Battle for Summer Street

[amy-s1.livejournal.com]

Interesting article on some potentially shady developers looking to build in that empty spot on Summer near Dilboy.


http://postsomerville.com/2011/04/11/the-battle-for-summer-street/#more-2762

Comments

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Isn't this old news?

[ifotismeni]

this again??

[ron_newman]

It's been going on for quite a while, but the article says a Planning Board hearing will be next Wednesday. That's new news.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

Potentially shady, eh?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

i'm surprised they would approve such a tragically ugly building

[ron_newman]

Possibly, if the purchasers of units in their previous developments are having construction-quality problems such as those described in the Post article.

[ron_newman]

I agree, but I'd like some assurance that the developers care about construction quality.

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

I'd really rather we had more community gardens or parks in Somerville. I know it's idealistic to believe that the city could promote green space for public use and unrealistic to believe developers wouldn't riot, but still. We have more than enough condos around Davis, especially if the VFW swticheroo goes through.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

You can't legislate taste. If it complies with zoning requirements like floor area ratios and setbacks, then it's approvable.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

You absolutely can reject buildings that would negatively impact the aesthetics of a neighborhood. It happens all the time.

[amy-s1.livejournal.com]

Was this the original proposal? Very different style than the current plan.

http://www.dakotapartners.net/the_dakota.php

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Density is not a terrible thing. More housing near transit is not necessarily bad, though I'd also love to see more green, open space in Somerville, especially in/near the Square.

However.

After clicking through and finding a link to the plans online at the city's site, I have to say I'm irked by their perspective views not showing ANY context at all, just these buildings against a blue background, so that their scale relative to the rest of the street is a complete mystery. And a sarcastic "hooray" for replacing the weedy, vacant lot (which I like for what it is), even if it's all fenced off) with parking; I'm sure the people in the house next door will deeply appreciate that.

[amy-s1.livejournal.com]

Thats a good call, a park with grass on that site would be a great addition.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

One piece of information that would be generally useful to the community at large: the height of the typical Somerville Philly-style 2-family with a mansard (barn) style roof. I'm guessing 32-33 feet from entry level to roof peak, plus the distance the entry level/porch is above the street. Anyone have a fix on this?

Also - I'm not sure the expectation to assume privately-owned weedy, vacant lots would remain so in perpetuity is reasonable.

[buckturgidsen.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone wants / expects the shaft site to remain a weedy vacant lot forever. That's beside the point. These properties are going to get developed at some point, and that has the potential to be a positive thing for everyone involved -- developer, new residents, neighbors, etc.

This article is about a developer with a well-documented history of cutting corners and screwing people. Please don't draw equivalences between saying "no" to this particular project (or developer) and being some NIMBY punk who hates all development.

[ron_newman]

this lot was publicly owned (by the MBTA), but they sold it to a private developer.

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

Was anyone else struck by how oddly vague the linked article was?
Of the five occupied developments built in Somerville between developers Marc Daigle and Roberto Arista, most have faced constant construction issues requiring costly repairs to fix work that was often not up to code.

We could make a great story problem out of that. If I have five apples, and I give you most, how many do I have left?

how do you spell undesired?

[sleeplessinsom.livejournal.com]

Aesthetics and density alone are reasons enough to deny this stupid proposal, however, the long list of zoning violations within this plan should do nicely, whether the city chooses to acknowledge its zoning code remains to be seen. There are much better creative ideas one could come up with than this one.