Mission Hill Residents Refile Against Med School

BOSTON--She calls it "a case of hubris over veritas."

Kathryn J. Brookins, a resident of the Mission Hill neighborhood, refiled a lawsuit against Harvard last month, claiming the University submitted false construction plans to government agencies in order to win approval for a $60 million research facility and parking garage for the Medical School.

Brookins charges in her suit that Harvard misled community groups and the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) since the University first presented the plans for the now-completed garage in 1989.

The University showed the ZBA and the Mission Hill Neighborhood Association a plan for a garage underneath the research facility, but the garage that was ultimately built was located 200 feet away from the rest of the development, Brookins says.

Brookins says that Harvard submitted plans they never intended to use in order to avoid having to apply for a second permit from the ZBA--a permit they may not have been able to obtain.

"It's like the Mafia," she says. "They keep two sets of books. One for the auditors, and one for themselves."

If Brookins wins the suit, Harvard would lose a $9 million collateral bond the University promised to forfeit if it broke zoning codes and it would be forced to demolish the recently completed structure.

Harvard claims they submitted plans calling for a separate garage located in an adjoining quadrangle throughout the approval process. According to Kevin A. McCluskey, director of community relations, Harvard sent out plans--which called for the separate garage--to about 20 public agencies in September 1989.

But at a meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeal on May 22, 1990, Harvard handed out fact sheets showing plans for a garage located under the building, Brookins said.

Brookins has stamped plans from the Boston Redevelopment Authority which include the fact sheet. The plans for the separate garage are not included.

McCluskey says that the fact sheet may be an earlier plan of the project that was accidentally inserted in the documentation.

"We never submitted a fact sheet," McCluskey says. "Everything was shown. We were clear...The only possibility is that in the reams of paper produced around any project this size, some early document was still around."

Kathy A. Spiegelman, Harvard's director of planning, told the Boston Globe that any confusion was not intentional.

"Projects are likely to change, often resulting in apparent inconsistencies which are not deliberate," Spiegelman told the Globe.

But Brookins says the fact sheet was not an accidental insertion. "If that's true," she says, "then why were they handing them out at the ZBA meeting?"

Brookins is backed by some urban planners, who see Harvard's action as an example of how corporations avoid troublesome regulations to get their way in the community.

If Harvard submitted the wrong plans to the ZBA for approval, then the University is clearly "in the wrong," according to AssociateProfessor of Urban Planning Alexander C. vonHoffman.

"That is not the way it is supposed to go," vonHoffman says. "That is generally associated withsleazy behavior."

Members of the Zoning Board of Appeal could notbe reached for comment.

McCluskey says that the proper paperwork was atthe Inspectional Services Department, the agencywhich approves projects which need variances fromthe city's zoning code.

Unaware of Plans

Brookins says that when she went to thedepartment after they had approved the project,the plans were not on file. Administrators at thedepartment were not aware of plans calling for aseparate garage, she added.

At her meeting with the Inspectional ServicesDepartment, Brookins says that Commissioner ThomasMcNicholas told her that at the request of theBoston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), hisdepartment approved the plans for the garagewithout ever seeing them.

Neither McNicholas or Assistant CommissionerGary Mocci returned numerous calls from TheCrimson. But the BRA's Jerry Cavanaugh said hisdepartment never told inspectional services toapprove the plans.

Brookins also claims that the city allowed theproject to go forward without allowing thecommunity 15 days, the legal requirement, tochallenge the decision. And once the approval fora limited permit was given, Brookins claims,Harvard constructed far more than what wasallowed.

The city granted Harvard a permit that onlyallowed them to work on the foundation of theresearch facility. Brookins says that Harvard usedthat limited permit to complete the garage located200 feet from the original structure.

Brookins says that she plans to continuefighting Harvard for as long as it takes to winher suit.

"They've lost their search for veritasin the search for a parking garage," she says

"That is not the way it is supposed to go," vonHoffman says. "That is generally associated withsleazy behavior."

Members of the Zoning Board of Appeal could notbe reached for comment.

McCluskey says that the proper paperwork was atthe Inspectional Services Department, the agencywhich approves projects which need variances fromthe city's zoning code.

Unaware of Plans

Brookins says that when she went to thedepartment after they had approved the project,the plans were not on file. Administrators at thedepartment were not aware of plans calling for aseparate garage, she added.

At her meeting with the Inspectional ServicesDepartment, Brookins says that Commissioner ThomasMcNicholas told her that at the request of theBoston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), hisdepartment approved the plans for the garagewithout ever seeing them.

Neither McNicholas or Assistant CommissionerGary Mocci returned numerous calls from TheCrimson. But the BRA's Jerry Cavanaugh said hisdepartment never told inspectional services toapprove the plans.

Brookins also claims that the city allowed theproject to go forward without allowing thecommunity 15 days, the legal requirement, tochallenge the decision. And once the approval fora limited permit was given, Brookins claims,Harvard constructed far more than what wasallowed.

The city granted Harvard a permit that onlyallowed them to work on the foundation of theresearch facility. Brookins says that Harvard usedthat limited permit to complete the garage located200 feet from the original structure.

Brookins says that she plans to continuefighting Harvard for as long as it takes to winher suit.

"They've lost their search for veritasin the search for a parking garage," she says