The Beacon Hill Civic Association voted last week to oppose Suffolk University’s proposal for 20 Somerset Street, throwing a significant wrench into Suffolk’s expansion plans in the wake of its IMPNF filing last month.
The BHCA has been vocal in its dissatisfaction with the amount of information being made available to the public by Suffolk, but last week’s vote marks a definitive step forward in the group’s rhetoric.
In a statement posted on the Association web site, the BHCA made it clear that the opposition came down to a lack of solid information on the project, particularly its impact on the community:
“[U] ntil Suffolk University has demonstrated to satisfaction of Board of Directors of the Civic Association that institutional expansion as described in its Institutional Master Plan Notification Form (IMPNF) dated January 11, 2008 will not have material adverse impact on nearby residential communities, the position of the Civic Association to such expansion of institutional uses is ‘opposition.’”
Suffolk would like to use 20 Somerset Street to house its New England School of Art and Design, which is currently located in the Back Bay. In addition to studio space and art displace space, the new 20 Somerset will have about 12,200 square feet of classroom space. While a majority of the time the classrooms would be used for NESAD, the classroom space could also be used for University classes beyond the art school, such as regular undergraduate arts and sciences classes, according to information presented by Suffolk at the last Task Force meeting.
The BHCA is looking for more detailed information for a number of project areas. As such, it plans to draw up a comment letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is currently taking public comment on the project. The BHCA’s comment letter will seek the following from Suffolk:
•Enrollment projections for the next ten years;
•Projections in demand for housing resulting from increased enrollment and from transformation from commuter college to residential institution;
•Plan for satisfying student housing demand without displacement of residents in existing nearby neighborhoods;
•Methods of limiting ownership and storage of automobiles by residential students;
•Plan for avoiding adverse impacts similar to Northeastern, Boston University and Boston College;
•Permanent programs for addressing student behavior issues;
•Proposed changes in use for Temple Street facilities;
•Options for reducing impact on Temple Street and nearby streets;
•Protections for all nearby residential areas;
•New non-expansion areas;
Suffolk has already offered to make Beacon Hill part of a new non-expansion zone after the completion of the 20 Somerset Street project. At a meeting of the Suffolk University Task Force last month, Vice President John Nucci and planning consultant Alex Krieger provided the public with new data about the project, including the probable breakdown of the building’s specific uses, but the BHCA remains unconvinced about the project’s impact on the neighborhood.
Suffolk Vice President John Nucci has said repeatedly that the moving of NESAD to 20 Somerset Street will not significantly impact the number of students attending class in Beacon Hill, as most students who are enrolled in NESAD already take classes at Suffolk’s Beacon Hill campus.
However, the BHCA disagrees. “The proposed use of 20 Somerset Street for a 345-student art and design school, and other academic functions would further solidify Beacon Hill as the academic center for Suffolk’s undergraduate program,” the BHCA said in a statement. “This would cause significant problems for the neighborhood: More students would pass by our homes on their way to classes, crowding sidewalks, congregating in limited open spaces and sometimes behaving in noisy and disruptive ways. Students, looking for places to go between and after classes, would seek out apartments of those already living nearby. Beacon Hill would become an even more desirable place for students to live – thus driving out existing residents and upsetting the neighborhood’s demographic balance.”
BRA member Gerald Autler, who is managing the project for the BRA, will use all public comment as part of his scoping determination. The public comment period is open until Feb. 28th. The BHCA and Suffolk urge all Hill residents, both those who support and those who oppose, to use the public comment period to make their concerns known to Suffolk and the city.

DNA can now relate to buildings on Beacon Hill as a result of comments made at last week’s meeting of the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission (BHAC).
“The changes should be more reflective of the DNA of Charles Street,” Patrick Hickox of Hickox Williams told members of the BHAC last Thursday night about possible changes at 59 Charles Street.
The comment drew more than a few laughs from the members who had to deal with more mundane matters such as doorknob replacement at the Otis Musuem on Cambridge Street to the colors of trim and doors at 59 Beacon Street.
The choice of colors for 59 Beacon Street actually came from an original ruling in 1985 that the brownstone color should remain brownstone. This was only one example where the commissioners went back to the files of various buildings. Another case involved the owners of 76 Mount Vernon Street who asked the commission to reactivate the permit to complete the renovations that were approved more than a decade ago.
According to the law, the approved permit only has a life of two years. In approving the a new permit, Commissioner John Cunningham commented, “This was better than what we approved the last time.”
Kenneth Taylor told the owner of 101 Mount Vernon Street that a pipe meant to run up the side of his building was out of bounds.
“This is unacceptable,” Taylor told the owner of 101 Mt. Vernon Street.
Erik Weibust was seeking to have the pipe connected to the fireplaces in the building. According to Mr. Weibust, his contractor told him that he could not bring the pipe up from the inside the building.
The commissioners were not swayed by this argument. His application was denied.
In reviewing violations already before the BHAC, several satellite dishes were removed from 2 Louisburg Square.
Fortunately for the owner at 4 Louisburg Square, what appeared to be a satellite dish attached to his premises was not there after the commissioners thought they saw one in the photographs at last month’s meeting.
The City of Boston will pursue the owners of 99 Myrtle Street for installing windows without the consent of the BHAC. It seems that the owners of 18 Brimmer Street will have a reprieve until the snow melts to see if they also are in violation of filling in their front yard with cement without the approval of the BHAC.
According to Inspectional Services Department, the front yard was paved over, but according to the owner he has not had anything done to the yard except plant shrubbery. An official from the BHAC visited the site earlier but there was snow on the ground and with the snowstorm last Friday, it looks like the determination will have to wait.

Andrew Jackson ‘Jack’ Francis, Labrador Retriever, died last Saturday morning, in his fifteenth year. He is named for the twenty dollar bill he found and devoured as a puppy, saving himself from the tragic fate of being named ‘Orion’. Jackson, a lifelong Chestnut Street resident, never met a stranger, never lost a friend, never hurt a living creature. Tall and powerfully built, he was a gentle giant, and was often used to help neighborhood children transition through a fear of dogs. Calm by nature, he was especially gentle with the very young and the frail, dropping to the ground and rolling onto his side to show his willingness to be patted. Of the swift fanning tail we always said, ‘that’s the dangerous end’. He was the proud puppy of Matt and Eric, the joyful companion of Tom and Marie, and the lifelong champion of ten year old Charlotte. Many will remember the summer days on the sidewalk of upper Chestnut, little girls playing hopscotch and drawing with chalk, guarded by a silky, powerful black Labrador. He submitted to toddler games with saintly patience. He played ‘bad horsy’, ‘doggie grooming’, ‘Santa’s reindeer’. He submitted to a spray bottle ‘bath’ and many small hands rubbing him with a towel. His menacing side was only ever displayed if he felt the children were in danger and would posture to keep strange dogs away. You didn’t mess with 100lb Jack. Winner of the Good Citizen Award in the Boston Common Dog Show, his good nature and goofy grin even won over English Gwenie, the meanest tabby cat in the world. She died several years ago at 18 years of age, cantankerous to the end. Jack is the only animal she ever suffered to coexist in her home. Jackson is survived by his cats Samson and Delilah, who both exhibit strangely dog-like traits, having been raised by an elderly Labrador. Whether sledding on the Common, jogging along the Esplanade, getting treats in the dry cleaners, the hardware store, the post office, being walked by dog-loving Steven, loping off-leash in the parade ground with his pals Daisy, Dewey, and Bix, or tethered outside first Spruce Street Nursery School, then Beacon Hill Nursery School, and always Myrtle Street Playground, Jack was a part not only of our family but of his neighborhood on Beacon Hill. He leaves this place having made many people very happy and will live on in the hearts of his devoted family and countless friends.

Earlier this month, Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr. said interim repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel are slated to begin this spring.
A temporary and safe ten-year fix of the tunnel was what the BHCA urged last fall, but for only one reason: to allow the state time to devise a regional transportation plan, taking into account the impact of repairs to its existing infrastructure and promoting alternate modes of transportation for commuters to Boston.
DCR is satisfied that the interim repairs will keep the tunnel safe, because it hired LMI Government Consulting, a nationally recognized nonprofit consulting firm headquartered near Washington, D.C., to conduct a technical engineering review of the project. Their findings LMI have reinforced the recommendations of DCR engineers that the planned interim repairs would maintain and ensure the integrity of the tunnel, said Sullivan.
Construction on the $8-10 million interim repair project, which will include replacing deteriorated concrete in the roof and wall sections, and installing waterproofing membranes in roof joints to prevent water seepage, is expected to begin in April and last approximately nine months. DCR is accepting bids for the project and will hold a public meeting before beginning construction. At this time, traffic details during construction have not been determined, according to DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox.
So far, there has been no evidence that any study of long-term regional issues has begun, according to several members of the BHCA subcommittee which has been reviewing transportation issues. “Clearly, if they don’t get moving again on the reconstruction planning soon, we’ll be patching again when these repairs wear out,” said BHCA’s Jeannette Herrmann.
“Until we hear to the contrary, I will assume that the DCR will continue to involve the neighborhood and organizational representatives in the long range planning process as it has in the past,” said Chestnut Street resident Steve Young, BHCA’s Traffic and Parking Chairman. “Having said that, however, the silence from the DCR about doing so or about what is happening regarding long range planning may suggest that my assumption is incorrect.”
According to Young, the only neighborhood involvement with the planning of the temporary Bowker Overpass and Storrow Drive Tunnel work has been via receiving informational notice about what the DCR has decided to do and is doing. “We can only hope that such non-involvement does not carry over to the long range planning for reconstruction of the Storrow Drive Tunnel and Longfellow Bridge,” he said.

The BHCA Annual Meeting has been set for May 19 at the Union Club of Boston. It is a time for the community to gather, elect officers and members of the board, hear news of BHCA activities, and present two very special awards.
The Nominating Committee is now preparing the nomination slate of individuals to serve on its Board of Directors for the fiscal year 2008-2009. If you would like to nominate yourself or another Beacon Hill resident, please contact the BHCA in writing by March 17.
The BHCA invites those who live or work on Beacon Hill to submit nominations for the Beacon Award, presented annually to an individual, group or organization that has made a significant contribution to the Beacon Hill community. The deadline for submission is March 31, and a nomination form can be found online at www.bhcivic.org and at the BHCA office at 74 Joy Street.
The Community Service Scholarship, a $2500 stipend, is awarded to a student who participates in and recognizes the importance of community service on Beacon Hill and elsewhere in Boston. Interested students who live, work, attend school or volunteer on Beacon Hill are encouraged to apply by Monday, April 21. Applications will soon be available online or by contacting the BHCA by phone (617-227-1922) or email (info@bhcivic.org).

The Beacon Hill Civic Association has turned in its comments about Suffolk University’s proposed expansion plans to the Boston Redevelopment Authority and hopes residents will do so, too - even though the time is short.
February 28 is the deadline for public comment about Suffolk’s Institutional Master Plan Notification Form, which the university filed in mid-January. In its IMPNF, part of the Article 80 process, Suffolk let the BRA know of its intention to submit an institutional master plan for an expansion of its undergraduate enrollment and facilities now located on or near Beacon Hill.
The proposed plan includes the construction of a 105,000 square foot building at 20 Somerset Street to be used for an art school and other academic uses, and the replacement or renovation of Suffolk’s buildings on Temple, Derne and Ashburton streets. It also draws expansion zones called ‘clusters,’ which are broad areas surrounding Beacon Hill where Suffolk would construct an additional 637,000 square feet of new residential, academic and administrative facilities on sites not yet identified.
The Civic Association posted information about the proposal for residents to review on its website www.bhcivic.org. There are links to Suffolk University's IMPNF, as well as background information on the proposal and a timeline showing past Suffolk/neighborhood relations.
Also posted is a resolution passed by the Civic Association’s board of directors stating that it will oppose the institutional expansion plans until Suffolk University demonstrates to its satisfaction that expansion will not have substantial adverse impacts on Beacon Hill and other nearby residential communities.
Many of the Civic Association’s concerns relate to student housing. It has asked Suffolk to project its enrollment for the next ten years and to predict the demand for housing that would occur as a result of its increased enrollment and change from a commuter to residential institution. The BHCA also wants to know what plans have been put into place to permanently address student behavior and if the use of the buildings it owns on Temple, Hancock and Derne streets will be put to a different use. A planning and research committee, chaired by Temple Street resident Ania Camargo and Hancock Street resident Tad Stahl, was charged by the board of directors to review the IMPNF and submit comments to the BRA during the public comment period. Camargo said the committee encourages Beacon Hill residents to communicate their comments and concerns about Suffolk University’s expansion to the BRA by February 28.