Save the Armory! Critical ZBA meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 9/19)

[ron_newman]

(from Somerville Arts Council mailing list)

PLEASE HELP THE CENTER FOR ARTS AT THE ARMORY!!!

The Zoning Board decision on the fate of the Center for Arts at the Armory will be on Wednesday Sept.19. Our case has been continued and the vote will happen this week.

Thank you to everyone who sent letters to the Zoning Board of Appeals and came out to the ZBA hearing on September 5th. I know many of you had to leave before getting a chance to speak, so please come out and make your voice heard on Wednesday! For those of you who were not able to make it, here is your opportunity to say how much the center means to you!

Please, please, please come to our hearing on SEPTEMBER 19th at 7pm at The Visiting Nurse Association, (259 Lowell St.) and tell the Zoning Commission why you think the Armory is a vital part of your community. They want to hear it from you!

Also, if you haven't done so already, please Write a letter to the head of the Zoning Commission (click the link and don't forget to sign your note. We've written a letter for you to cut and paste below, or feel free to send your own.)

Please send this letter on, post it on your facebook page, tweet, and encourage your friends to come to the hearing and write letters on our behalf.

Thanks again for all your support,

Tracey Stark
Executive Director
Center for Arts at the Armory




Sample Letter:

Dear Mr. Foster

I am writing to urge you to approve the petition of the Arts at the Armory petitions to expand the capacity for their performance hall, add outdoor café seating, enable the venue to apply for a full liquor license, expand the venue's hours, and enable the venue to expand their kitchens so they may cook on premises.

Arts at the Armory is a vital part of the local community bringing arts and programs for our diverse community that brings neighbors together. I look forward to the improvements to the venue these upgrades will enable Arts at the Armory to bring to the local area.

Sincerely,
(insert your name and address here!)
Arts at the Armory
The Center for Arts at the Armory

Comments

[ron_newman]

How would you feel about extending the hours of performance as requested, but ending the serving of alcoholic beverages at 11 pm? That should alleviate the fear of it becoming a nightclub, and avoid the problem of rowdy drunk people exiting the place late at night.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I still wouldn't approve, partly because the ongoing slippery slope of requests, and because cutting off the alcohol serving doesn't ensure people aren't still drunk when they leave at 1am.

Additionally, I think that allowing music performances that get out at 1am is entirely too disruptive for a residential area.

[ron_newman]

Two hours is not enough time for people to sober up?

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Additionally, you still haven't addressed how, when replying others' concerns years ago about this continual creeping request, you said that the place would NEVER ask for later hours - I know you don't run the Armory, but your support in the past was based on something that no longer is true.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

1am on weekends and 11:30pm on weeknights is too late for a residential area? What time do you call the police on parties that your neighbors have? Me, I wait until after 2am on weekends, and midnight on weekdays.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

What time do you call the police on parties that your neighbors have? Me, I wait until after 2am on weekends, and midnight on weekdays.

My gods, yet another apples to orange comparison - you will note the Armory is looking to expand to 495 person capacity - what kind of neighbors do YOU have who have 495 people getting out of a party at 2am?

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

And that's conflating two different questions.

One question is how much noise, and the other is how late.
I don't expect my neighbors to have a police detail for parties as a preventative measure, either.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

No, those two issues go hand in hand - how late a place should be allowed to be open should vary based on the potential noise issues, which go up with larger crowds.

I got your point, none of the concerns anyone has brought up are valid enough for you.

I've addressed them to the ZBA and my alderman.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess that pretty much summarizes my point:

I feel like the set of requests the Armory is making is in keeping with the neighborhood, as I've known it for decades. I have yet to hear any compelling arguments against the requests the Armory is making. Mostly I hear what sounds like resentment over the process --which has, no contest there, sucked-- and this frustration is making some people not want to support the request which are in themselves completely reasonable.

I'm very glad I'm not on the Zoning Board, nor an Alderman, because this really is a hard impasse and I'm glad it's not my job to resolve the conflicting opinions about it.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

completely reasonable

I do not think, given the location, that being open to 1am on a weekend night, with the potential for 495 people, some of whom have been drinking, is reasonable for that area.

And the process abuse is big issue - it's making the entire Armory management look disingenuous and disrespectful of the neighbors - it makes them seem like they are saying "We'll ask for this much, and when we get it, we'll ask for more, because we know the ZBA doesn't want to come across as hating the non-profit art center."

[ron_newman]

2 am? The permit request is for 1 am. And I have the Somerville Theatre nearby, with a much larger capacity than 495 in the main hall alone.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I was responding to Me, I wait until after 2am on weekends.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Jesus, are you still trying to compare apples to oranges?

Where the theater is located is tons denser and commercial than the block of highland between Lowell and Central.

I'm done with this discussion - it's turned into an echo chamber, again.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Do your neighbors have large parties most weekends and weeknights?

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Too soon to tell. I just got a new crop of neighbors. Some years, yes, some years no. I think most people have less control over their neighbors than the neighbors do in this situation.