9 November 2020

To The Honorable Mayor Martin J. Walsh,

As Charlestown residents, we hereby request an extension of time for public comment regarding the Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment, from the current deadline of November 20, 2020 to January 15, 2021 for the following reasons:

1.  The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) has set an end date of 11/20/20 for a Public Comment Period for the Charlestown Community to respond to the Bunker Hill Housing  Redevelopment;

2.  The developer has made material changes to its original proposal and there remain significant baseline, factual issues that have not been disclosed by the developer that require public comment.

3.  Most notably, the Original Designation was for a mixed-income units spread throughout the project. The Current Proposal, however, envisions 2699 units, with 405 of the 1010 BHA replacement units in 3 all-affordable buildings -- and not integrated as originally proposed.  This apparent segregation of deeply affordable buildings from mixed income ones requires more comment.

4.  In addition, the development team has yet to provide a transparent vision as to how it will address community mitigation from this 10 year construction project, increased traffic, increased demand for school services, and the preservation and expansion of the existing tree canopy, other than to say, that the project itself is mitigation.

5.  After a staggering misrepresentation in the DPIR regarding the number of mature trees on the site (the claim was that there were 200 mature trees - we have since discovered there are over 340 mature trees), we request a comprehensive Tree overlay study that identifies which trees will be removed and which trees will be saved. This is critical information that effects the health and resiliency of our community and therefore must be made available prior to the close of any comment period to insure adequate time for consideration, feedback, and questions from Charlestown residents.

6. Many members in the less affluent parts of our neighborhood do not have access to decent WiFi or computers and and there are many elderly neighbors who are unfamiliar with zoom technology, making it all but impossible to participate in this accelerated public process.

7.Many community members have been limited in the time they can devote to this critical matter due to the impacts of COVID-19. When you add on school closures, remote learning, last week’s election, Thanksgiving, it seems quite reasonable to allow the hardworking residents of Charlestown - who want to contribute to this important conversation but can barely make it through dinner time- an extension which may allow them to do so.

8.Four hours worth of community meetings since pandemic began has proven to be an inadequate amount of time for the development team to disclose all the pertinent information that has been requested of them by community members.

THEREFORE, we request that the City EXTEND THE CHARLESTOWN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD DAYS TO 1/15/21.

What else can you do? Please ensure that your voice is heard and submit your comments directly to the BPDA at this link: http://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/bunker-hill-housing-redevelopment#comment_Form