Despite making several concessions and changes to the project at 68-70 Wordsworth St. to appease abutters Harbor View Neighborhood Association members still voted down the project at the group’s January meeting.
The proposal was to erect a five-unit residential dwelling with four parking spaces on a vacant lot. The group voted 21 to 12 against the project even though the developer worked with abutters to reduce the number of units and move the building to other side of the lot in order to create a 13 ft. buffer between the proposed building and the single-family home next door.
The developer also agreed to landscape the backyard and remove or prune trees that were a nuisance to abutters behind the project. Despite all these concessions and some support from abutters the group as a whole still rejected the project.
One issue some HVNA members cited was the fact the city has yet to host a Neighborhood Services-sponsored abutters meeting.
However, attorney for the project, Richard Lynds, said there is no set policy by the city on whether or not an abutters meeting needs to be held prior to a community group’s vote.
Lynds also reminded the group that his client has held four previous neighborhood meetings, fliered the area prior to each meeting to alert abutters to the project and the community meetings concerning the project have been advertised in the East Boston Times.
Jesus Garcia, the Mayor’s Neighborhood Services Community Coordinator for East Boston, also echoed Lynds’s comments and said the city does not require an abutters meeting to happen before a community vote.