Arlington Public Meetings Ahead: AHS, The Heights, Climate Change

ARLINGTON, MA – Arlington will hold four public meetings in the coming weeks pertaining to topics that will shape the city's future. These meetings will cover subjects ranging from the Arlington High School Building Project to range from the Green Line Extension project to the climate change action plan. See below for the complete schedule.

May 23: Arlington Heights Community Forum

Participate in developing a Neighborhood Action Plan for the Heights.

The Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) is working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on a neighborhood action plan for Arlington Heights and invite you to a community forum on May 23 rd beginning at 7 p.m. at the Dallin Elementary School. During the forum, representatives from DPCD and MAPC will present options for spurring neighborhood revitalization including an analysis of existing barriers to investment and potential solutions for those problems. Community participation in this meeting will be key at this interactive forum.

“Arlington Heights still has that traditional neighborhood feel, and while some things are leaving, it provides an opportunity for new things to come to the neighborhood and make it an even better place to live and work,” says Karen Walson, owner of Classic Kitchen and Bath Design at 1321 Mass Ave in the Heights. “It’s exciting that the Town has taken the time and invested in working with MAPC to engage in this planning
process.”

This is the first public meeting for the Arlington Heights planning project, which launched in late 2017. It is a continuation of the work done by Support Arlington Heights at a community meeting in the summer of 2016. The planning process will result in an Arlington Heights Neighborhood Action Plan, implementing goals outlined in the recent Master Plan as well at the Town’s Arts and Culture Action Plan. This work is funded through by MAPC through the District Local Technical Assistance program.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is the regional planning agency serving the people
who live and work in the 101 cities and towns of Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is promoting smart growth and regional collaboration. www.mapc.org.

To be notified about upcoming public meetings for the project, contact MAPC’s Cynthia
Wall at cwall@mapc.org or 617-933-0756, and Ali Carter from the Town of Arlington at
acarter@town.arlington.ma.us or 781-316-3095.

June 4: AHS Building Project - Design Feedback Forum

7-9 pm, Town Hall

Get up to speed with the AHS Building Project and let the Building Committee know what you think.

The Building Committee will be submitting the Preferred Schematic Design Option for the new/rebuilt high school in July and is seeking community input.

At this forum:

• HMFH Architects will present more details about the four design options
• MSBA process and decisions to-date will be reviewed
• The Building Committee will outline criteria for choosing the preferred design
• Feedback will be gathered for future Building Committee decisions

You’ll learn more about space requirements, desired adjacencies, conceptual floor and site plans, general architectural feel and street level perspectives. Potential construction timelines and very preliminary cost estimates will also be discussed. You will also have a chance to voice your opinion about the designs and related items.

In late June, the Building Committee will use outlined criteria and information gathered at this forum to select one of the four designs as Arlington’s Preferred Schematic Design Option for the July submission to the MSBA.

For additional project details and to add to your iCalendar, visit www.ahsbuilding.org.

Can’t attend? A forum recap and feedback form will be available by June 7th at www.ahsbuilding.org.

June 7: Historic Preservation Public Forum

Learn about historic preservation in Arlington and how you can get involved.

The Historic & Cultural Resources Working Group (HCRWG), a subgroup of Arlington’s Master Plan
Implementation Committee, will hold a public forum to discuss historic preservation in Arlington. The
public forum will be held in the Main Room of the Arlington Senior Center on June 7 th from 6:00pm to
7:30pm.

The event will feature a general discussion about historic preservation in Arlington, as well as a description of
local historic preservation-based groups and how you can be more involved. At the forum, you will also learn
about the HCRWG’s current effort to update the Inventory of Historically or Architecturally Significant Properties in the Town of Arlington, which is being undertaken in collaboration with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the new community-wide survey of local historic resources, also being undertaken by the HCRWG.

For more information, please contact Nat Strosberg, Senior Planner with the Department of Planning &
Community Development, at nstrosberg@town.arlington.ma.us.

June 11: Public Forum for Climate-Change Resilience

Action Plan for building resilience to be presented and discussed.

The Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development and key community stakeholders
recently developed a communitywide assessment of local vulnerabilities to hazardous weather events, which
are becoming increasingly common throughout Arlington and the nation. The public will be provided a vital
opportunity to review key information collected through this climate change resilience planning process at a
public forum on June 11, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Arlington Senior Center, Main room, 27 Maple Street.

The action plan for building resilience to these vulnerabilities will be presented at the public forum. The
process that led to this plan commenced last year with a $23,000 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Grant, which was awarded to Arlington’s Department of Planning and Community Development by the State’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. At the core of the process was the
Community Resilience Building Workshop, which involved stakeholders representing a broad-cross section
of the community in an intensive 8-hour session, designed to gather relevant data and feedback. The action
plan is a synopsis of the information gathered at the workshop.

For more information, please contact Nat Strosberg, Senior Planner in Arlington’s Department of Planning &
Community Development: nstrosberg@town.arlington.ma.us.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch