I’m beginning to spot a pattern in the marshy beaver thicket, and it looks something like this. If a beaver conflict makes the news cycle once, blame some flooding. If it hits the news cycle twice, blame a noisy woman. And if it rides the news cycle a third time, look for a wealthy property developer, because he is driving the train and he’s used to deciding where it goes.
Hopkinton builder targets pesky beavers
HOPKINTON —
Beavers are threatening to cause problems at Legacy Farms so developers have asked the town for permission to hire a trapper to get rid of them, developer Roy MacDowell said Wednesday. The industrious rodents can cause problems when their dams cause flooding or block culverts. Standing water also attracts more mosquitoes.
“It is an issue,” MacDowell said.
Hopkinton AGAIN? I can’t believe I’ve been forced against my will to learn how to spell that name. Well, I got a nice email from the selectman chair last week and Mike tells me he had a good conversation with him. So there must be something fiscal at work behind the scenes. Who’s this MacDowell character anyway?
Roy MacDowell’s Wayland mansion hits the block … again
Roy MacDowell Jr. is downsizing, but to where and what he’s not so sure. What’s for certain is that his 25,000-square-foot home in Wayland is on the block. The asking price: $21.8 million.
MacDowell, one of Greater Boston’s most successful developers prior to the downturn, said the reason for the move is somewhat mundane; he and his wife, Virginia, are empty nesters looking to lighten the load as they enter the next stages of their lives. That they are selling this dream home just months after MacDowell officially ended a costly and emotionally draining legal defense of his real estate empire is beside the point, he said.
Wait, I’m having flashbacks. Is it 2007 again? Everything seems so familiar. Have I gone through some kind of time warp? I seem to recall that the most powerful NO VOTE on our Martinez beavers came from a developer. And what’s Mr. MacDowell’s vision for the wetlands?
Legacy Farms is taking shape in Hopkinton
Condomiums will sell for around $600,000, MacDowell said. The 15 single family homes cost around $800,000 each, he said.
“I think there’s a pent-up demand in the market,” MacDowell said Tuesday, walking across glossy hardwood floors in the model unit.
At the other end of the development, Wood Partners has built 240 apartments, and staff in the rental office are taking potential tenants on tours.
The apartments’ clubhouse houses a movie theater, billiards room, swimming pool, gym and meeting rooms. MacDowell’s plans for the north side of Rte. 135, behind Weston Nurseries, include 35 single-family homes and 390 simplex or duplex condominiums, he said.
There are also new plans to build a 127-bed retirement community on Rte. 135, in an area previously slated for businesses.
That’s right. We have to make sure that beavers don’t add a natural element to our planned community. Anything for our developer friends. And for those playing along in Martinez you might especially enjoy that last sentence when you remember a certain Berrelessa Palms monstrosity. Always tack on a senior project when asking to change the general plan. It helps your nefarious ascot look more noble.
Last year the developer donated a new well to the town. Some work has also been done on the downtown intersection. When the town approved the plans for Legacy Farms, the developer in exchange agreed to perform certain favors for the town.
I think there’s a Latin term for that kind of arrangement isn’t there? It eludes me…
