Belmont PD: Suspect Sought In July McLean Fire

Photo: Administration Building, McLean Hospital (WikiMedia Commons)

Belmont Police is seeking information on a suspect who allegedly started a fire at McLean Hospital on Wednesday, July 29.

In a press release dated Aug. 5, Belmont Asst. Police Chief Mark Hurley said Belmont 911 received an alarm at 3:03 p.m. for fire and/or smoke in the administration building at 115 Mill St. Belmont Fire quickly responded and extinguished the blaze.

An investigation utilizing the hospital’s security surveillance cameras revealed a man entering the front door of the building. Once inside, the suspect begins spraying and pouring an unknown substance on the carpeted floor from a handheld container. He then ignited the substance and fled the area.

The suspect is described as a male wearing brown dress shoes, blue pants, a long-sleeve button-down shirt, a surgical mask and sunglasses.

If you have any information pertaining to this incident, please call the Belmont Police Detectives at 617-993-2550.  

The Belmont Police is not releasing video images connected to this investigation to the public at this time.

‘Parenting in the Time of Coronavirus’: A Webinar With Belmont Schools And McLean Hospital

Photo: A screenshot from the webinar “Surviving Quarantine with you Kids”

As part of a partnership with Belmont Public Schools, the McLean Hospital School Consultation team has recorded two webinars focusing on helping parents navigate challenging COVID-19 circumstances. 

The first video is geared toward parents of elementary school-aged children and the second is geared toward parents of middle and high school-aged teens. The videos have some overlapping content, although the examples provided are age-specific.

Each video is followed by a pre-recorded Q and A that includes answers to the questions Belmont parents submitted. 

Parent Webinar: Surviving Quarantine with your Kids 

  • Child and adult emotional reactions to COVID-19
  • How to provide validating responses to children
  • Managing challenging behavior at home
  • Skills for managing difficult emotions
  • Q&A
Surviving Quarantine with your Kids Webinar

Parent Webinar: Surviving Quarantine with your Teen

  • Teen and adult emotional reactions to COVID-19
  • How to provide validating responses to children
  • Tips for boosting mood and resilience
  • Skills for managing difficult emotions
  • Q&A
Surviving Quarantine with your Teen Webinar

Speakers: Dr. Julia Martin Burch and Dr. Michelle Silverman

Dr. Martin Burch and Dr. Silverman, child psychologists at the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program and the McLean School Consultation Service, present on the topic of managing mental health during the COVID-19 epidemic. The speakers share concrete strategies for supporting your children and yourself in tough moments. Specific topics include: what is a normal response to this type of event, how to maintain compassion for ourselves and our kids during challenging moments, skills to manage intense emotions, tips on keeping active to combat depression, and ways to manage children’s behavior at home during quarantine.

Public Meeting On Impact To Pleasant St. From Proposed McLean Development Set For March 2

Photo: The intersection of Pleasant Street and Olmstead Drive.

The proposed 144-unit townhouse/rental apartment development on the McLean Hospital campus will not only create a new residential neighborhood in Belmont, it will also bring a slew of vehicles onto Pleasant Street as locals drive off to work and do their daily tasks.

A public discussion on the traffic implications related to the potential McLean Hospital on Pleasant Street near Olmstead Drive will be held on Monday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. during a joint session of the Select and Planning boards at the Little Theater in the Belmont High School, 221 Concord Ave.

In previous meetings before the boards, discussions included adding a traffic light at the intersection of Pleasant and Olmstead as well as a possible van/bus option for residents to cut down on the number of trips to and from the development.

For any questions, please contact Patrice Garvin, Town Administrator at 617-993-2610 or pgarvin@belmont-ma.gov

Housing Trust Applaud Increase In Affordable Units At ‘Final’ McLean Parcel

Photo: Northland Residential President and CEO John Dawley

You know you are doing something “right” when the same group that jeered you earlier is now cheering.

That’s what occurred at the Select Board’s meeting Monday, Nov. 18 after Northland Residential President and CEO John Dawley presented a revised residential development proposal at one of largest parcels remaining in Belmont’s McLean Hospital.

After coming under fire for a proposal critics called a “cut and paste” of its three existing developments at McLean, Northland’s revised blueprint for its fourth development in Zone 3 boosting the number of affordable units as well as provide housing to a broader spectrum of both income and population.

“I’m here tonight to try and be responsive to the voices that spoke at various meetings back in March on a project that appears to be responsive to the concerns that were articulated,” said Dawley Monday night.

The announcement brought praise from the representatives of the Belmont Housing Trust which has been a driving force in expanding economical living units in town.

“I’m really excited about this proposal and this is, indeed, a big win for Belmont,” said Trust Co-Chair Rachel Heller.

In January, Dawley’s firm presented to the town plans to build a “senior directed, independent living residential community” on nearly 13 acres of land set aside for housing when Town Meeting approved a mixed-use development program with McLean two decades ago in July 1999.

Similar to the Northland’s Woodlands development on the site, the project consisted of 34 large 2-to-3 bedroom townhouses with a sales price of upwards of $1.5 million along with 91 “flat” 1-to-2 bedroom apartments located in four-story buildings.

That first proposal was widely panned by affordable housing advocates and in March was quickly shelved by the Belmont Planning Board as it deemed the project was unlikely to pass Town Meeting’s two-thirds muster to alter six zoning bylaws required by the town.

“It was the belief, mistaken as it may have been, that replicating what I did on those parcels would be appropriate for Zone 3,” he said “I left on March 13, wounded but not dead.”

Fast forward nearly eight months and Dawley came before the Select Board after meeting with the town and housing advocates who asked Northland to take its plan “and think of it in a different way.” He spoke to his McLean partners telling them “I think I can make this work.”

The new proposal will be of the same scale and massing as presented in March but the project’s programming has been changed resulting in a broader income and age component, said Dawley:

  • The original 125 units has been increased to 144 total units with 40 townhouses and 104 apartments located in a pair of structures.
  • The garden style units will all be rentals, smaller than originally designed as condominiums. There will be no age restriction on the units A quarter of the apartments, 26, will be under the town’s exclusionary housing allocation.
  • The townhouses – which will be senior directed – will have reduced square-footage to lower the initial price with five or six units set aside as affordable.
  • The project will commit to LEED Certifiable Design Standard while focusing on “electrification.”
  • Traffic in and out of the new residential with a traffic light at Olmsted and Pleasant across from Star Market. There will also be shuttle bus from the area to a transportation hub such as Waverley Square and/or Alewife T station.

While Dawley cautioned the proposal is in its genesis and will undergo changes and “times where I’ll have to say ‘no’ to requests’,” the response from housing campaigners and the Select Board was enthusiastic and positive, as those in attendance gave Dawley a round of applause at the end of his presentation.

“I really appreciate that rather than walk away, they chose to engage with us and work with us,” said the Select Board’s Adam Dash.

“Northland’s proposed development at McLean will expand opportunities for seniors and families to have an affordable place to call home here in Belmont,” said Heller, whose day job is running the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, which encourage the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families.

“Providing more affordable homeownership and rental opportunities is key to meeting the needs of people who live, work, or go to school here as well as ensuring that Belmont is a welcoming and inclusive community,” she added.

Progress On McLean Barn’s Future To The Lament Of Black-Clad Ninjas

Photo: The brick barn on Belmont conservation land off of Mill Street.

The future of the long-abandoned McLean Barn off Mill Street adjacent to Rock Meadow and the Kendall Garden neighborhood took a significant step forward with the selection of a facilitator who will begin the public process of determining a best end-use for the two-story brick structure.

“Yeah!,” cheered Ellen Cushman, the chair of the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill which oversees the large swath of conservation land, when the announcement was made at the committee’s most recent meeting in July.

The working barn – whose cows supplied milk for the McLean Hospital – was part of a farm complex built more than a century ago. The 2018 Town Meeting approved $200,000 in Community Preservation Committee funds to stabilize and mothball the deteriorating structure built in 1915.

The facilitator selected by the committee, Kathryn Madden of Madden Planning Group in Watertown, will reach out to the barn’s many stakeholders – several town departments, McLean Hospital, the Land Management committee, the Trustees of the Reservation that holds the conservation easement, and the nearby residents – than group them into focus groups then hold up to eight meetings.

Afterwards, one or more community meetings will be scheduled where the status of the barn will be presented and suggestions on the best use will be presented. Strategies on moving forward with the data and information gathered will be developed.

“I’m extremely impressed how [Madden] is getting these things up and running,” said Cushman.

The future of the building is restricted by an 2005 agreement between the town and McLean Hospital to a small number of uses:

  • Environmental education,
  • the storage of materials and equipment associated with management of Lone Tree Hill or the nearby Highland cemetery and
  • office space for the staff of the cemetery and/or “the Premises.”

Cushman said she anticipates a late fall conclusion of Madden’s work.

One group that will not celebrate the news of a renovated barn is a group of mysterious visitors to the site. According to Cushman, neighbors of the building have seen a group of adults “described as a looking like ninjas wearing black-clad robes” tearing off the plywood covering a first-floor window and entering the building late at night, the latest incident happening over the Memorial Day weekend.

Police who investigated the break-in did not find any illegal activity – the barn is a frequent victim of vandalism – other than lawn chairs left behind.

“We don’t know why the ninjas come other than to hold a meeting,” said Cushman.

Planning Board Shelves McLean Residential Project As Affordability Takes Center Stage

Photo: The Planning Board in session.

A proposed 125 unit residential development on one of the last large parcels of open space in Belmont was shelved by the Belmont Planning Board as questions of affordability, density and other issues were raised by residents and board members.

“We don’t have the time” to satisfactory review the proposal before a Town Meeting vote, said Board Chair Chuck Clark at the Thursday, March 14 meeting as the board voted unanimously to not bring six bylaw changes to the town’s annual legislative gathering.

The postponement is a victory for affordable housing campaigners who contend the McLean Hospital Zone 3 project is the one best and likely final opportunities to bring a substantial number of accessible units into the town’s housing inventory.

“Let’s slow this down so we all can get to and work together,” said Rachel Heller, co-chairman of the Belmont Housing Trust, which has been advocating for greater income diverse housing through public policy – securing the town’s Housing Production Plan – and with growing activism. 

The delay is a blow to property owner McLean Hospital and Northland Residential, the proposed developer, which were seeking a positive vote at the annual Town Meeting in May to expedite the construction of what a Northland executive called an “age directed” project on nearly 13 acres of land set aside for housing when Town Meeting approved a mixed-use development plan with McLean nearly two decades ago in July 1999.

While the proponents pointed to the success of the nearby Northland-developed The Woodlands as being replicated on Zone 3, board vice chair Stephen Pinkerton said: “there are a lot of issues in terms of density and interest in affordable housing that need to be vetted among a half a dozen entities in town.”

“This won’t pass [Town Meeting] by a two-thirds majority” as Pinkerton motioned to the residents filling the Selectmen’s Room, suggesting the process be “paused.” 

Clark told the Belmontonian the Planning Board will ask the Belmont Board of Selectmen to create a task force with “everybody” including the Housing Trust, residents in addition to McLean “to figure this out.”

“I see this come back to Town Meeting in the fall,” said Clark, referring to an anticipated Special Town Meeting that typically takes place in November. “I suspect we’ll come to an agreement, it will just take a while.”

While campaigners did not have specific numbers or percentages of units, advocates said they are available to assist McLean and Northland either by introducing established affordable developers to partner with the proponents or work independently.

“A task force will create the opportunity for all these voices to be heard and then really think how to develop something that’s beneficial for McLean meets the town’s needs,” said Heller.

The question now hanging over the stalled development is if McLean and Northland will accept a new round of negotiations that could result in a greater affordability component.

McLean and the developer both noted in their presentations Thursday night the nearly 13 acres is currently zoned to accommodate approximately 500 apartment-style units in a high-density complex that includes buildings upwards to six stories tall and generating considerable vehicle traffic.

But it’s unlikely McLean would go that route and the developer admitted the “bankability” of such large assisted living/care complexes has waned considerably in the past decade.

The development – located on the southern ridge of the hospital close to Star Market and Pleasant Street – would be a “senior directed independent living residential community” consisting of 34 large 2 to 3 bedroom townhouses with a sales price of upwards of $1.5 million similar to those in the adjacent Woodlands along with 91 “flat” 1 to 2 bedroom apartments located in four-story buildings. The complex would provide town coffers with $1.6 million in added tax revenue.

Under a revised plan, 20 apartments would be designated “affordable” for those making 80 percent of the area median income (for a two-person family, an 80 percent AMI would be $63,050), an increase from a proposed 9 units that target buyers with an AMI as high as 120 percent ($94,550 for a two-family household). 

When the meeting was thrown open to public comment, it was quickly evident that despite a doubling of the number of affordable units in Zone 3, housing advocates felt, as Heller noted, “we can do a lot better.”

With Belmont still 337 units short of the state’s goal of 10 percent affordable housing. McLean is “one of the few if the only way for the town to get to that 10 percent,” said Heller, who said that rather than townhouses, the community needs more rental units as more than 40 percent of Belmont renters are “cost-burdened” as housing costs take more than a third of their income.

Gloria Leipzig of the Belmont Housing Authority noted the 40-unit Waverley Woods, designated in the 1999 agreement for low and moderate income housing, was built on 1.4 acres, “eight times” the space being proposed for the Zone 3 development.

“Certainly more than 34 large townhouses and 90 [apartments] can be built on this property,” she said.

Squandering The Potential 

As the land was “laid aside for specific community needs,” once a development proposal is adopted, “we can’t take this zoning back,” said Joseph Zarro, pastor of Belmont’s Plymouth Church. “I think we’d be squandering the potential of this land” under the proposed project.”

One resident commented on a statement by a Northland executive who said the new townhouses that would likely sell for $1.5 million was built “for folks that look like me and you.” Elizabeth Lipson of the Housing Trust said she is sensitive to “dog whistle” comments that housing in Belmont should be built with a certain income level in mind.

“One of the objectives of many of us is to diversify our town by income and … also by race,” said Lipson, who found the comment “upsetting.” 

Throwing another wrench into the works was a legal ruling brought forth by attorney Roger Colton who noted a 2002 ruling by the state’s Land Court against the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (American Retirement Corp vs  et al) limiting both boards “to make its own interpretation of what was ‘best’ for the town” which should be left “to the legislative process.”

With issues of housing diversity, density and a sticking point that the bylaw changes would benefit the current proposal but not alter the existing zoning map, leaving the possibility of a future developer to build to the approved level of nearly 500 units, Clark said there was no chance the board could resolve any of the outstanding issues by the end of the month.

“There are too many moving parts,” he said.

Nearly lost in the residential development discussion was McLean’s earlier proposal to construct a campus for children and adolescence education and a research and development center on an adjacent parcel located to the northeast. Known as Zone 4, the development will not start for upwards to five years as the hospital raises funds for the project, said Michele Gougeon, McLean’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Eventually, the site will include a combined academic and residential building and a “small” Research and Development building which will fit inside a 150,000 sq.-ft. envelop.

Clark noted in past agreements, due to the R&D portion is being reduced by more than half of the original, the town could be obligated to pay McLean for that change, a statement Gougeon said would need to be reviewed.

By the end of the night, Clark believed there will be a solution to the issues face all parties.

“I think McLean can do better. I think Belmont can do better,” said Clark.

Developer Proposes Senior-ish Housing At McLean; Residents Push Added Affordability

Photo: A photo/map of the “senior driven” development on McLean Hospital.
A luxury residential developer came before the Belmont Planning Board on Tuesday, Jan. 16 with a proposal to construct a major senior-ish project on the McLean Hospital property comprised of 34 townhouses and 70 garden-style units in a parcel zoned 20 years ago for comprehensive long-term elder care.
While West Concord-based Northland Residential (which developed the 121-unit The Woodlands on Belmont Hill) contends the proposal is a better fit than an earlier but failed 482 unit, 600,000 sq.-ft. project approved in 2001, several residents and members of the town’s Housing Trust are already pushing for a greater emphasis on affordability that would serve an aging Belmont population.
“There are 1,000 cost burdened seniors living in Belmont and that number is expected to grow,” said Gloria Leipzig of the Belmont Housing Authority and the Housing Trust. “There is a need for affordable senior housing and I think we need to … see this as an opportunity and try and figure out a way to increase the likelihood of more affordable housing on the site.
Flanked by Michele Gougeon, McLean’s chief operating officer, Northland President and CEO John Dawley said the yet unnamed project will be “senior directed” that is unlike the “Continuing Care Retirement Community” concept which includes independent and assisted living as well as nursing home care that the parcel is currently zoned.
“It will have a floor plan that is attractive to 55-years and older,” said Dawley.
Created on November 1999 after Town Meeting approved new zoning for the property that May, a memorandum of agreement between the town and McLean rezoned 238 acres into specific uses including housing, open space, research facilities and senior living.
Since the agreement, most of the land approved for redevelopment would become part of The Woodlands at Belmont Hill, a townhouse development. One of the two final open parcels is the senior-oriented Zone 3 consists of nearly 13 acres near the corner of South Pleasant and Trapelo and a similarly-sized Zone 4 set aside for Research and Development.
Gougeon told the board the hospital will develop Zone 4 into an 86,000 sq.-ft. child and adolescence academic center and then later add a small R&D center. But the parcel’s build-out “will take some time” as the hospital will need to fund raise before building can commence, she said.

In Zone 3, the Northland plans call for 104 independent, non-age restricted units. Thirty-four will be two-to-three bedroom townhouses like those in the Woodlands and two four-story “flat style” buildings with seven to nine units per floor consisting of either two bedrooms or one bedroom and den garden-style apartments. There will be senior or elderly care services as part of the development, just grounds and maintenance staff. Under the current plan, the affordable housing component will remain at nine percent of total units which calculates to nine units.
The development would be situated on the ridge above a proposed assisted living facility along South Pleasant Street. The location has utilities in place and will be ready to be built. As proposed, the completed project will bring in an additional $1.4 million into town coffers, not including permits and fees. 
Dawley said the demographics of those who’ll be purchasing these homes – mostly those 55 and over with no dependent children living with them –  show that they aren’t necessarily downsizing, most will be buying without a mortgage and own a second home elsewhere. Similar townhouse units in the Woodlands run in the $1.2 million range.
The project will need two-thirds approval from Town Meeting as the complex alters existing town zoning requirements. But Dawley said those changes to the bylaw will be “very modest …” as the Northland plan “comports with the zoning very very well.” 
The next step for the board will be “a deep dive” into the zoning and debate the merits of those changes, said Board Chair Chuck Clark, noting the “devil’s in the details.” He also said the changes to the zoning will be presented to the annual Town Meeting as two distinct amendments.
One area that many in the audience of the nearly filled the Board of Selectmen’s room hoped the board and developer would discuss was the project’s affordability component. For Roger Colton, a former member of the Housing Trust, Northland is seeking significant changes to the current bylaw “but for affordable housing, which stays the same.”

The nine units set aside for affordable housing and the acceptance of owners making up to 120 percent of area median income” is unacceptable,” said Colton.
Rachel Heller (who is the CEO of the affordable housing advocacy organization CHAPA) said the Housing Trust is excited by the start of the planning process “because there is a lot that we can do together. McLean wants to be able to sell this land … the town needs more affordable housing so let’s put our heads together and work on it and let us use [the state’s Local Initiative Program] and really maximize the amount of affordable homes that we get out of [the development].”
The Local Initiative helps residential developers and towns develop a plan where a certain percentage of the units are affordable so a project can obtain zoning approval.

Belmont Fire/Police Seeking Public’s Help On McLean Fire Investigation

Photo: This morning’s fire at McLean Hospital.

Investigators are asking for the public’s help with the investigation into the cause of an early morning fire in an abandoned building on the McLean Hospital campus. The 2-alarm fire occurred in the three-story Codman House building at approximately 2:30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 14.

“The cause of the fire is still undetermined but investigators believe information from the community will help them determine how this fire actually started. Anyone with information about is asked to confidentially call the Arson Hotline, 24-hours a day at 1-800-682-9229,” said State Fire Marshal Peter. J. Ostroskey in a press release sent out Monday afternoon.

The Arson Hotline is part of the Arson Watch Reward Program that provides rewards of up to $5,000 for information that helps to solve cases. The program is funded by the property and casualty insurance underwriting companies of Massachusetts. 

The fire is being jointly investigated by the Belmont Fire and Police departments and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Fire Destroys McLean’s Codman Building [VIDEO]

Photo: The aftermath of the fire that destroyed the Codman House at McLean Hospital.

A two-alarm fire destroyed the former Codman House on the McLean Hospital campus early Monday morning, Nov. 14.

The blaze, which required fire equipment from neighboring towns of Watertown, Arlington, and Cambridge, started just before 3 a.m. At its height, the glow of the flames could be seen as far as Cushing Square.

According to Belmont Fire Chief David L. Frizzell, the building is a total loss as parts of the building – located in the northern section of the 300-acre campus – will be pulled down to allow fire crews to extinguish any remaining fire smoldering in the debris.

Frizzell said a cause of the fire would not be determined for some time.

A statement from the hospital thanked the “Belmont Fire Department’s rapid response” which contained the fire “to that one building and no other areas of the McLean campus.”

“We are deeply grateful to the Belmont Fire Department, Belmont Police Department, and first responders from surrounding municipalities for their efforts this morning,” said the McLean statement.

Frizzell said Belmont Police were investigating smoke on Concord Avenue when a 911 call came from McLean of a fire in the abandoned structure. Arriving fire crews found “a heavy volume” of flames coming out of the second and third floors.

Frizzell said the blaze was initially difficult to fight as the building was mothballed and fire lines had to be stretched over a long distance. He said the crews were fortunate that the building was unoccupied and far enough away from other building in the vicinity.

It had taken about two hours before firefighters got the fire under control, said Frizzell, who said that crews would spend the rest of the day putting out the last of the fire. He said no firefighters that he knew were injured.

McLean, which has been located off Mill Street for more than 120 years, is the largest psychiatric facility of Harvard Medical School, an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and is owned by Partners HealthCare.

screen-shot-2016-11-14-at-9-10-54-am

The Codman was once the women’s geriatric ward where “‘the ladies of Codman’ staged elaborate tea parties on silver service for [Psychiatrist Robert Coles] and other young residents in the late 1950s” wrote Alex Beam in his history of McLean, Gracefully Insane, The Rise and Fall of America’s Premier Mental Hospital.

 

A Lens into the Lives of the ‘Disempowered’ at the Gallery of Art

In a partnership with Belmont’s McLean Hospital and the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University, the Belmont Gallery of Art is holding an opening reception this evening, Jan. 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for its latest exhibit, “Photovoice: A Lens into Our Lives.” The exhibit runs from today, Jan. 8 to Jan. 31.

The gallery is located on the third floor of the Homer Building in the Town Hall complex at 19 Moore St.

Photovoice is a public research process that gives cameras to people who have been disempowered, to take photographs of their communities. These photos are narrated with the goals of promoting critical dialogue and knowledge of personal and community issues and to promote possible solutions to policy makers.

The exhibit was created as part of a “peer-led anti-stigma program” which was implemented at Waverley Place, the community program of McLean Hospital located in the heart of Waverley Square at 12 Church St., and was developed by BU’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation.

Hours for the show are Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.