ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
February 12, 2004
BRA, neighborhood activists
unveil Roxbury Master Plan
Jeremy Schwab
Mimi Jones has been the victim of a driveby.
“I have people ride by and I am shoveling snow in front
of my house, and they stop on a dime, back up and ask if we want
to sell our house,” said the Fort Hill resident. “It’s
not just happened to us, but to many residents in the community.
The perpetrators are often cordial, but some Roxbury residents
suspect that many of the visitors simply want to make a quick
buck off of the increasingly pricey real estate market.
The drivebys are a hint of the uncertain future that awaits Roxbury,
a community now eyed for development by real estate speculators
and medical institutions.
Last week, community activists and elected officials gathered
to celebrate a new Master Plan which gives residents more leverage
to influence development decisions.
“There is going to be an explosion of activity in Roxbury
that will rival its heyday,” promised Roxbury Neighborhood
Council President Bruce Bickerstaff during the celebration at
the Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries building.
The increasing interest of developers in Roxbury’s housing
stock and vacant land lends credence to Bickerstaff’s prediction.
Developers are apparently chomping at the bit to build on long-vacant
land along Melnea Cass Boulevard.
“There is a lot of pent-up demand for properties with the
development of the Crosstown Project [at Melnea Cass and Mass.
Ave.] and Albany Fellowes [next to Crosstown],” Boston Redevelopment
Authority Director Mark Maloney told the Banner. “Certainly
that is what is helping phase two of Crosstown move forward.”
Phase Two calls for office space near the Crosstown Hotel, and
Maloney said that the developer has had “significant interest”
from hospitals wishing to expand.
Melnea Cass is likely to be a battleground among the city, private
institutions and Roxbury community members who have expressed
different visions for development in the area.
Mayor Thomas Menino has in the past expressed a desire to see
biotech companies set up shop along the boulevard.
“We had to struggle to get into the master plan language
about biotech and its ‘dangers,’” said Rep.
Gloria Fox. “And the fact that it is not necessarily job-intensive
for the Roxbury community.”
The master plan outlines development priorities that emerged during
a long community planning process.
Economic development, job training, improved public transportation,
affordable housing and historic preservation are some of the main
categories.
The plan does not detail final plans for any particular parcel.
That will be done by the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight
Committee. Mayor Thomas Menino was expected to choose oversight
committee members later this week from a list of over 65 nominees
submitted by elected officials and RNC members.
“I would like to see at the very least a majority be residents
[of Roxbury],” said Bickerstaff. “A secondary quality
would be ties to businesses or institutions such as Northeastern.”
While the oversight committee can make recommendations, the BRA
will still wield the final say on the most important decisions:
drafting and issuing requests for proposals, designating developers
and approving final proposals.
But the community’s leverage comes in the advisory role
that community bodies play at every step in the process.
Review committees will be appointed for each project by the RNC,
elected officials, the BRA director and abutters.
The review committees will conduct public meetings and advise
the BRA on each stage of the process.
If committee members are strongly opposed to a project, the thinking
goes, the threat of negative publicity could deter the mayor and
the BRA from moving ahead with it.
“This is an essential document, but it is only essential
if we make it,” said state Rep. Byron Rushing. “We
must continue to say, ‘How does that relate to the master
plan?,’ no matter how small the development.”
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