Abutters raise objections to Boston Home apartments

Boston Home : The latest rendering of plans for apartments next to The Boston Home.Boston Home : The latest rendering of plans for apartments next to The Boston Home.The Boston Home has released a reconfigured design for a proposed apartment complex on its Dorchester Avenue campus, but some abutters are still unhappy with the offering.

The new designs were unveiled in a public meeting last Thursday at The Boston Home to a crowd of 18 people. They included enhanced landscaping to create a better buffer between abutters and The Boston Home, eliminating three bedroom apartments to instead create 30 one-bedroom rooms and nine two-bedrooms, removing balconies, and setting the building an additional five feet back from the Range Road property line: a total of 31 feet.

The Boston Home also sought to clarify their tax status in response to abutters’ questions: the property will pay taxes to the city although it will be operated by the nonprofit corporation. The Boston Redevelopment Authority confirmed that property taxes would be assessed on the development.

The Harmon Apartments development is expected to cost some $17 million to build with The Boston Home administration managing the property. The building will be specially designed to meet the needs of wheelchair users, including hallways wide enough to accommodate two passing wheelchairs, doors that open automatically, and other tweaks that will create flexibility and space.

The updated rendering also removed street access to Range Road.

“The units are highly accessible and exceed ADA guidelines,” said Marva Serotkin, president and CEO of The Boston Home, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act. At the beginning of the presentation, representatives from The Boston Home sought to appeal to the half dozen skeptical abutters about the need for an accessible, affordable housing option for people suffering with Multiple Sclerosis with their families.

Pat McHale’s daughter Ann Marie McHale, 27, has lived on Range her entire life.

“It does not fit in here,” said Pat McHale, who has lived on nearby Range Road for 27 years.

“If this goes in, we’ll probably sell.”

“They didn’t answer the questions we wanted,” McHale said after the meeting. “My number one concern is low-income housing,” she said, adding that it was still unclear how The Boston Home would only allow those who are handicapped to live in the building if it is also accessible to low-income buyers.

“If it was just for handicapped people, it would be fine, but it’s not,” said Pat McHale. When asked about any flexibility about the housing project, both McHales balked.

“We just don’t want this,” the elder McHale said.

Abutters raised questions about traffic studies, which have not yet been conducted for the project. Ann Marie McHale said that the neighborhood itself is already congested without additional traffic.

The BRA hosted a community meeting on Wednesday to hear the neighborhood’s concerns. The city’s comment period on the proposed development closes on May 1.

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