Fw: 15 Washington Street Impact Advisory Group & Public Meeting

[Joan Pasquale]

Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 8:59 AM
From: "Development Review at the BPDA" <Casey....@Boston.gov>
To: Joan <PCB...@Mail.com>
Subject: 15 Washington Street Impact Advisory Group & Public Meeting

Public meetings hosted by the BPDA View this email in your browser 15 Washington Street Impact Advisory Group Meeting Description: Impact Advisory Group (IAG) meeting to discuss the Proponent's proposal for a new development at 15 Washington Street in Brighton consisting of up to 270 dwelling units, a new approximately 45,753- square foot Whole Foods grocery store, a new approximately 3,593 square foot Citizens Bank, and up to 323 structured parking spaces that will support the residential and commercial uses. Please note that the purpose of this meeting is different than that of a traditional community meeting. As part of the development review process, IAG members work closely with BPDA staff to identify the impacts of a project and recommend appropriate community benefits to offset those impacts. IAG meetings prioritize discussion between the project proponent (i.e. the developer) and IAG members. [more] Time: 02/06/2019 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM Location: Brighton Marine Health Center, 77 Warren Street, Brighton, MA 02135 Public Meeting Description: Public Meeting to discuss the Proponent's proposal for a new development at 15 Washington Street in Brighton consisting of up to 270 dwelling units, a new approximately 45,753- square foot Whole Foods grocery store, a new approximately 3,593 square foot Citizens Bank, and up to 323 structured parking spaces that will support the residential and commercial uses. [more] Time: 02/06/2019 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Location: Brighton Marine Health Center, 77 Warren Street, Brighton, MA 02135 Submit Your Comments Casey Hines Casey....@Boston.gov 617.918.4244 Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2019 Boston Planning & Development Agency, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Boston Planning & Development Agency One City Hall Square Boston, MA 02201

[Christopher Arena]

As a member on the IAG for the 15 Washington Street/Whole Foods Project, I wanted to share my comment letter on this project (attached below).

Ultimately, I have voiced conditional support for the project. For now, I am neutral on the proposal but not in full opposition. I think the pros in this development far outweigh the cons. To turn a sea of asphalt into much needed housing, I'm fully onboard. 

However, this project needs to try to: 

• Provide more affordable housing. 13% is woefully inadequate. This is a MUCH larger conversation around IDP - is it really enough?
• Decrease the proposed parking ratio and focus on multimodal transit options. 323 spots is outrageous. The ratio is .63 but should be about .5. Good urban planning doesn't look to the past, it looks to the future. If we build these units, affordably, and restrict cars, people will gladly give up their cars for homes they can afford. I know I would!
• Build in increased home ownership opportunities. I'm fine with a mix of rental/home ownership. Maybe 2 separate sides of the development? But we really shouldn't be building 100% in either direction. If we saturate the home ownership or rental markets all at once, it doesn't stabilize either. We need more supply, but it has to be smart, balanced, affordable supply. 
• Conduct a much more in depth traffic calming study. They really aren't thinking of the impact of all of these cars around so many seniors. I wasn't wholly impressed with the traffic presentation as it was essentially delivered by an architect - not a traffic engineer. 
• Include some "to-the-sky" public realm, be it a green way between the buildings or through a central courtyard. Right now the Whole Foods lot is still open space. We can't just replace that with zero open space. I'd gladly trade a higher building with an open courtyard for a dense building with no true public realm.

In the interest of transparency, I've attached my letter below to Director Golden on the Whole Foods project. I hope the proponents come back with increased community benefit, but ultimately this project does look like a win for our community - with some minor tweaks and changes. 

Chris

Christopher Arena Founder & CEO GFTB Digital m: 857.498.8778 w: www.gftbdigital.com  e: chris...@gftbdigital.com

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