By Dakota Antelman — [email protected]
Tree cutting and an uptick in traffic are among the topics drawing scrutiny as the Zoning Board of Appeals continues its review of the proposed Residences at Thoreau development.
But even as neighbors raise concerns, ZBA chair Theo Kindermans said the developers’ comprehensive permit application “is all but certainly going to be approved.”
Plans for the 237-unit Forest Ridge Road project next to the Thoreau Club have already gone through major changes. Developers met with the ZBA in early December and were scheduled to hold a closed-door “working session” ahead of another public meeting this month.
With little opportunity to stop the development if they wanted to, officials “are in a discussion now to make this project as good … as it can be for the town,” Kindermans said.

Tree removal
The Boston-based Pinebrook Group bought the Thoreau Club in 2022. In late 2023, the firm started seeking approval to build housing on what is now the Camp Thoreau summer camp.
The application uses a provision of the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law to bypass town zoning regulations.
The law gives developers leeway in communities where the “subsidized housing inventory” is less than 10% of the total housing stock. Though Concord has since increased its inventory to 12.81%, developers submitted the Thoreau proposal while the town was below the threshold.
The Residences at Thoreau promises to include affordability deed restrictions on 25% of its units. If approved, the project would include 60 affordable units.
Close to a dozen people who live near the Thoreau Club joined the ZBA and the development team at a December 3 site visit.
The visit featured frequent discussion of tree removal.

“They’re ripping out a lot more trees than I was hoping,” area resident Rob Kenna told The Concord Bridge after civil engineer Phil Cordeiro walked into the woods and showed the limit of where trees would be cut. Two days after the site visit, Kenna told the ZBA it looked like at least half the trees between the development and homes on neighboring Black Birch Lane would be removed.
“I will ask for clarification on where that tree line really will end,” he said.
Kindermans said he thinks the tree-cutting impacts will be more significant than initial plans indicated. Speaking at the ZBA’s December 5 meeting, he said developers may have to add extra privacy screening between the development and homes on Black Birch.
Traffic, parking, and light
The Residences at Thoreau would add roughly 1,000 daily vehicle trips to a stretch of Main Street at Forest Ridge Road that currently has 12,000 daily trips, according to a traffic study from the development team.
Area resident Kathy Clute told the ZBA that she is “very concerned about traffic.” Others shared similar thoughts.
Architect Cliff Boehmer, who reviewed Pinebrook’s plans for the town, said the site “feels dominated by parking.” He suggested moving some spaces to underground garages and called for increased pedestrian connectivity between the two residential buildings and other parts of the property, including a proposed dog park and a “tot lot” children’s play area.
Kindermans asked for more details from the development team on its lighting plan and raised concerns about light pollution for neighbors.

Upcoming vote
Cordeiro said the development team will provide more details about tree removal plans.
Asked to respond to additional concerns about screening, Mark Seck from architecture firm Wood Partners punted to a later date, saying the team wanted to wait until they could fully read Boehmer’s peer review letter.
Seck did not respond to follow-up questions from The Bridge in the weeks after December 5 asking whether his team had reviewed the letter.
