By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Ratepayers overwhelmingly approved admitting four parcels connected to the Sagamore Spring Golf Club over-55 development project into the Lynnfield Center Water District during a Special District Meeting on Oct. 20.
Sagamore Spring Real Estate Trustee Richard Luff submitted Article 3 for the Special District Meeting’s warrant. Article 3 requested ratepayers to approve admitting four parcels located at 1287 Main St., 1217 Main St., 1219 Main St. and 1245 Main St. into the LCWD.
The trust and developer Toll Brothers have come to terms on a purchase-and-sale agreement that would allow the luxury development company to construct an over-55 development comprised of 66 detached two-bedroom homes on the Sagamore Spring Golf Club’s eastern side that encompasses the driving range and adjacent undeveloped land. The proposed development would also include a clubhouse containing an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and a common area for residents to use.
Under the current proposal, the 18-hole golf course will remain.
Toll Brothers has agreed to bring LCWD water from Main Street into the development, which would then be looped back to Lowell Street.
LCWD Superintendent John Scenna and the Board of Water Commissioners recommended adding the four parcels into the LCWD. Scenna said Tolls Brothers will “fully design, fund and construct the expansion of the LCWD system.”
“It’s about a mile of water main that will be installed and designed at the expense of this development,” said Scenna. “It will not be at the expense of this water district. That will be a $1.5 million investment for our district.”
Scenna said the Water Commissioners and the trust agreed to a development agreement that will provide the LCWD with an easement on the west side of the golf course.
“That would potentially allow us to loop and connect our water supply stations, wells and treatment facilities in a very economical manner,” said Scenna. “This easement allows us to connect the Main Street station with all of our wells at Glen Drive for the possibility of combining treatment facilities. This easement is being provided with no additional cost.”
LCWD Clerk Tim Doyle read a letter from Fire Chief Glenn Davis that endorsed the addition of the four parcels into the district because it would improve fire protection on upper Main Street.
“Currently, the last fire hydrant on Main Street is located at 1218 Main St.,” Davis wrote. “This leaves no piped water source from this hydrant to the Peabody-Middleton line at Catherine Drive. In this unprotected area, there are more than a dozen structures as well as many acres of wooded area, including the newly purchased Richardson Green parcel. The lack of a water main with fire hydrants in this area makes our ability to fight any potential fires more challenging. We need to rely on the limited water supply carried by our fire engines as well as mutual aid from surrounding fire departments to get sufficient water to extinguish any fires. Once the LCWD system is expanded and this development is constructed, the town of Lynnfield will have three new hydrants in this area that consists of not only fire suppression ability in the development, but also on upper Main Street and Friendship Lane. This is a great opportunity to improve our infrastructure.”
Luff recalled that his family has owned and operated the Sagamore Spring Golf Club since 1929. Since the 2018 Spring Town Meeting rejected a 154-unit townhouse development proposed submitted by the trust, he said several developers have approached his family about buying the golf course. He said the trust is looking to “strike a balance” between developing the eastern portion of the property and keeping the 18-hole golf course open.
“This is a big decision for the LCWD and the town of Lynnfield,” said Luff. “Something will happen on this property. The economics will not allow it to remain a bucolic 18-hole golf course just the way it has been for nearly 100 years. My family has been in this town for generations, and it is a place many of them still call home. We want the golf course to remain as an integral part of the community. We can maintain open space, provide recreational opportunities, help protect our water and continue to make positive impacts on the community on a daily basis.”
Patrice Lane resident Pat Campbell criticized the trust and Toll Brothers for not undertaking a traffic study for the proposed development.
“The traffic on Main Street is getting worse and worse,” said Campbell.
Morin-Cameron Group Vice President/Professional Engineer Scott Cameron said a traffic study will be conducted at a later date. He also said the traffic study will be reviewed by town officials.
“We have further steps to take with traffic engineering, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering and wastewater engineering,” said Cameron. “All of that will be reviewed by the LCWD Board of Water Commissioners, the Board of Health, Conservation Commission and the Planning Board to the highest level of permitting we can get. This is a request to start that process.”
While Baldwin Lane resident Chris Cole said he “welcomes” the additional tax revenue the proposed 66-unit development would generate for the town as well as the upgraded Main Street water main, he expressed concerns about the water that would be used for the development.
“I read that the new development would use 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of water per day,” said Cole. “Every year, we are under a Level 3 water restriction by June and this year, we were at Level 5 in July. That is my main concern.”
Scenna said the LCWD will be able to accommodate the demand because the water that the district will be providing to the development is only for essential use and not irrigation.
“We have houses that consume this much water let alone 66 units,” said Scenna.
Main Street resident Bill Thompson, who is a member of the trust, said the golf course has been “a great member of the Lynnfield community.”
“The business is busy,” said Thompson. “I hope you will look favorably on this request.”
School Committee member Jamie Hayman inquired what will happen to the golf course if the Toll Brothers development is not built.
Scenna said the golf course is large enough to accommodate 82 single-family homes.
“The alternative is drastic,” said Scenna. “The alternative could be individual wells all drawing from similar aquifers. That would impact our ability to pump water. The ability to pump our water in our current locations needs to be protected. This proposal keeps development away from those wells, which can allow us to pump to the highest level possible. That is what restricts our system in the summer. Groundwater drops as the summer progresses and droughts continue. The addition of 82 wells will be drawing from that same groundwater that we are pumping from. The 82 houses would also have individual septic systems and leaching fields. Those leaching fields would leach into the ground near our wells. And the 82 homes would be connected by a series of roads that would have drainage systems.”
Pillings Pond Road resident Patricia Fabbri said she was “very concerned” about the water usage for the development. She prefers that 82 homes with private wells be built on the golf course instead of the over-55 development.
“We might be getting a $1 million project, but if the fire chief feels it is important for our safety, there must be funds available to pay for that,” said Fabrri. “It’s not worth selling out our water supply.”
Scenna reiterated that the water the LCWD would be providing to the development is for “essential use only.” Cameron also noted that the water would not be used for irrigation or the swimming pool.
Fabbri also criticized the development agreement signed by the Select Board and the trust that includes a provision that would prohibit development on the golf course’s western side for 25-years.
“In 25 years, it will be developed,” Fabbri claimed. “It will eventually be a burden that the (LCWD) will have to bear.”
Luff called Fabbri’s accusation “pure speculation.”
“We have been here for close to 100 years and this plan allows us to be here for another 100 years,” said Luff. “To speculate that we are going to turn around in 25 years and develop this whole thing is entirely false. It’s not true at all. We want to be part of this community for a very, very long time. That means a lot to us as a family. We have no intention of developing those 18 holes going forward.”
After the discussion, ratepayers approved admitting the four parcels into the LCWD by a 29-7 vote.
“The vote was a positive validation for a lot of hard work that was put into this among all of the town officials, the Lynnfield Center Water District, the trust and the developer,” said Luff. “We showed the need why this is a better alternative for the golf course. The ratepayers agreed with us, and this is a huge step in the right direction.”
New commissioner elected
In addition to approving the water component of the Sagamore project, ratepayers elected Mayberry Lane resident Steven Walsh as water commissioner. He will be serving the remaining six months of former Water Commissioners Chairman Jack Adelson’s term
Campbell asked about Walsh’s qualifications.
Walsh recalled that he served as a state representative for 12 years, where he represented Lynn and Nahant on Beacon Hill. He has been a practicing attorney for 15 years and has served as the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association’s president and CEO since November 2017.
“I am involved in civic organizations throughout town, and I am the current president of Lynnfield Little League,” said Walsh. “The commission has been moving in a very positive direction under the leadership of the superintendent. I am interested in continuing to make positive changes on behalf of the district.”
Ratepayers gave Walsh a round of applause after Assistant Town Clerk Susan Lagorio swore him in as a water commissioner.
