Just to give you an idea of what the Belmont of today is like, here’s a 2006 end-of-the-year synopsis of events in the town, as published in the Belmont Citizen-Herald.

How Belmont developed in 2006

By Linda Pinkow

Belmont Citizen-Herald
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Belmont hired a new police chief, elected a new state representative, and opened two new firehouses in 2006.

Residents celebrated the long-awaited new cemetery, but continued waiting for the new senior center.

An affordable housing proposal at the Belmont Uplands led to angry debates, while smaller housing developments moved toward completion.

Following are some of the high points of the year 2006 as it winds down.

New leaders chosen

After 14 years representing Belmont in the state Legislature, School Street resident Anne Paulsen decided not to seek re-election. She was replaced by Selectman Will Brownsberger, who will take the oath of office on Jan. 4.

Brownsberger will serve out his third term on the Board of Selectmen, which will end in April.

This week, a candidate came forward to announce that he will run for Brownsberger’s seat. Beckett Road resident Dan Leclerc, a retired career educator and former assistant superintendent of schools in Ashland, previously served as a Belmont School Committee member and Town Meeting member.

Last April, with no one challenging him, Selectman Angelo Firenze was re-elected to the board for his first full three-year term.

In the only contested race in the April 3 town election, Ann Verrilli unseated incumbent John Malone for the Belmont Housing Authority board.

Police Chief Andrew O’Malley retired in April after about three years as chief. O’Malley, son of a former Belmont police officer, said in an interview in March, “I wanted to do this job in grammar school. Of course, I never thought I’d make chief. I just wanted to be a cop, like my dad.”

O’Malley was replaced for the rest of the year by Assistant Chief Richard Lane. In December the selectmen unanimously chose Lt. Christopher Donahue, who has been on the Belmont police force for the past 10 years, to become the next chief, starting in January.

There were also two Belmont residents who ran for statewide office this year. Republican Larry Frisoli unsuccessfully challenged Martha Coakley for attorney general, and Ken Chase ran against U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Developments considered

One of the most controversial issues of 2006 was the Belmont Uplands

O’Neill Properties purchased its 15-acre parcel of land next to the Alewife Reservation in 1998. O’Neill first proposed a research and development office complex, which was approved by Town Meeting in 2002. The following year, the developer proposed a condominium complex. When that proposal met with resistance from town leaders, O’Neill proposed a development under the state’s Chapter 40B rules. Such developments only need approval from the local Zoning Board.

The ZBA hearings began Jan. 11, 2006. They are tentatively scheduled to end Jan. 3, 2007.

In contrast to the Uplands controversy, one of the most controversial issues of recent years moved along relatively uneventfully this year. After years of negotiations, lawsuits and other delays, the McLean Hospital development project showed concrete progress. Two of the three McLean developments are currently under construction, as is Olmstead Drive, the road that will run from Pleasant Street to the research and development complex.

Last summer, American Retirement Corp. began marketing its senior housing complex, Freedom Commons at Belmont Hill. ARC is expecting to break ground in the spring of 2007.

Northland Residential Corporation held a grand opening celebration in September for its 121-unit luxury townhouse development. Some units are already occupied while construction continues.

And on the town’s side, the transfer of land from McLean helped to fulfill the long-awaited dream of a new cemetery. Plots in Highland Meadow Cemetery went on sale in March, to the great relief of many residents who wanted their loved ones or themselves to be buried in Belmont.

Another piece of land deeded to the town by McLean will become affordable housing. Affirmative Investments Inc. of Boston was awarded a contract in July to build affordable housing on the 1.34-acre parcel near Waverley Square. They hope to begin construction in 2007.

Town officials took the opportunity this year to take a step back and ponder the big picture. Committees and the public considered how to rejuvenate the town’s three major business districts.

Perhaps the biggest change enacted was the creation of a Cushing Square Overlay District, which was approved at a special Town Meeting on Nov. 13.

Under the new rules, a Cushing Square property owner no longer needs to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals, but must get design and site plan approval from the Planning Board. The overlay district will allow taller buildings, larger storefronts, and mixed-use development with retail businesses on ground floors and housing on upper floors.
Roads and buildings

On Feb. 2, the Wellington School Building Committee presented schematic designs for a new Wellington building. The project had been on hold due to uncertain funding from the state, but seemed to be getting back on track. But after several public meetings, the project was put back on the shelf due to renewed concerns about the state School Building Assistance program.

The town’s two new firehouses opened for business in September, while two of the old stations were sold.

Burke Land Company agreed to pay $1.5 million for the Leonard Street fire station. Burke is planning to make the ground floor into a 130-seat restaurant, to be run by members of the deMagistris family of Belmont, and to include a gym and company offices on the second and newly-built third floors. Burke is also currently reconstructing the former “pink building” next door to the firehouse.

On Dec. 11, the selectmen awarded the Harvard Lawn firehouse to Urbanica for $400,000. Urbanica is currently planning to construct two or three residential units in the building.

Urbanica purchased the Waverley Square firehouse last year. Construction of condominiums at that site is expected to be completed in early 2007.

On the roads, there was a concerted but failed effort to build a long-term process for fixing the town’s streets and sidewalks.

A Road Stabilization Fund was proposed, which would have required a $3 million Proposition 2 1/2 override to pay for pavement management program.

But on April 3, 70 percent of voters rejected the ballot question.

Cultural developments

In February, Elena Benoit, co-owner of a gourmet food and liquor store in Winchester, proposed to open a similar shop in Belmont.

Two articles were placed on the annual Town Meeting warrant — one for an all-liquor license, and the other for wine and beer only. Both were approved in April, and the state Legislature approved them in December. They will be on the ballot next April.

In September the selectmen approved the town’s first all-alcohol license for a restaurant. Savinos Grill on Common Street in Cushing Square was hoping to open in December, but will open in early 2007.

Two books made a name for Belmont in the literary world this year.

“A Death in Belmont,” by journalist Sebastian Junger, revisits the death of Bessie Goldberg inside her Scott Road home in 1963. Junger, who was a boy growing up in Belmont in 1963, recounts his personal connection to the shocking tragedy, and lays out his view of what really happened that day and in the subsequent trial.

And “Little Children” by Belmont resident Tom Perrotta, the story of small-town suburban affairs which appears to be set in a town just like Belmont, was made into a movie and began garnering award nominations this year.

Finally, one of the strangest trends in Belmont this year was a rash of thefts of lawn ornaments. From heavy concrete urns to fanciful metal ants, it seemed no ornament was safe on the streets late at night.

Only time will tell whether the trend will continue, or whether the knick-knacks of Belmont will return in 2007.

Questions?

Contact the Webmaster