Judge Refuses to Halt Binney St. Construction

A Superior Court judge last week quashed what may be a neighborhood group's last means to stop the construction of a parking garage in an East Cambridge residential neighborhood.

Superior Court Judge Catherine White last week denied a plea from Cambridge Citizens for Liveable Neighborhoods (CCLN) for a preliminary injunction against the Athenaeum Group's garage on Binney St. The group had sought to halt construction until a nest of three lawsuits decides whether the garage, which is 80 percent built, violates a 1973 federal parking freeze.

According to City Manager Robert W. Healy, White's ruling means the Athenaeum Group will probably have finished its 1530-car garage--the city's second largest--long before the lawsuits are decided "on the merits."

CCLN charges that Cambridge violated an air pollution control plan under the Clean Air Act of 1970 that limits the increase in commercial parking spaces to 10 percent. CCLN--and the Environmental Protection Agency--say the city has violated that cap many times, meaning several of the newer commercial garages were built illegally.

However, City Traffic Commissioner George Teso and the Athenaeum Group, both named as defendants in a CCLN suit, interpret the law differently and say they are within the freeze limit.

CCLN charges that the Binney Street garage counts as commercial parking, and that Teso should not have issued its permit because Cambridge already had too much commercial parking. They also say Teso had no authority to issue the permit in any case because he disobeyed a requirement to send annual parking reports to state and federal regulators.

According to Healy, lawyers for Athenaeum and Teso say the garage fell within the freeze limit. But he said their main argument is that the regulation would not apply to the garage in any case because it exempts businesses' parking for employees and customers.

Miyares contends that the garage does fit the definition of "commercial" as parking for a fee because the businesses that lease office space from the Athenaeum Group will pay for parking as part of their rent.

As for Teso's failure to hand in the reports, Healy said, "What are we going to do? We aren't going to tear down parking garages."

The Athenaeum Group, in turn, is suing CCLN for "threats, intimidation and coercion," as well as interference with its business. Finally, CCLN has filed a counterclaim calling the countersuit unjustified harassment.

The city has agreed not to issue more commercial parking permits until state and federal regulators can form new rules for obeying the Clean Air Act--which Healy said would take at least a year.