By Pallavi Mande
Newton Tab, Wednesday, December 6, 2006
There is a justifiable concern among the residents of Allston-Brighton about
Boston College plans to develop a 43-acre parcel of land it purchased in 2004
from the Archdiocese of Boston, due to the potential loss of open space in the
neighborhood. However, if designed right, the development could help restore the
environment within the campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. As a
prerequisite to institutional expansion the Boston Redevelopment Authority
requires BC to prepare an Institutional Master Plan for its new campus. This
process will require neighborhood participation at various stages of the
planning process.
While several public meetings have been held by BC to inform residents about the
master planning efforts, the various stakeholders have not yet been engaged in a
meaningful way. Most of the new development is being proposed in Brighton, but
the impact will also be significant for Newton, as both cities are a part of the
same watershed. From the perspective of water resource management, it is
important for Newton residents to get involved early on to make sure that the
development in Brighton will help restore the natural water cycle in our
increasingly urbanized watershed.
As a part of its "Blue Cities" Initiative, Charles River Watershed Association
has focused its efforts on encouraging large institutional development projects
to incorporate measures for environmental restoration and resource conservation
from the start. It is clear from CRWA's work involving Harvard University's
expansion plans in North Allston that there is strong support for the public
realm benefits - such as neighborhood greening and open space improvements -
that result from these restoration strategies. At a 2006 workshop entitled
"Building a Blue Allston," CRWA demonstrated how Low Impact Development
strategies can be applied to highly urbanized areas in a manner that creates
short-term benefits and long-term environmental sustainability.
Given the proximity of Boston College to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and
Chandler Pond, it is BC's responsibility to not only mitigate the impact of
their development on these public amenities, but to effectively contribute to
their restoration efforts. Since existing policy and regulations already require
redevelopment projects to reduce polluted runoff, increase groundwater recharge,
and conserve water, many institutions are adopting practices such as green
roofs, water reuse and incorporation of public open space because of their
environmental and economic benefits. It is also now widely understood that most
successful urban redevelopment incorporates environmental restoration, because
of the proven economic benefits as well as the generation of widespread public
support. It is thus in BC's own interest to keep environmental sustainability at
the forefront while planning and designing the new campus.
According to BC's consultant team at Sasaki Associates, the current plans
envision building undergraduate dorms on Shea Field and graduate student housing
at St John's Seminary, to move the baseball field from Shea Field to St. John's
and to build a new student center on the main campus. These plans will have a
huge impact on how much open space will be available or the local community to
use, and how student activities will interface with the residents of the
Brighton neighborhood. Infrastructure changes, such as the re-routing St. Thomas
More Drive and the relocation/ redesign of the Boston College T stop on the B
Line, are also under consideration. In addition to affecting the surrounding
neighborhood, these changes will have significant environmental impacts and need
to be studied very carefully.
Infrastructure improvements to the water and sewer systems, transportation
systems, open pace and pedestrian amenities, and the urban ecosystem must be
incorporated in large-scale urban development plans. Like Harvard's campus plan,
the BC plan presents an opportunity to change current development practices, and
to create a new approach to planning that is environmentally sensitive and
"water friendly." The process is not easy. It requires building partnerships
with many stakeholders, including city agencies such as the BRA, Boston
Environment Department, Boston Water and Sewer Commission, Parks and Recreation
Dept, as well as with local environmental groups, community organizations and
residents. Without strong partnerships and an overall commitment to
environmental restoration, the Institutional Master Plan for the new campus
might end up merely as a permitting document for the BRA's review process, and
miss an opportunity to plan and build a truly sustainable community.
Pallavi Mande is urban restoration specialist at the Charles River Watershed
Association. CRWA was formed in 1965 in response to public concern about the
declining condition of the Charles River. It has figured prominently in major
clean-up and watershed protection efforts that have dramatically improved the
health of the Charles. This article is archived at
www.greendecade.org/environmentpage.html