Save Lexington's wooded area between Lincoln St and Fairland St

Did you know that there is a proposal to build a 9 house subdivision on land between Lincoln St and Fairland St?  Currently the land is a forested area inhabited by a variety of animals, birds and rodents.  For information on the proposal, please go to:  https://www.lexingtonma.gov/planning-office/pages/15-17-fairland-street.  As residents, we are concerned about further development of the land as there is forest essentially from School St to the Temple.  Please read our letter and sign our petition by June 30, 2018.  If you would like to be on our email mailing list, please email josephy100@gmail.com.

We plan to send this letter to Town Meeting members, Town Selectmen and the Conservation Commission in the hopes that they will buy the land and preserve it.

Please forward to neighbors who may support this.

Dear Town of Lexington and Conservation Commission,

With this present letter, we would like to raise awareness and share our concern regarding the proposed subdivision on 15-17 Fairland Street in Lexington . The land of the proposed subdivision, which is almost 200,000 sq.ft., is the habitat of a large number of wild animals, rodents, and a variety of birds.

In the past ten years we have seen Lexington changing in a very rapid pace. Most of the newly built homes in Lexington do not provide variety to the housing stock on the market. As a result, Lexington is losing its character, its affordability, and it is quickly changing into a homogeneous place where homes lack a diversity of styles, sizes, as well as inhabitants. A lot of small homes are demolished and replaced by new ones that have much larger footprints on the building lot and the environment. The homes are not designed in a site sensitive manner. Entire lots are deforested, flattened and built in the most convenient and cost efficient way for the developer / builder. They are not taking in consideration the topography of the site, the natural environment nor the impact on the surrounding environment. Due to the intense construction in the town a lot of the wildlife is pushed out of their natural habitats.

15-17 Fairland Street in Lexington is another one of those projects, but what makes it different is the size and scale of undeveloped land that is presently the natural habitat for a large number of wildlife.

Developing the hill will irreversibly change the ecosystem not only on the hill itself, but it will affect the nearby wetlands as well as alter the character and perception of the place. The project requires very extensive blasting for 7 new foundations. The blasting of the granite rock, along with the complete deforestation will entirely destroy the wildlife. Additional alarming consequences of the massive loss of plantation and permeable surface are erosion, water run off impacting the downhill houses and roads, as well as potential landslides.

For the past ten years, the wildlife in Lexington has been under a lot of strain due to the extensive new construction throughout the town. As a result, the natural habitat of wildlife has been diminishing and has subsided noticeably. The hill land area between Lincoln and Fairland streets is one of the few large areas for wildlife in Lexington not affected by construction. We would like to propose to the Town of Lexington and to the Conservation Commission to purchase the land for this project, as well as the surrounding unbuilt parcels to secure a permanent natural habitat for the wildlife in the area; as well as to preserve some of the remaining character of the town. Allowing the proposed subdivision to be built will open the door for another wave of subdivisions until the entire hill along with its forest and wildlife will be lost forever.