ESNA Minutes: December 2006

ESNA Minutes - December 6, 2006

Announcements:

Proposing light rail
Dec 14, 2006 next meeting at USES (Tubman house)
Charlie cards now available for buses/T. Tokens can be turned in for a Charlie card. For more information on the Charlie Card, go to: www.mbta.com

South End Holiday Market: Dec 9-10, 10AM-6PM
Waltham incidents: yard/alley break-in between Union Park and Waltham St; Butcher Shop having trash problems/valet problems

Neck Art Presentation: Bob Wells and Anne McQueen (co-chairs of Neck Art Project)

Artists: Shauna Gilley Smith (primary artist working at Martha Schwartz). Collaborating with Franz Cormier and Michael Kip Kelly. Well known landscape designers and architects.
Location on Washington St in Peters Park near Project Place. The location is right at the edge of what was once water and land. Project Place has a commitment to return the space (which is now a construction zone) as they found it. They will restore the land and replace the bleachers for the baseball field.
3 burms (landforms that rise/swoop). One side is green (soft greenery - pachysandra), one side is blue. Top ridge will be lit with blue led light strips at night. Very subtle lighting.
Sidewalk will have a raised edge.
They have approvals on a preliminary basis from landmarks and parks. Need $75,000 for the artwork and $25-50,000 needed for additional landscaping. Maintenance upkeep will include a maintenance endowment. Boston Art commission will select a conservator to review the plans to determine how much money is needed to be raised.
Height of highest point is about 5 ft when standing in the park. From the sidewalk it is effectively lower.
There will be signage describing the significance of the art
Hoping to start construction in spring 07.
They came to ESNA asking for our support letter to Brownfund presentation.

7 Dwight Street: Kim Rosen, Kevin Canavan (owners)

Looking for approval of construction of two decks on their building
20 ft x 7 ft to be flush with building next door. Supported by 2 beams coming down to the ground that do not get in the way of parking or access.
Will be built on land owned by the condo association
Letters of support from abutters
“For continuity reasons” they want 7 ft even though landmarks are limiting decks to 6ft.
First floor owners (Trahn) object because they feel it will block light into their unit.

They are concerned that the amount of light in their apartment will be reduced. Canavan/Rosen said that they have spoken with architect regarding the issue of light and they determined that the unit only gets 2 hours of direct sunlight so Canavan/Rosen don’t feel the Trahns will be losing much.
They feel it was “assumed” that Canavan/Rosen got approval from them. It had been discussed in condo association meetings and the Trahns did say they were open to Canavan/Rosen putting up decks but had not seen any plans on what they would look like and the potential affect it would have on their property and light. There was not a formal “approval” or vote on the decks being constructed.
They first saw the plans on 12/4. Canavan/Rosen said they have been available for up to 2 months but just shared them with the Trahns on 12/4. They supplied no reason for not sharing them sooner.
They are also concerned about value of home.
Canavan/Rosen offered to hire an appraiser of the Trahns choice to review appraise the value of their unit both pre/post construction of decks and also offered them full access to parking during construction time. Canavan/Rosen asked that the Trahns find someone who could do it this Friday or Saturday because they do not want to postpone their appeal.

Appeal date is Tuesday, Dec 12. They applied to schedule the appeal 4-9 months ago. Procedurallly, they did not give abutters adequate time to review plans or prepare for the appeal and they did not give ESNA enough time to properly review prior to the hearing.
Owners are still asking to move forward and asked ESNA to vote on the proposal

ESNA Vote – The membership unanimously agreed: We are not taking a position on the proposal at this time due to the fact that direct abutters in the building have not come to an agreement. [HTML] [PDF]

Athens II: Beer and Wine Sales – Anna Antonios

Councilor Sam Yoon: Q&A with the councilor and his staff