Mothers club110414

53
Fresh Pond Residents Alliance

Transcript of Mothers club110414

Fresh Pond Residents Alliance

It all started with Toyko…

It all started with Toyko.

Next, New St came along (93 units)

87 New St (54 units, 2010)

Concord-Alewife Study (2005)

All according to plan?

1,428 units on Cambridge Park Dr. + 227 units at Vox (Faces) = 1,665 units

Vox/Faces (227 units, 2013)70 Fawcett/Atmark (429 units, 2014)160 CPD/Hanover (398 units, 2014)Concord/Wheeler I (61 units, 2014)165 CPD (244 units, in progress, 2015)130 CPD (220 units, coming 2016)88 CPD (254 units, coming 2017)

1,833 units since last year

More may be permitted soon:

75 New St (93 units, 2015)Concord/Wheeler II (48 units, 2015)Masse’s (26 units, 2015)Tokyo (20 units, 2015)

Vox on Rt. 2, Faces (227 units, 2013)

Atmark, Fawcett St (429 units, 2014)

Concord & Wheeler (61 units, 2014)+48 units to be proposed next door

No Man’s Land in the Quad

160 Camb. Park Dr. (398 units, 2014)

160 Cambridge Park Dr. (220 units under construction)

130 Cambridge Park Dr. (244 units permitted)

88 Cambridge Park Dr. (254 units + 7-story garage permitted)

75 New St (93 units proposed)

Soil samples confirm a brownfield

The Great Wall of New Street

And this is only the beginning…

In what’s known as “The Quad”$125.9m in land holdings,

representing 2.7 million s.f. of buildable floor area, have changed handsin the past 2 years.

No Man’s Land in the Quad

No Man’s Land in the Quad

No Man’s Land in the Quad

What’s missing?

 1. Everything else that makes a neighborhood, creates a sense of place.

Mixed use, small neighborhood-serving retail, public open spaces.

What’s missing?

2. A better balance of housing.

Profusion of small, luxury rental units in hotel-like buildings. Inclusionary housing percent (15%, 11.5% net) & Nexus fees too low.Affordable housing underfunded.Nothing for middle income families.

What’s missing?

 3. Pedestrian/bike connections and transit infrastructure.

Dead end streets, parkway & RR tracks pose huge challenges to reducing car use. Bike bridge over RR? Commuter rail station at Alewife? New road network in The Quad?

How will we get there?

What’s missing?

 4. Safeguards to protect the city’s unique open space resources & to reduce flood risk from climate change.

The Alewife area is on a flood plain…risk to city’s water supply as well as to homes.

What’s missing?

5. A citywide master plan.

A vision and a road map for sustainable growth. Last done in 1993.We are victims of piecemeal planning, especially in the Alewife area.

9 Elements of a Master Plan (MA 81-D)

• Goals & policies as basis for decision making• Land use (density/intensity vs. capacity/services)• Housing strategies balanced for all citizens• Economic development• Natural & cultural resource protection• Open space protection• Services & facilities forecast• Circulation systems• Implementation: municipal action plan

Who calls the planning shots?The City Manager (appointed by Council)•Appoints Planning Board (volunteers)•Directs CDD planning staff

Planning Board has been under intense scrutiny•Takes narrow view of its discretion.•Special permit decisions often ignore context.•Procedures put residents at disadvantage.

City Council votes on zoning changes. Residents can petition the Council for an amendment.

What’s missing?

6. A required neighborhood engagement process for development.

Early stage outreach to residents. Mechanism to collect & inform input.

We all have to live with the results.

Masse’s (26 units proposed)

Fresh Pond Residents Alliance

Jan Devereux (President), Lakeview Ave.

Doug Brown (Vice President), Standish St.

Ann Sweeney (Vice President), Lakeview Ave.

Jay Yesselman (Vice President), Vassal Lane

Peggy Barnes Lenart (Secretary), Fayerweather St.

Terry Drucker (Treasurer), Chilton St.

Bill Forster (Officer), Lexington Ave.

Langley Keyes (Officer), Chilton St.

Bob Simha (Officer), Blanchard Rd.