The state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) conducted a site visit at 64 Allandale St. on Oct. 20 to weigh petitions from the developer of a proposed project at that property and opponents over the issue of wetlands, according to MassDEP spokesperson Joe Ferson.
The site at 64 Allandale St. is on the border of West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. It is part of the West Roxbury Neighborhood District, as a matter of zoning.
Jacqueline Nunez, a Dorchester-based developer, plans a $20 million 20-unit project at 64 Allandale St. The project would abut Allandale Woods, which is an “urban wild” of about 100 acres of City- and private-owned land in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. The woods is roughly formed by Allandale and Centre streets, the VFW Parkway and Hackensack Road.
The Boston Conservation Commission ruled last year that the project falls under the state Wetlands Protection Act. There are no wetlands on the 64 Allandale St. property, according to the ruling, but a portion of the property falls within a 100 foot buffer zone under the Wetlands Protection Act. That does not prevent Nunez from building the project, but she needs to jump more environmental review hurdles for it to happen. MassDEP later confirmed that ruling. It is unclear if the new petitions would affect that decision.
The developer did not respond to a request for comment.
The Friends of Allandale Woods, a group fighting the project as currently proposed, released a statement saying, “Based on the serious harm the proposed 20-unit development will have on the Allandale Woods ecosystem, we have asked the City and State to complete a full natural resource analysis, rather than a series of piecemeal evaluations as sought by the developer. We are pleased that the state Department of Environmental Protection conducted a site visit on Oct. 20 to evaluate this approach and we look forward to continued participation in the process.”
The statement went on to say, “Once this evaluation process is complete, we hope the developer will work cooperatively with neighbors and all parties to identify a substantially revised site plan that respects existing City rules and which will not harm Allandale natural resources.”
The project was expected to go before the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals last month, but the developer deferred and the hearing was rescheduled for December.