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Planners Oppose
Brush Hill Homes

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
7/15/10
While plans are moving forward for a new housing development on Brush Hill Road, town officials don’t necessarily like the track being taken by the developer.

More than one Planning Board member says the current plan – a “conventional” five-lot subdivision on the scenic neighborhood street – does not keep with the town’s tradition of maintaining historic land and open space, and approaching new developments with a creative eye.

Randolph-based Corvo Construction is seeking to develop the subdivision on the estate of Margaret Boyle, located at 683-685 Brush Hill Road. The property, which is under a purchase-and-sale agreement to be developed through a court-appointed commission representing the estate, is located on a six-acre lot near Fairmount Avenue.

Under the plan, the two current homes on the property would be torn down and five single-family homes would be created.

Town Planner Bill Clark explained that there is a provision in the purchase-and-sale agreement allowing the developer to seek a subdivision, but the Planning Board would have to sign off on the plan.

Clark said preliminary discussions about the details of the development are under way but Corvo has not yet filed an application. Once that happens, he said, a public hearing would be scheduled and abutters notified.

“We have no application before us. Everything we’re discussing is preliminary to that public hearing,” he said.

Planning Board members said they have problems with the current plan and would like to see fewer houses and more open space preserved.

“I don’t think a standard subdivision on this site is in the best interest of our town,” board member Peter Jackson said during a discussion of the plan July 8. “I don’t like to see our traditional estates broken into conventional subdivisions.”

Instead of five lots, Jackson said he would favor a “cluster” development, which would include fewer homes that are more thoughtfully designed to fit the neighborhood. His plan would also preserve green space and trees on the property.

“I agree. It would be a shame to do a straight subdivision up there,” Planning Board member Emily Innes said.

On the property is a traditional-style carriage house, which suffered extensive fire damage about a year ago, and another residence.

Board member Ed Duffy said he would like to see a single building with multiple condominium units, tennis courts and a swimming pool on the land.

In order to salvage two large trees on the property, the Planning Board might have to waive the grade-change restriction to allow a new road to the subdivision from Brush Hill Road. The road would have to be built at an 11 percent grade, similar to one of the town’s steeper roads, Garden Street, said Jim Burke, of Quincy-based DeCelle-Burke & Associates, the project’s designer.

Burke said he has brought the proposed roadway plan to Department of Public Works officials, who he said have not expressed opposition to it.

Prior to the July 8 meeting, Planning Board members took part in a site walk of the estate to understand the location and condition of the trees on the property. One is a very large beech tree, which officials think to be more than 200 years old.

Board members said they want to keep the tree alive if a certified arborist can determine it is worth saving.

“It’s a fairly spectacular tree,” said Innes.

If the tree were to be cut down, the new road would not require the same steep grade change, and could move forward without the waiver, Burke said. He said he would await the board’s decision.

Regarding the board’s opposition to a standard subdivision on the site, Burke said he “understands” but added that the project is “being driven by an estate sale.”