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Condo, garage plan has neighbors shaken
By Jesse Nankin
Globe Correspondent / July 27, 2008
At the nexus of Stillman, Cooper, and North Margin streets is a parking lot whose fate has been the subject of consternation and controversy in the North End.
Steve Fustolo and his development group, 30 North Margin Street Development, have proposed building a 55-foot-tall condominium building with a four-level underground parking garage.
Many of the site's neighbors, for whom Big Dig construction is a not-quite-distant-enough memory, adamantly oppose the scale of the project.
"This proposal shows no sensitivity," said Domenic Piso, who owns property next to the parking lot. "There are so many things that are going to impact the North End and change the quality of life here."
Certain aspects of the proposal also trouble the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
"We share many of the same concerns as the public," BRA spokeswoman Jessica Shumaker said, citing the number of parking spaces - 243, which is nearly four times the capacity of the current lot - and the size of the proposed building.
Shumaker said the BRA is waiting for revisions from the developer. In the meantime, the city has extended the public comment period, originally slated to end on April 22, to give residents an opportunity to respond to the modified proposal the BRA is expecting.
But no changes have been made to the proposal so far, and it is possible the development team will petition the BRA and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to approve the proposal as it now stands, said William G. Ferullo, counsel to the development team, who spoke on Fustolo's behalf.
Some components of the project design are outside the zoning code and will require variances from the ZBA, Ferullo said.
The development group is committed to responding to issues raised when the project went public, Ferullo said, but the group is first gathering data on the existing proposal, with the help of engineers and traffic consultants, to see what will pass muster, rather than engaging in back and forth with neighbors.
"We don't have the degree of answer that people want to hear at this point," he said. "You want to be able to tell people to the best of your knowledge. The frustrations come in because people want absolutes. But the nature of this is there are no absolutes."
Neither the North End Waterfront Residents Association nor the North End Waterfront Neighborhood Council has voted on the project because of reservations about what Fustolo is proposing, including whether the development will disturb the surrounding buildings, the number of trucks that will be coming in and out of the neighborhood during excavation and construction, ground water levels, the effect on traffic along the narrow, one-way streets that border the site, and even the impact on sunlight.
"I am uncomfortable with the size; it's just too big," said Stephen M. Passacantilli, a member of the Waterfront Neighborhood Council.
The current plans call for a floor area of 49,927 square feet, qualifying it for small project review by the BRA, a process that is usually less onerous than large project review. The threshold for a large project is 50,000 square feet.
The parking garage, which has been at the center of many heated discussions concerning the project, adds another 21,183 square feet. Under the city's zoning laws, garages are not included in the gross floor area used to determine project size.
The underground garage will provide two spots for each of the building's 61 units and an additional 121 spots to be leased or purchased by North End residents or businesses for long-term parking.
"The number of cars is out of the question," Piso said. "It's an underground garage with a building on it."
Concerned about traffic in this already tight corner of the North End, Piso and several of his neighbors want to see the number of parking spaces significantly scaled back.
But Ferullo argues that the garage will be a boon to the neighborhood. "People used to rail against projects that did not offer enough parking spaces," he said. "When people say we don't need parking, I scratch my head."
Because there will be no commuter or short-term, fee-based parking, which is offered by the parking lot at the site now, the number of trips in and out of the garage should not be unreasonable, he said.
There is also a question about how ground water would be affected. The site is of particular concern because it is in the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District.
Many of the foundations of the North End's older buildings rest on wooden piles. If ground water drops below a certain level, the exposed wood becomes susceptible to rot and can no longer support the foundations.
Fustolo needs to devise a plan for recharging the ground water to ensure that there will be no negative impact on surrounding foundations, said Elliott Laffer, executive director of the Boston Groundwater Trust.
These are legitimate concerns, Ferullo said, but that does not mean that a building like the one proposed cannot work.
At some point in the planning process, Ferullo said, the development team will meet with the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and Laffer to address the safeguards, such as slurry walls, to be put in place to protect ground water levels.
Still, the depth of the garage, the extent of the excavation needed for a building of this size, and other unanswered questions are enough cause for concern that some North End residents are requesting that a compensation fund be set up in advance of breaking ground.
Leaders of the 19 Wiget Street Condominium Trust, which consists of 25 units in a building located near the site, fear that the construction will affect the integrity of their building's foundation and that its residents will be left to deal with the damage.
"People are free to have a reasonable development, but they are not free to destroy other people's foundations," said Pasqua Scibelli, a trustee at 19 Wiget Street.
Along with trying to negotiate for a fund, another option is to request to be named on the contractor's insurance, said Michael Merrill, the lawyer for the trust. "We'll do whatever is necessary to ensure the condo association's building is protected," he said.
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By Jesse Nankin
Globe Correspondent / July 27, 2008
At the nexus of Stillman, Cooper, and North Margin streets is a parking lot whose fate has been the subject of consternation and controversy in the North End.
Steve Fustolo and his development group, 30 North Margin Street Development, have proposed building a 55-foot-tall condominium building with a four-level underground parking garage.
Many of the site's neighbors, for whom Big Dig construction is a not-quite-distant-enough memory, adamantly oppose the scale of the project.
"This proposal shows no sensitivity," said Domenic Piso, who owns property next to the parking lot. "There are so many things that are going to impact the North End and change the quality of life here."
Certain aspects of the proposal also trouble the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
"We share many of the same concerns as the public," BRA spokeswoman Jessica Shumaker said, citing the number of parking spaces - 243, which is nearly four times the capacity of the current lot - and the size of the proposed building.
Shumaker said the BRA is waiting for revisions from the developer. In the meantime, the city has extended the public comment period, originally slated to end on April 22, to give residents an opportunity to respond to the modified proposal the BRA is expecting.
But no changes have been made to the proposal so far, and it is possible the development team will petition the BRA and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to approve the proposal as it now stands, said William G. Ferullo, counsel to the development team, who spoke on Fustolo's behalf.
Some components of the project design are outside the zoning code and will require variances from the ZBA, Ferullo said.
The development group is committed to responding to issues raised when the project went public, Ferullo said, but the group is first gathering data on the existing proposal, with the help of engineers and traffic consultants, to see what will pass muster, rather than engaging in back and forth with neighbors.
"We don't have the degree of answer that people want to hear at this point," he said. "You want to be able to tell people to the best of your knowledge. The frustrations come in because people want absolutes. But the nature of this is there are no absolutes."
Neither the North End Waterfront Residents Association nor the North End Waterfront Neighborhood Council has voted on the project because of reservations about what Fustolo is proposing, including whether the development will disturb the surrounding buildings, the number of trucks that will be coming in and out of the neighborhood during excavation and construction, ground water levels, the effect on traffic along the narrow, one-way streets that border the site, and even the impact on sunlight.
"I am uncomfortable with the size; it's just too big," said Stephen M. Passacantilli, a member of the Waterfront Neighborhood Council.
The current plans call for a floor area of 49,927 square feet, qualifying it for small project review by the BRA, a process that is usually less onerous than large project review. The threshold for a large project is 50,000 square feet.
The parking garage, which has been at the center of many heated discussions concerning the project, adds another 21,183 square feet. Under the city's zoning laws, garages are not included in the gross floor area used to determine project size.
The underground garage will provide two spots for each of the building's 61 units and an additional 121 spots to be leased or purchased by North End residents or businesses for long-term parking.
"The number of cars is out of the question," Piso said. "It's an underground garage with a building on it."
Concerned about traffic in this already tight corner of the North End, Piso and several of his neighbors want to see the number of parking spaces significantly scaled back.
But Ferullo argues that the garage will be a boon to the neighborhood. "People used to rail against projects that did not offer enough parking spaces," he said. "When people say we don't need parking, I scratch my head."
Because there will be no commuter or short-term, fee-based parking, which is offered by the parking lot at the site now, the number of trips in and out of the garage should not be unreasonable, he said.
There is also a question about how ground water would be affected. The site is of particular concern because it is in the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District.
Many of the foundations of the North End's older buildings rest on wooden piles. If ground water drops below a certain level, the exposed wood becomes susceptible to rot and can no longer support the foundations.
Fustolo needs to devise a plan for recharging the ground water to ensure that there will be no negative impact on surrounding foundations, said Elliott Laffer, executive director of the Boston Groundwater Trust.
These are legitimate concerns, Ferullo said, but that does not mean that a building like the one proposed cannot work.
At some point in the planning process, Ferullo said, the development team will meet with the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and Laffer to address the safeguards, such as slurry walls, to be put in place to protect ground water levels.
Still, the depth of the garage, the extent of the excavation needed for a building of this size, and other unanswered questions are enough cause for concern that some North End residents are requesting that a compensation fund be set up in advance of breaking ground.
Leaders of the 19 Wiget Street Condominium Trust, which consists of 25 units in a building located near the site, fear that the construction will affect the integrity of their building's foundation and that its residents will be left to deal with the damage.
"People are free to have a reasonable development, but they are not free to destroy other people's foundations," said Pasqua Scibelli, a trustee at 19 Wiget Street.
Along with trying to negotiate for a fund, another option is to request to be named on the contractor's insurance, said Michael Merrill, the lawyer for the trust. "We'll do whatever is necessary to ensure the condo association's building is protected," he said.
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