in Belmont, but there would be no limit on the number of licenses that could be issued.  Also, businesses that cultivate, manufacture or test marijuana could be licensed; likewise, there would be no limit on the number of these licenses that could be issued.

Both Yes and No votes allow the Town of Belmont to create time, place and manner Zoning Bylaws regulating where, and how marijuana businesses may operate in Town, but only a Yes vote would let the Zoning Bylaw limit, directly or indirectly, the total number of retail stores allowed in Belmont. The proposed Zoning Bylaw regulating marijuana businesses is expected to be voted at the Special Town Meeting scheduled Nov. 13. The Belmont Board of Health has already adopted recreational-use marijuana regulations.

All marijuana licenses are issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; they not issued locally.

Belmont’s six polling places will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

Selectmen To Attend Traffic Advisory Committee’s Thursday Meeting On Crosswalk Concerns

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Photo: The scene of the accident at Lexington and Sycamore streets.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen will join the town’s Traffic Advisory Committee at its scheduled meeting Thursday, Sept. 13 at the Town Hall auditorium as the committee takes up pedestrian safety after the death of a resident killed walking in a crosswalk.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and run for approximately 90 minutes.

Sachi Thanawala, 39, was struck by a 2015 Ford Transit commercial van around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 while walking at the raised intersection of Lexington and Sycamore streets. The mother of two died two days later.

The meeting will be the first, but not likely the final chance the public will have a chance to question town officials and make statements. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said that it is quite likely that there will be future hearings on traffic issues involving pedestrian safety.

Since the accident, residents have contacted elected and town officials, police and have posted online their concerns that the intersection where the accident occurred  and Lexington Street are unsafe as vehicles are prone to race above the 25-mph speed limit. Residents near the accident site has expressed increasing that traffic calming street measures need to be employed to make area safe for walkers and school children who use the intersection to head to and from the Samuel Butler Elementary School which is a few blocks down Sycamore.

Citizens have also used social media to express their opinions.

“This intersection is an absolute nightmare, and has only gotten worse since the town added a raised speed table/bump,” commented Frank Maldarelli in the Belmontonian. “My recommendation would be to add a four-way stop sign. Perhaps this will prevent life from needlessly being lost in the future.”

“I have watched in horror as children ran, frightened and confused, across streets where cars would not slow down at all,” wrote Sara. “Belmont is used as a cut through–pick up trucks, vans, fast cars. Enough!!! Do something!! Let’s demand more of our town government.”

Thursday’s meeting will begin with statements by the selectmen, the Belmont Police and the advisory committee. Glenn Clancy, the director of the Office of Community Development and Town Engineer, will then present an overview of pedestrian and traffic projects. After the officials speak, residents will be given an opportunity to express their opinion.

Planning Board Expands South Pleasant District With Eye On Waverley Square

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Photo: Andy Rojas at the July Planning Board meeting with the proposed plans for an assisted living center.

With an eye on the future of a “new” Waverley Square that will be unrecognizable “in 10 years,” the Belmont Planning Board has expanded the overlay district along South Pleasant Street it approved in July at its meeting on Sept. 6.

Originally running from 1010 Pleasant St. to Citywide Subaru at 790 Pleasant St., the new district will be enlarged to include the land along Pleasant Street to Trapelo Road including the Getty service station, Star Market to the Belmont Car Wash. 

“It makes perfect sense to include Shaws and the Car Wash,” said Charles Clark, chair of the board, as potential development could come to the doorstep of Waverley Square, the least active of Belmont’s three business centers. He said action by the board could result in major changes in the next decade at the transportation hub of west Belmont. 

Clark said he has been receiving positive feedback from the developer of a proposed assisted living center at 1010 Pleasant, the Belmont Housing Trust and from those who have promoted mixed commercial/residential development along the stretch of land.

Zoned as a Local Business District 2 (LB2), the Planning Board is advocating overlaying more lenient LB1 zoning regulations which will allow developers somewhat greater leeway on what is constructed without the need to enter the at times laborious “special permit” process when they exceed the zoning restrictions. 

Andy Rojas, the architect for Belmont Manor which presented preliminary plans to develop the assisted living center in July, pointed out that as currently designed meets all but one of the dimensional zoning regulations – such as maximum lot coverage, minimum open space and building height – under the LB1 regulations, while missing the mark on most of the restriction in an LB2 district. 

If the board makes the change, “we’re in compliance” which will allow for the facility – a first in Belmont – to be built in a timely manner, said Rojas. It will also allow similar establishments such as independent living, nursing and full-care facilities to be proposed. 

“Yes, I can see that work,” said Clark. 

Advocates for greater construction of affordable housing are speaking up for the overlay district. Rachel Heller for the Housing Trust noted that in an LB1 district, multi-family, assisted living, and mixed-use housing would be allowed. It could also result in developers being offered increased density and height to developers in exchange for additional affordable housing units and/or affordability levels. 

The Trust also hopes the Board should consider creating a 40R district which provides financial incentives for communities that create zoning overlay districts that encourage smart growth housing development.

The Planning Board will next meet on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Town Hall. 

Belmont Voters Come Out All Day To Cast Ballots In State Primary

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Photo: They voted Tuesday.

A small stream can eventually over time create a deep valley.

On Tuesday, it was a steady stream throughout the day entering Belmont’s eight polling sites that produced an impressive figure of residents to take the time to vote on a hot, humid election day.

Approximately 5,000 voters or just under 30 percent of eligible voters took out a ballot for the state primary election held on Tuesday, Sept. 4. In precincts 1 and 6, a third of voters came out to cast ballots. Even the lowest level of participation at Precinct 4 was at 25 percent.

It was a number that impressed Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman as the election came a day after the Labor Day holiday and without a high profile race – such as the upset by Ayanna Pressley over incumbent Michael Capuano in the nearby Seventh Congressional District Democratic primary – to bring out the voters.

“It was a trickle, no one needed to wait to vote at any time but if that happens all day, it comes out to 30 percent,” said Cushman who released the unofficial results just after 9 p.m.

In races involving Belmontians, it was nip and tuck for most of the night but incumbent Marian Ryan of Belmont pulled ahead of challenger Donna Patalano by more than 11,000 votes, 81,098 to 70,061, to secure the Democratic nomination for Middlesex County District Attorney. In her hometown, Ryan swamped Patalano, 2,338 to 1,359.

In the District 3 Governor’s Council primary, long-time incumbent Marilyn Devaney beat back the challenge of Nick Carter, 49,528 to 39,122, while in Belmont, the newcomer took the “Town of Homes” 1,763 to 1,660.

In the race to “beat the blanks,” – both were unchallenged – State Sen. Will Brownsberger took home 3,508 (only 516 blank ballots) votes while Dave Rogers, Belmont’s state representative, received 3,207 vs. 817 blanks.

To see the complete results, head over to the Town Clerk’s website.