Commander Bill Hardy of VWF George Dilboy Post #529 was all smiles last year when the new post’s design was publicly unveiled. – Photo by Andrew Firestone

Summer street controversy claims first casualty

By Andrew Firestone

Last week the Dilboy VFW Post 529 at 371 Summer St. in Davis Square was shut down due to being out of fire regulations, according to Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher. The dilapidated building was finally put out of commission when city and state inspectors found that there was no sprinkler system, and the occupancy level was too high at over 100 people. Despite efforts to limit space, such as walling up game rooms with concrete in the basement, city inspectors declared the building unfit for assembly. If the occupancy is lowered to 95 with the aid of an architect or experienced planner, then the building can reopen.

However, the real issue lies behind this. It is a story of a developer, a veterans post and a neighborhood.

For the last year, the veterans of the Dilboy Post have felt they are engaged in a war with their neighbors. The reason: some of the neighbors believe Roberto Arista, the developer behind Strategic Capital Partners, is detrimental to the city. Arista and SCP have proposed a land swap, allowing them to build 31 condos on the plot, leasing it for 99 years at the rate of $1. The post would be rebuilt in their current parking lot, in a new building at the cost of around $1.6 million.

“I think that the developer has divided this neighborhood, it doesn’t make any sense to me that they would insist on pushing forward with this proposal when it has caused so much resistance in the neighborhood,” said Ward 6 Alderwoman Rebekah Gewirtz, who said she wanted to see the post reopened and a new post built, a sentiment shared by many neighbors.

“It’s my understanding that all of the developments they’ve built have structural problems,” she said, saying that she had heard Arista’s former development at 1188 Broadway needs a roof replacement after only three years.

The battle has played out largely before the planning board with many twists and turns, with a few incidents that City Planner George Proakis called “unprecedented.” Proakis says that he has never seen this level of resistance from a group of neighbors.

The neighbors claim that the developer intentionally withheld environmental reports in a 2010 planning application, and were favorably treated by the Zoning Board of Appeals by being allowed to resubmit. They also say that the proposed new post, which would include a bar, is within residential zoning and thus an illegal proposal.

Tom Bok, a neighbor, has called the city planning division biased, and does not believe they act as an independent arbiter.

Proakis said he has also never seen the aggressiveness of a legal counsel, Ed Brady, a retired lawyer who represented the veterans in October at a ZBA meeting. In a bizarre evening, neighbor Nancy Iappinni claims she saw veteran Ron Palatano shove a woman into a chair after he stood at the entrance of the high school auditorium and photographed each of them. Palatano denied this. Brady then delivered a speech from a letter he wrote, demanding the neighbors cease and desist their continued resistance and protest or risk being slapped with a lawsuit. He would later be seen roaming the neighborhood, gauging who had valuable cars or houses in case of a future lawsuit.

Tensions have simmered further. Palatano, treasurer and former post commander, speaks of the neighbors bombarding city and state agencies with complaints about the post. One of his stories was confirmed, that Claudia Borel, who does not approve of the proposed development, had to be escorted from the mayor’s office in September after she demanded his ear on the licensing issues surrounding the post, which include an entertainment license and a license for their parking lot, which neighbors claim is used commercially.

After receiving calls from fire inspectors, the members of the post became upset. Palatano said he felt that the neighbors were “after them,” and recruited Brady to investigate them. Palatano feels that no effort has been made to create a dialogue with members of the post, and that some members of the neighborhood took it into their hands to go after the post, and that they had anonymously  called fire services on them.

He said that the only one who had come was the one he labeled the “spokesman,” Bok. “The only reason he came in here was to pick our minds and use it against us,” said Palatano.

Bok says this is simply not true. He said he feels awful and that the “fabric of the neighborhood,” has been ripped asunder by the controversy. He said that the developer had shown himself to be disingenuous, and refused to budge from building the original plan of a massive 31-unit condo in a neighborhood of family houses.

Neighbor Tom O’Shea said that he felt disrespected by the developer who consistently broke rules and refused to submit proper documents. When asked to meet in the post with other neighbors, Gewirtz and Arista, he said he turned it down because he did not believe that the developer would listen to any of the neighbors’ concerns, and that he did not believe the building was up to fire code.

The developer was ordered to go back to the design phase after the last ZBA meeting, after listening to the concerns of the members of the board, who have listened to the case for years now.

Proakis said that the developer’s conduct had been passable. “Roberto and the developer team has presented designs to us that have been responsive to the staff’s request,” he said. “We’ll see if they’re responsive to the board’s request.”

It is not possible to deny a developer a contract or permission to build as a zoning board based on past developments. No ordinance can be introduced by aldermen either.

“I do feel that it’s unfortunate, what’s happened around the Dilboy Post,” said Gewirtz, who is President of the Board of Alderman. “If there are violations there, issues there that should have been separate from the post and, unfortunately, I think the issues there have become intertwined.”

“I think that the post has every right to feel upset and frustrated and betrayed to a certain extent,” she said. “At the same time, the neighbors feel the same way too. They feel that the city is supposed to be protecting their interests, following the law and follow the zoning guidelines.”

Of the missing environmental reports that began the allegations of misconduct, Proakis says he doesn’t know if the tactics were intentionally underhanded, though the developer had possession of environmental reports since at least 2002 before submitting the application.

“I just wish his first application had been more complete,” said Proakis.

The case will be picked up again in December.

The post remains closed.