By Pete Stidman
New Editor
The developer of a vast new shopping and
rental-apartment complex on the 29-acre site of the
Bayside Expo Center submitted a flurry of documents
to city planners on June 30, opening the door for
public comment that could influence the project.
The redevelopment effort includes hundreds of
shops, rental apartments and parking lots where the
Columbia Point exposition hall now stands.
The submission to the Boston Redevelopment
Authority (BRA) was a surprise to some, who
expected the process to begin later in the fall,
based on Corcoran Jenison Companies presentations
to several civic associations earlier this year. It
has also raised questions about timing with the
Columbia Point Master Plan Task Force, which has
been appointed by city officials to create new
zoning and guidelines for density, transportation
improvements and other factors on the entire
peninsula.
"I'm not focused on that right now, quite
frankly," said chair of the task force Don Walsh
when asked how he felt about the plan for
'Bayside.' "I think they are applying under the
current zoning requirements, for whatever reason,
and I'm chairing a group that is creating a new
zoning plan."
According to both the BRA and Corcoran Jennison
execs, the company has waited patiently to file its
plans - first unveiled to the public in broad
strokes last summer - while the master plan
process began. Now the company is pointing to the
worsening economy as a reason to get underway,
according to Columbia Point project manager Tad
Read of the BRA.
The submission of the plan kick-starts the
Boston Redevelopment Authority's Article 80 Large
Project Review process, the primary way in which
the public and the city's team of planners and
analysts are allowed to pour over and recommend
changes to large-scale development proposals. The
only scheduled public meeting for this first phase
of the project's review is this Monday, July 21, 6
p.m. in the Executive Conference Center under the
Bayside Office Center at 150 Mt. Vernon St.
Mayor Thomas Menino has also invited each member
of the Columbia Point task force to also join the
Impact Advisory Group that would review the project
separately.
A second and possibly final public comment phase
for Bayside will begin after Corcoran Jennison
re-submits the plan after taking the public's
comments into account, as well as those from a
myriad of state and city agencies that will be
affected by the new shopping and residential
center.
From the PNF, or Project Notification Form, as
the submission is called, and public comments, the
BRA determines the "scoping" of the project, or
what the developer must study and analyze further.
It is also a time when civic groups typically
comment on the basics of the proposed development,
according to BRA spokesperson Jessica Shumaker. But
at any time, the community could ask for more
community meetings, more public outreach or more
time to review.
"Our plan is for it to be reviewed concurrently
with the plan that's taking place," she said. "We
wanted the community to see the plan to see what
their initial thoughts were."
For those who had a chance to peruse Bayside's
PNF - which includes a 311-page book describing the
plan and well over a thousand pages of appendices
full of traffic, pedestrian, shadow, wind and other
studies - there were many potential points of
concern.
Mitigations to address an increase in traffic
alter only five intersections in the area, three of
which are direct entrances to Bayside. The other
two, prohibiting left turns out of "the chute" (Day
Boulevard Extension) and improving signal-timing at
the intersection marking the main entrance to the
UMass-Boston campus, would do little to reduce
congestion at what has become the main focus of the
Columbia Point's task force, Kosciuszko Circle.
Improvements to the circle are impeded by the
fact that it is under state jurisdiction and all or
part of it is designated a historic landmark, but
task force members have been adamant that it must
be improved before more traffic is brought to the
area.
Pedestrian improvements are similarly limited,
addressing only the path from the JFK/UMass T
Station to the entrance of the new development. The
proposal calls for narrowing turning radii,
shortening crossing distances and widening
sidewalks to make the route more welcoming to those
on foot.
The plan does not address pedestrian access from
Columbia Road, Day Boulevard, along Morrissey
Boulevard South of the proposed development, or
from the west side of the MBTA station that has
often been criticized for it's dark and unwelcoming
nature. The PNF values the proposed traffic and
pedestrian improvements at $1.4 million.
Walsh said he personally would rather focus on
traffic solutions for a "full build" of all the
proposed projects on the point, including a
proposal for several properties next to the
JFK/UMass T Station that is waiting in the wings
and UMass-Boston's plans for new academic buildings
and student dorms. Corcoran is also in ongoing
negotiations to acquire the site that Sovereign
Bank now occupies on Mt. Vernon St. across from
Bayside, according to the PNF.
"Let's fix it once rather than Mickey Mouse it
three times," Walsh said. "Then again, I understand
Corcoran Jennison's position that they're not
responsible for all the others with projects on the
point. They've taken the narrow view, the
one-project view of what has to happen and I think
the Columbia Point Master Plan is taking the wider
view of what should happen."
On the environmental front, Corcoran Jennison's
plan calls for including measures like increased
insulation, Energy Star appliances, and a
low-impact storm-water drainage design, but
declares other techniques such as green roofs,
on-site renewable energy generation and
water-conserving fixtures such as sinks and toilets
as "inappropriate to project type."
As to affordable housing, the plan calls only
for meeting the city's guidelines, whereas
residents and institutional leaders on Harbor Point
are united in favor of a higher percentage than the
13 percent of affordable units required by the BRA.
They are also interested in seeing apartments with
more than 2-bedrooms, currently the maximum.
Monday's meeting promises to be an interesting
one for the civically active.
"I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to
give some feedback on the plans and address some of
the deficiencies that are most likely there," said
Michael Gordy, a landscape architect and local
civic activist on the task force and IAG for the
development. "In general, I hope to point out some
ways of getting the most potential out of one of
the best sites in Boston."
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