Final plan for HRA property should be part of a renewed development strategy

To the Editor:

Please help create a vision for the HRA property that preserves open space and maximizes community enjoyment.

Now is the time to rethink some of the options being proposed by the HRA, which is moving swiftly to gather input and make decisions with regard to the open land parcel at the head of Hampton-Circle Sagamore Hill. The decision impacts views, traffic, infrastructure, community enjoyment, future generations, and more.

If you have not done so thus far, please visit https://tinyurl.com/h3zc4425 to the draft Urban Renewal Plan. It is 65 pages long and worth looking at to understand the background and breadth of work that the HRA has completed to date. This is the last time, however to propose a revised vision for this open space.

Those of us who are in the majority need to band together to present a different option that takes into account the vision outlined below. Let’s put our hearts and minds together to present this vision on the HRA before it’s too late.

In 2023, communities, cities, and towns nationwide have woken up to a new reality regarding climate change and sea level rise adaptation. And, for decades, communities have sought to identify initiatives to preserve their open space, recognizing the value of open spaces as an attraction to new homebuyers, neighborhoods, and visitors. Both of these important factors come into play as part of Hull’s upcoming vote regarding the HRA property. Reasons to believe in this approach:

1. Develop for open space: Once it’s gone, we lose it forever. The peninsula of Hull serves as the southern boundary of the outer Boston Harbor Islands, an area long designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Adjacent and to our north are stunning open space parcels, such as the Weir River Estuary, World’s End, Stodder’s Neck, Abigail Adams Park, Bare Cove Park, Great Esker Park, and Webb Memorial State Park. This ACEC is dotted with open land managed by the Trustees of the Reservations, Weir River Watershed Association, and DCR, among others. The opportunity to add to this open space with a thoughtful initiative to create walking trails, small gathering spots for photos, small concerts, and wedding pictures to experience views of the river to the ocean is with in keeping with our neighbors and associated parks.

2. Preserve more open space within the building envelope. Using the bayside park for “open space” is not appropriate, as it is sloped and an exposed intertidal zone for at least 12 hours a day at low tide, rendering it far less attractive than the oceanside opportunities.

3. Address climate change and sea level rise. Hull’s Director of Conservation and Adaptation has initiated a plan to work with the Hampton Circle–Sagamore Hill community to draft a template and roadmap regarding increasingly high flooding, drainage, and sea level rise concerns. These are not issues in the future, but are happening now in this neighborhood, as well as throughout Hull and neighboring towns. The HRA should be heeding this warning and applying the same rigor and timeframe to any and all construction/development under consideration. The entire parcel is located in a Flood Zone VE, keyed for Velocity and Erosion. Adding concrete in the form of pavement and building foundations cannot be considered appropriate for such a fragile and vulnerable parcel. Permitting “workarounds” as a way to enable commercial development in such a fragile flood zones is short-sighted, irresponsible, and ultimately expensive for the Town of Hull to manage.

What’s the worst that can happen if we postpone decisions? The HRA was created a generation ago, when Hull had a different demography and economic climate. Hull has not convened a town-wide vision plan since 1997, when the Cecil Group was hired to do so. We now have the opportunity to pause, re-think and update that earlier town wide plan in coordination with other town initiatives to ensure they all mesh and represent what the townspeople want and need now and into the future. A cohesive strategic plan for the entire town is needed, and it just might result in a resounding call to preserve that very parcel for open space in perpetuity.

Please join the movement to preserve all that open space for generations to come.

Respectfully submitted,

Maggie Merrill