Friday, January 4, 2013
Planning Board chairman's first impression of the site.
Belmont Planning Board Chairman Sami Baghdady learned the news of Macy's leaving Belmont Center like so many residents on Thursday, Jan. 3, via the Internet. But that was because Baghdady didn't have a chance to retrieve his voice mail from the night before. "The landlord (Kevin Foley) did give me a call as a head's up but I got it late," said Baghdady. As the head of the five-member board that is charged to protect and preserve the character and the quality of life that defines Belmont, Baghdady has a keen interest on what will happen with the building at 75 Leonard St. And his first reaction on its possible future lies in its mass. "No doubt it is a lot of space," said Baghdady. "Number one 75,000 square feet is a big space so if (…
42.397936
-71.175024
Macy's
75 Leonard St, <span class='street2'>Belmont Center</span>, Belmont, MA
/articles/parking-a-possible-issue-for-new-macy-s-tenant
157059
/locations/8520761
Friday, August 5, 2011
South Pleasant Street rezoning blueprint growing personal between Board and professionals.
It was supposed to be your typical mid-summer town board meeting where housekeeping items are at the top of the agenda and the first priority is to finish the official business early so participants can enjoy the warm evening. But Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting brought a bit of the August heat inside Belmont Town Hall as a contentious altercation between Planning Board Chairman Sami Baghdady and the town's Planning and Economic Development Manager Jay Szklut revealed a growing tension over how best to move forward on the future of South Pleasant Street, the largest and most significant parcel of developable land in Belmont. In a challenge that surprised many in the tone it took, Baghdady confronted Szklut over a three-and-a-half page …
42.388885
-71.192885
Pleasant St & Trapelo Rd, Belmont, MA
/articles/the-battle-over-planning-the-towns-future
/locations/5028245
42.39438
-71.18028
Pleasant St & Snake Hill Rd, Belmont, MA
/articles/the-battle-over-planning-the-towns-future
/locations/5028246
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Planning Board places issue on July 12 agenda for further discussion.
It turns out a “minor” tweak to the site plan for the new Wellington Elementary School is a major concern to a number of School Street residents. Some felt they were not informed that the Planning Board would discuss and ultimately vote on June 28 to approve the Wellington Building Committee’s request to adjust the landscape plan along School Street. Members of the Building Committee said the change – with the sidewalk shifted to the street curb and trees and grass strip moved to the opposite side of the sidewalk – will be minor but necessary for the Department of Public Works to remove snow. Moreover, Building Committee Chairman Mark Haley wrote in a letter to the Planning Board, Public Works Director Peter Castanino said grassy strips …
Friday, June 10, 2011
Supporters see a more trusted, experienced Planning Board, critics a pro-development mandate.
In a 2-1 decision that proponents see as strengthening but opponents view as shifting too much control over the future of Belmont to pro development causes, the Board of Selectmen did not reappoint veteran town official Jennifer Fallon and Karl Haglund to the Planning Board at its Wednesday night, June 8, meeting. In their places, the Selectmen elevated Charles Clark from associate to full membership and added well-known Belmont developer Joseph DeStefano to the board which is "to protect and preserve the character and the quality of life" by addressing issues such as re-zoning proposals, new land-use patterns, traffic concerns and specific development proposals. The Planning Board's current members include Chairman Sami Baghdady, Andres…
42.39627
-71.17714
Belmont Town Hall
455 Concord Ave, Belmont, MA
/articles/planning-overboard-two-members-dropped-in-favor-of-pair-with-real-estate-background
157295
/locations/4577348
Friday, May 20, 2011
Planning Board seeks to move process on future development at town's commercial corridor.
The first two forums the Belmont Planning Board held on the future of south Pleasant Street featured open discussion and exchange of ideas pertaining to concepts for what could ultimately become the town's largest commercial district. For the next forum will be geared towards presenting more concrete ideas. At its meeting on Wednesday, May 17, the board directed the town's Planning Department to begin work on possible zoning bylaws to be presented at the third forum scheduled for either July 12 or 19. The board hopes to receive the zoning blueprints by late June. “Zoning bylaws will be presented in draft form for residents’ consideration and reaction,” said Planning Board Chairman Sami Baghdady in an interview after the meeting. “Depending…
42.397157
-71.17686
Planning Division
19 Moore St, Belmont, MA
/articles/zoning-blueprint-pushed-for-south-pleasant-street
230758
/locations/4388203
Art Peters
8:14 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
The developer must be prepared to go through a slow and costly process that may take years in their dealings with the current Planning Board Commission. A case in point is the Cushing Square fiasco. more ›