Conservation Law Foundation is gearing up for a legal fight if the state approves new zoning that would enable The Chiofaro Co. to build a 600-foot tower on the Boston waterfront.
Secretary of Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton is reviewing the city’s proposed municipal harbor plan (MHP), which allows taller buildings and greater lot coverage than previously allowed along the central waterfront in exchange for developers agreeing to provide public benefits.
“At best, the Downtown Waterfront MHP is a collection of ideas, municipal development aspirations, trial policy balloons, and significant departures from the statewide, equitable public purpose standards encompassed in the waterways regulations,” CLF Senior Counsel Peter Shelley and Director of Environmental Planning Deanna Moran wrote in a letter submitted to Beaton this month.
CLF said it intends to challenge Beaton’s authority over zoning and public benefits if he approves the harbor plan.
CLF made the same argument last year when it filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court to contest approval of 150 Seaport, a 22-story condo tower at the Atlantic Beer Garden and Whiskey Priest restaurant property. It withdrew the lawsuit after developer Cronin Group agreed to build a public dock and contribute $18.5 million toward a new waterfront park and enrichment programs for underprivileged children.
The letter decries a “backroom pattern” of private meetings and “behind-the-scenes changes” that bypassed a citizens advisory committee that met for three years to draw up the plan.
“That’s something we’ve always been concerned about: the vulnerability of the MHP process to abuse, and now we’re convinced it is being abused in a way that undermines Chapter 91 (waterfront development regulations),” Shelley said this week.
Developer Donald Chiofaro has been attempting to redevelop the 8-story Harbor Garage on East India Row for nearly a decade, and his plans were initially stymied by late Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. While current Mayor Marty Walsh has been more supportive of the project, a citizen advisory committee met for three years to discuss the new zoning standards for the site and 42 acres of surrounding properties stretching from the James Hook & Co. lobster pound to the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel.
The proposed new zoning standards were amended after the New England Aquarium went public with its opposition to the Chiofaro project, saying the construction would hurt attendance and endanger wildlife.
The amended harbor plan sets up a $10 million fund toward the Aquarium’s proposed “Blue Way,” a new public promenade from the Rose Kennedy Greenway to the end of Central Wharf. It also sets up a $30 million fund to compensate the Aquarium from potential lost business.
Shelley said the harbor plan lacks specifics on how the $10 million will be used, and the MHP fails to compare the financial windfall for developers from approving additional density with the value of public benefits.
Chiofaro Co. responded to CLF’s comments in a statement issued Friday, saying it disagrees with several of its assertions and legal arguments.
“We look forward to demonstrating to them the enormous benefits of a project that will demolish the Harbor Garage, create a long-term platform for the success of the New England Aquarium, and deliver 28,000 square feet of new waterfront open space, a signature public realm and an architectural landmark,” the company stated.
