Some people have asked what is happening with the Club's proposed construction... The Club has not come back to the Wetlands Commission (WPC) yet with the alternative sites analysis as required by the town bylaw.

FOB Lecture Series #1: Water and Geology of the Brookside Area

Friends of Brookside will host Joe Duggan, Town of Wellesley Water and Sewer Superintendent, for the first in a series of talks focused on the Brookside Area.

Tuesday November 15th
7:30 - 9:00 PM
Wellesley Free Library
Wakelin Room


Please make an extra effort to come and learn about the precious resource located right where we live and play. The Rosemary Brook Watershed plays an important role in our town's water supply. Mr. Duggan will speak from his experience as superintendent on the town's infrastructure and the area's geology. A question and answer period will follow the presentation. Refreshments will be served.

If you have specific questions regarding our water please send them to friendsofbrookside@gmail.com by the end of day Nov 9th. Questions will be consolidated and forwarded to Mr. Duggan in advance.

Wetlands Map of Wellesley

Check out this interactive map for the town of Wellesley. You can enter an address and see if there is any wetlands, stream or other water bodies in the vicinity. It is meant as a quick reference.

http://gis.wellesleyma.gov/wetlands.html

Wetlands Meeting: August 4, 8:20PM

The Wellesley Country Club is on the Wetlands Agenda at 8:20pm on August 4th. The proposed project is the reconstruction of the 12th hole within the 100 ft buffer zone.

Turtles Force Runway Closing at Kennedy Airport

Turtles do what they have always done before humans built airports, runways and all that we call human civilization. Check the story below and the picture showing hundreds of turtles!

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/turtles-force-runway-closure-at-kennedy-airport/

Wellesley Country Club - Brookside Road in Needham

The Wellesley Country Club has been reported dumping within an isolated wetland and its associated 100-foot buffer zone jurisdictional under the Needham Wetlands Protection Bylaw (Article 6). Hearing at Needham Conservation Commission on June 23rd.

Check out a previous story associated with the Wellesley Country Club dumping without a permit on Brookside Road in Wellesley.

http://wellesley.patch.com/articles/country-club-issued-cease-and-desist-by-wetlands-protection-committee

Year of the Turtle - 2011

Conservationists have declared 2011 Year of the Turtle. The biggest threat to turtles are not other wild life, but humans. If you drive by Brookside Road in Wellesley, you will see the Turtle Crossing signs that tell you to slow down. This is a time that turtles cross the road into the Wellesley Country Club Golf Course and lay their eggs. The turtles have been here way before the golf course was constructed and they keep doing what they have been doing for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, turtles are moving closer to being in danger of extinction every year.

We urge you to slow down, and let the turtles go their way.

For more information check this out:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/conservation/herps/turtle_calendar.htm

Letter: Getting noisier in Country Club area

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wellesley/news/opinions/letters/x1599382788/Letter-Getting-noisier-in-Country-Club-area#axzz1NHosL3IX

Thank you!

Thank you all who took the time to join in the Brookside Scenic Road celebration on Saturday 5/21/2011. The 13th Annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend is packed with activities and choosing among them is difficult. If you could not make it to the Celebration, please, do visit us on line to check out the event photos that some of the participants took.

Visit our Web Site!
http://www.friendsofbrookside.org/

Check out our Blog
http://www.friendsofbrookside.blogspot.com/

Find us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_137816282901773

The Brookside Scenic Road Celebration was a success!

We had a good showing despite competing events around town including Ellen Gibbs (Board of Selectmen) who spoke eloquently at the ribbon cutting ceremony; Sue Webb (Animal Officer) who gave a very informative turtle talk; Neal Glick (Planning Board); David Wright and Dwight Lueth (Historical Commission) as well as over 30 community members. Check out new turtle crossing signs and the scenic road signs at either end of Brookside (across Wellesley Ave. section to be added soon.) Photos of the event will be posted soon.

WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE - June 2, 2011

The next WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE meeting is on June 2, 2011 at the Natural Resource Commission Office, Town Hall, 525 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA

6:25pm - 6:35pm Discussion – Friends of Brookside

Please, make every effort to attend. We need people to participate in the discussion, ask questions, and make imformed decisions.

Wetlands Meetings

Check out the NRC site which has all the meetings for the Wetlands Protection committeee as well as the meeting notes:

http://www.ci.wellesley.ma.us/Pages/WellesleyMA_NRC/wetlands/index

Celebrate SCENIC Brookside Road - Saturday May 21st at 8:20AM at Longfellow Pond Parking Lot

Join the fun as we celebrate all of Wellesley's scenic roads, including the newest scenic road, Brookside Road.

Meet on Saturday May 21st at 8:20AM at Longfellow Pond Parking Lot. Invite your friends and neighbors!

Schedule of Events:

8:30 AM - Turtle Talk Learn about these amazing creatures with our own Animal Officer, Sue Webb!

9:00 AM - Ribbon Cutting followed by Town Forest Hikes: Join town leaders on the corner of Oakland and Brookside as we welcome Brookside Road as a Scenic Road. Then hit the trails and explore this wonderful area!

Featuring two hikes:

Town Forest Hike - Led by Wellesley Trails Committee


Brookside Road Walk - Led by Community Members

The road will be closed to traffic from 9-10AM

10:00 AM - Cake and Refreshments Socialize and enjoy refreshments at Longfellow Pond

Wetlands Protection Meeting

Please attend the Wetlands Meeting:

When: Thursday May 12 from 7:30-7:50PM
Where: NRC Office (basement) Town Hall

The Committee scheduled a site visit and we expect them to report on the
Club's activities in the area by the Community Gardens and the alleged town
sewer and septic activities taking place on Brookside Road. We’d appreciate your attendance because citizen presence at meetings has yielded many positive environmental outcomes.

Thank you for your continued support!

NRC’s 12th Earth Day Clean-up Along the Charles River

NRC’s 12th Earth Day Clean-up Along the Charles River, April 16th, 9:30 AM – 12 Noon


Please join the Natural Resources Commission in celebrating Earth Day this Saturday, April 16th, by helping to

clean-up along the Charles River from 9:30 AM -12:00, rain or shine. Please come for any length of time that you’re available. We’ll meet at the municipal parking lot at the intersection of River Street and Rt. 16 near the Newton border.


All volunteers will receive a FREE Earth Day T-Shirt and refreshments will be served and clean-up supplies will be provided including non-latex work gloves and trash bags. Please wear old clothes and bring your own water, preferably in a refillable water bottle!

After the clean-up, the Charles River Watershed Association, who is co-sponsoring this clean-up with the NRC, will have a Volunteer Appreciation lunch at the Whole Foods in Bellingham 12:00-3:00 if you are interested (directions will be available at the clean-up site). The t-shirt you will be given acts as your ticket to the free lunch provided.

Brookside Road is officially a scenic road!

On Tuesday April 5th 2011, at the Town Meeting Article 30 was voted YES to make the Brookside Road scenic. Planning gave a very detailed (and witty) presentation to address the criteria for making Brookside a scenic road. Laura Fragasso representing the citizens showed many photos that demonstrated the beautiful mature trees framing distant views both man-made and natural, tree canopy engulfing the road, marshy views, etc. Along with Planning , the Historical Commission, NRC and Advisory also unanimously recommended Article 30. Details of the town bylaw describing the scenic designation "right of way" can be found on the town web site.

At the Town Meeting: Article 34, the Tree Protection and Preservation Bylaw

Dear Town Meeting Members,

We urge you to approve Article 34, the Tree Protection and Preservation Bylaw (see below). Further, we ask that if you are in favor of this proposed bylaw, you take actions to increase the likelihood that it will pass (e.g., speak at Town Meeting, send this letter to or call other Town Meeting Members). A group of citizens has been working closely with the Planning Board to draft this bylaw and we strongly believe this will be in the best interests of the Town of Wellesley. Close to fifty residents have signed this letter asking for your support.

Because the proposed bylaw’s goal is to reduce the destruction of large trees associated with major construction projects only, it will not affect the vast majority of homeowners. Given that much of the loss of character of neighborhoods in our town has been conducted by developers building “spec” houses, the bylaw targets this root cause. It would give builders incentives to preserve the large trees along the perimeter of properties being redeveloped which should help protect the character of our neighborhoods. Furthermore, we developed this bylaw learning from the experiences of other Towns and Cities in Massachusetts yet adapting them to Wellesley. Given the need to keep our budgets and staff lean, we developed a process that will piggyback on existing permitting processes.

ARTICLE 34. To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to create a Tree Protection and Preservation Bylaw which establishes regulations regarding the preservation and replacement of trees over a specific caliper located on private property within the setbacks, and to establish a Tree Bank to be administered by the Department of Public Works – Park and Tree Division; or take any other action relative thereto.

Goal is to Increase Number of Trees Saved or Replanted during Major Construction
We have all seen the type of development that is now the norm in our Town. When homes are purchased by a builder, most or all of the existing trees are cut down to clear the lot for construction activity and equipment. In contrast, when homeowners redevelop a property, they usually preserve the large trees whenever possible. If we fast forward twenty years, the redevelopment of many properties will result in the loss of a significant number of the large, mature trees. On average, 100 properties per year apply for new construction or large scale addition permits. If one extrapolates current activity, a significant number of properties will have undergone major construction and tree removal. Further, these large trees cannot be replaced in our lifetimes. Arborists tell us that trees of 10 inches diameter are 25-50 years old and 45 inch trees are 100 years old. The longer we wait to act, the more Wellesley will lose its character and value.

Few will argue about the multitude of benefits that large trees bring to a community. Beyond physical beauty, there is agreement that the benefits include reduced energy costs, higher property value, enhanced sound and sight privacy, and increased water and carbon dioxide absorption. Sometimes a picture tells the story best. We have shared aerial photos with Town Committee - from Google Earth – to demonstrate how builders’ clear cutting has been dramatically reducing the tree canopy and character of our neighborhoods. The redeveloped properties stand out like a sore thumb. Please “fly” over Wellesley on Google Earth website. You can zoom in on different neighborhoods and look back in time to get a sense of the rate of change in any given street or neighborhood. The Planning Board said that the Google Earth images we shared galvanized them to take action.

Protect Homeowner Rights to Manage their Trees
We believe that homeowners should have the right to manage the trees on their properties. If any of us want to cut down trees on our land, this proposed bylaw makes no change. However, builders or homeowners undertaking major construction projects (demolition, new construction or 50% increase in footprint) will need to submit a tree inventory and mitigation plan along with their permit applications. For large trees, (10 inches in diameter or more) in setback areas, builders will continue to have the choice of either protecting the trees during construction or removing trees. This proposed bylaw only protects large trees located within the front, side and rear setbacks where impact on neighboring properties is highest -- it does not affect any trees, regardless of size, within the buildable area of a lot. If large trees in the setback areas are removed, the builder has the option to replace or make a payment to a new Town fund, a “Tree Bank”.

Develop Lean Process
In this constrained fiscal environment, the Town Planning staff worked to design a process that will not require new personnel. Furthermore, three sources of funds will likely accrue to the Town including application fees, payments to the Tree Bank, and possibly State funds down-the-road for environmental initiatives. For example, the City of Newton has collected $860,000 in its Tree Ordinance Fund which they have used to maintain and plant trees on public land.

Build on Lessons Learned from Towns with Tree Bylaws
We interviewed experts in other Towns and in Massachusetts Department of Urban Forestry to learn about Tree Bylaws elsewhere and to bring that to the Planning Board discussions. From this, we feel confident that this proposal for the Town of Wellesley is designed to get the most gain for our Town with the least costs or risks. We also consulted with Eric Seaborn (Wellesley resident and son of Neal Seaborn, Chair of Wellesley Natural Resources Commission) in the State Department of Urban Forestry to review bylaw drafts and offer recommendations.

Bylaw Supported by Town Committees
The Planning Board developed this bylaw as their priority initiative for the year and supports it unanimously. The Board of Selectmen and Natural Resources Commission support it. The Advisory Committee recommended it but it was a close vote. Furthermore, there was no opposition at any of the public hearings. In contrast, the other recent zoning bylaw proposals which were approved including large house review, building height review and retaining wall requirements, did have opposition present at public hearings.

Town Residents Desire Preservation of the Character of our Neighborhoods
In the last Townwide survey in 2004, respondents stated that after education, the two most important reasons Wellesley is a good place to live are its “neighborhood character” and its “parks and green spaces”. Similarly, when asked what the Town needs to do to preserve its attractiveness, respondents state that “preserving the character of our neighborhoods” and “enact restrictions on single family homes” are the top two issues.

At the upcoming Town Meeting, we hope you will play an active role in seeing that the Tree Protection and Preservation Bylaw passes.

Brookside Road and Longfellow Pond Spring Clean up

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Spring Clean up Day. We had 25 people from all walks of life and neighborhoods accross town. The Trails Committee, Kiwanis Club, WHS Key Club, High School and Middle School Students, Friends of Brookside as well as other neighbors of the area met at the Longfelow Pond Parking Lot and walked around Oakland Street, brookside road, the Brookside Gardens, Longfellow Pond to pick up trash, cut branches, spread woodchips. They all worked hard in the cold with smile!

See you all next year!

Planning Board Public Hearing Warrant Articles - Brookside Scenic Road

Many of you signed a petition August 2010 and thanks to you this effort advanced. Your attendance is needed to show the Planning Board that citizen support continues for making Brookside Road a Scenic Road. The Planning Board will hear it at the following meeting so that it can advance to Annual Town Meeting in March (see ARTICLE 30. below)

WHAT: Planning Board Public Hearing Warrant Articles
WHEN: Monday, February 7, 2011 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Great Hall, Town Hall


ARTICLE 30. To see if the Town will vote to designate Brookside Road as a scenic road, pursuant to Chapter 40, Section 15C of the Massachusetts General Laws; or take any other action relative thereto.
(Planning Board)

Other articles sponsored by Planning will be voted on at this hearing as well. All articles can be accessed on the Town website.

Please feel free to RSVP for it will be good to know how many can attend.

Thank you!

http://friendsofbrookside.blogspot.com/2011/01/definition-scenic-road.html

WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE - Friday, February 4 January 11, 2011

The Wetlands Committee has scheduled a meeting to discuss whether to extend Beals and Thomas contract which the Club has been paying for as required by the law. Beals and Thomas has been reviewing the Club's proposal and making independent assessment and unbiased recomendations to the Committee. Their continuing participation in the process is very critical at this point in time. The meeting will be very short and the Club representative will be there to protect their interests. The Club has expresed concerns on the cost in past meetings. Please, attend the meeting and voice your support.


WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE

MEETING AGENDA

Friday, February 4, 2011

Selectman’s Meeting Room, Town Hall, 525 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA
8:00am Wellesley Country Club – MA DEP #324-647 – Discussion

The Committee will meet to discuss a proposed extension of the existing peer review contract.

Wellesley Patch: Friends of Brookside Present Alternatives to the Country Club

http://wellesley.patch.com/articles/friends-of-brookside-present-alternatives-to-the-country-club-2#photo-4651638

Wellesley Country Club Continued NOI - Thursday, January 27, 2010, 9:00 PM

We have just received confirmation of this Thursday night's meeting of the Wetlands Protection Committee. As this process moves forward, your participation remains critical. We know that our increasing attendance is gaining notice and putting pressure on all involved to stay focus on protecting our wetlands. Please, attend.


WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE


Thursday, January 27, 2010, 9:00 PM


The Great Hall, Town Hall, 525 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA


Wellesley Country Club Continued NOI – MA DEP #324-647

The proposed project is to construct a golf course maintenance facility, parking lot, materials storage area, stormwater management systems and associated elements within the Riverfront Area of Rosemary Brook, buffer zone to Bordering Vegetated Wetlands and Bank of an irrigation pond.


(The time is approximate as there is other business scheduled before the Country Club)


As with the last meeting, our participation is dependent on the structure of the meeting as determined by the Chair.


You may recall that the community was invited by WPC to present their own Alternative Locations for the Maintenance Facility.


Friends of Brookside volunteers reviewed the Wetlands' files to capture any suggestions by residents that had previously

been

submitted to the

Committee

. Next, community members, working with our paid consultant (Wetlands' Scientist Patrick Garner), identified credible locations, created a proposal, and made an official submission to the Wetlands Protection Committee. We feel these Alternative Sites are very viable.

Going forward we are just as unsure of the process as you are!

We ask for your attendance at these meetings. The Great Hall (upstairs) is once again booked, and once again it's vitally important that the Wetlands Protection Committee members and the Wellesley Country Club representatives understand just how passionate the community is about protecting our town's natural resources.


(The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for February 2nd)


As always, please feel free to contact us with any comments, questions or suggestions.


Thank you for your continued support.

Definition: Ancient Ways

Wellesley Town Website: www.ci.wellesley.ma.us/Pages/WellesleyMA_DPW/streetsummary.pdf

ANCIENT WAYS*
Ancient Ways are ways which were in existence when the Town of Wellesley was incorporated
on April 6, 1881, which are characterized as being significant ways for public passage from one public
place to another at the time of incorporation.
Brookside Road
Cartwright Road
Columbia Street
Crescent Street
Laurel Avenue
Rockland Street
Smith Street
* According to opinion of Town Counsel, dated 1/22/87, ancient ways are considered private ways unless
specifically accepted by the Town, i.e. at Annual Town Meeting.

Definition: Scenic Road

Section 15C. Upon recommendation or request of the planning board, conservation commission or historical commission of any city or town, such city or town may designate any road in said city or town, other than a numbered route or state highway as a scenic road; provided, however, that a numbered route may be designated by a city or town as a scenic road if its entire length is contained within the boundaries of said city or town, and no part of said route is owned or maintained by the commonwealth.

After a road has been designated as a scenic road any repair, maintenance, reconstruction, or paving work done with respect thereto shall not involve or include the cutting or removal of trees, or the tearing down or destruction of stone walls, or portions thereof, except with the prior written consent of the planning board, or if there is no planning board, the selectmen of a town, or the city council of a city, after a public hearing duly advertised twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area, as to time, date, place and purpose, the last publication to occur at least seven days prior to such hearing; provided, however, that when a public hearing must be held under the provisions of this section and under section three of chapter eighty-seven prior to the cutting or removal of a tree, such hearings shall be consolidated into a single public hearing before the tree warden and the planning board, or if there is no planning board, the selectmen of a town, or the city council of a city, and notice of such consolidated public hearing shall be given by the tree warden or his deputy as provided in said section three of chapter eighty-seven. Any city or town making said scenic road designation may make an ordinance or by-law establishing that a violation of this paragraph shall be punished by a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars.

http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40/Section15C

100 Years of History at Wellesley Country Club

There is a facinating history of the Wellesley Country Club detailed in this article published in the WestonWellesley magazine. Please, read on to the last pragraph that says "Perhaps also included will be one of the arrowheads that can still be found on occasion on the Club’s land with a recorded history that dates back to 1681 when it was purchased from Chief Magos whose tribe lived on its rolling hills and swales."

http://www.wellesleywestonmagazine.com/fall10/wellesely_countryclub.htm

Wetlands Protection Committee Meetings

Dear Friends of Brookside:

Please, mark your calendars for the Next Wetlands Protection Committee Meetings (time and location to be announced.)

January 27
February 2
The Committee has compressed their meeting schedule due to a lack of quorum in February through the beginning of March and the chairman emphasized that they need to be fair to the applicant. We are not sure what this means and what exactly all the drivers are. We do feel that it is of the utmost importance to attend the next two meetings to ensure that the process is fair to both the interests of the applicant and the residents.

Wellesley Patch: Country Club Makes Changes, Wetlands Protection Requests Alternatives

Neighbors expressed feelings of frustration at the lengthy process.
By Grahame Turner
The Wetlands Protection Committee's latest meeting regarding the proposed facilities on Wellesley Country Club land was described by some neighbors as anywhere from "frustrating" to "inadequate." At least from the perspective of people living near Brookside Road.

"We were presented material that helps us make a decision," said Committee chair Eric Seaborn. "We're moving forward with a timetable."

The purpose of the meeting was largely to discuss findings made by Beals and Thomas (B+T), third party consultants hired by the town to peer review the plans filed by the Club's consultant Coneco Engineering and Scientists. Before B+T representatives were asked to speak, Mike Toohill of Coneco presented updated plans for the maintenance facility and comfort station, the two buildings proposed within wetland areas.

"We've made some fairly major revisions," Toohill explained.

The comfort station, a more pleasant euphemism for restroom facilities, has been shifted entirely out of the contested wetland areas. This 20-foot by 20-foot hut contains men and women's bathrooms and a lightning shelter. Because of the toilets, it will require some construction to connect it to the existing sewer lines running under Brookside road, but any disturbance will be temporary. Also conspicuously absent, the bulk material storage facility which was initially paired with this feature.

As for the maintenance facility, gone is the wash-down facility. The building itself moved further south on the plans, and is now L-shaped instead of the straight building described in the original Notice of Intent (NOI). This moves most of the construction out of the 200-foot buffer zone, from over 29,000 square feet originally, down to 5,926 square feet. Many of these changes were made in response to comments from B+T in a 12-page response letter.

"We have seen some significant steps that the applicant has done in response to our comments," said B+T's John Bensley at the meeting.

In the letter, and at the meeting, Bensley noted that there was some information they still required from the Country Club. This is also information which would be useful to the consultant hired by community group Friends of Brookside, Patrick Garner.

"We need identical information. Otherwise, information that we present has no real weight or validity," said Garner.

One of the provisions to acceptance is that the Club must prove they have looked at alternative sites and building in a wetland area is their only viable option. They have presented a handful of alternatives at their presentations, and the Committee has also extended the opportunity for neighbors to make their own suggestions. However, Garner doesn't feel he is working with adequate information and has not been allowed to visit the Country Club site.

The club's counsel, Art Krieger, explained, "The regulations state that the community has the opportunity to suggest alternatives, but it is also a private property and the club doesn't feel it would be productive to have residents coming and taking measurements."

As the meeting drew to a close, there was a heightened sense of aggravation among many of the neighbor speakers. Many expressed frustration with this meeting in particular, pointing out that there was a lot of time wasted on visuals which weren't clear. One neighbor was interrupted at least four times before having a chance to speak. Most of the meeting was focused on presenting alternatives, many of which have already been discussed at previous meetings.

"The reason we are dwelling on alternatives is that the law states if there is some alternative site, we are bound to deny it [the NOI]," explained Jay Hammerness, a Wetlands Protection Committee member.

There are two more meetings scheduled for this particular battle. January 27 and February 3, the Committee will reconvene to hear more from the Country Club on its alternatives and suggestions.

The Swellesley Report: Globe columnist takes a 9-iron to Wellesley Country Club

Globe columnist takes a 9-iron to Wellesley Country Club
By bbrown | Published: January 7, 2011


Boston Globe Metro columnist Brian McGrory reaches into his bag of golfing terms and beats the Wellesley Country Club over the head with them today in a column titled “This one’s a bogey” regarding the WCC’s controversial effort to put a big maintenance shed on picturesque Brookside Road.

Stealing a page from the Boston Herald, McGrory resorts to good old fashioned Wellesley bashing, with obligatory BMW SUV, designer jeans and Hermes scarves references, glorying in this rich vs. rich tussle (though he somehow refrained from using the words “posh” and “tony”).

In the end, McGrory acknowledges meeting with a pleasant enough rep from the WCC, but comes down against the club’s plans, which have been fought publicly by neighbors and questioned by the town. He also notes that the WCC has started to make compromises, such as cutting the size of the planned maintenance building and finding a different spot for an equipment washing facility.

Related: Friends of Brookside Association steps up fight vs Wellesley Country Club

This one's a bogey

This one's a bogey
By Brian McGrory
Globe Columnist / January 7, 2011

What is it that causes the rich, or a particular kind of rich, to constantly fight among themselves? Do their designer jeans pinch and make them ornery? Do they feel aggrieved by the weight of their Prada bags?

How else to explain what is going on in the pleasant environs of a place called Wellesley, home to the largest concentration of BMW SUVs and Hermes scarves in Massachusetts. It’s also the site of an intramural battle that, for its sheer absurdity, is impossible to ignore.

At the center is the Wellesley Country Club, best known in the tradition-rich world of golf as the place that bulldozed its charming century-old clubhouse a few years back to build a palace that’s a better fit for a monarch than the 15-handicappers who generally populate the place.

The proposal to build it, and the massive assessment that accompanied it, caused a yearslong civil war at the club. But with that all behind them, the remaining members now find themselves staring out the windows of their gorgeous new building at — gasp — the old tractor barn, located perilously close by.

So the club leadership wants to raze it and build a new maintenance facility along a wooded road far from the clubhouse. The proposed building will be four times the size of the current shed, two stories high, 23,000 square feet large, with its own self-contained washing facility.

John Deere didn’t keep his own tractors up this well — but John Deere didn’t live in Wellesley.

To their credit, club officials picked a road in which the only house belongs to the club itself, so the facility wouldn’t be in anyone’s view. The problem is, Brookside Road has been there since 1721 and has accumulated no small number of fans over the centuries.

It is, in fact, a ribbon of pavement covered by an endless canopy of stately trees. On one side is the golf course, and on the opposite side is Rosemary Brook, with a swath of hillside forest beyond it.

“It’s a tranquil, pristine setting that’s the biggest wildlife area in Wellesley,’’ said Laura Fragasso, a resident and one of the leading opponents.

She said this as she led me along a path through the woods above the brook on a day that couldn’t have been warmer than 10 degrees. “Do you know what an esker is?’’ she called back as I negotiated stumps and rocks.

“I do.’’

Actually, I had no idea, but I hoped it was a hut with a fireplace and hot chocolate. No, it was the glacially-formed hill we were walking on.

She stopped short and pointed to a heron skimming the top of the frozen brook, a beautiful sight. “That’s where the building goes,’’ Fragasso said of the nearby stakes on the other side of the road. “The size of a Roche Bros.’’

Opponents have held a protest walk along Brookside. They are petitioning the town boards that will rule on the plan. The proposed site sits within a 200-foot waterfront buffer zone, so they are raising environmental concerns.

A Wellesley Country Club member, Paul DeYesso, gave me a presentation and took me on a tour of his own. He was a nice guy, straightforward, and accommodating. “We want to be a good neighbor,’’ he said.

Okay, but what explains the garish “No Trespassing’’ signs the club posted on Brookside Road, or the fact that the club dumped mounds of debris by the road that led to a cease and desist order from the town?

Last night, DeYesso said the club now plans to cut the size of the facility by several thousand square feet and move the equipment wash to another part of the course, in the spirit of compromise.

It’s not likely going to be enough. The reality is that this Taj Mahal of a maintenance shed doesn’t belong along a 300-year-old road beside a sensitive brook.

On this, the good members of Wellesley Country Club are in a place that’s probably familiar to them: out of bounds.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at mcgrory@globe.com.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE - Tuesday, January 11, 2011

WELLESLEY WETLANDS PROTECTION COMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Great Hall, Town Hall, 525 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA

PUBLIC HEARINGS/APPOINTMENTS

7:45pm Wellesley Country Club – Enforcement Order Issuance
7:50pm Wellesley Country Club – Continued Notice of Intent – MA DEP #324-647
The proposed project is to construct a golf course maintenance facility, parking lot, materials storage area, stormwater management systems and associated elements within the Riverfront Area of Rosemary Brook, buffer zone to Bordering Vegetated Wetlands and Bank of an irrigation pond.