A recent flurry of projects that involve razing historic buildings in the neighborhood has sparked an important dialogue in Dorchester about the values we place on the asthetic feel of our community. But the emerging preservationist movement is also grounded in frustrations that are rooted in the steady erosion of local control over the neighborhood's own destiny when it comes to development matters.

Some of those frustrations were aired at the Murphy School last month, as residents and city officials huddled to discuss concerns over the way in which civic input into city zoning decisions are weighed in development projects. The forum, sponsored by the Neighborhood Issues Forum and brokered by city officials too, was a good idea and more like it are welcome.

The public back-and-forth is essential to educating all sides in the discussion - city officials, developers and civic associations- as to where we all stand.

On the civic side, part of the erosion of local control can be linked directly to the 2001 evisceration of the Lower Mills Civic Association, which has been essentially silenced for the better part of three years now. The civic group went into self-imposed hibernation after a disgruntled developer - angered by the group's opposition to his proposed office building on Washington Street - targeted civic president Mike Skillin and another neighbor with hefty lawsuits. The chill left by that action - and by the vacuum left by the civic group - sent a devastating message that has not yet been reversed.

The assault on Lower Mills, and by extension the entire civic community of Dorchester, came shortly after the gradual disappearance of Dorchester Allied Neighborhood Association (DANA), which served the community so well in the late 1990s as activists joined forces to lobby for new Red Line stations. DANA is no longer functioning as a neighborhood-wide umbrella group. We are lesser for the absence of such a network of leaders. And while the inter-village communication has been enhanced in recent years with Internet exchanges and e-mail alerts, it is no subsititute for a permanent group that can set a coherent agenda, pursue common goals and bring about results in an organized way.

In the interim, other groups have stepped forward to offer innovative ideas that can help coalesce civic activity around development issues. The reinvigorated Dorchester Historical Society quite appropriately has become a leader in the preservationist cause. Last year, the group laid out a roadmap with their top 10 list of most endangered historical sites in Dorchester. Last fall, the Historical Society successfully helped to convince a Boston developer to abandon plans to demolish the Stoughton School in Lower Mills, where a new condominium project is now likely go forward with the historic structure intergrated into the design.

Sadly, though, the list of threatened properties seems to be growing. This week, city Councillor Maureen Feeney responded to suggestions from civic and preservationist leaders by calling for an extension to the so-called "demo delay" period. That is a good first-step.

A fuller discussion is certainly needed, too, to help define the standards by which we deem a property worthy of such protections. In Dorchester, for instance, we covet our stock of three-decker homes, many of which were lost to arson and decay in the blight of the 1970s. Elsewhere, these distinctive structures may not be considered valuable, but here in Dorchester, three-deckers remain a key part of our collective consciousness, emblazoned on bumper stickers and T-shirts as a symbol of who we are.

Protecting that identity- and also further defining for ourselves what structures are similarly essential- should be part of an ongoing, formal dialogue that has already begun informally and in a reactive way. It is time for Dorchester to take the offensive on this issue, following the lead of the Historical Society, to define what our own standards and boundaries are when it comes to development. Through it, this community must use its great size and diversity as the anchor, staying united to make the preservation of our truly historic structures and open spaces a top priority.

- Ed Forry