Special to the Gazette
The Housing and Development Committee of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 17. On hand for the session were chair Danielle Sommer-Kieta, vice-chair Purple Reign, Willie Mitchell, Sarah Horsley, Kathy Brown, Pam Bender, Lorenzo Bartoloni, Carla-Lisa Carliga, and Celeste Parker. The first item the committee took up was a discussion about the contents of a letter to the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) regarding the BPDA’s acceptance of a reduction in the number of parking spaces at the Forbes Building on Centre St. pursuant to a major renovation of the exterior, interior, and grounds of the building by the owner.
The Housing and Development Committee in July heard from a number of the tenants of the Forbes who stated that eliminating these parking spaces would be a considerable hardship, since almost all of the tenants are either elderly or disabled for whom on-site parking is more than just a convenience because of their lack of mobility. The Forbes was the last of a 1970s-era state government housing program that gave subsidies to developers in order to provide affordable housing for low-income tenants, particularly senior citizens and the disabled. However, the program had a 40-year life, after which the buildings reverted back to the owners without any affordable-housing restrictions.
The restrictions on the owner of the Forbes ended a few years ago, allowing the owner to convert the building to market-rate rents, thereby jeopardizing the housing of the long-time senior citizens and disabled tenants who have lived there for many years. After almost three years of negotiations among the owner, the tenants, and state and city agencies, an agreement was reached by which the state and city will provide funds to the owner for a capital improvement program in order to undertake major renovations of both the interior and exterior of building (including new windows, new exterior cladding, and a new roof with a rooftop garden) plus new landscaping.
The apartments (which had not been renovated in 40 years) will have new floors, new kitchens, and new baths. In addition, there will be rental subsidies for the tenants’ that will maintain the Forbes as affordable housing for the next 40 years. Although the tenants and housing advocates generally have applauded the agreement, a sticking point has been the landscaping aspect of the plan. The owner, with the assent of the BPDA, will be adding shrubbery and green space that will result in a reduction of parking from 27 to 15 spaces. The plan provides spaces for rideshare vehicles and electric bicycles. The proposed letter from the committee, which will have to be approved by the full JPNC, will urge city officials to reconsider the reduction in the number of parking spaces because of the negative effects on the residents. In addition, the letter takes issue with the process followed by the BPDA which, according to the letter, did not provide for any community input into the decision.
The committee unanimously approved the letter for consideration by the full JPNC at its next meeting. The committee next discussed the proposed changes to the city’s inclusionary zoning ordinance pursuant to Article 80. The city’s ordinance presently requires that 13 percent of any project of 10 or more units be available for those of moderate income. The new Article 80, which goes into effect in October, will require that 17 percent of the floor area of a new project of seven units or more be reserved as affordable units and revises downward the required Area Median Income (AMI) in order to include lower-income groups. The position of the JPNC historically has urged that the percentage of affordable units in new developments be 25 percent, well above the city’s threshold.
The ensuing discussion among the committee members focused on whether the JPNC should adopt a recommendation that is in line with the city’s new requirements or to keep its long-existing recommendation of 25 percent. The committee decided to appoint a subcommittee to make recommendations to the full JPNC regarding what position the JPNC should take regarding the new Article 80. The subcommittee will consist of Kathy Brown and Sommer-Kieta. In other matters, Sommer-Kieta suggested to the group that two upcoming major projects, the expansion of the present Rogerson House (a memory care facility for senior citizens that is located behind the Forbes Building between Lochstead Ave. and Beaufort Rd.) and the redevelopment of the former Monastery of the Poor Clare Nuns at 920 Centre St., “should be on our committee’s radar.”
“The monastery project is very important to our community, especially from the perspective of fair housing issues,” said Brown, “and I’m looking forward to having our committee become involved in the process.” The monastery sits on a large tract of land (2.88 acres) at the confluence of the Arborway and Centre St. at Murray Circle. The 10 remaining Poor Clare Nuns sold the property to a developer in 2022.