• The City Manager's agenda for the September 8, 2008 City Council meeting
• The Planning Board recommendation, dated September 2, 2008
• The City Manager's description of properties affected by the zoning change (a response to a query from the City Council)
  

• The Planning Board recommendation, dated September 2, 2008
• The City Manager's description of properties affected by the zoning change (a response to a query from the City Council)

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Dear friends and neighbors:

On Monday night (September 8, 2008) the Cambridge City Council meeting will have a major effect on the quality of life in the Porter Square area. They are voting on a zoning change that will allow developers to build a 50 room hotel and a restaurant with a seating capacity for 150 people. This proposal has already been rejected by the Zoning Board of Appeal.

In addition we have now learned that the Masonic Temple will be up for sale in the near future which could have a profound effect on this area if the Council votes for the hotel and restaurant. The developers want to make Porter Square like Harvard Square. They are not concerned with the residential aspect of this neighborhood.

It should be noted that the current President of the Masonic Temple resides in a building partially owned by Raymond Bandar. Raymond Bandar has been a bad neighbor in Porter Square for many years. We should all be concerned by any potential involvement Raymond Bandar may have in the potential purchase and sale of the Masonic Temple. Perhaps it is only a coincidence that the president of the Masonic Temple is a tenant of Mr. Bandar. However, in light of the proposed zoning change, the potential sale of the Masonic Temple and the related Kaya-Ka development that abuts the Masonic Temple property, it does raise legitimate cause for alarm.

We need at least 50 people to show up on Monday night (September 8 at 5:30pm) for the City Councillors to vote in our favor. You don't have to speak but your presence will help support the neighbothood's position. If enough people don't show up the Councillors will vote against us and the developers will have a field day with this whole block.

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• It was unsigned. Who's the "we?" It if were from the Porter Square Neighbors Association (PSNA) (my first thought as I read the note), I have to believe they would have stated this. [Update: According to Susan Hunziker, the sender is Red McGrail, an Orchard Street resident.]
  
• The nature of the proposed zoning change isn't described in any detail, nor are any references provided.
  
• What's with the mysterious alleged conspiracy regarding the Masonic Temple? Who is Raymond Bandar?
  

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The Porter Square Neighbors Association (PSNA) supports the recently revised proposal to modify zoning in the Business C district to permit construction of a small hotel in Porter Square.

A hotel, conforming generally to the limitations in the North Massachusetts Overlay District, would be a valuable amenity for Porter Square. It is close to the transportation nexus, and there is a reasonable expectation that it would generate pedestrian traffic, enlivening the streetscape. The proposal also adds open space and deals with a relatively modest parking impact in a creative manner; we like the idea of parking under ground-level open space independent of a hotel use.

We were involved in working with the developer and his architect during the year before the request for relief of the existing zoning was presented to the BZA last February. They have made presentations to PSNA and other neighborhood associations many times, and this process allowed neighborhood voices to be heard, resulting in several improvements to the original proposal. PSNA thanks Meehn Su Gim for his continued willingness to cooperate with the neighbors.

Although we favor going ahead with the current proposal and recognize that it has been subjected to a reasonable amount of review, we are concerned that it is not based on a larger vision or plan. For that reason, we recommend that, as part of the approval of this proposal, a formal process to develop such a vision be established and initiated and become the forum for dealing with continuing development in and around Porter Square.

We expect a substantial amount of development to occur around Porter Square in the next few years. The parcel- and project-specific approach to zoning issues in our neighborhood such as the one that this project has required does no one any favors. The residents, the developers, and the city itself deserves something better than the reactive, piecemeal approach to planning that Mr. Gim's petition represents.


Respectfully yours,

Susan Hunziker
President, Porter Square Neighbors Association

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