More than pocket change needed for proposed pocket park
The Highland Street project is seeking funding through the town’s Community Preservation Act process.
It’s currently a quarter-acre of dirt on an eight-acre construction site.
Neighbors on Highland Street envision a pocket park with trees, grass, and a walking trail. They want the town’s Community Preservation Committee to recommend public funding.
“It’s a pretty small investment” for a permanent new amenity, resident John Cooley told The Acton Bridge.
Construction is well underway on a new subdivision near West Acton’s Highland and Main Streets.
Organizers proposed repurposing a sliver of the project last year. They’ve ramped up efforts in recent months and are framing their idea in the context of a larger West Acton construction boom.
“There are so many new people coming,” homeowner Carlene Hempel said. “Now is the moment to try and stake some open space.”
The park is one of several projects for which funding is sought —but not yet guaranteed — through the town’s Community Preservation Act process.
Subdivision construction
The Highland and Main development will include up to 20 single-family homes. The town fought the proposal in court but lost its latest battle in early 2025.
Park plans hinge on a clause in Acton’s subdivision rules that lets the town reserve a portion of a development for public use.
The Natural Resources Commission backed the park proposal this summer and Natural Resources Director Delia Kaye said she planned to submit the CPC request.
The designated tract for this project faces Highland Street. The town has until spring 2028 to decide whether to buy it.
A town appraisal put the cost of buying the land at $770,000, Kaye said. She expected to seek $670,000 from the CPC, with project supporters collecting the balance through fundraising.
Planting costs at the park “would be a future phase,” Kaye told The Bridge.
CPC applications face new scrutiny during the public review process.
Pocket park proponents staffed a booth during June’s West Acton Porchfest to build support. Neighbors gathered under a pop-up tent one morning last month to pass out yard signs and pitch passersby.
“It’s still pretty shocking,” Cooley said of the subdivision site. “It’s like a strip mine.”
A ‘pedestrian highway’
Hempel described Highland Street as a “pedestrian highway” to West Acton’s train station. She likes it that way and thinks a park would help link the new subdivision to West Acton Village.
Other projects started recently on Baker Avenue and on Forest Ridge Road, where developers are building 200-plus-unit apartment complexes.
The CPC will review Community Preservation Act grant applications, including the Highland Street pocket park, before making recommendations this winter.
“Obviously, we want to support as many applications as we can,” CPC Chair Diane Proctor told The Bridge.
