City Residents Fight Museum Addition

Harvard officials met last night with the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals and angry members of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association to discuss the long-delayed addition to the Fogg Museum.

Work on the $4 million project was scheduled to begin last November, but was delayed by the association's zoning appeal.

Zoning board officials encouraged the neighborhood association and Harvard to reach an accommodation last night which would have allowed the University to remain in the grant application process. Harvard officials refused to negotiate with the neighbors, however, and the board said it would rule on the issue next month.

Harvard representatives said they were concerned the project's delay would cause a private foundation to dismiss the Fogg's application for a $250,000 grant supplementing the project's cost.

Officials project the Agnes Maun addition will add 3,900 cubic feet of space to house the museum's collection of drawings and prints.

John Pitkin, the neighborhood association's president, said the group had appealed the museum's permit for the addition as a "test case."

Pitkin said his organization believed the museum violated the city's zoning ordinances by designating spaces in the University's Broadway parking garage as those required by the building permit.

By providing spaces in an existing facility rather than building new spaces, Pitkin said Harvard will exacerbate Harvard Square's parking shortage.

Although University officials said there are plenty of parking spaces for its staff, Pitkin said Harvard employees and visitors take curbside parking from residents. from residents.

"First, all those spaces [in the Broadway garage] shouldn't be there, and secondly, they really aren't there, from the point of view of the neighborhood," Pitkin said.

Harvard planning officials said the zoning laws do not require the University to meet parking demand. Harvard must only provide one space per 1,600 cubic feet built after 1961.

Kathy A. Spiegelman, Harvard's director of physical planning, said that since the Fogg was constructed before 1961, ordinances enacted after that date are inapplicable.

Spiegelman said her department has two primary objectives in designing Harvard's parking policy.

"First we want to meet Cambridge's zoning requirements, and second to do the best job we can in managing the demand for parking throughout the University," Spiegelman said.

Ken Feltzer, an attorney for the University, listened to the association's demands that Harvard make inexpensive parking available on weekdays and provide assistance with ticketing illegally parked cars. But he refused to negotiate with the group.

Robert Edbrooke, a former associate professor of classics and a current resident of 20 Prescott St., said Harvard had greatly increased the size and use of its property on the street without providing sufficient parking. Prescott St. borders the rear of the Fogg.

"Harvard has massive plans for Prescott Street," Edbrooke said.

He said he often circles the neighborhood repeatedly before finding a parking space within walking distance. "I dread coming home around 10 p.m.," Edbrooke said.

Speaking after the meeting, Harvard Director of Public Relations Happy H. Green said she was unsure whether the museum would be able to secure the private grant.

But Green also said she understood the concerns of the neighborhood association. "Parking is the problem of the nineties," she said

"First, all those spaces [in the Broadway garage] shouldn't be there, and secondly, they really aren't there, from the point of view of the neighborhood," Pitkin said.

Harvard planning officials said the zoning laws do not require the University to meet parking demand. Harvard must only provide one space per 1,600 cubic feet built after 1961.

Kathy A. Spiegelman, Harvard's director of physical planning, said that since the Fogg was constructed before 1961, ordinances enacted after that date are inapplicable.

Spiegelman said her department has two primary objectives in designing Harvard's parking policy.

"First we want to meet Cambridge's zoning requirements, and second to do the best job we can in managing the demand for parking throughout the University," Spiegelman said.

Ken Feltzer, an attorney for the University, listened to the association's demands that Harvard make inexpensive parking available on weekdays and provide assistance with ticketing illegally parked cars. But he refused to negotiate with the group.

Robert Edbrooke, a former associate professor of classics and a current resident of 20 Prescott St., said Harvard had greatly increased the size and use of its property on the street without providing sufficient parking. Prescott St. borders the rear of the Fogg.

"Harvard has massive plans for Prescott Street," Edbrooke said.

He said he often circles the neighborhood repeatedly before finding a parking space within walking distance. "I dread coming home around 10 p.m.," Edbrooke said.

Speaking after the meeting, Harvard Director of Public Relations Happy H. Green said she was unsure whether the museum would be able to secure the private grant.

But Green also said she understood the concerns of the neighborhood association. "Parking is the problem of the nineties," she said