CSHCA Special Meeting Minutes, Dorchester Bay City, 9/6/23

Host and President: Elizabeth Doyle
Planning Committee Chair: Kristine Hoag
Minutes: Doreen Miller
Special Guest: Accordia Partners of DBC
Attendees: 25 on zoom & 21 in-person

Short Slide Presentation of the Project (Accordia Partners) Highlights include:

• Number of meetings held to date:
  • 15 Public Process Meetings
  • 12 Meetings with CSHCA
• Community Benefits Fund
  • $8.25 million in community benefits
  • 20,000 sf in civic and community space for art and cultural activities
  • All investments from the Community Benefits Fund have a selection process that includes the CAC.
• Transportation
  • Transportation improvements mostly along Mt. Vernon Street and within the project – $62 million
  • Heavily T oriented
  • Bicycles
    • 3.7 miles of new bike lanes
    • 4,500 bicycle parking spaces
    • 3 public bike share stations
  • Off-site Transportation Improvements
    • Invest $41.6 million for off-site improvements to K-Circle, Morrissey Boulevard.
    • Invest $5 million to upgrade JFK T station
• Resiliency
  • $18.5 million off-site infrastructure
    • $5 million to raise the Harborwalk
    • Raise by nearly 23 feet the project site and create a ridge from Harbor Point to Moakley Park.
  • Plant 1,000 new trees to mitigate heat island effect.
  • Create 19.7 acres of open space for public use, including 2.7 acres of green space at the water’s edge.
  • Install a new stormwater management system to prevent flooding.
• Inclusive Housing of 1,957 new units
  • 20% will be affordable housing (= 391 units).
  • 10% of the affordable housing are family sized.
  • Commit approx. $53.7 million to Housing Linkage.
  • Seed MAHA’s STASH Downpayment Assistance Program with $10 million.
• Jobs/Neighborhood Opportunity This project will create:
  • 25,000 construction jobs
  • 15,000 permanent jobs
  • 25,000 sf of retail space for local, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses
  • 8,000 sf for an Education, Training, and Innovation Center
• Parks
  • 8.3 acres of new open spaces within the project
  • Contribute $23.3 million to Moakley Park renovation and maintenance.
  • Create a “Friends of Moakley Park” together with the city, parks department, and other area stakeholders for maintenance, operation, and programming within the park.

Questions, Comments, and Concerns

• What about used vs. unused parking spaces?
  • As the project is “T oriented,” they only need to account for 1/3 – 1/2 of the city requirement for parking spaces.
• What about K-Circle?
  • The city and state are working jointly on this venture and they hope to accelerate the process. The city is currently conducting a separate study on pedestrian access at JFK station. DBC can only write checks to catalyze city and state action on the traffic issues and improvements.
• Where will the 3.7 miles of bike lanes be?
  • Within the project site and along the water’s edge connecting to the harborwalk.
• What can you tell us about the training programs and commercial space?           
  • There will be 4 million sf of business/office/commercial space much of which will be dedicated to Life Sciences, Research, Innovation and Discovery.
  • The proximity to and partnership with UMass Boston will attract lots of talent for all kinds of careers.
  • There will be a wide range of restaurants with various cuisines and pricing.
• How many years will it take to build?
  • Approximately 10-15 years.
• Some residents are concerned about the density and height with inadequate infrastructure to support such a development. Traffic is already a disaster. There are also no protections for local homeowners from the very real potential of overdevelopment as what has happened in South Boston after the Seaport was developed. We need zoning protection to maintain the character of the local neighborhoods.
• There is no commitment in writing to spend the community benefits money locally and we have no voice at MAHA, which is statewide.
  • Catherine O’Neil said she spoke with a woman from MAHA who claimed that 86% of the Community Benefits funds will benefit Dorchester and South Boston, with the other 14% covering overhead. Catherine will attempt to get this in writing.
• Explain the process.
  • There are two parts: Articles 80B and 80C, for which approvals are needed.
    • 80B is the overall Master Plan covering height limits, etc.
    • 80C is for each individual building, for which Accordia Partners will need to keep returning to the community process for input and approval.
• Are there plans for a major grocery store? No.
• Accordia Partners are leasing the land from UMB for 99 years – it covers the land only, not the buildings being built.
• Is there a plan for water transportation from the site to Logan Airport?
  • A study is being done.
  • There are major challenges with the tides and dredging.
  • The pier by the JFK Library needs upgrading. It is a massive project.
  • It won’t be done in the foreseeable future.
• What kinds of community spaces will be available?
  • 20,000 sf total at completion of the project.
    • Phase 1 will see 6,000 sf of space open to the public. They will be looking for input from residents as to useage.
• What is meant by “affordable housing”?
  • An average of 70% of the median income in the City of Boston.
    • It will range from 40 – 120% of the median income.
    • That means an income of $40,000 – 50,000 at the lower end.
  • All 1,957 units will be rental, with 391 of them “affordable.”
• There were concerns that comprehensive planning is being ignored by the city and all the different developers in this area.
• The city process for the allocation of community benefits funds is muddy at best and rife for graft. Can there be a written clause that would guarantee the use of the money locally?
  • DBC is boxed in by the city process and CAC. There is not much they can do besides advocate for spending the money locally.
• DBC is committed to the Dorchester Avenue Mainstreets improvements
• Some residents voiced approval of the Master Plan as it strongly correlates with the one they developed for the area years ago.

A vote was taken by membership at the meeting on the Master Plan:
Support: 21
Oppose: 6
Abstain: 1
Invalid: 7