This is the first I've heard of this project
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x2081097739/E-Cambridge-residents-decry-biolab-tower
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x2081097739/E-Cambridge-residents-decry-biolab-tower
E. Cambridge residents decry biolab tower
By Jillian Fennimore/Chronicle staff
Tue Mar 10, 2009, 03:45 PM EDT
Cambridge -
East Cambridge residents say a proposed 105-foot biolab tower will be a detriment to their neighborhood, its access to sunlight, and the life of their vegetable gardens.
More than 20 residents of Linden Park, Cornelius Way, and the Wellington-Harrington community attended the City Council meeting Monday night to voice their opposition to a proposal from real estate firm The Beal Companies LLC to amend the city?s zoning ordinance and construct a building and extended parking garage at the northeast corner of Binney Street and Cardinal Medeiros Way.
?Would you like a building the size of the Holyoke Center behind your backyard?? asked Michael Lane resident Richard St. Clair.
Despite requests from East Cambridge residents to stop the project in its entirety, councilors unanimously voted to refer the zoning petition to the city?s ordinance committee and planning board for public hearings.
City Councilor Tim Toomey said although the proposed tower ?overshadows a unique neighborhood,? the council voted to move it forward as an administrative step.
Many residents said developers failed to effectively reach out to the neighborhood. They addressed particular concerns of the proposal, including setbacks that place the project within 50 feet of abutting properties, and heights that would tower over the neighborhood.
?They have not been working with the neighbors, they have been working the neighbors,? said Cornelius Way resident Anthony Keber.
Sean Hope, a Cambridge attorney for Beal,said there would be many opportunities in the future to work with residents.
?This is the first step in a lengthy public process,? he said. ?We will continue to work with neighbors.?
Residents also argued that a development of this size would increase industrial noise, decrease temperatures, make installed solar panels obsolete, and set a precedent for allowing for developers to build beyond the city?s current zoning requirements.
Some residents said they feared the proposal would end up similar to the zoning variance granted by the City Council last month, allowing for Alexandria Real Estate to develop a sprawling bio lab campus along Binney Street.
?Trust must be earned and they have failed to earn ours,? said Richard Fanning, a Linden Park resident for 27 years.