Funny enough, this somehow turned into Weiss Farm Weekend. Between the site walk with the Conservation Commission on Saturday morning, followed by the Boston Globe article that references the proposed Weiss Farm development a “Con” to considering living in Stoneham, I for one experienced quite the “eye opener” to what’s in the works on Franklin Street.
(If you have no idea what I’m talking about or why this topic is “Yikes-worthy,” take a look here for the history.)
To give some perspective on how massive this proposed project is, Stoneham residents Joan Lemire and John Peterson put two rectangles that represent full-sized soccer fields on the space planned for building. The “fields” are approximately 115 yds x 74 yds. As an FYI regarding the plans’ alterations by the developer, the parking lot was changed with a new row replacing a set of buildings (thank you for sharing, Joan and John!):
Here are the original plans, sans rectangles:
It had been several days since the last rainfall when we took the walk yesterday, and yet the first thing that struck me was how wet and mushy the ground was. Soon I was to find out just how soggy things really were back there. I took a series of photos, which I’ve shared below, but what I’d love is for people who can please help explain the impact to the surrounding properties. I don’t know enough about wetlands and such to comment effectively. For now, the photos will speak for themselves:
These next two photos are extremely disturbing because through the brush is pretty much a garbage dump. None of us went in there, but I hope someone is investigating what type of waste is back there:
SeeClickYikes: Stoneham's Most Cringe-Worthy 
Pictures speak more than words about the problems of building on Weiss Farm.
Besides the ditches you need to look at storm water management system, underground utilities, and site grading.
You need to look at deep-sump hooded catch basins and drain manholes. What about sediment.
They need to look at seasonal high groundwater elevation. There are DEP Storm water Regulations.
What about groundwater discharge? Note all infiltration basins must have an emergency spillway capable of bypassing runoff from large storms. and must be done so that storm water is not directed towards an abutting property not owned by Weiss.
Do they have Deep Sump Drainage Structures for this construction.
They need to consider land subject to flooding and provide compensatory flood stage capacity for fill place below a certain elevation.
There should be a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for the Commission review and approval prior to any work being done
The Wetland Buffer Zone restrictions should apply.
I looked at the Storm Water regulations which are in existence on the town web site
See following regulations on Storm Water Drainage
Click to access rr_storm_drains.pdf
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It’s time to wake up and buy this property. It clearly has been “abused” of late and it is time for Stoneham to ensure that the flooding is stopped and the wetlands protected. This would help ensure that property values are enhanced and therefore our income. It also would prevent the ongoing damage that many homeowners incur due to flooding.
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