By Gazette Staff
The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held its regular monthly meeting this past Tuesday, October 22, via Zoom. Chair Renee Stacey Welch presided over the session that was attended by Caroline Peters, the liaison to Jamaica Plain from Mayor Michelle Wu’s office, and Bonnie Delaune, the Chief of Staff for District 6 City Councilor Ben Weber.
JPNC members in attendance included vice-chair Bernard Doherty, at-large members Sarah Freeman, Michael Reiskind, and David Baron; Area A members Willie Mitchell, Peter DeCotis, Esther Beillard, and Danielle Sommer-Kieta; Area B members Lorenzo Bartoloni and Leah Simmons; and Area C members Katherine O’Shea, Nick Chaves, and Carla-Lisa Caliga.
The council first heard the reports from its various committees.
First up was Baron, who presented the report of the Zoning Committee, of which he is the chair. He said the committee met October 9 and considered three matters for which the property owners were seeking variances.
A request by the owner of the single-family home at 3 Arborview Rd. to expand living space into the basement met with no opposition and was approved unanimously by the Zoning Committee.
The Zoning Committee also unanimously approved a request for the property at 7-11 Ackley Place in which the developer is proposing to raze the current structure (an eight-unit building) and replace it with a modern apartment building. Baron noted that the developer’s original plans had met with some opposition by the neighbors regarding garage bays and other aspects of the design of the new building.
“However, the developer listened to the neighbors and modified his plans, and the neighbors supported the subsequent proposal,” said Baron.
By contrast, Baron said the third matter, a request by the owner of Hatoff’s gas station at 3440 Washington St. to tear down a building in the rear and add an additional pump island, met with strong community opposition. Baron said the neighbors raised concerns about lighting, noise, and traffic flow and the Zoning Committee unanimously voted to reject the request.
“There never has been a dialogue between the property owner and the neighbors about these issues and that friction was on display before the Zoning Committee,” said Baron.
Baron also noted that the gas station property and an adjacent property across the small side street (Rockvale Circle) have been proposed for the development of two large apartment buildings that will total 256 units.
The full JPNC voted to support all three of the Zoning Committee’s recommendations. The owners of those properties still must go before the City of Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in order to obtain their variances or, in the case of Hatoff’s, seek ZBA approval despite the JPNC’s negative vote.
Baron said the next meeting of the Zoning Committee was set for Wednesday, October 23. He said the only item on the agenda was 44 Creighton St., which was a request by the owner to construct an addition to turn the structure from a single-family home into a three-unit building. He also said the Zoning Committee will meet on November 6 to take up a request to enclose an existing porch at 105 Green St.
Reiskind presented the report of the Public Service Committee, which met on October 1. He said there was a request by the owners of Don Tequeño y Doña Arepa, a new Venezuelan-food restaurant in Hyde Square at 403A Centre St., asking for two licenses for beer & wine and take-out service with hours from 8 a.m. -10 p.m. Reiskind noted that there is sufficient parking available for take-out customers.
The Public Service Comm. approved the requests and the full JPNC voted to support that decision. The owner now must go before the city’s Licensing Commission to obtain the licenses.
Reiskind said the committee also discussed the need for the city to add trash barrels in Jamaica Plain and noted that the committee has compiled an inventory of the trash barrels in the JP business district. Peters said she will be taking up that issue with the appropriate city agencies.
Reiskind asked that the full JPNC elect Willie Gomez as a Community Member of the Public Service Committee and the members did so.
Reiskind said the next meeting of the committee is set for November 5 at which it will consider three license requests, two of which will involve the new community liquor licenses that recently were approved for the city by the state legislature.
O’Shea, the chair of the Outreach Committee, reported that the committee met October 8 and discussed plans for the upcoming JPNC election next spring. The next meeting of the Outreach Committee is set for Tuesday, November 12.
Chaves, the chair of the Parks and Open Space Committee, said the committee met October 10. He said that the committee has been talking to the city’s Parks Dept. regarding keeping the lights on in the evenings at local parks and playgrounds during the winter months, which was an issue that was raised last fall by a resident.
Chaves also noted that large boulders have been placed at the South St. gate of the Arboretum by the city in response to complaints from nearby residents about loud parties being held in that location. Doherty noted that he was pleased to see the city take action in response to the problems of large gatherings and racing cars that have developed in recent months.
Chaves said the next meeting of the committee is set for November 14.
Housing and Development Committee chair Sommer-Kieta touched on the proposed development at 3430 and 3440 Washington St. that will consist of two buildings with 256 apartment units, of which only 24 will be two-bedroom units. Sommer-Kieta said this apportionment of family units vs. one-bedroom and studio units conflicts with the stated goal of the project of encouraging family-sized housing.
Sommer-Kieta said the next meeting of the Housing and Development Committee is set for November 19.
Welch informed the committee that the MBTA has confirmed that its Arborway Garage project essentially is on hold because of the lack of funding provided by the legislature in the current fiscal year budget. The MBTA has proposed the construction of a new garage in order to house the T’s proposed electric bus fleet, but without further funding from the legislature, the project (which still is in the design phase) cannot move forward.
The meeting concluded with an open discussion among the members, with the principal topic being the problem of — what else? — the growing rat population throughout the city. The members opined about the various causes of the problem, noting the city’s efforts to educate residents about how to limit access to food for the rodents. Doherty noted that the large feral cat population serves as a means of keeping the rat and mouse population in check.
The next meeting of the council is set for Tuesday, November 26.