Union Square Neighbors Meeting #2 Notes
ELIO...@aol.com
I am sending out this Union Square Neighbors - Meeting #2 Notes on regular
email - as well as through the Union Square Neighbors google site (thanks to
David Shaw for setting up!) : union...@googlegroups.com. Not being sure who
is on the google group - and not being well versed in its use myself - I’ll go
for redundancy for those also on the google site. Let me know if you are on.
Here's an update from our second meeting, held December 15th at 41 Stone Ave.
Attending: Gregory & Sonia Janks - 9 Homer Square; Eric Fellinger - 12
Prospect Hill Avenue; David Shaw - 44 Columbus Avenue; Stuart & Robin Dash - 41
Stone Avenue; Philip Parsons - 20 Bonner Avenue; Molly O’Neill - 2 Emerson
Street; Peter Sisk - 27 Columbus Avenue; Janine Fay - 43 Munroe Street
The meeting focus was our joint letter to the Land Use Committee (thanks to
Molly for putting it together!), signed at the end of the meeting by those
attending. The letter included the issues discussed at our previous meeting:
Scale and Character of Development
Transportation
Open Space
Housing
Extent of Zoning
(Molly - can you send me the final letter as text in an email or as a pdf
for posting on our website?)
(note to others who submitted letters - if you send them to me as text of
your email or as pdf files I will try to put them in one place on the web site.)
We discussed next steps, after the submission of the letter, and agreed it
would be helpful to sit down soon for an informal discussion with Alderman.
Janine volunteered to contact Bill White.
Note: As of Dec. 16, Janine reports that Bill White would be happy to meet
after the first of the year.
We decided to find examples (i.e. photos) of examples of development we would
like to see as an alternative - that is - in the 45-65 foot height range at
densities near the proposed Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 4.0 being proposed in the
amendment.
Note: Shortly after our last meeting I was in Waltham and took a look at
Cronin’s Landing, which someone had mentioned. It is a pretty good example of
dense housing development in the 45’-65’ range, done recently by a well-known
housing development company.
We discussed the importance of support from local business - as well as the
needs for local business to have a reasonable density of customers nearby to
support a healthy business climate.
We discussed the approach for this zoning as one of an “evolution of the
urban fabric” rather than one of radical displacement - and that the city sites
could be used to help the mix of housing/business/retail in the square - and the
value of increasing the commercial tax base.
We discussed how the process has yet to include a reasonable notice to those
neighbors abutting the areas to be rezoned, and the need to more carefully
understand the ramifications of the zoning - especially the need to help everyone
visualize the proposals and the impact on the square and the neighborhood.
Additional actions to be taken include:
• contact housing folks at SCC
• contact Office of Strategic Planning
Janine invites all Union Square Neighbors over to her house at 43 Munroe
after the January 1 flag festivities for an end of year
“socializing/networking/schmoozing & end o’ holiday cheer”
Since we should plan to meet soon after the new year, let me know what
days/evenings are generally possible/impossible.
Stuart
41 Stone Avenue
617-642-4350