Allston Rep Makes Demands

Massachusetts state representative Michael J. Moran unveiled a surprise two-page list of demands on Monday that he says Harvard should submit to before Boston approves University construction in Allston.

Moran’s declaration calls for Harvard to establish and partially fund a K-12 school in the neighborhood by September 2009 and create a construction mitigation program, among other things.

Moran said he hopes that the members of the Harvard Allston Task Force, a group of Allston residents appointed by the city to review Harvard’s plans, will recommend that the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA)—which oversees construction projects in the city—attach the motion’s conditions to its approval of the science project.

The measure was intended to give weight to residents’ concerns that he believes have not been adequately addressed by the University, he said.

“It’s a compilation of things that have come to me through these meetings, through the conversations I’ve have with you outside, and with concerns that you have brought up with me,” Moran told the crowd of nearly 90 at Monday’s meeting. “I’m worried about this process moving forward and these issues never being addressed.”

Chief University Planner Kathy A. Spiegelman said at the meeting that it was unrealistic to expect Harvard to build a new school in two years, but emphasized Harvard’s commitment to creating community educational programs.

In Harvard’s draft project impact report (DPIR)—a document submitted to the city in June that details plans for the science complex—the University promises to hire one person to develop science education opportunities for the broader public. The report also states that Harvard will conduct a community-wide survey to develop “an understanding of community patterns, needs, trends and priorities.”

Moran’s call for deeper, more specific Harvard investment in the community echoed concerns raised throughout the formal public comments on the report. The 90-day comment period ended Monday.

“The community benefits described in the DPIR are inadequate and vague,” wrote Allston resident Jeffrey Bryan. “[I]t is not understandable why they couldn’t have made at least a half hearted attempt at a decent benefits package commensurate with the years of negative impacts they are subjugating the neighborhood.”

Bryan’s comment also reflected increasing community dissatisfaction with the task force’s negotiations with the University.

BRA Senior Project Manager Gerald Autler said that the comments submitted by the community—and not just the residents on the task force—were crucial to the planning process.

“Right now we stand at the point where we’re really going to have to take a hard look at those comments,” he said at the meeting. “We do want to be at a place where people feel comfortable with the package of benefits proposed by Harvard.”

Task force chairman Ray Mellone defended the work of his group, saying that the science center was just one piece of a puzzle that will take 50 years to complete. But he acknowledged the difficulty of the task at hand.

“I think our biggest problem has been looking at a micro in a macro project,” he said. “To try to bring up all the other nuances in a way that makes significant progress as far as planning is way beyond me.”

—Staff writer Laura A. Moore can be reached at lamoore@fas.harvard.edu.