By Joe Creason

On Tuesday, September 28, a joint hearing of the Land Use Committee and Planning Board was held. Members of the of the public were given the opportunity to speak, with each speaker having up to two minutes to give their opinion on the various agenda items being discussed at the forum.

Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen and Michael Capuano chaired the Land Use Committee and Planning Board respectively.

Zoning with regards to the Boynton Yards gateway project near Webster Avenue and Columba Street, has been a long developing issue for the Planning Board and Land Use Committee.

The project proponent and developer, CV Properties, has engaged in productive discussions around the zoning of 80 Webster with a compromise solution that would satisfy the needs of all parties, says President of CV Properties Richard Galvin.

“It was a good back and forth, I think everyone gets a little bit of what they wanted and I want to commend the city for facilitating that discussion. We look forward to hopefully delivering the jobs and community needs of Somerville with this project,” Galvin said.

Representatives from the group Concerned Residents of 80 Webster felt a little differently.

“We have indicated that the nine-story height limit is our preferred direction for this project,” said Rodger Levi from Concerned Residents of 80 Webster.

According to Levi, Concerned Residents of 80 Webster have not received a signed agreement from CV Properties to move forward with this specific plan.

“Regarding the extension of high-rise zoning to the western portion of the block north of Beach Avenue and South of Columbia Street, we cannot support that at this time because we have not concluded a signed agreement,” Levi said. 

Levi remains cautiously optimistic that they will be able to reach an agreement in the future. The resident organization is disappointed at this time by the fact that a high-rise zoning destination remains on the section of the 80 Webster block which is south of the Boynton gateway site, Levi says.

“In all of the draft ordinances through the redoing process in December 2019, up until this late summer version of the draft ordinances, that entire block was zoned mid-rise five. It was only rezoned as high-rise in the penultimate draft, and there was no public notification of this change and no attention draw to this,” Levi said.

According to Levi, the residents of 80 Webster believe that the southern portion of the block should remain mid-rise five due to potential effects on the community and quality of life.

“Overall, I would like to thank CV properties and the city planning staff for working on with us on this,” Levi said.

In a public communication from the City Clerk’s Office, 18 registered voters requested the adoption of a zoning map amendment to change the zoning district around 51 McGrath Highway from high-rise to mid-rise five, and the zoning district around 35 McGrath Highway from mid-rise five to mid-rise four.

Comments from the public on this agenda item, ranged from opposition to support for the registered voters’ request.

“As residents who are having to deal with the implications of zoning, we are sympathetic to the residents in the McGrath-Brick Bottom area,” Levi said.

Seth Horowitz, a resident at 12 Maple Avenue, says that he is sympathetic to the needs of artists and creatives that may live in the area. However, Horowitz says the presence of high-rise housing units within five minutes walking distance of the soon to be Green Lin Extension station, will help Somerville transition away from a car dependent society.

“I tried to understand the concerns that those residents have, but it sounded to me like the main concern was the casting of shadows in that area. That argument to me, shadows on the one hand versus building to city I a climate resilient way, makes it hard for me to support down zoning from a high-rise to a mid-rise,” Horowitz said.

As this was a public hearing, committees did not give a final deliberation on the issue.