The Select Board and Planning Board, working hand-in-glove, have promised us that “economic development” via a massive buildup in Belmont Center will gain revenue for the town, and substantially lower our taxes. “Higher taxes or taller buildings!” is their mantra. But do the facts bear them out?
What is missing, or being hidden, in their plan? HERE ARE THE FACTS:
1. MOST OF THE BUILDUP WILL BE RESIDENTIAL, NOT COMMERCIAL.
The Town’s own RKG Fiscal Impact Analysis of November 2024, publicly available online, shows that the costs of school aged children, infrastructure, and new municipal services will at best – in an optimistic scenario – roughly break even in taxes. But UNDER THIS PLAN, YOUR TAXES COULD GO UP, NOT DOWN!
These RKG tables show why: look at the result – $839,000 net revenue gain – of a moderate buildup in all of Belmont, and the LOSS from a low buildup: $29,000!
2. While the Planning Board is trying to pack tall buildings into our small center, the construction, noise, rats, traffic clogs, disruption and higher rents will, according to the Belmont Center Business Association, DRIVE BELMONT CENTER INDEPENDENT STORES AND RESTAURANTS OUT OF BUSINESS.
3. TRAFFIC: 100 new apartments/condos in Belmont Center – the PB’s stated estimate – will add at least 100 new cars (despite the Planning Board’s wishful thinking that folks will just walk long distances – they won’t, any more than the PB Chair does). Massive construction will clog traffic further. Which means your daily commute of 1/2 hr now will become at least 1 hour, under this plan.
4. “MONSTROUS BUILDINGS!”: At Paul Joy’s Economic Development Council meeting on March 13, over 50 people, residents and Belmont Center business owners, showed up to speak passionately against this zoning plan. Many reported this was the first meeting at which they felt heard, as the Planning Board isn’t listening. One older woman, a Belmont resident for fifty years, said the buildup was “monstrous”. Heads nodded all round. This plan destroys the unique charm and historic scale of our center, and replaces it with something like Alewife.
It’s time the Select Board and the Planning Board woke up to reality: that this plan will not deliver what they promise, and will deliver nasty consequences they steadfastly refuse to discuss. Ignoring reality is foolish, dangerous, irresponsible.
The truth may be painful, but ignoring the truth does not make it less real.