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Pennie Taylor submitting comments re: #202853, Union Sq zoning.
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Official Text
To the Honorable Board:
My name is Pennie Taylor and I've been a resident of Ward 2 since 2009.
I am asking you NOT to pass Union Square zoning in its current form.
I moved to Union Square because it was vibrant, full of locally- and immigrant-owned businesses- and because I could afford to live here. Protecting community benefits, and the ability for people to directly negotiate with extremely wealthy developers, in a real and enforceable way is essential to retain the ability for myself and my neighbors to live in this neighborhood we love.
The square is already a transit hub; you can get anywhere you want via bus and by bike it's close to everything in Boston (I bike commuted to the Seaport district for years- and seeing the ugly, luxury, thoughtless development there was a clear warning flag to stand up to developer money in my own neighborhood while I still can).
I am asking you NOT to pass Union Square zoning in its current form, for the following reasons:
1. The written recommendations of the Union Square Neighborhood Council working group zoning committee, sent to the Board on March 13, 2017, have not been incorporated into the zoning proposal. Those recommendations represent the considered wishes of a wide range of neighborhood residents and participants; without these changes, the zoning code as written does not have the support of the community.
2. Zoning should not be approved until a Community Benefits Ordinance that includes an ironclad mechanism assuring the right of city neighborhoods to negotiate community benefits agreements with developers has been approved. Good faith is not enforceable, and frankly I have little faith in a company that hires a PR company to share their message instead of listening to what the neighborhood wants and needs.
It's been great to get to know you through tree hearings, city committee meetings, and around town. I am alarmed that the monied interests of a developer are being more closely regarded than the concerns of your constituents. THERE IS NO RUSH. This decision will seriously impact thousands of lives, and forever change the social and economic landscape Union Square and I fear the decision is being made under pressure, with money in mind instead of people.
Alderman Heuston, as my voice on the BoA I'm especially looking to you to lead the way for the people of your Ward, not for the profits of US2.
Thank you for representing me,
Pennie Taylor