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October 2010

JPNC Minutes

October 26, 2010

Attendance: Andrea Howley, Pamela Bender, Michael Reiskind, Jesse Abair, Karley Ausiello, David Baron, Red Burrows, Francesca Fordiani, Jeremy Harold, Steven Laferriere, Stephen Lussier, Daniel Perez Lacera, Emily Wheelwright, Jesse White, Jay Zoldak.

Other Attendees: Stephen Riden, Orion Kriegman, Raymond Santos, Oren Elaw, Andrew Winter (JP Neighborhood Development Corporation), Richard Thal (JP Neighborhood Development Corporation), Bob Taube (Boston Health Care for the Homeless

Program), David Taber (JP Gazette).

Called to Order at 7:10pm at First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain by Andrea Howley.

1. Introductions

  • Members of the JPNC introduced themselves.

2. Announcements

  • The Community Planning Committee for the Arborway Yard (CPCAY) is having a community meeting on Wednesday, November 27 at 7:00pm at the English High School.
  • There will be a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) program on Wednesday, October 27 starting at 5:30pm at Faulkner Hospital. This is a program for women only.
  • There will be a grand opening of the Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Cooperative Housing at the Blessed Sacrament campus on Saturday, October 30 at 10:00am.
  • Remember that Election Day is Tuesday, November 2.
  • There will be a park clean up on Saturday, November 6.
  • Remember that Tuesday, November 16 is the special Election Day to fill the Boston City Council District 6 seat.
  • The Boston Redevelopment Authority Board will consider the zoning amendment for 461 Walnut Avenue on Tuesday, November 16 at 5:50pm on the 9th floor of Boston City Hall.
  • The last planned Centre/South Street Corridor community meeting is planned for sometime in December.
  • The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) 3-day Save the Dream event will take place at the Seaport World Trade Center from Sunday, October 31 at 9:00am to Tuesday, November 2 at 9:00pm. This is a mortgage-restructuring event for homeowners who need help with their mortgage. Lenders will be in attendance.

3. Minutes

  • The minutes from the previous (September 28, 2010) JPNC meeting were handed out.
  • Steven Laferriere asked that an addition be added in the Housing & Development Committee section: “The H&DC voted to urge people to vote NO on Question 2 at the November 2 state election.”
  • Motion by David Baron to approve the minutes from the September 2010 meeting with the addition. Seconded by Red Burrows. Passed 14-0-0(1 late).

4. New/Old Business

  • There is presently an open seat in Area A. Three candidates were present who nominated themselves for the seat: Stephen Riden of 63 Paul Gore Street, Orion Kriegman of 23 Egleston Street who is active in Egleston Square affairs, and Raymond Santos of  2963 Washington Street who is active in the Hispanic Business Committee. The vote will take place at the November or December JPNC meeting.

5. Committee Reports

  • Zoning Committee – David Baron reported that there were Zoning Committee meetings on September 30, October 14 and October 21.
  • Of the seven issues considered, four have already come to the JPNC Executive Committee for approval (308 Amory Street, 38 Pond Circle, 374 Arborway, 40 Woodland Road).
  • The following three issues are now before the JPNC: 150 Boylston Street; request by Migdalia Mazziotta to change the legal occupancy to allow a convenience store/coffee shop with take-out in front of a one-family house. The Committee recommended to the applicant that they ask for a deferral at the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) to allow time to talk to Egleston Square Main Streets. The applicant agreed.
  • 123 Morton Street; request by Debbie, LLC (Bicon) to legalize and approve an existing free-standing sign. This address is also known as 501 Arborway. The matter had been deferred twice before by the applicant. Bicon has now agreed to take down the old larger sign and erect a new smaller sign. They are now talking to the neighbors, and one of the immediate neighbors wrote a letter of support. This has been the first time they received community support. The Committee recommended approval.
  • Motion by Dave Baron to recommend approval of these first two items. Seconded by Red Burrows. Passed 14-0 (1 late).-
  • 461 Walnut Avenue; request by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) to change the legal occupancy to a health care facility and multi-family residence with variances for excessive floor area ratio (FAR), excessive building height, insufficient rear yard and side yard setbacks, insufficient off-street parking and loading dock.
  • The applicants are using the City’s 121A process for this project. The plan for 461 Walnut is for a dual-purpose facility, with a 20-bed medical respite care facility on the first floor and a 30-room single room occupancy (SRO) supportive housing residence for people who are medically vulnerable on the second and third floors. The original Barbara McInnis Home had ninety beds.
  • The community meetings were very well attended, and the opposition comes from the immediate neighbors. The nature of the opposition was unfocused, concentrating on traffic, parking and density of housing. There is a fear that the housing program will be put in first.
  • Francesca Fordiani asked about provisos and changes that had been come out of the community process. There will be two fewer units of housing than first proposed. There are no plans to change the footprint, except to put a trash room on one side of the building. They do not plan to put the housing in first, and the Boston Housing Authority will be doing CORI/SORI checks on all potential residents.
  • There will be a full-time live-in manager. The Zoning Committee has also drafted a letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) for this project. Motion by Dave Baron to recommend 121A approval of this project. Seconded by Red Burrows. Passed 13-0-1 (1 late).
  • Motion by Dave Baron to approve the Zoning Committee letter to the BRA about 461 Walnut Avenue. The letter recommends approval of the project on its merits but opposes the use of the 121A process, because it allows the City to alter the taxes on this property. Seconded by Red Burrows. Passed 13-0-1 (1 late).
  • The Zoning Committee will meet on Thursday, November 4 and Thursday, November 18. The November 4 meeting will consider  29 Ashcroft Street, 6 Gayhead Street and 31 Gayhead Street.
  • Parks & Open Space Committee (POSC) – The next park cleanup will be on November 6. Meet at 8:30am at the respective playground or park: Parkman Playground on Wachusett Street, South Street Mall at Carolina Avenue, Jefferson Playground at Grotto Glen, Johnson Playground on Green Street, and Mozart Playground at Centre Street.
  • Francesca Fordiani asked who cleans up the Peace Garden. That garden is privately owned and POSC will coordinate a cleanup with Egleston Square Main Street.
  • The next meeting of the POSC will is yet to be determined.
  • Housing & Development Committee (H&DC) – Steve Laferriere reported that the Housing & Development Committee has also drafted a letter to the BRA on 461 Walnut Avenue. He distributed a draft of the letter.
  • Motion by Steve Laferriere to approve the H&DC letter to the BRA about 461 Walnut Avenue. Seconded by Francesca Fordiani. Passed 13-0-1 (1 late).
  • Steve Laferriere distributed a roster of eight Housing & Development Committee members. Motion by Steve Laferriere to approve the Housing & Development Committee roster.Passed 14-0-0 (1 late).
  • The H&DC again urged people to vote NO on Question 2 at the November 2 state election.
  • The Community Planning Committee for the Arborway Yard (CPCAY) is having a community meeting on Wednesday, November 27 at 7:00pm at the English High School.
  • The H&DC met with the Zoning Committee to discuss implementation of the Healthy Housing Guidelines.  There is a development checklist available for the Jackson Commons development.
  • The next scheduled meeting of the H&DC will be on Tuesday, November 16 at the Bowditch School.
  • Public Service Committee – Michael Reiskind reported that the Public Service Committee meeting was held on October 5 at 7:00pm at the Boston Police Department District E-13 community room.
  • On the agenda was the request for a 7-Day Common Victualler license for Royal Fried Chicken at 3383 Washington Street from 7:00am to 10:00pm, with Muhammad Sulemen as manager. Even though the Royal Fried Chicken restaurant has been in operation since 2008, and has no alcohol license, the Licensing Board is considering this as a new application because there was no renewal in 2009 and 2010 and the operation was sold twice in that time period.
  • The issues discussed were parking and the hours of operation. Mr. Suleman has full use of a large off-street parking lot next to the restaurant – it will be shared if the rest of the building is developed. The establishment is open now from 10:00am to 10:00pm, but would like the option to serve breakfast in the future. Mr. Suleman said that the dumpster is picked up twice a week and he would keep his deliveries within daylight hours. He does not plan on adding any grates to the front of the business.
  • Mr. Suleman also said that he would ask his landlord if they could remove the billboards presently on the property. The Committee recommended approval at the meeting.Motion by Michael Reiskind to recommend approval of a common victualler license for Royal Fried Chicken at 3383 Washington Street. Passed 14-0-0 (1 late).
  • The next meeting of the Public Service Committee is Tuesday, November 9.
  • Jackson CAC – Red Burrows reported that the next meeting of the Jackson CAC will be on Wednesday, November 10 starting at 6:00pm at Amory Residences, 20 Amory Avenue.
  • Centre/South Corridor CAC – Michael Reiskind is the JPNC representative on the 16-person Community Advisory Committee (CAC). He gave a lengthy update on this planning project that started in May 2009.
  • The project runs all the way from Forest Hills to Jackson Square. It is looking at upgrading the whole public space, including streets, sidewalks, lighting, street furniture, traffic and parking. After developing a written vision for the district, the CAC and the community in a series of public meetings worked on the design of the streets, sidewalks, and street furniture. They are now concentrating on three main intersections: Centre Street at the Stop & Shop, the Hyde Square rotary, and the Soldier’s Monument.
  • All except the Soldier’s Monument have an agreed upon design. The next steps, after a presumed final meeting in December, will be to have the City find money for construction and to move ahead in 2011 on more detailed design.
  • Ad-Hoc Outreach/Communications Committee –- Jesse White reported that the Committee is encouraging JPNC members to ask their Facebook friends to “like” the JPNC site. The Committee can e-mail up to fifty people at a time through Facebook. The Committee is hoping to do a monthly newsletter, but they need fresh content.

6. New/Old Business

  • There was a request to have the JPNC write its own letter to the BRA about the 461 Walnut Avenue project. Does the JPNC as a whole need to write a letter or are the two letters from the Zoning Committee and the Housing & Development Committee sufficient? Motion to have the JP Neighborhood Council write its own letter to the BRA about 461 Walnut Avenue. Passed 3-0-2.

The next meeting of the full JPNC will be on Tuesday, November 30 at 7:00pm at the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain.

The next meeting of the JPNC Executive Committee will be on Monday, November 29 at 7:30am at Ula Café.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:52pm.

(Minutes submitted by Michael Reiskind)