Okay, folks, forget future Cedar Ridge housing expansion for a moment and look north for some deforestation that's taking place RIGHT NOW. Nicola Way: a road cutting right into the forest north of the White Cedar Swamp.
Well, it’s finally happening: construction began this past summer. I was in denial for so long, because this project was years in the making and momentarily stalled, even though it had the blessing of the Planning Board. The 26-single-family home Washington Heights subdivision off Washington Road—going far into the woodlands north of the White Cedar Swamp—originally won approval from the Planning Board back in 2008 despite opposition from area residents.
Neighbors, insisting that the project didn’t comply with the town’s zoning ordinance, appealed the Planning Board’s decision, and the Hampden Superior Court case was filed on January 5, 2009. But the developer won the court battle and the trees began to be mowed down last June.
The first house is going up. Hooray for “progress” in a down housing market at the expense of a beautiful area of woods.
The subdivision, when completed, will cut a huge hunk out of the north side of the White Cedar Swamp’s nearby woods. Part of the residents’ opposition was the amount of traffic the development will generate: an estimated 500 cars a day, according to the traffic engineer, who said that there may be some increased delays at Boston Road area intersections during evening commutes.
“Unfortunately, all streets lead to Boston Road,” said the Planning Board. Unfortunately, the subdivision wrecks an area of the forest in the same wildlife corridor as the White Cedar Swamp, which is already seeing development pressures from the other side: the Cedar Ridge housing development.
In case you’re wondering if the Nicola Way development ruins any good established hiking trails—IT DOES. I was following a horse trail from the McDonald Nature Preserve on November 11, and all of a sudden I saw a sign informing me it’s private property (pictured above). I kept following a path anyway, and it stops on Nicola Way, right here:
The surreal part of it is that my walk back to the McDonald Nature Preserve revealed horse lovers enjoying the reservation on a beautiful fall day (below), while less than 1,500 feet to the west this huge subdivision is going up in an area of forests and farms—totally out of character with the neighborhood.
This sucks, but it PALES IN COMPARISON to what is coming to the south of the development: a monstrously expanding Cedar Ridge housing complex, which will trash not only the meadow that used to be Oaks Farm, but also 20 acres of woodland.
