Welcome to our blog about redevelopment news in Arlington, Massachusetts!
Zoning bylaws and redevelopment are not the things that people usually get excited about. We like to think that our elected and un-elected officials in the Town Hall have our best interests at heart - and often they do.
However, Arlington Residents For Responsible Redevelopment recently formed because of concern that we, the businesses and residents of Arlington, did not always have our interests protected and represented when zoning and redevelopment issues arise in our town. A recent experience with the 2019 Town Meeting density Articles is a good example. Town officials proposed these in a rushed, troubling process. For many of us this changed the sleepy, boring nature of zoning and redevelopment. Indeed the Articles made Arlington sit up and take notice and Town officials were forced to withdraw them, after hearing much criticism from TM members.
Arlington Residents For Responsible Redevelopment is not a large, shiny organization of strangers. We are not paid, or connected to shadowy interests. We are neighbors and business people who reside or work in Arlington.
We came together as a grass-roots coalition of residents and business people from all over town who found that the Articles proposed were terrible for the town -- and the zoning bodies that should have been gate-keepers seem to have been confused into thinking that we residents, business people and tax payers would be pleased-- although we were not significantly involved in their efforts to craft the bylaw changes.
...
As we learn about important meetings, information, threats, proposals that could impact our lives here in our town, we'll put them on our website and in this blog so that you're informed and so that our Town makes responsible, sensible redevelopment choices.
Carl Wagner
ARFRR
Zoning bylaws and redevelopment are not the things that people usually get excited about. We like to think that our elected and un-elected officials in the Town Hall have our best interests at heart - and often they do.
However, Arlington Residents For Responsible Redevelopment recently formed because of concern that we, the businesses and residents of Arlington, did not always have our interests protected and represented when zoning and redevelopment issues arise in our town. A recent experience with the 2019 Town Meeting density Articles is a good example. Town officials proposed these in a rushed, troubling process. For many of us this changed the sleepy, boring nature of zoning and redevelopment. Indeed the Articles made Arlington sit up and take notice and Town officials were forced to withdraw them, after hearing much criticism from TM members.
Arlington Residents For Responsible Redevelopment is not a large, shiny organization of strangers. We are not paid, or connected to shadowy interests. We are neighbors and business people who reside or work in Arlington.
We came together as a grass-roots coalition of residents and business people from all over town who found that the Articles proposed were terrible for the town -- and the zoning bodies that should have been gate-keepers seem to have been confused into thinking that we residents, business people and tax payers would be pleased-- although we were not significantly involved in their efforts to craft the bylaw changes.
...
As we learn about important meetings, information, threats, proposals that could impact our lives here in our town, we'll put them on our website and in this blog so that you're informed and so that our Town makes responsible, sensible redevelopment choices.
Carl Wagner
ARFRR
