SECTION 1 – PLAN SUMMARY

A. Plan Summary

Over the last 50 years, Natick has evolved from a town with a moderately industrial core – shoe, baseball, and truck factories – and a rural, agricultural surrounding area with orchards, fields and farms – into a suburban residential community. In the past decade, close to 100 acres per year have been developed, primarily for new housing. The town’s few remaining unprotected open areas, both public and private, are facing intense development pressure.

Virtually all of the town’s water supply comes from ground water, with most of Natick’s aquifer recharge coming through open land in Natick and surrounding communities. There is also pressure to develop new recreation areas as Natick’s population of school-aged youngsters has increased substantially while the net number of athletic fields has not changed substantially (some new ones have been added but others have been lost).

Finally, there is a growing interest by Natick’s residents and a desire to be educated in the value of open space: as active and passive recreational amenity; as a positive factor in the community’s character; as wildlife habitat; and for trails and transportation.

The next five years will be critical to the development of Natick. The Open Space Committee believes that the following Open Space and Recreation Plan will provide the groundwork for providing a balance between development and protecting critical open space resources. As the town approaches full build-out, this Plan will provide guidelines for its boards and commissions in making these critical decisions.

B. Plan Foundation

After a considerable public participation process, including numerous public meetings and surveys, the Natick Open Space Advisory Committee recommends the following goals and objectives:

· Protect Natick’s open spaces, including lakes, rivers and streams, and woodlands in a natural state that can be enjoyed by future generations. Open space provides a broad range of positive values to the community, both tangible and intangible – resource protection, recreation, “town character,” property values – and does not add to the tax burden. Future development proposals must be looked at carefully with these factors in mind.

· Preserve and protect the town’s water supply. Our groundwater is our only source of water and must be protected. Open space that supports our water supply is a top priority, according to our surveys and hearings.

· Provide a system of walking and bicycle trails that connect our open spaces and provide a way to travel throughout the town. A significant obstacle to recreation opportunities in Natick is the lack of a formal pedestrian and bicycle transportation network. While substantial work has been done on a number of possible trails, this work needs to be continued and coordinated into a unified trail system.

· Ensure that playing fields and other recreational facilities support the needs of the population. Since the last Open Space Plan, the population participating in youth sports as well as the number of sports played has substantially increased, putting tremendous pressure on existing facilities. While some new fields have been developed, others (at several recently re-developed schools) have been lost. Existing fields cannot be maintained in the face of this pressure and youth sports activity may have to be curtailed.

· Increase residents’ awareness of Natick’s open spaces, trails, natural resources, and recreational opportunities. One of the things that came through loud and clear in the surveys was that Natick residents, both new and old, would like more information about Natick’s existing open spaces. Any successful Open Space and Recreation Plan must rely on the support of the town residents.

· Develop an organizational structure to enable achievement of Open Space Goals. In the past there has been no single group within the town advocating for open space preservation and maintenance. As a part of the development of this Open Space and Recreation Plan, the Selectmen appointed the Open Space Advisory Committee on a temporary basis. We recommend that the OSAC be made a permanent, standing committee of the Town. We recommend also that a management plan, including an operating budget, be developed for the maintenance of all Town-owned open space.

SECTION 2 - INTRODUCTION

A. Statement of Purpose

As the Town of Natick nears full “build-out” (which means that when achieved all currently available land has been either protected or developed), it struggles to maintain a balance between the rights of private and public property owners and the need to preserve and protect its remaining open land, where that land is needed for natural resources protection, recreation or to maintain the town’s quality of life.

In the past, Natick’s residents took their scenic areas and recreational opportunities for granted. This is no longer the case. As the population grows and the open spaces dwindle, citizens are increasing awareness of the need to preserve the resources that we have before they are gone forever.

This plan is organized to allow one to see the impact of future development in the context of the past. It provides the cultural and natural context for what has taken place to date. It provides an inventory of open land, both public and private, protected and unprotected. It develops goals and objectives and finally recommends specific actions that can be taken to meet this balance.

After reviewing the prior update to the Natick Open Space Plan, the Natick Open Space Advisory Committee felt that it was important to do a complete revision of the Plan rather than an update. Much of the information was outdated or incorrect, and the Plan as a whole was not organized in accordance with current Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services guidelines. So, although it has been more than a year-long process, it was critical to go through all the steps of that process so future versions of the Open Space and Recreation Plan will have a solid base on which to build.

B. Planning Process and Public Participation

Natick’s Open Space and Recreation Plan was developed in several stages over a period of time.

Johannes Wagner, of Weston and Sampson Engineers, Inc., was hired by the Town as a consultant to develop an initial assessment of community needs and prepare recommendations. He was hired specifically to update the Natick Open Space and Recreation Plan, Section 1, Plan Summary, Section 2, Introduction, and Section 9, Five-Year Action Plan. Mr. Wagner met with the Conservation Commission, the Recreation and Parks Commission, as well as with several other town boards. An Open Space Forum was held on April 26, 2000 at the Cole Recreation Center, attended by about 15 people, which generated extensive discussion and a lot of ideas. On June 10, 2000, a public meeting of town boards and committees took place in Town Hall to discuss open space. A summary of comments from these meetings is included in Appendix A.

Following Mr. Wagner’s first draft, the Conservation Commission held a public hearing on October 19, 2000, at which the public commented on the draft. Mr. Wagner provided detailed recommendations for each neighborhood of Natick, and this portion of his final report is included as Appendix B. The primary recommendation was the appointment of an Open Space Advisory Committee.

The Board of Selectmen voted on May 21, 2001 to establish an Open Space Advisory Committee, and on July 9, 2001 appointed seven members to serve on the committee. The Open Space Committee immediately determined that a more substantial reworking of the Open Space and Recreation Plan than that done by Mr. Wagner would be necessary to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services. They also determined that a more intensive public participation process was needed.

In September, the Committee developed a one-page questionnaire, which it distributed to two groups of Natick residents. On September 15, 2001, the public was invited to fill out surveys at the Open Space Committee’s booth at Natick Days, a free, public outdoor event on the Natick Common. The committee was overwhelmed by the interest in its booth, and 258 survey forms were collected. On October 4, 2001, survey forms were handed out at Town Meeting, where 55 surveys were completed. The two surveys, providing two different samples of Natick residents, were analyzed independently. Results of the surveys are presented in Appendix C.

Based on this input, the Committee developed its statement of goals and invited the public to provide further comment at a public hearing on February 27, 2002. This forum, which received substantial publicity in the local papers, was attended by about 40 persons, including environmentalists, recreational users, developers, and residents. The Committee gave a PowerPoint presentation summarizing its process to date, and solicited comments on the draft Vision statement and on Goals and Objectives. These comments are summarized in Appendix A. The presentation was also posted on the Committee’s new web site at http://natick.info/open_space/, and three persons submitted comments by mail or e-mail. Comments from the forum and from the survey were used to help develop the Community Vision and Analysis of Needs sections of this Plan.

A draft Natick Open Space and Recreation Plan was produced in June 2002 and was made available on the Committee’s web site, http://natick.info/open_space/, and at Town Hall (Community Development Office), the Morse Institute and Bacon Free libraries, and at the Recreation and Park Commission office at the Cole Center. The draft plan was presented for comments to the Recreation and Parks Commission (June 3), the Board of Selectmen (June 17), the Planning Board (June 19) and the Conservation Commission (June 20). The draft was also presented to the public at a public forum on June 26. Comments from all of these public meetings are summarized in Appendix A. Copies of the Plan were sent to various town boards community organizations, listed in Section 10 of this plan. Based on the comments received, additional refinements were made in this Open Space and Recreation Plan.

SECTION 3 – COMMUNITY SETTING

A. Regional Context

Nestled between the upper basin of the Charles and Concord Rivers in Middlesex County, Natick provides a mixture of suburban residential and industrial land use. Local and regional commercial districts are situated along its major highways, reflective of its location within an easy commute to Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Its three major transportation arteries are the Massachusetts Turnpike, Route 9, and the Boston and Albany Railroad, all of which connect Boston with western Massachusetts. Natick owes much of its growth to its location on these major east-west corridors. Routes 27 and 135, major collector roads, cross in the center of town and provide connections to Framingham to the west, Wellesley to the east, Wayland to the north, and Sherborn to the south. Route 16 goes through South Natick, connecting Wellesley and Sherborn. See Map 1A (Regional Context) and Map 2A (Orthophotograph).

Natick is within the jurisdiction of Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), and participates in regional planning efforts as part of the MetroWest Growth Management Committee, a sub-region of MAPC. Natick’s Open Space and Recreation Plan supports the four major goals described in the land resources element of MAPC’s regional development plan, known as “MetroGreen.” These include the protection of critical land resources, shaping of growth to appropriate areas, preserving community character, and providing increased recreational opportunities.[1]

Natick’s two largest and most popular open spaces are shared with neighboring towns.

· The Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, consists of 624 acres plus another 165 acres under conservation restriction.[2] More than two-thirds of this area is within Natick, the remainder in Sherborn.

· Cochituate State Park, managed by the state’s Department of Environmental Management, consists of over 1100 acres, including Lake Cochituate itself and the land surrounding the lake. Two of the lake’s three “ponds” are located in Natick, while the northern pond lies in Framingham and Wayland.

The Natick Open Space Advisory Committee sees opportunities and needs for cooperative effort between the Town of Natick and neighboring towns to preserve and manage a number of current open space projects:

· Natick recently completed a municipal golf course, Sassamon Trace, on land that is partly in Natick and partly in Sherborn.

· Natick is currently working with the Town of Framingham to find a way to preserve the 22-acre Arthur Morency Woods, which is owned by the Town of Framingham but lies mostly within Natick

· The Natick Open Space Committee has been discussing two old aqueducts that go through Natick and have the potential of providing trail links to neighboring towns.

· The Natick Open Space Committee would like to ensure that there remains continuous open space between Union Street, in Natick, and Lake Waban, in Wellesley, of which portions (nearly 200 acres) are currently under conservation restrictions.

B. Natick’s History [3]

The town’s original residents were Native Americans and English settlers. Natick Plantation was established in 1651 along the Charles River by the first and largest Praying Indian colony, which became a model for others in Massachusetts. Reverend John Eliot, the great missionary, converted them to Christianity and on October 14, 1651 successfully secured a charter from the Legislature granting them two thousand acres of land, part of the original “Dedham grant”. Natick was known as the Indian town because the Indians had established their own government based on the English model, held town meetings, and elected their own town selectmen and other officials before the English settled in the town. The 1658 grant of the northwest piece of Dedham enlarged Natick to six thousand acres. Dedham’s objections to this grant were only partially appeased by a substantial grant of land in Deerfield; Dedham’s continuing resentment resulted in numerous boundary disputes affecting Natick.

King Philip’s War (1675-1677) began with the discovery of the assassination of the Natick praying Indian John Sassamon. He had learned how to read and write English in Natick and provided much help to the settlers. He was assassinated because he warned the Governor that Philip was making plans against the English. Wampanoag Chief Metacomet (who was called King Philip) went to war against the settlers. As a result, Natick’s Indian population was forced to resettle on Deer Island, despite John Eliot’s protests and assurances that the Natick Praying Indians posed no threat. Most of Natick’s Indians perished from the cold and lack of food and medical care while on Deer Island.

When English settlers began migrating to Natick center, they rebelled at having to travel to and support the Indian church in South Natick. The resulting “Meeting House Dispute” was resolved by a successful petition to the General Court in 1761, attaching northern Natick to Needham (formerly Dedham – which suffered its own rebellion resulting in the town of Needham splitting from Dedham). This “Needham Leg” extended west to Lake Cochituate and included downtown and all but a sliver of land at Natick’s northern boundary. In February of 1781, Natick became a town, and in 1797 the “Needham Leg” was restored to Natick. As a result, Natick has been in Suffolk County, Norfolk County, and Middlesex County, presenting a challenge to those who are researching their genealogy or property ownership.

During the colonial period Natick was predominately agricultural, containing numerous orchards, lumber, grist and other mills. In 1835, the Boston and Albany Railroad was built through Natick, causing a rapid industrial expansion. Natick’s growing shoe industry became the third largest shoe production community in the country, with 23 shoe manufacturers by 1880. In 1858, the H.H. Harwood Baseball factory, another “cottage industry,” began producing the first center-wound balls with figure-eight-stitched horsehide covers, setting the standard for baseballs and producing Official League Baseballs.

In 1874, a great fire destro