To the citizens of Watertown, regarding the Arsenal Project MP/SP proposal,
As I sat in the audience of the Planning Board meeting of Dec. 14, 2016, I was again disappointed. In over a year of meetings the issue which I thought would have been a major concern to both the citizens of Watertown, the city councilors and the city planning department employees was rarely discussed. The issue I am referring to is the development of a 12 story building (building “G”) approximately 100 feet from Greenough Boulevard.
Now the reason the developer wants to build this building is obvious. It is the most profitable. It provides a presence on the Charles River that will go to the highest bidders. What is never discussed is how destructive this building is to the area along the Charles River. This is the last area along the Charles which the town has not diminished with development.
The Charles River is a blessing which the luck of geography has bestowed on Watertown. History and the federal government has saved this area from the progress of development. It was given to the Town of Watertown to determine its future. Watertown apparently has decided to permit this aspect of what is generally a positive development with little oversight. This building has been part of this proposal since day one. There have been virtually no changes to this design throughout the process. A process which is suppose to look out for the interests of the town. Apparently, the tax benefits clearly outweigh all other negatives.
The negotiations to date have never requested from the developer any of the following items. Move the building back from Greenough to reduce its impact of a 129 foot high 160 foot +/- long wall just beyond a narrow strip of 40 foot high trees which will be thinned out by the developer. It is currently located as close to the Charles as the developer is allowed. A 200-foot distance from the river bank, criteria not imposed by the town but by some other regulatory authority.
Reduce the height from the maximum allowed by the town of 130 feet. This is higher by 4-5 stories than the current condominium buildings on Coolidge Street near the intersection with Grove Street. This is probably a good place to gain some visual understanding of the impact of this proposed Arsenal building. This height is higher than any building in Watertown, including the Perkins Tower. (109 feet)
Inform us, that being the people of Watertown, of the appearance of this building. To date, the developer has provided the town with architectural construction type elevation drawings which do not even indicate the material of the façade. The Master Plan requires multiple perspectives. The developer has provided 3 perspectives from the most favorable positions, all three perspectives taken from locations which show the building from its narrow sides. No perspectives from the eastern end of Greenough Boulevard where the building is not hidden by the town park trees. No perspective from views in the winter when the leaves are gone from the trees. No sketches from the walkways along the Charles directly north of the building. No models. No walk through. (A technique the developer used to explain their design along Arsenal Street). One building/street section.
The rationale is that this info will be provided at the site plan review process. The problem with this is that once the Master Plan is approved the height and the building footprint are no longer reviewable.
The process which is allegedly an attempt at transparency and co-operation is neither. The adversarial nature encourages each party to never show its hand. The give and take never occurs. The town never provides direction toward better solutions and the developer holds back all compromises for the final negotiating with the planning board. This process has probably produced the worse location for a tall building, not the best. A better location would certainly be the ‘Miller Ale House” triangle. A location which might accept a much taller building, which could result in an elegant tower at the entrance to Watertown. A trade off which needs to be considered before Building G alters Greenough Street forever. A trade off which might benefit both parties, the developer and the town.
Robert Lauricella
Watertown Resident
Very imfornative, well written and thought provoking
Thanks for providing a very well thought out argument against locating such an intrusive building so close to the Charles River.
Greed has no place in the development of Watertowm. Period.
I agree. The Charles is not a resource to be exploited for the pleasure of a few rich residents. Let’s put the public interest ahead of corporate profits. The height should be limited to 109 feet, the height of the Perkins Tower. If the developers don’t like it….too bad for them. Watertown must preserve those places that make it the wonderful place we call home for generations to come. Say NO to this oversized monstrosity.
I agree with you wholeheartedly Robert and thank you for your letter. I suppose we should feel lucky that they didn’t go with the 19-stories of an earlier iteration. I don’t even think we have fire equipment that can service a 12-story building.
Unfortunately we don’t have a “process” in this town where developments are considered as part of a whole, and not just a discrete piece. The Planning Board’s role is to rubber stamp a developer’s plan as long as it doesn’t commit any egregious errors according to our out-of-date zoning or our comprehensive plan or our design guidelines. The latter two are supposed to protect us from this kind of thing but can actually be interpreted to encourage it. We have a Town Council that is overwhelmed with making decisions that they aren’t qualified to make and that depend on advice from the same Planning Dept. They don’t understand that 100′ between a 12-story building and the river is a visual mistake. They think a swale is green space. We have a volunteer, unelected Planning Board that is charged with making all the final decisions years down the road because we don’t insist on a Master Plan upfront but instead do this site plan review that favors the developer. Interested parties have to go to meetings for years knowing they can’t make much of a difference.
I was at the meeting as well but had to leave in the middle of McQuillan’s impassioned speech about how proud he is to be bringing so much traffic to Watertown with this overly-dense, architecturally-uninspired development because he is going to be paying so much TAX to Watertown. I started to feel physically sick listening to him.
I’m sure the Town Manager was salivating as soon as he heard the word “taxes” though.
Watertown was a nice town before it turned into an extension of the Cambridge-Allston-Brighton blight. This development is a wanna-be Assembly Row in the wrong place in the wrong town.
I agree with the other comments. We’ve already seen the congestion and blocky sameness emerging from runaway development in Watertown, especially along the Charles. This is the 400th anniversary year of its naming, and we’re celebrating with the prospect of yet another behemoth in the name of greed? That denigrates four centuries of river access and natural beauty. The letter writer needs to be supported here, lest yet another profiteering land-grab continue to diminish us.
Great letter, I agree completely! Have you sent this to the members of the Planning Board and Town Councillors? Though this proposal is now in the hands of Planning, our elected officials can still have a lot of impact behind the scenes.
Not only is the apartment building way too big and too close to the river, the overall plan will add too many people to a site where vehicle access is limited mostly via Arsenal St. The design plan, especially the size of the apartment tower, should be significanly reduced before being considered by the Planning Board in January. I’m working on my letter now.