ConsComm Hears of DCR’s Plans for Sullivan Park Makeover

The Revere Conservation Commission held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday, December 1.

Chairman John Shue and three of his fellow commissioners, Heather Legere, Joseph LaValle, and Robert Cassidy, were on hand for the meeting, as was the commission’s highly-efficient clerk, Linda Redding.

Most of the commission’s 90-minute meeting was taken up by a presentation from representatives from the Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation regarding its plans for a total makeover of Sullivan Park at Revere Beach.

The park, located at Revere Beach along Revere St. and Revere Beach Boulevard at the confluence of Ocean Ave.,  undoubtedly is the most-unknown and underutilized park in the city. The park sits below the grade of the adjacent roadways and properties and was designed as a baseball playing field which seldomly, if ever, is used.

The DCR’s plan calls for the park to be completely transformed by raising the grade and converting it to a passive recreational use. The full presentation for that project, as well as the other agenda items taken up by the commission, are as follows.

MA DEP FILE # ??? – Revere Beach Boulevard Notice of Intent – Sullivan Park improvements.

Photos of the existing conditions at Sullivan Park were shown and explained to the commissioners by Jim Jackson, an engineer with the Pare Corporation.

“There presently is a baseball field at the park and the improvements will turn it into a more passive recreational park,” said Jackson.

Jackson turned the microphone over to Skyler Chick, a landscape architect with Shadley Assoc., who presented many of the details of the project to the commission.

“The DCR is looking to invest significantly into this underutilized site,” said Chick. “It is barely used by anyone. The park is bounded by Revere Beach Blvd., Revere St., a National Grid property in the rear, and Diamond Creek, as well as the six-story residential building at 320 Revere Beach Blvd. The entire project area is about two acres.

“We held two public meetings to get input from the public and have developed a final design plan,” Chick continued. “The existing site is below the adjacent roadways. It is not ADA-accessible. Two new entrances from Revere Beach Blvd. are to be paved with colored concrete and pavers. There will be shading trees, benches, and game tables, so you can view the beach. There will be a terrace with two bocce courts and a great lawn area surrounded with low native plantings.

“All of the park will be 100 percent universally-accessible,” said Chick. “There will be a water feature — which was suggested by members of the public — that will consist of water jets in a circular area. Visitors will be able to push a button and the water jets will come on, with seats so parents can supervise their kids.”

Chick also outlined the other features of the park, including outdoor fitness equipment with a resilient surfacing; a shade shelter on a concrete plaza suitable for community events; and plantings consisting of native grasses and wildflowers.

“DCR’s goal is to attract people and improve wildlife habitat for birds, butterflies, and bees,” Chick added. “The trees there now are mostly invasive species. There will be 10 trees taken out, but 101 will be added. All will be native and will provide shade that is lacking in the space now.

“DCR is working with the residential abutter at 320 Revere Beach Blvd. to access the park for emergency and maintenance vehicles,” Chick continued. “The area will be elevated and graded above the existing conditions to allow for ADA accessibility. The existing soils are extremely compacted and loam on top will make it easier for trees and plantings to thrive. Also, storm water will be better-captured and provide for better discharge.”

Lauren Gluck, a wetlands scientist with Pare Corp., explained the environmental impacts of the project.

“Diamond Creek is a tidal waterway that leads into Rumney Marsh off to the west with bordering wetlands whose100-foot buffer zones encroach into the site and is subject to coastal land flooding,” said Gluck. “All of the riverfront area to be disturbed already has been disturbed with compacted soil.”

Jackson further explained the stormwater design for the site.

“Most of the flow travels from east to west into Diamond Creek,” said Jackson. “The final design will have the sidewalks flowing to Revere Beach Blvd. The drainage going into Diamond Creek is not required to be treated because these are not vehicle roadways, but DCR will do so anyway, using bio-retention and qualified, pervious-area systems.”

The commissioners then asked some questions pertaining to the stormwater drainage, the grading, the bio-retention areas, access through the easements, and the materials for walkways.

Chick explained that the walkways will be asphalt because of easier maintenance and accessibility issues. He explained that in a coastal environment, it is easier to remove blowing sand from a solid walkway and concrete is more expensive.

He said DCR, not the city, will maintain the park and will use de-icing materials in the winter. The walkways will be illuminated with lighting to be compatible with the historicity of Revere Beach. He said he was not sure whether the lighting would be on all night. He also noted that dogs on leashes will be welcome and there will be trash receptacles at the park.

Shue emphasized that dog waste will need to be picked up by dog owners and suggested that DCR install signage emphasizing that point, as well as placing dog waste-bag dispensers in the park.

Shue then called for input from the public.

Joan Lanzillo-Hahesy, a resident of the nearby St. George’s condominium complex at 350 Revere Beach Blvd., said she was there on behalf of the residents of the condo association.

“We are thrilled for this park,” said Lanzillo-Hahesy. “It will enhance our neighborhood and the quality of life for those who live there. DCR has come up with an incredible plan to make the livelihood of the people in the area more viable.”

However, she raised an issue of concern for her building’s residents.

“Behind the park now is the right-of-way that was used to access our building when we had to replace the chillers in our building,” Lanzillo-Hahesy said. “There is no provision for heavy trucks to access our building. Will there be a driveway for heavy equipment, because there is no heavy vehicular access through the DCR property? The gates that will be shut to traffic — will they be available for police and fire, which no longer can go through the park to get to us?”

When it was pointed out that access issues for adjacent private properties do not fall within the scope of the Conservation Commission’s authority, a spokesperson from DCR, Danielle Millett, responded.

“Your building has to request access through that easement from the property developer at 320 Revere Beach Blvd.,” Millett said.

“We are 100 percent for this project, but want to express our concerns about restricting access to our building,” Lanzillo-Hahesy concluded.

Jim DeMiles, another St. George resident, reiterated the concern about access by emergency vehicles for the residents of his building.

“Our main concern is that we use the park as an easement, as we have since the 1980s — there are 244 units at 350 Revere Beach Blvd. — and in any kind of emergency where we might need a hook and ladder, we need an easement through the park.”

Al Fiore, another St. George resident who is the Councillor-elect from Ward 5, spoke up briefly.

“Is this a question for the City Council?” Fiore queried.

Millett replied to Fiore’s inquiry.

“The city has been onboard since the beginning,” Millett said. “Former State Rep. RoseLee Vincent secured an earmark for this project.”

“The DCR does what it does and does not take into account the concerns of the people of Revere,” LaValle noted.

The commission was unable to take a vote on the matter however, because of a backlog at the Department of Environmental Protection in assigning file numbers that are required before a local Conservation Commission can take action on a Notice of Intent. Shue said the commission will take a vote upon receipt of an NOI number from DEP, which he said is backlogged by 8-12 weeks.

Potential Enforcement Action – 630 Revere Beach Boulevard.

The commission revisited a matter discussed at its November meeting pertaining to the “self-help” taken by the new owners of the residential property at 630 Revere Beach Blvd. when they removed soil from their backyard inside the 100-foot wetlands buffer zone in order to alleviate a flooding problem in their garage and basement.

“We issued a cease-and-desist letter and ordered them to come up with a remediation plan to be filed by December 15,” said Shue. “They will go through the process and file a Notice of Intent by 12/15. We will discuss this at our January meeting.”

Enforcement Action — 8-10 Marshview Terrace:

“An enforcement order was issued to the owners of both properties, where filling was completed that impacted the resource areas,” said Shue. “Both owners have been very cooperative and want to do the right thing. We asked them to engage a wetlands scientist to develop a plan to mitigate the impact behind their property,”

The owners had filled-in their property in order to level and lengthen their backyards, which slope sharply toward the marsh area encompassed by Rumney Marsh.

Matt Schweisberg, a wetlands scientist with the firm of Wetlands Strategies and Solutions LLC, presented a restoration plan for the site to the commission.

“We will remove the fill that had been put into place by the owners and then restore the wetland that was below, a total area of about .25-.30 acres,” said Schweisberg. “The fill will be removed and there will be planting of wetland species and a wetland seed mix that will tolerate a little bit of salt. Although this is a freshwater site, there might perhaps be some inundation from Rumney Marsh during a severe storm. We will have a two-year monitoring plan to make sure that the plantings are taking hold.”

Shue suggested that the commission amend the enforcement order to add “with monitoring” to the restoration plan. The matter was continued to January for the commission to be informed of the starting date and the schedule for the project.

“We appreciate that you’re taking responsibility for this and taking it seriously,” said Shue, addressing the homeowners, who were in the audience. “We’re sure you didn’t know the rules.”

The commission made note of member site visits during the month of November to 630 Revere Beach Blvd., 8 & 10 Marshview Terrace, and 400 Ocean Avenue.

Correspondence this month:

November 1, 2021 – COC –– 571 Revere Street – Sachem Revere Ltd. Partnership

Notification from the state that Certificate of Compliance has been issued for 571 Revere Street, File #061-0703

Nov. 15 – Notice of Activity and Use Limitation for Northgate Shopping Center from Coneco pertaining to oil spill.

Nov. 17 – Notification from MA DEP regarding time delays for issuance of file numbers due to holidays, mandated vacation, and large number of applications

Although the Conservation Commission regularly meets on the first Wednesday of each month, the next meeting of the commission will be Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

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