The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held its regular monthly meeting this past Tuesday evening via Zoom. The council members tackled a full agenda over the course of the 100-minute meeting with chair Will Cohen presiding.
The most urgent announcement of the evening came from Paige Sparks, the chair of the Outreach Committee, who has been organizing the plans for the JPNC’s biennial election which is set for Saturday, June 24.
Sparks outlined the details of the election for her fellow JPNC members. All Jamaica Plain residents who are over the age of 16 are eligible to vote. The voting will be conducted in-person at three locations from 10 AM to 4PM: Stop & Shop at 301 Centre St. in Jackson Sq., JP Licks at 659 Centre St,, and the Forest Hills MBTA stop.
Voters can vote for up to five candidates in their district (either A, B, or C) and for up to five at-large candidates.
Sparks said there is an urgent need for volunteers to help administer the election. “We need about 40 people to pull this off and we only have five,” she said.
Information about the election can be found at: www.jpnc.org/election2023.
Dave Baron, the chair of the JPNC’s Zoning Committee, presented two matters that were taken up by the Zoning Comm. at its meetings this past month and for which the Zoning Comm. gave favorable recommendations: 10 and 10A Walk Hil St., the location of Round Two Pizza, which is seeking permission for take-out service that formerly existed with the previous business, and the proposed project at 176 and 176R School St., in which the owner is seeking permission to construct a new, seven-unit, residential townhouse building with covered parking.
Baron noted that the approval of the School St. project by the Zoning Committee was conditioned on the owner providing significant landscaping. Baron asked that the full JPNC approve the Zoning Committee’s recommendations and the members did so.
The owners of these properties now must go before the City of Boston Zoning Board of Appeals — with the JPNC’s favorable recommendations in hand — for the actual issuance of the variances.
Baron said that the Zoning Committee will take up a number of matters on May 31: 25 Burr St., for widening the curb cut of a driveway; 31 Rodman St., which entails the renovation of a two-family home and the construction of a three-story addition in the rear to convert it into two condo units; 162-172 South St., changing the occupancy from an office space to a flower shop; and 35 Rockwood St., for deck and exterior renovations within the existing footprint.
Renee Welch of the Housing and Development Committee made her report. She asked the full council to approve a new member, Purple Rain, to the Housing Committee, and the members did so.
She said that her committee met with MBTA officials regarding the ongoing project of the new T garage at the Arborway Yard that will be able to handle the T’s new electric bus fleet.
“It was a good first meeting to talk about the design and the expectations of the community,” said Welch.
She said that there will be an emphasis on retaining the full, eight-acre tract that initially had been set aside in 1999 — when the T first proposed building a new bus garage — for community development on the site, but which now has been reduced to about 6.5 acres.
The sticking point with the reduction is that the city, which owns the 1.5 acres of land, originally was going to relocate its pole yard from the site now. However, the city has indicated that it wants to keep its 1.5 acre plot for DPW storage purposes, which most recently has been used by the DPW as a staging area for its road salt operations.
Welch said that on June 22 the T is having a community meeting via Zoom to further discuss the garage project, but the details have not been provided as of yet.
Michael Reiskind, the chair of the Public Service Comm., discussed the committee’s meeting on May 2. He said the committee took up the issue of police procedures, specifically allowing civilian flaggers to work details at construction sites, which the JPNC favors. The City of Boston’s contract with the police union specifies that only police officers can be used as flaggers at construction sites. However, community groups in East Boston and Jamaica Plain are urging Mayor Wu to exclude that provision from the new contract that is being negotiated.
Reiskind made note of the successful Love Your Block cleanup that was held on April 29 along the Southwest Corridor.from the Stony Brook to the Jackson Square T stations.
“We’re also moving on street repairs and improvements, such as re-striping the bike lanes, center lines, and crosswalks, and we have made new requests for speed humps on School St. and Robinwood Ave.,” Reiskind said.
Alexis Rickmers of the Parks Committee reported that the recent Muddy River Cleanup went well. “The community loves cleanups and we have many requests for other cleanups,” she said. Rickmers also noted that the proposed dog run at the First Church’s historic graveyard may be implemented soon on a trial basis.
Members also discussed the need for signage on the walking path around the pond to make it clear where bicycles are not permitted so as not to endanger the safety of pedestrians, especially young children and senior citizens.
Another member noted disapprovingly of the use of the tennis courts on New Minton St. by dog owners who let their dogs go off-leash.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Cohen noted that this was his last meeting as both the chair and as a member of the committee and reminded the group it will need to elect a new chairperson at its next meeting on June 27 after the election.