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August 26, 2004

Northeastern abutters cry foul on dorm siting process

Yawu Miller

Northeastern University’s legal advertisement in the Boston Globe made much of the school’s plan to build a new facility for the Afro American Institute. It was only at the very bottom of the notice that there was a reference to the university’s plan to house a dormitory on Coventry Street.

Members of the Roxbury Neighborhood Council say they were not informed of the planned dormitory, which will house 160 undergraduate students on the lower Roxbury street between Columbus Avenue and Tremont Street.

Nor were elected officials notified of the move. Word of the dormitory spread two weeks ago when activists learned that Northeastern would go before the Boston Redevelopment Authority board to discuss amending their master plan to include the dormitory.

The restricted flow of information is typical for Northeastern, according to state Rep. Byron Rushing, who noted that the University also has plans to purchase the Carter School, a public school building behind the Mass. Ave. Orange Line stop.

“They will tell us about everything if we already know about it,” noted Rushing, speaking during a raucous community meeting during which Northeastern officials outlined their plans for the Coventry Street dormitory. “They never talked about the Carter School. They will talk about it now because we know about it. Because the principal of the school called us.”

Rushing spoke last Wednesday before a packed meeting room at the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on Ruggles Street. Most of those in attendance were residents of the lower Roxbury, Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods where Northeastern students have displaced indigenous renters.

Although the Coventry Street building was constructed on a vacant lot and did not directly displace tenants, neighborhood residents said they are opposed to siting dormitories on their streets.

“I am absolutely opposed to 10 Coventry Street,” said activist Rose Arruda, who presided over the meeting. “I am a longtime resident. The expansion of Northeastern has turned my neighborhood into a zoo, and sometimes a dump.”

Arruda and other residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Northeastern complained of unruly students in Northeastern dormitories and in privately owned rental properties holding late night parties and disturbing the peace. Arruda said the students have sometimes thrown beer bottles and other objects from the roofs of apartment buildings.

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson complained of noise generated by students in the area.

“We’re surrounded by students,” said Wilkerson, who lives in the Douglass Plaza development. “I don’t sleep at night.”

While the idea of one more dormitory in the neighborhood has residents outraged, many at the meeting were unaware of the Carter School proposal. Northeastern officials say a developer approached them with a plan to raze the school, which serves severely handicapped students, relocate them and construct a dormitory. That project came to light in April when the school’s principal contacted community activists about the proposal.

While Northeastern officials said the Carter project was only in the proposal stage, the activists expressed a deep sense of distrust of the university.

“May I begin my comments by saying I don’t trust you,” said Fenway resident Richard Orareo. “If you think that as a Roxbury community you can trust this institution, you cannot.”

The Roxbury controversy heated up two weeks ago when a Fenway neighborhood activist called Lower Roxbury residents to inform them of the Coventry Street project. In the memorandum, Northeastern agreed to pull students out of the Fenway if the city agreed to stop enforcement actions against the college for running illegal dorms in the neighborhood.

Students pulled from the Fenway buildings were to be relocated to Coventry Street, according to the memorandum of agreement. While Fenway activists were aware of the move, the announcement caught the Roxbury activists by surprise.

Northeastern Special Assistant to the Director of Government Relations and Community Affairs Joe Warren acknowledged flaws in the university’s outreach.

“In the past we have done much, much more outreach,” he said. “Honestly, I think we could have done better. So we stand corrected.”

Warren and the other Northeastern officials at the meeting insisted that they sent letters to the Roxbury Neighborhood Council informing members of their plans for Coventry Street, an assertion vigorously denied by members of the council, who were in attendance at the meeting.

“We have never received any documents,” said RNC Chairman Bob Terrell. “We have never voted on it and we have never conveyed a decision to the BRA on Article 50 review.”

While the RNC has the authority to review any projects that come before the BRA board for review, Terrell and other council members said Northeastern did not give them development plans for the project. RNC members are required to be given 30 days to review projects.

That 30-day period will not likely happen now. Before last Wednesday’s community meeting, Northeastern had already posted its Coventry Street dormitory on its web site. In a hearing last Thursday, the BRA approved the amendments to the master plan.

The BRA also asked that Northeastern put a moratorium on any new land acquisitions in Roxbury until their new master plan is approved.

The old master plan, approved in the year 2000, came about after a contentious fight over the Davenport Commons development. The Madison Park CDC, working in conjunction with Northeastern, had proposed a 900-bed student housing complex on BRA land. While community residents were not able to derail the project, despite a complaint filed with HUD against the BRA, as part of a community agreement, Northeastern began work on its master plan.

Although the master plan was due to be revised in 2010, Lower Roxbury activists say Northeastern’s acquisition of the Coventry Street building has undermined any trust they had with the university, a point Rushing underscored.

“If this building is for sale, Northeastern has already talked to the Archdiocese,” Rushing said of the St. Francis De Sales church where last Wednesday’s meeting was held. “I’m making that outlandish statement because that’s the only way to get Northeastern to talk.”

 

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