Charlestown Master Plan 02129

Our neighborhood of Charlestown is in a transformative period and the pressures of economic development must be balanced against preserving and strengthening our residential neighborhood. Our community needs a comprehensive master plan establishing the framework for future development in Charlestown and ensuring our voice is recognized before development occurs. Our community cannot let commercial interests alone shape our neighborhood’s future. Massive development cannot continue without a clear framework and vision for Charlestown.

Background

Today, we are faced with confronting the collective impacts of many transformative development projects on 106+ Acres in Charlestown, totaling 27 Million square feet of new construction, currently in design or planned for the near future. The largest of these projects include the 1.7M square foot Hood Park redevelopment, the 3.3M square foot Bunker Hill Housing project on 27 acres, 1.836 M square foot 425 Medford Street, on 25 acres and the many parcels of planned development of publicly-owned parcels in Sullivan Square, two large parking lot parcels at the Bunker Hill College, and the entire Rutherford Corridor. Moreover, the Encore Casino, with the possible addition of a Kraft Soccer Stadium right off of Sullivan Square, and ongoing development in Assembly Square and North Point Cambridge continue to place more demand on Charlestown’ s local roadways.

While the Charlestown community officially requested a Master Plan, and submitted 2700 signatures, and despite promises and “You have my word,” to be reneged, there has yet to be a coordinated and comprehensive neighborhood-level planning study looking at how these transformative development projects will interrelate and collectively impact our community. The lack of any substantial framework for ongoing and future development has resulted in a project-by-project approvals process and extemporary amendments to existing zoning to meet individual developer’s needs, rather than the community as a whole.

This project-by-project approach is spot zoning. This process exhausts the community, and thwarts a sane, integrated process. Charlestown needs a Master Plan. NOW.

Please sign to support the Charlestown community’s request to BPDA and City for a Master Plan of Charlestown.

BPDA - Charlestown needs a real Master Plan!