Letter to the Editor of the Boston Globe re: its 2/11/18 piece on the fight to save Carlson Ave Wood

Letter to the Editor: Boston Globe

February 15, 2018

John Hillard’s 2/11/18 piece on “Neighbors oppose Mount Ida subdivision proposal in Newton” highlights Mayor Fuller’s concern for woods and green spaces at the Garden City. She adds, however “I hope that Mount Ida and the neighbors can find a way forward that works for the college and the neighbors”.

Newton residents working to protect more acreage of woodlands that those of Webster Woods hope that the Mayor will do more than just hope. Her campaign platform on “Environment & Open Space” makes clear that she is committed to the City’s green areas and has the power to preserve those that are important to her constituency. Hoping that an institution whose policies knowingly disaffect its neighbors and is now poised to bulldoze the green buffer that surrounds its campus, doesn’t correspond with Mayor Fuller’s commitments as a candidate.

For his part, Mount Ida President Barry Brown claims to be a proud life-long Newton resident while threatening the 20 acres of woodlands that play the vital role of a vegetative buffer zone between his campus and his neighbors. Carlson Ave Woods protects our homes as a natural flood prevention system in what is a FEMA delineated floodway. This threat stems from a policy of “dramatic growth” in enrollment and its aftershocks on traffic, intersection accidents, etc. Its next phase is to leverage President Brown’s background as a distinguished real estate attorney to dispose of and monetize the green ring that the City awarded Mount Ida’s founders by urban design.

Newton residents hope that there is more than hope to help in the effort to stop overdevelopment and conserve the gardens of the Garden City.

Respectfully,

Jhonatan Rotberg

www.savecarlsonwoods.org