Southie project riles neighbors
Say condo plan too modern
Developers plan to raze another South Boston home, this time to install an 8-unit condo building along the neighborhood’s picturesque bayside waterfront, angering neighbors who said zoning laws leave them with no say in the process.
An abutters meeting yesterday at the site of the proposed development at 37 Farragut Road drew about 40 people to hear what a developer has planned for the two-family home.
Joanne McDevitt, chairwoman of the City Point Neighborhood Association, said the city’s Landmarks Commission and the Environmental Department are not doing their job.
“I maintain, right now, that the six developments that are due to be torn down in this town are not being handled properly by the Landmarks Commission and by the Environmental Department in making sure the neighborhood is heard, as to whether these homes have any historical significance,” McDevitt said. “We are one of the few cities in the country that has this style of housing and it shouldn’t just be arbitrarily torn down and put up eight condominiums on it.”
George Morancy, a lawyer for the developer, defended the plans, which he said call for a four-story building with three twobedroom units, four onebedroom units, a threebedroom unit on the top floor and 10 parking spots.
“The developer is not looking to do something that is outside of reason, that is going to unduly offend people,” he said. “He has a good-size lot here. He wants to take this building and do something. He has worked with his architects to design what he hopes aesthetically is aesthetic to Farragut Road and this neighborhood.”
Neighbor Elizabeth Rhodes took issue with the look of the proposed building, which she said does not fit in with the neighborhood.
“What would bring you to propose a project that looks like this, in a neighborhood that looks like this?” she asked the developer. “This is what we call in these meetings, which we’ve had too many of, a West Broadway project. This is not West Broadway. Why would you do this? This is an intense modern, urban design. Why would you do this, besides to make money?”