The process by which this plan has proceeded is flawed. There was opposition by FOCL expressed within the Crystal Lake Working Group, from the beginning in Spring 2018, not 5 years ago. Despite this opposition, the Working Group finalized the design concept in March, 2019. Again, despite considerable opposition within a crowd of about 50, the Parks Commission approved the design concept in April, 2019. There have been no Working Group meetings on the Levingston plan since that time (March, 2019, 2 ½ years) despite numerous requests to resume and persistent continued opposition to the design concept for the fishing area.
Many FOCL felt the plan was conceptually flawed from the beginning and should have gone back to a representative Working Group for changes in conceptual design after the Parks Commission meeting (April, 2019) . The Committees and Commissions reviewing the “final plan,” after the Parks Commission, will all say their role is not to evaluate design concepts. They all take a very technical approach so public comment does not lead to design changes, only to refinements, in this case, of a flawed design. The Parks Commission had a chance to send it back. But they ignored the considerable opposition in the room and signed off. I think this is a cautionary tale.
So this is a plan designed without neighborhood support by those that don’t live in the neighborhood. I’d say, just that is a pretty significant flaw. BTW FOCL are from all parts of Newton, though most reside in the Newton Highlands.
At this time, there are those in the disability community questioning issues to do with maneuvering a wheel chair between the two lines of the “double decker” at the fishings area.
The history of the flawed plan
