Dear members,

I was unable to make the meeting this evening.  Therefore please accept
this letter of concern over the Special Permit application for Riverside.
After countless hours of listening, speaking and debating over the last two
years- I am trying one more time to help save our home and village of
Newton Lower Falls. The scale of the project developer BH Normandy
continues to push is just too huge to fit into our beautiful neighborhood.
The added number of "new trips" (~500 cars in the am & pm rush hours) will
devastate the safe walkabout feel we all enjoy.
 My families property exists at the corner of Asheville & Grove- just feet
away from the proposed South side roundabout (see slide 46). Our home has
always been a quiet oasis in spite of its location. For the last 25 years
my family's enjoyed volleyball, croquet, cookouts and gardening without
ever feeling infringed upon. I have 6 nieces and nephews who grew up
feeling safe to go outside the yard, to play ball, ride bikes or walk to
the playground down the street. The cars have increased over the years on
Grove, true, but except for an occasional honked horn or speeding car-
traffic is a distant background noise.
 Many of us in Newton Lower Falls walk up Grove Street to Riverside and
bring our children to Hamilton Elementary School. Our Mom, up until her
passing at age 74, walked to the commuter bus daily to get to the Financial
district. Yes, there continues to be major problems on this walk- lack of
lighting over the bridge, lack of snow removal, again speeding cars and
safely crossing the I90/128 on ramp. The voyage can be fairly treacherous
already. Taking a bike on this route equals risking your life. The bumper
to bumper Red Sox traffic is a sight to see also. Traffic in the
neighborhood goes to a crawl with fans parking on and blocking all of NLF's
side streets.
 Now imagine adding a massive stream of cars to this mix along with
delivery trucks, more buses and Massachusetts drivers. There is nothing
smooth or pleasant about this scenario. The developers continually indicate
how amazing these roundabouts work to slow down and control traffic but I
don't buy it. The plans also indicate green space added to buffer
properties that abut Grove Street. I've personally been told by the
developers that 3 feet of green space will be added as a buffer between the
proposed roundabout and our property. Do they honestly believe this will
help with the added noise, air and light pollution invading our yard? It's
a disgrace. I invite members of the Land Use committe, Alderman and
planning board to look out our living room window and get a true sense of
what is being proposed.

As a last resort, my Asheville Road neighbors (Kathleen & Jack Snyder
Green, Anne Walker and Harold Knotts) and I propose to have Asheville Rd
made into a dead end street. This at least will stop more lost cars from
doing U-turns in our driveways and help protect our families from the
onslaught of traffic.  We understand the concern for emergency vehicles..
in the least we ask that Asheville be made one way- exiting onto Grove
only.  This will help reduce the traffic coming onto Asheville from Grove
and reduce the number of fast U-turns already made in our
driveways.  Pushing the proposed rotary further into the woods could help
greatly- hence more green space footage to help shield our homes from the
added noise, light and exhaust etc.
 Lastly, our neighborhood continues to push for a direct access ramp. I
still don't have a clear answer as to why this isn't in the Riverside
project proposal. Our peaceful neighborhood is under attack. Our quality of
life (especially on Asheville and Grove) and the value of our home- will be
forever damaged by the current Normandy/Riverside project. I ask you to
please look at decreasing the size of the project considerably, create
direct access and help preserve our village.
 I truly Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Michele Martin
31 Asheville Rd
Newton Lower Falls
508-641-8057