Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), where are you going?
After two years of requests from Egleston Square groups for help in neighborhood planning, you finally show up with a full-scale “Open House,” an approach to help out the neighborhood create a comprehensive plan for revitalizing the neighborhood in a healthy way for everyone.
Then, two weeks later, you take a vote in a board meeting with a statement in bold print that says to over a hundred Egleston people present “Not open to public testimony” to approve the building of a 76-unit development plan that has been widely criticized at two community meetings. [Editor’s note: The project did not meet the requirements for a public hearing that would have allowed public testimony, according to BRA spokesperson Nick Martin.] When the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council considered this project at a meeting that was open to comments by all, it voted 11 to 3 against the project as planned. The BRA board vote was 3 to 2 in favor.
BRA, the credibility of your organization is at state. Please rethink your decision on 3200 Washington St.
Ron Hafer
Jamaica plain resident