by Frank Schroth

At the last week’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen they may have given the impression, intended or not, that they were resigned to the development proposal from Mill Creek to build a large apartment complex on Brush Hill Road across from Fuller Village. That might account for last night’s spillover crowd at the Council on Aging that made it abudantly clear they opposed the development.

A fellow reporter estimated the crowd to be close to 150 in size. Residents of Fuller Village came out in force (~70) and both Deborah Felton, Executive Director at Fuller Village, and Marvin Gordon, Chairman of the Board at Fuller, spoke in opposition of the project. They were joined by a host of local residents and a variety of representatives from local advocacy groups including Denny Swenson of Friend of the Blue Hills, Mark Smith, Director of The Mary Wakefield Charitable Trust, Tabor Keally of  The Neponset River Watershed Association (NepWRA), and Tim Kiernan of the Brush Hill Neighborhood Association. 

The comments were consistent with past expressions of concern over the development. They focussed on environmental impacts, traffic congestion, safety concerns, impacts on infrastructure and town services an overall quality of life. They may have been looking to hammer the points home because they felt as John Arthur, an environmental engineer, past member of Canton Planning Board, and current Fuller resident said, “I don’t see opposition from the board .  .  . residents want to know where you stand as a board.  .  . time is of the essence .  .  . if we wait too long – it will be too late.”

Following are a sample of the comments made during Citizen Speak in opposition to the development:

“[Now is] not the time list mitigation measures .  .  . now is the time to oppose this [development].”

— Deborah Felton, Executive Director of Fuller Village

“Tom Flatley would be absolutely devastated .  .  . I hope the board will oppose it.  .  . this is the place to stand up and be counted.”

— Marvin Gordon, Chairman of Fuller Village & former Milton Selectman

“This is a town treasure and we should pretest as a generation before us has done.”

Denny Swenson, member Friends of the Blue Hills

“Fowl meadow is a sacred issue to this tow and hopefully it will remain so.”

— Former Representative, M. Joseph Manning

[You need to ensure] the lives of these residents is not impacted from a health standpoint . .  . to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and to protect life.”

— Carol Seidman, Cardiologist

“Let me be clear .  .  . we do not want to see a 270 unit development in that area.  .  . we will respond and we will request an extension .  .  . rest assured, we don’t support this project.”

— Tom Hurley, Chair, Milton Board of Selectmen

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to request a 90 extension to the comment period. During that time they will compile a list of objections and concerns including but not limited to safety, the environmental impacts, and traffic.

The selectmen also heard from Attorney Jay Talerman who has been retained by Fuller Village and some of the other neighbors to represent their interests. He said there are three myths around 40B: 1) that a town fighting 40B can’t win. You can. He acknowledged that the success is not guaranteed.  2) the time to settle is now – no it is not according to Mr. Talerman. That is not a good negotiating strategy he argues. 3) the town cannot afford to fight – he admits it is costly, However, he noted that the  taxes do not cover the cost of impacts to town services. Turning back an application during this phase can be expensive but not nearly as costly as long term expenses of absorbing a project of this size (e.g. additional firemen, policemen, school students etc.)

He also noted that the burden of proof is on the developer to substantiate that the waivers they seek will not produce an adverse effect on the town. “Don’t miss this opportunity to comment and comment strongly,” said Talerman.