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[personal profile] mem_winterhill
via the Google groups list, from Ian:

It has been nearly two months since we heard from a potential developer about the Star Market site. Who knows if or when it will move forward, but judging by the turnout and the curtailed discussion, there is still a desire for a deeper community conversation about the site.

Please mark your calendars: On Wednesday, July 11 at 6:30pm at the Mystic Community Room we'll be having a follow up community discussion about the site. The meeting will be organized in a way so that you can familiarize yourself with the property and imagine what it could become. You'll have a chance to discuss with your neighbors and together come up with some general goals that can be communicated to the city or potential developers.

Please bring your ideas, your concerns, and your neighbors. And there will be food!


 
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[personal profile] mem_winterhill
You probably have heard about the AirBnB issues that Boston has been dealing with. Somerville is also wrestling with the pressures from various sides on the short term rentals of that type. The weekly Resistat letter had a link to a survey about Short-term Rentals that they are seeking input on.

https://www.somervillema.gov/strs


On that page there's a link to the slides from a presentation, a survey link, and the current guidelines.

Here's what the Resistat letter said:

Short-Term Rental Survey Online, Second Meeting Postponed

This week we held a community meeting to talk about what the future of short-term rental rules in Somerville should look like. We had a second meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, June 21, but it is being postponed. Stay tuned for a new date.

In the meantime, we have an online survey that you can take to share your ideas and feedback.

Learn more about short-term rentals in Somerville
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Hello neighbors-- [adapted from newsletter]

 
Thanks to everyone who came out for the clean up day--turnout was terrific. I have borrowed the photo from Jesse's newsletter and you can see it here: https://whna.dreamwidth.org/22609.html .
 
Time to talk about the WHNA monthly meeting. We haven't had a primarily social one for a while because of the looming Star Market site issues, but now that it's spring let's have a semi-social. On Wednesday May 2, 7pm, let's meet in the Star Market parking lot for a mostly social event. Let's look around and envision some things we want for the area. And let's add some thoughts to this brainstorming effort that's up at the front of the store. (see image)
 
And then maybe we hang some flyers about the important upcoming meeting Star Market meeting on May 8? Then get some beverages on the deck at the Brewery? Looks like the weather is right for this on Wednesday according to current predictions.

We could use a multi-language flyer if someone has the skills for that.


 









***Tuesday, May 8, 6:30 pm, HEALEY SCHOOL CAFETERIA Mystic Activity Center, please come to the Star Market update meeting if you can***:

From Jesse Clingan's newsletter, we were alerted to a meeting with a Star Market site update. I hear from the neighborhood rumor channel that this will include the developers and an initial look at the proposals.
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
From Jesse Clingan's newsletter, new meetings that affect the Hill specifically are scheduled. I'll post them here. More city-wide stuff is also in his newsletter, which you should sign up for as well. http://www.jesseclingan.org/

Also, I have grabbed the great photo of us on Winter Hill during the clean up day. The turnout was fabulous. Thanks so much for coming out and making a difference at this site that kids use to get to school.

Winter Hill items:

[added from Resistat newsletter] Hansen Park Redesign community meeting 
May 1. 6:30pm 
Visiting Nurse Association
259 Lowell St.
3rd Floor Community Room

Star Market Site Update Meeting
Tuesday, May 8, 6:30 pm: Find out the latest updates at this meeting at the HEALEY SCHOOL CAFETERIA  Mystic Activity Center at 530 Mystic Avenue. EDIT: I just found out that the developer is supposed to be here and present a design of some sort. Please come to this one and think about the site with us. 
 
Blessing of the Bay Park Design Meeting
Thursday, May 24, 6:30 pm: After collecting ideas and input on what people want to see in this waterfront park, we'll be sharing initial design concepts. Check out the future vision of the park and eat Pizza at the Healey School Cafeteria, 5 Meacham St.

Save the Date: ResiStat Coming in May
Thursday, May 31, 6 pm - 8 pm: ResiStat Community Meetings, a twice-yearly effort brings Mayor Joseph Curtatone and other City Staff to Ward 4 to share the latest City news, data, and neighborhood updates directly with residents and gather their feedback at the Healey School, 5 Meacham St.

Ward 5: Monday, May 14, Kennedy School, 5 Cherry St.

[personal profile] ian_winterhill
WHNA Meeting notes from April 4, 2018

 

Below are our notes from our April General Meeting. Our next meeting will be a social gathering at the Star Market lot. Please look out for details soon!

 

Neighborhood Updates

  • Justin filled us in on the Gilman/GLX progress. MBTA starting to do some site work including taking down trees and some abutter property inventory.
  • Justin also filled in folks about the newly formed Gilman Square Neighborhood Association and its engagement around the former ABJ Automotive property. A nontraditional developer has bought it, planning housing project that will likely need zoning and permitting relief. Justin is optimistic that the owner will be a reasonable neighborhood partner.
  • Mary reminded folks about the upcoming Sustainaville Week with various environment/sustainability themed events including a tour of a wind turbine
  • Also a part of Sustainaville week is the City-wide neighborhood cleanups on April 21. WHNA will have a specific site to focus on. More details to come.
  • A couple things to keep an eye on at City Hall: you can still send comments to planning@somervillema.org about the proposed Zoning Overhaul. The Board likely won’t vote on the zoning until the fall after they have incorporated some of the public input they received and then reintroduce a revised version. There is also a proposal for a real estate transfer fee under debate at the Board that would raise funds dedicated to affordable housing. The draft ordinance would level a 1% fee on property sales (and 2% on properties owned less than 5 years) with possible exemptions for hardship or length of tenancy. Follow the discussion here.

Star Market Site

  • Thanks to the more than 70 people that have filled out the brief Star Market site survey! It gave us a lot to talk about. The plan is to use these responses to refine our survey. We set an ambitious goal of 1000 respondents. Over the next week a few of us will re-format the survey so that we can offer it online, in person, as a handout and in multiple languages. We also want to refine it so that we can get at some issues not covered around access, use, and more. The idea is that the survey will help us communicate with a would-be-developer at the Star Market and the City, our elected officials and the planning and zoning boards.
  • We also talked about how the planning and permitting process works for a would-be-developer. The city has this explanation here. We went over it with an eye towards opportunities for community input. We’ll revisit this as things progress.
  • Lastly, with a couple architects in the room, we talked about how a developer sees the process. Without any certainty, we tried to gauge how far along DLJ might be in its design, how flexible they might still be and how best to communicate with them. The site still has not be purchased, but we agreed that we need to act quickly if we want to try and weigh in before designs become less flexible.

Next Steps

  • As mentioned above, we’ll work to finalize a bigger survey with many more respondents
  • We’ll analyze and package the results into something we can share with our electeds and with the developer by June.
  • Our next meeting will be a gathering in the Star Market lot. Date/Time TBD shortly
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
I wanted to post this note that went out across the google-mail-list, in case some people don't get that. 2 things:

1. Time change of meeting--aim for 6:30 instead of our usual 7pm. Also, as we noted before, we are going to be in the larger Mystic Community Room. With snacks.

2. The WHNA team has done a short survey to get people thinking about what they want the Star Market site to become. You won't be held to the answers, but if you could start noodling on what we as a neighborhood hope to see we can begin to prioritize as the city and the developers begin to discuss plans with us. Please see the link below and add your thoughts.

+++++++++++++++
 
Please note our meeting tomorrow is in the Activities Room at the Mystic Learning Center, 530 Mystic Ave (same place as the meeting with our elected officials a few months ago). And note the earlier start time of 6:30pm. 
 
We'll have pizza and time for some socializing at the beginning then an agenda focused on the Star Market Lot. If you'd like to help inform the discussion, you can fill out a very short survey about the Lot here: https://goo.gl/forms/ahQBKY4yexeEhC0I3
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[personal profile] mem_winterhill
https://www.somervillema.gov/news/public-hearing-proposed-transfer-fee-home-rule-petition-be-held-wednesday-april-4

City notice:

Members of the public are invited to attend a public hearing hosted by the Board of Aldermen to discuss the proposed transfer fee home rule petition. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m., at Somerville City Hall on the 2nd Floor in the Aldermanic Chambers.
 
In 2015, Mayor Curtatone established the Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group to seek bold and innovative ideas that would support the City’s efforts to protect and preserve existing affordable housing, expand the City’s resources for creating more affordable housing, and address the need for middle-income housing for working families. 
 
After nearly a year of research and deliberation the Working Group, which was chaired by Alderman Mark Niedergang and former City Housing Director Dana LeWinter, issued a series of recommendations, including that the City adopt a requirement of a fee of approximately 1 percent upon certain real estate transactions (known as a “transfer fee”) to support affordable housing with specific exemptions be established for transactions such as ownership transfers between family members.
 
The Board of Aldermen will also accept official written comment for the record through Friday, April 6, 2018, 5 p.m. Please send your comments to boardofaldermen@somervillema.gov and cityclerk@somervillema.gov.
 
Visit www.somervillema.gov/transferfee for more information.
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
At least the previously overlapping meetings are now on different days so if you are interested in them, you can go to more than one of these upcoming meetings.

From Mark Niedergang's email:
You are invited to a Henry Hansen Park Redesign Community Meeting on
Monday, March 26, 6 pm
Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell St. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room (opposite the Community Room). 




GLX new day: http://www.greenlineextension.org/
GLX Public Meeting
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Somerville High School Auditorium
81 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143






https://twitter.com/VilleJournal/status/976900068614733824

@SomervilleCity's public hearing for the proposed zoning overhaul has been rescheduled for
6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3. 
[I assume this is the one at the Alderfolks chambers]

Blessing of the Bay park area public discussion
https://twitter.com/MysticMyRWA/status/976153413951148033
We've rescheduled our Blessing of the Bay public meeting for
Thursday, April 5th. Same time (6:30-8pm),
same place (Mystic Housing).
Hope to see you there.
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
And talks with one of our Winter Hill Neighborhood Association members about the area. 

What is it like to live in Winter Hill?

https://realestate.boston.com/location-location-location/2018/03/15/what-is-it-like-to-live-in-winter-hill/ ;
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Via Jesse Clingan's email list:

Join Ward 4 Alderman Jesse Clingan and members of the City of Somerville Planning Department for a neighborhood meeting about the upcoming zoning overhaul. 
 
This is your chance to learn more about the proposed zoning and have your questions answered. 
 
When: Sunday 2/25 4-6pm
Where:  Temple B'nai Brith 
             201 Central Street 
 
Visit www.somervillezoning.com to become more familiar with the proposed zoning. Bring your questions. 
 
Location is ADA Handicap Accessible.  
 
If you miss the neighborhood meeting. Here are others ways you can get involved:
 
Attend a public hearing on March 13 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
 
Submit comments online at somervillezoning.com or via email to planning@somervillema.gov.
Email Jesse and the At-Large Alderman Find their contact information here.
 
Jesse 
 
Phone: 617-290-1904
 
Email: AldermanClingan@gmail.com
 
https://www.facebook.com/AldermanClingan/

FYI: there was also a presentation to the Board of Alderfolks on the zoning issues that might help to understand the framework. See the recording here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2603

And then I got another letter from Mark Niedergang (no, really, I read both--my street is 50% Ward 4 (the north side) and 50% Ward 5 (the south side). So both of them affect me.

Please join me, Dan Bartman, Senior Planner in the City’s Planning Department, and others interested in the proposed new zoning for an informal meeting to learn about, ask questions about, discuss, and comment upon the Administration’s proposed overhaul of the City's zoning code.

There will be two meetings (so that as many people as possible can attend):
Sunday, March 4th, 3:30 -5:30 PM and Monday, March 5th, 6:30-8:30 PM.

Both meetings will be at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, 3rd Floor Community Room. You are welcome to attend both and depending on the attendance, I imagine the content of the two meetings could be significantly different. Please drop in when you can and stay as long as you can.
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Hey neighbors--

This just came across my twitter feed, I haven't had time to listen. But it seems relevant to our little organization. 

http://radioopensource.org/gimme-shelter/  

"In cities across the country, working and middle-class Americans are struggling to keep their homes, pay their rent, and fight off eviction and foreclosure. Somerville, Massachusetts has an acute case of a national dilemma—call it a case study in gentrification; Boston’s Brooklyn or the Oakland of Massachusetts. "


In addition, the thread I caught also referenced some other Somerville-related media that I hadn't seen before. Check out these stories:

Somerville’s turn to ‘sewer socialism’   and Public sector must protect communities  by Benjamin Bradlow. (I can't access the FT one, but I'm going to see if it's available from the library). 

Here was the thread: https://twitter.com/bhbradlow/status/954383797369307137
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Along with the inauguration of our city officials on January 1, the mayor gave an address that lists many of the directions he wants to navigate. You can see them in full at his Facebook page: 2018 Inaugural Address.

You can see the TL;DR twitter version here: https://twitter.com/JoeCurtatone/status/948214495620616192

I'm going to post the whole thing below the cut here, though, because facebook access is iffy. (Photo courtesy of Ben Ewen-Campen)

Read more... )
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
I wasn't able to attend previous ones, but I might make this one. Sorry it's in twitter form, I don't have a place to link to with the full details.

https://twitter.com/rlyncooper/status/935346759953510401

VNA
6-8pm
Thursday Nov 30
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Well, seems there's been some drama in the neighborhood. Take a look at this story about Sewall Commons:

FROM DECAY GROUND TO PLAYGROUND (AND BACK AGAIN)

That was a very nice piece, I thought.

Funny, as the docent for the Powder House, I spent time telling people about the important Powder Alarm in September 1774, that involved our little storage building, and the run-up to the Revolutionary War. It was actually a rather quiet incident which poked the Tories, but it had a long tail and real impact on what was to come next.

Next time we send a rider. Maybe when things warm up, around April.
[personal profile] ian_winterhill
At our November meeting we decided to send a letter to the Cohens with regard to the vacant lot on Sewall Street that the community has transformed into an active play space instead of a derelict vacant lot. I can't figure out how to attach a file here, but below is the text of the letter.

Dear Cohen Realty Group,
The Winter Hill Neighborhood Association is a group of neighbors that has come together over the last couple of years to protect and improve upon the things we love about Winter Hill and to be an active agent in its future development. As renters, homeowners, and business owners, long time residents and new transplants, we are a diverse group with diverse interests, but we are unified in our values and our commitment to each other and the place we call home.
We are frustrated by the contradiction facing Winter Hill--on the one side rising rents and home sale prices are forcing out long time residents and, on the other side, we are stuck with a massive vacant lot and shuttered grocery store as the center of our neighborhood. Your property is causing actual harm to our neighborhood, yet everyday that you let it sit vacant it increases in value because of the work, care and advocacy that neighbors like us do. We give vibrancy and value to the neighborhood, while absentee property owners wait for the right moment to cash in on us.
While causing no damage and with almost no monetary costs, we were able to transform the Sewall Street lot into a space that improved our neighborhood instead of degrading it. We will work to remove items from the lot this Saturday, but ask that you remove the chains and the no trespassing signs before then.
We are aware of the outstanding litigation over the property, but no matter when and what that leads to, we would like to be involved. We would like to invite you to our next meeting on December 4 at 7pm to meet with us and talk about the future of the property.
Sincerely,
The Winter Hill Neighborhood Association
https://whna.dreamwidth.org
winterhillneighbors@gmail.com
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Let me cover the highlights from my side of the Hill:

Crime: city at a 30 year low, a 63% decrease since 1987. Same old stuff, a few house and car break-ins, package theft. More calls are of the nuisance and mental health (including substance abuse) issues. They are working on new strategies for handling those, more training. SPD committed to "procedural justice": fairness, transparency, opportunities for voice, impartiality. All police procedures now online + searchable.

NIT (neighborhood improvement team): program to address properties with chronic problems (abandoned, disrepair stuff). 38 cases from Sept 2016-Aug 2017. 20 active, 18 closed. Some of these need escalation to courts. They are working on them, challenges to closing them. But good to know that there's a way to kick these things into a process.

Airplane noise: considered the changes to Winthrop Tower plan a success for the city. Someone from da Ville is now officially on 33L Task Force. But still a known issue. 

https://www.somervillema.gov/somervision

Somervision review. 5 years into this process, where are we? Updates from several city departments. New jobs on track. Housing + affordable housing a hard problem in a hot market. But city has 100 homes permanent affordability initiative, trying to compete on buying units. Looking at developing a tool for tenants getting first option to buy property at market value (I'm not entirely clear on this, sounded like Denise Provost was working on this?). 

Development in "transformative" areas associated with Green Line. Includes an upcoming visioning meeting for Magoun-->Ball Sq area (see flyer here: https://imgur.com/a/j64rs ). Oct 24, 6-8pm at the VNA 259 Lowell St.

Green space: possibly the toughest thing in our high density situation. But re-furbing many existing parks, looking to create new. Look for upcoming meetings on Foss Park and Draw 7 park. 

Mobility issues: walking, biking, traffic calming strategies all underway. "Neighborways" slow street painting projects (might be one we want to look at as an event?). Watch for Vision Zero action planning meetings (reducing bike/pedestrian harm). Frustrated neighbor complained about insufficient bus service, city answer was unsatisfying. But MBTA is not easy to work with.

Sustainability/climate: carbon neutrality studies + planning underway. City wants input on climate--see this survey: tinyurl.com/y7dI4fc7  See also the Sustainaville site for these reports: https://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville





mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
I know this is the far side of our Hill, and it appears to be mostly in Medford. But FYI, from Mark Niedergang's newsletter today:

The biggest development news in Ward 5 is the proposed 55-apartment, 5-story, mixed-use development at 519 Broadway (Somerville)/87 Medford Street (Medford). There will be a community meeting at the site this Tuesday, October 17, 6:30 PM, 519 Broadway, in the Office Liquidators store. The developer, Charlie Zammuto, will present the plans & address questions and concerns. I have a copy of the plans, if you would like to see them email me and I will send them to you.

Only a tiny portion of this development is in Somerville, most is in Medford, set back from Broadway along Medford St. So it is unlikely that the Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals will have much say over the project. The Medford Board of Appeals (zoning board) will be making the decisions about this project, possibly at their October 24th meeting.

Concerns so far in Somerville have focused on traffic impacts in the Magoun Square neighborhood. I don’t see parking as a likely concern. There are 91 parking spaces in the plans (more than enough in my opinion and that of Somerville Planning Director George Proakis) and it is highly unlikely that residents of the building will be able to get stickers or guest passes to park in Somerville. I would certainly fight against that with everything I could muster, if necessary.

I am waiting to take a position on this project until the meeting is held and we can hear from the neighbors and the community. At the Medford Zoning Board meeting on September 26, Joe Lynch, a few other Magoun Square residents, and I asked for more time to consider the plans and express our views. They granted that. Their next meeting is October 24th at 7 PM at Medford City Hall. I plan to attend to express concerns that Somerville residents have. If you have objections you can express them there, at the community meeting on October 17th, let me know, and/or email the Medford Board of Appeals c/o their clerk, Denis MacDougall, dmacdougall@medford-ma.gov
[personal profile] ian_winterhill
The Affordable Housing Organizing Committee, the Union United Coalition, and the Winter Hill Neighborhood Association are hosting a candidates’ forum in the lead-up to the November municipal election. The questions posed during the forum will focus on issues of affordable housing, development, and displacement in Somerville.

All candidates have been asked to fill out a questionnaire on affordable housing and development without displacement. The questions asked at the forum will be a subset of the questions in the questionnaire. We will publicize the answers online a week before the forum, to allow the greatest possible number of residents the chance to learn about the candidates’ positions on these important community issues.

Hope to see you there!

You can RSVP here
 
mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
Mayor Joe Curtatone meets with Winter Hill neighbors on park issueA number of Winter Hillens gathered near the open lots adjacent to the Star Market to talk with the Mayor about possible ways to add more park/greenspace to our neighborhood. It was a productive meeting and we were offered the city's support for taking the ideas further.

We gathered near the Sewall St open lots to discuss some ideas and ways to proceed. But these conversations will continue, and we want to hear your ideas too. Our next WHNA "social" meeting will be held there--come by and have a look and think about the potential for the space and what would work for the neighborhood.

Next WHNA: the parking lot at 24 Sewall St, on October 4 at 7pm

(in case of rain we'll go to Winter Hill Brewing again)





mem_winterhill: (Default)
[personal profile] mem_winterhill
I was reading some of the emails associated with the airplane noise issue and came across this group today. It looks like some of their issues are quite similar to ours. Maybe we should have them talk at one of our meetings in the future.

Here's what I was pointed to in the email: http://www.cambridgeresidentsalliance.org/2017_platform

Might be worth looking at this "Right to the City" resource as well.

Anybody know these folks?  

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