To the Editor:

The April 21 edition of the Dorchester Reporter carried an article, under the headline "City Prioritized BRA Amendment for Melville Case," which shed light on the activities of a number of people seeking to change the Boston Zoning Code with the likely effect of retroactively legalizing the construction of a house at 99 Melville Avenue.In the same issue of the Reporter, there was also a letter to the editor in support of this "clarification" of the zoning code from Lisa Allen Brown who is identified as "a Dorchester native and former resident of Melville Park." I think your readers could have better considered her letter if she had further identified herself as a member of "The Young Bostonian Advisory Council, appointed by Mayor Menino" which "meets on a bi-monthly basis and every six months with Mayor Menino," this according to a press release posted March 29, on the BRA website at cityofboston.gov/bra/press/PressDisplay. asp?pressID=264

I think that most of the people who opposed the zoning variance for 99 Melville Ave. would agree that the house should not be torn down at this point. But, I also think that most would agree that there should be some serious consequences for anyone who goes ahead and builds a project, knowing that there is a good chance that their zoning variance, having been challenged in court in a timely manner, will be overturned, as this one eventually was, by two courts. Why have laws if we are not going to enforce them?

The current attempt by City Hall to legalize the construction of 99 Melville Ave. by changing the Zoning Code to allow construction on existing lots lacking sufficient street frontage without any review by the Board of Appeal is not the answer.

Robert F. Rugo

The author is a former Dorchester District Planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority (1970s),a 30-year resident and homeowner in Dorchester, but not a native.