{"id":3026,"date":"2023-04-02T12:20:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T16:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walkuproslindale.org\/weblog\/?p=3026"},"modified":"2023-04-02T12:20:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T16:20:42","slug":"comment-letter-on-community-benefits-for-18-22-arboretum-road-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkuproslindale.org\/weblog\/2023\/04\/02\/comment-letter-on-community-benefits-for-18-22-arboretum-road-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment Letter on Community Benefits for 18-22 Arboretum Road Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, we joined with several community partners to send a letter to the BPDA requesting community benefits to accompany the 18-22 Arboretum Road Development<\/a>, a proposed 230-apartment development just off Washington Street abutting the Arboretum. Our joint letter focuses on funding for the Gateway Path<\/a> and food pantry certification for an Archdale food distribution site. The full letter is reproduced below.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

March 28, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

Caitlin Coppinger
\n<\/span>Senior Project Manager
\n<\/span>Boston Planning and Development Agency
\n<\/span>City of Boston<\/span><\/p>\n

RE:\u00a0 18-22 Arboretum Road Development – Community Benefits\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Dear Ms. Coppinger:<\/span><\/p>\n

The development and construction of new housing at 18-22 Arboretum Road in Roslindale is a welcome event for our city and for the transit accessible community near the Forest Hills MBTA station.\u00a0 The development is also a major opportunity to expand access to the Arnold Arboretum for the nearby Washington Street neighborhood, including the Archdale Boston Housing Authority community.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are writing as representatives of a coalition of community organization partners that includes WalkUP Roslindale, The Arnold Arboretum, Roslindale Village Main Street, Livable Streets Alliance, RozzieBikes, the Arboretum Park Conservancy, and FAVOR (Food Access Volunteers Of Roslindale).\u00a0 Our coalition seeks community benefits from the Arboretum Road Development to further the Arboretum Gateway Path and the FAVOR food access project at the Archdale BHA community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roslindale Gateway Path Community Benefit<\/b><\/p>\n

Together, WalkUP Roslindale, The Arnold Arboretum, Roslindale Village Main Street, Livable Streets Alliance, RozzieBikes, and the Arboretum Park Conservancy have worked for six years to establish the Arboretum Gateway Path, connecting the Arboretum to the Forest Hills MBTA station, Washington St, and Roslindale Village.\u00a0 This path will enable pedestrians and bicyclists to access the Arboretum from Washington Street.\u00a0 It will also serve as an extension of the Southwest Corridor Path, connecting communities of Roslindale and West Roxbury to the existing network of protected walkways and bicycle paths heading downtown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometime this spring, Boston Parks and Recreation will oversee construction of Phase 1 of the Gateway Path.\u00a0 This phase includes the reconstruction of Arboretum Road by the Boston Public Works Department for pedestrian access, a new entry plaza to the Arboretum Road tunnel beneath the MBTA tracks, and a new path connecting this entry to the Arboretum\u2019s South Street gate and the Blackwell Path to the Forest Hills MBTA Station.\u00a0 Phase 1 has been funded through grants from Boston\u2019s Community Preservation Commission, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts MassTrails program and operational investments by the City of Boston Parks, Public Works and Transportation Departments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The development at 18-22 Arboretum Road will be directly adjacent to the new Arboretum entrance, and its residents will be able to enjoy the park and its wonderful open space by access through the Gateway Path.\u00a0 In addition, this new entrance, the Roslindale Gateway Path which connects the entrance with the Arnold Arboretum, the ongoing maintenance of the entrance and path by The Arnold Arboretum and the significant improvements to Arboretum Road by the City of Boston\u2019s Public Works Department expected to be completed by the end of this summer, will greatly enhance the monetary value of the proposed development at 18-22 Arboretum Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our goal has been to make the Arboretum accessible to all members of the Washington Street neighborhood, and we are pleased to see that the development plans attempt to support that goal.\u00a0 The neighborhood is an Environmental Justice Community and its residents currently have no welcome access point to the Arboretum\u2019s open space.\u00a0 We see an opportunity for a robust partnership between the 18-22 Arboretum Road development team and the coalition behind the Gateway path.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phase 2 of the Path will connect the new entry at Arboretum Road to a new pedestrian crossing at the intersection of South and Bussey Streets.\u00a0 Path-goers will be able to enter the Peters Hill section of the park via the Arboretum\u2019s Poplar Gate.\u00a0 Phase 2 involves the construction of a boardwalk parallel to South Street overlooking the Bussey Brook meadow.\u00a0 Full design of the boardwalk has been funded by a combination of private donors and state grants.\u00a0 We now seek funding for construction of the boardwalk from the developers of 18-22 Arboretum Road.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Food Access Volunteers Of Roslindale Community Benefit\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

FAVOR is a volunteer-run mutual aid group serving Roslindale and surrounding neighborhoods, formed to support families and individuals experiencing food insecurity in our community. FAVOR was a coming together of two groups formed in the early days of the Covid pandemic to address the impact of the pandemic on the community \u2013 Roslindale Cares and the Washington Beech Food distribution.\u00a0 At the time of its formation, the Greater Boston Food Bank’s\u00a0<\/span>Food Resources map<\/span><\/a> showed that of 119 food pantries in the city, only 3 were located in the Southwest Boston communities of Roslindale, Hyde Park and West Roxbury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FAVOR has built a strong community network to provide fresh, local, nutritious foods purchased at wholesale from local sources using grants and donated funds, and “rescued” from area markets, caf\u00e9s, and bakeries. Our Friday food programs at the BHA\u2019s Archdale and Washington-Beech Apartments provide families with fresh eggs and nutritious produce. We also prioritize culturally relevant foods, like beans, rice, bok choy, plantains, and yams, so our neighbors can prepare meals they know and love. No IDs or documentation are required to receive food, and no limits placed on how frequently someone can come to our programs. We rely on volunteers who live at both sites and others who come from Boston and beyond to run our programs every week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the formation of FAVOR, the number of individuals and families receiving food at our two sites has continuously grown demonstrating that the need for our program continues. Unfortunately, our donations and other funding sources have not grown to keep up with this need. In fact, the inverse has been true because of public perception among former individual donors that the need has lessened with the downgrading of the COVID pandemic. Direct grant funding for food purchase has also diminished to a large extent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For most of the nearly 3 years since FAVOR was formed, our programs ran every Friday and our numbers grew until we were serving 150+ households through our 2 distribution sites. More recently, due to inadequate funds, we have been forced to cut back our distributions to every other week. This move needs to be temporary. Food insecurity in Roslindale continues to grow with residents impacted by the rise in food prices and the recent elimination of the enhanced COVID-SNAP emergency benefits (to be only partially and temporarily replaced by the state.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As was stated above, FAVOR runs our food distributions at two sites: Washington-Beech and Archdale. While both sites have common needs, Archdale has some particular challenges. These include the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n