Neighbors, What follows is my letter to the council. I would encourage any of you who can to write as well, but quickly, the meeting is at 4 pm tomorrow (Wednesday). Of course, anyone who can come, that would be great too! Thanks, Ruth From: Ruth Ryals [mailto:rryals@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 7:19 PM To: dmaher@cambridgema.gov; 'Sam Seidel'; 'Council@Cambridgema.gov' Subject: Cambridge City Council Ordinance Committee meeting on May 27th Dear Mr. Maher, Mr. Seidel, and Honorable Members of the City Council, We want to express our very strong support of the overlay zoning proposal submitted by Lesley University which will allow them to bring the Art Institute of Boston to Porter Square on Mass Ave next to the T stop. My husband and I live at 115 Upland Rd., just a few blocks from the property in question. I plan to be there to speak, but wanted to put in writing what we and most of our neighbors on Upland Rd., Buena Vista Pk and the surrounding area believe. We feel that North Cambridge will be enriched by bringing in an art school of AIB's caliber. This section of Mass Avenue will be enlivened by having art students, teachers, projects and performances in evidence, day and night. It is no secret that this stretch of Mass Ave, from Harvard's newly moved Victorians to the Porter T stop, is currently pretty gritty. The Lesley-AIB development will go a long way toward making North Mass Ave the Boulevard it deserves to be. The Lesley-AIB Art School belongs prominently on Mass Ave. The various alternatives proposed by some of the abutters, such as building behind the old Sears bldg, are not feasible, and are not going to happen. The North Prospect Church, moved and restored to its original quiet elegance and relationship to the ground and the street, minus the disproportional later additions, will be, in my view (and I have walked all around it and carefully thought about the before and after views/functions) more attractive, and certainly more useful to the community, than what is there now. The North Prospect Congregational Church is not functioning as a church or pre-school anymore; the congregation no longer exists and the pre-school is happily ensconced in a neighborhood in Somerville, while the Lesley-AIB proposal will bring the repositioned church back to life again. I firmly believe that even the individuals who currently oppose the Lesley-AIB project, because they fear it will adversely affect their properties, or change a view or a patch of green they have grown to believe is their right to keep, will find their property values and lives improved by this new neighbor. Much of the opposition to this project has taken on the tone of "no development, freeze everything in any way historic the way it is now, keep all open land undeveloped, no matter how unusable by the neighborhood currently" . This is a questionable approach to zoning at any time, and highly inappropriate on Mass Ave, just blocks from a major T stop. The proposed Overlay Zoning Ordinance is not just for Lesley's benefit. It is my understanding that the study committee (which met for 2 years) and neighbors wanted to have more surety about Lesley's long range growth plans in Porter Square. So Lesley tied all of the parcels together in this proposal, limiting what could be built on the other properties to allow the Lesley-AIB Art School to be built, with enough density to work as an educational and visual package. The retail storefront uses in all of the proposed buildings and in the old Sears building are in response to city/neighborhood requests to prevent institutional canyons, as well as increasing the FAR allowance for the rest of the building. This practice is, so far as I know, has been used elsewhere in the city, and is not unique to the Lesley project. This process has now gone on for nearly 3 years, and Lesley has worked closely, and responsively, with the council, historical committee and neighbors (many of whom were on the study committee). It is time to let them get on with the design and building of what promises to be a great addition to Porter Square, our neighborhood, and Cambridge. Finally, it is completely proper to tighten up parking plans, push mass transit usage, bike usage in the zoning/development plans. The shop/tenants and the school employees should not be allowed more than a very small number of parking spaces. In short, use mass transit, not just talk about it. And there should be bike racks! And, even in the short run, the parking lot in back should be landscaped, with trees tucked in where ever they can be. It is also completely proper to insist the storefront/retail usages cannot be for Lesley student body usage only and still count for FAR. I, for one, do not believe Lesley forced the Japanese market out for malicious purposes. As I understand it, the market wanted a 5 year lease or else, would not settle for 2, was not financially thriving, and had no succession within the family. While a new Japanese market proposal has since emerged, it is a couple of breakaway employees who have found suitable, and I suspect cheaper, digs in Medford. The Council must choose between the interests of the few (no matter how strongly expressed) and the greater community good. I think the Lesley-AIB project and the future growth of Lesley at Porter Square will make this part of Cambridge a much better place and I heartily welcome Lesley and AIB as neighbors. Thank you very much for your attention to this letter, and for all of the time you have each given to consideration of this project. Sincerely yours, ruthsig2 Ruth A. Ryals Ruth A. Ryals & James Cornie 115 Upland Rd. Cambridge, MA 02140 617-547-6453 rryals@comcast.net
