Image courtesy of Heffner Architects
Developers of a proposed 204-unit apartment project in Hyde Park said the Boston Planning & Development Agency violated an April court order entitling them to an “expeditious” review and final decision.
The potentially precedent-setting case centers on the extent of the BPDA’s power to review projects that comply with zoning as-of-right.
In the latest legal salvo in state Land Court, attorneys for the development team objected to the BPDA’s request for additional information, which would set off another public comment period on the 990 American Legion Highway project originally submitted in 2021.
“The letter effectively requires that [developer] MQMF undergo yet another round of protracted review … just as MQMF would have been required to do if it had never commenced this lawsuit upon the BPDA’s improper rejection of its prior [final project impact report],” attorneys Kelly Frey and Michael Molstad of law firm Mintz wrote in a motion submitted Friday.
In April, state Land Court Judge Kevin Smith ruled that developers are entitled to an “expeditious review” of the 990 American Legion Highway project. Developers and their legal team say the project has been held in “administrative limbo” without being brought to the BPDA board for a vote.
Dallas-based Willow Bridge Property Co. is partnering with land owner Jubilee Christian Church of Mattapan on the proposed development of nine apartment buildings on a 14-acre site. The project is located in a zoning district that allows multifamily housing as-of-right if no residences are located on the ground floor.
In the April ruling, Smith said the city agency can study impacts on the surrounding neighborhood to identify mitigation, but cannot deny a project unless it “presents a problem for which the BPDA can devise no form of reasonable conditions to adequately address the problem.”
The judge directed the BPDA to rule on whether the developer’s removal of first-floor units constituted a major or minor change to the project, and what additional information would be required.
Following a meeting with Willow Bridge executives in May, Boston Planning Chief Kairos Shen requested additional information including a more detailed site plan, information on accessibility, the type of building systems, location of mechanical equipment, screening and buffering, interior landscaping, specifications on plantings and design of off-street parking and loading areas.
In a motion submitted Friday, attorneys for the developers said Shen’s letter indicates that developers would be required to go through another round of public review and a public hearing, delaying a BPDA decision for at least 90 days.
In a footnote, attorneys noted that “out of an abundance of caution” and under protest, developers filed a 604-page updated final project impact report with the BPDA.
The BPDA declined to comment.
