William A. Paquette, architect for the proposed 5-story condominium building for North Margin and Stillman streets in Boston’s North End, speaks at last week’s public hearing.
A shouting match nearly silenced a public hearing last week in Boston’s North End.
In a packed room Tuesday night at the Nazzaro Community Center, proponents and residents clashed over a proposed luxury condominium development. In one of the evening’s more tense moments, the project’s lawyer shouted “shut up!” at an activist and the city’s project manager threatened to end the hearing.
“I will shut the meeting down if we can’t respect each other’s opinion,” said Kristin Kara, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s (BRA) project manager, as she stood on a chair trying to restore order.
At issue is the redevelopment of a parking lot at the corner of North Margin and Stillman streets. Steven Fustolo is heading a team that has proposed 61 condos in a 5-story building. The two-and-a-half-hour session was the first time the community saw the plan.
On one side of the room were members of the Iron Workers Union Local No. 7 who favor the plan. On the other side were many longtime “North Enders” and abutters who fear that digging 37 feet below grade to create the parking facility would exacerbate the depletion of the groundwater in the neighborhood.
The problem of low groundwater plagues the Boston neighborhoods that were built on filled land. As a result, some of the homes in the North End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill and the South End are supported by wood piling foundations.
If the wood remains under water, the foundations can last hundreds of years. But pilings exposed to air can cause structural damage. The problem is exacerbated by new construction unless steps are taken to put water back into the earth.
Michael Durant, the union’s business manager, said the project is essential to employ his members. “I represent 4,000 ironworkers and some of them are here tonight,” he said. “And we need a project like this now.”
While many residents said they could support a smaller project with fewer parking spaces, there was concern that digging so deep could threaten the foundations of nearby homes.
Aaron Michlewitz, a North End resident and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi’s constituent services director, said his biggest concern is about excavation for the building. “This is an area that just went through the Big Dig and there are lots of foundations that have been weakened during 16 years of construction,” he said. “Going forward, we have to make sure that further damage is not done.”
David Kubiak, a longtime resident, said he can’t understand why the city would allow such a large underground parking structure in one of the most at-risk sections of the city.
“It’s scary,” he said. “Once it happens, you won’t be able to fix it. People are losing their properties on Fulton Street because of groundwater depletion. Who knows if it’s the Big Dig? The point is no one can figure out what’s causing it.”
In response, William Ferullo, the project’s attorney, said, “Dave, most of your statements sound nice, but they’re wrong. We have people in this room who are experts on groundwater, but Dave will tell you the North End will fall into a hole and won’t be here anymore.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Kubiak began in response. “I never said that.”
But when Kubiak tried to interject, Ferullo shouted, “Are you interrupting? Well, shut up! How’s that? If you want the same respect, then give it back, so let me finish.”
Raucous hearings over new development are not new to the North End. In January, dozens of homeowners turned out to protest plans to demolish a three-level, steel-and-concrete facility at 585 Commercial St. In its place would be a 6-story, brick-and-glass building featuring 68 one- and two-bedroom condominiums, a health club, marina and 148 parking underground parking spaces.
While there was some support to replace the eyesore, dozens of residents said the North End does not need any more luxury condos. The $50 million development has been controversial from the start. In 2006, Gilchrest Assoc. purchased the property near the Steriti Memorial Rink and the North Washington Street Bridge for $10.1 million. That year, the Boston-based developer proposed an 85-foot-tall, or 8-story, project that included a restaurant and a private marina.
But after residents opposed the scale, the developer and his architect lowered it to 55 feet, the height allowed by zoning. The team also dropped plans for a restaurant because neighbors argued that an eatery would attract more cars and noise to the already congested area. In addition, they agreed to provide a public landing on the waterfront with an accessible fishing dock.
Still, many residents remain opposed to the project. Homeowners objected to what they called the “privatization of public parkland” because the parcel is adjacent to open space managed by the state Department of Recreation and Conservation. Other residents noted that the footprint of the building is still twice the size of the original structure and out of scale with the neighborhood.
