Community group decries ‘rubber stamp’ ZBA

On January 14, 2010, in Uncategorized, by The News Staff

By Tom Nash

A group of residents disgruntled with the city's development process filed a package of ordinances this week that would strip the Zoning Board of Appeals of much of its power.

The group, working under the name Somerville Residents for Sensible Development (SOME SENSE), seeks to place special permit granting authority with the Board of Aldermen in addition to other changes to how the city evaluates zoning applications.

"The membership of the ZBA is completely indifferent to the real-life interests and concerns of the residents who often appear before them to protest developers' continuing encroachment into their neighborhoods," spokesman Teri Swartzel said of the mayor-appointed body in a SOME SENSE statement.

Swartzel is a neighbor of a long-embattled senior housing development at 44 Park St. that was withdrawn soon after it was discovered four members of the ZBA failed to disclose that they had served with the developer on the board.

In December, the city proposed senior housing zoning changes that Swartzel and others say appear tailor-made to the project's needs. Testimony from residents failed to convince the Planning Board to vote against the changes, which are now before the Board of Aldermen.

A letter sent to the Board of Aldermen expressed hope that body will be a more democratic forum for zoning applications to be evaluated.

"Instead of acting in a manner that carefully scrutinizes development projects key decision makers, especially the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, have been little more than 'rubber stamps' for well-connected developers and their well-connected lawyers," the letter stated.

Among the five ordinances is a requirement that developers submit traffic, water and sewer studies prepared by an independent engineer for projects larger than 10,000 square feet or 20 units.

The group also seeks to require the full disclosure of the name and address of the owner in every application for a special permit, which the city currently does not enforce, fixing what the group termed a "serious flaw" in the process.

The ordinances are on the agenda for tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting.