By Seth Daniel
The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) announced that it would be extending the community comment period for the One Charlestown redevelopment of the Bunker Hill Housing Development for several more weeks.
The current comment period with its extension on the first leg of the process, known as the Project Notification Form (PNF) stage, will sit at 56 days long. The original comment period was only 30 days long.
The comment period now ends on Nov. 23.
“That being said I want to make it clear that The One Charlestown public process is just beginnitng,” said Ed McGuire of the BPDA in a letter. “The proponent’s current Article 80 filing is a Project Notification Form. A PNF is the preliminary document that provides general details for the proposal’s conceptual development plans…Following the conclusion of this comment period, all comment letters from the community and City agencies will be reviewed and utilized to create a Scoping document.”
The BPDA then refines its Scoping document and submits it to the developer, who will use that information to form the next stage in the next stage in the process, the Draft Project Impact Report (DPIR).
That will trigger yet another community comment period and a whole new set of community meetings to look at the refined proposal. That comment period is to last 75 days. Meetings of the Impact Advisory Group (IAG) and the general community will be called once the DPIR is filed.
“Many people have expressed that they feel that the development team has not answered their questions or have ignored concerns,” wrote McGuire. “As a part of their DPIR filing, the development team will be required to study the massing, traffic, environmental impacts, in depth as well as respond to the community concerns. These studies are required and will be conducted by the development team and subsequently published and presented in the DPIR filing and the ensuing public process.”
Indeed, many in different corners of the community have indicated that they are organizing a potential united front to oppose the project during the next phase of review. While there has been a lot of talk in those circles, no organized effort has yet appeared publicly.