Since 2002, the Dakota Partners has planned to build a
14-unit condo development on property it purchased at 343 Summer
Street. After successfully repelling legal challenges from an abutting
orthodontist that went to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the
developer has waged its own legal battle against the city to keep the
project moving forward.

The Feb. 4 ZBA meeting would have
brought a ruling on whether the construction permit could be extended
for a year because of hardship faced by the developer.

Dakota
Partners' Attorney Richard DiGirolamo told the board the request for
the extension was based on the hardship faced by the litigation process
against the developer and the refusal of the city to allow them to cut
down a shade tree to place a required fire lane.

Dakota Partners has an ongoing lawsuit against Mayor Joseph Curtatone to force him to remove the tree.

Four
Aldermen and 15 residents tore into DiGirolamo's reasoning, citing
legal records and an unwillingness for the Dakota Partners to work with
neighbors. The property was purchased by the group (then known as
Emerald Development) from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority in 2002.

According to their website, these condos
would be the company's sixth development project in Somerville, joining
high-end condos built on Park Street, Osgood Street, Weston Avenue,
Belmont Terrace and Broadway.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz,
named in the lawsuit instigated by Dakota against the city, said that
as one of the city officials responsible for signing off on the
construction management plan the developer had not submitted a complete
application before attempting litigation to force her to review it.

"It
is worth considering (Dakota Partners') tactics in attempting to strong
arm their way through our processes and their spurious claims of
hardship when they knew all along about environmental factors like the
healthy public shade tree and their requirement to submit an acceptable
plan," Gewirtz said.

At-Large Aldermen Bill White and Dennis Sulllivan and Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero also spoke against the permit renewal.

The residents' testimony ranged from challenges against the legality of an extension to impassioned diatribes.

"Hardship
has been on the neighbors and you know this," Nancy Iappini said as her
two-minute time limit ran out. "This application is false and
misleading."

Both Alderman Bill White and resident Evdokia
Nikolova raised issues relating to the timeline of the permit, saying
the law prevents the developer from asking for an extension. Assistant
City Solicitor David Shapiro will give his opinion at the Feb. 18 ZBA
meeting.

For his part, DiGirolamo said the testimony against the development had little bearing on the application before the ZBA.

"Dakota
fought and won, played by the rules, and now that the neighbors lost
they want to raise the merits of the case again," he said after the
meeting. "The only real issue is whether or not (Dakota) acted in good
faith."

Dr. Mohamed Hanif Butt, who operates an orthodontist
office at 341 Summer St. and was the plaintiff in the unsuccessful
lawsuit that went to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, said the seven
year battle against the project has cost him $100,000 and taken a toll
on his health.

"To see it going on and on is painful," he said, "but there's hope."