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Chamber of Commerce submitting comments re: #204278, the Demolition Review ordinance.
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Official Text
To the Honorable City Council:
On behalf of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce I am writing to express new economic and practical concerns regarding #204278 Demolition Review Ordinance proposal.
The recent two months of business lockdowns and the mounting unemployment have affected our local economy in unprecedented ways that none of us yet truly understand. When residents, property owners, lenders, developers and local officials are reeling from COVID-19’s impact on the real estate market, we do not believe that such a proposal can be adequately considered. There is a construction moratorium. There is no emergency which requires this matter to be taken up now when the public cannot physically participate in the hearings. The world is distracted rightly so. Open Meeting Laws are relaxed rightly so. But to suddenly hurry adoption is unwarranted.
As the proposed “new” Demolition Review ordinance would totally “repeal and replace” the original ordinance and would apply to most properties across the city, and potentially effect property rights, values, time on the market and financing, we hereby request that the City Council conduct a new public hearing on said proposal and notify all property owners of said hearing when the Council’s Chambers are reopened.
A draft of the proposed ordinance was made available to the public on the City website in March 2017 - more than three years ago! On September 28, 2017, #204278 was introduced to the [2016-2017] Somerville Board of Aldermen. On January 1, 2018, #204278, without reference to number, title, or content proposed ordinance was ‘revived’ under 204840: “That this [2018-2019] Board revives all business pending before this Board or its Committees at the end of 2017 and recommits the revived items back to this Board or its proper Committees.”
On April 25, 2018, the Somerville Chamber of Commerce requested that the “Board of Aldermen conduct a public hearing on said proposal and notify all property owners of said hearing.” On July 9, 2018, the Board of Aldermen conducted a hearing on #204278 without giving notice to “all property owners of said hearing.”
On January 31, 2019 the Legislative Matters Committee Committee of the Whole conducted its last discussion of the matter on public record.
A year later, on January 6, 2020, the [2020-2021] City Council revived under 209452 : “That this City Council hereby revives all business pending before this Council or its Committees at the end of 2019 and recommits the revived items back to this City Council or its proper Committees …”
In 2020, after four months and four meetings of the Legislative Matters Committee, and after the Governor Baker and Mayor Curtatone each declare a state of emergency, #204278 now reappears in the May 7, 2020 Legislative Matters Committee agenda - seventeen months after its most recent discussion (January 31, 2019).
While there has been ample time to notify all property owners of a public hearing there is not, at this moment, an opportunity to hold such a hearing in person.
Sincerely,
Stephen V. Mackey, President/CEO
Somerville Chamber of Commerce
2 Alpine Street, P.O. Box 440343
Somerville, MA 02144