With another construction season in full swing, developer of Clippership Wharf, Lendlease appeared before the community last week with a proposal that could dramatically cut down on on-street parking by construction crews working on the waterfront development project near Maverick Square.
For months, Eastie’s elected officials like Rep. Adrian Madaro have been fielding phone calls from angry residents in and around Maverick complaining that too many construction workers building the 80-unit condo development are parking in the neighborhood.
Lendlease’s Erik Tinkhauser and Cranshaw Construction’s Chris McCann added that the workers are subjected to parking tickets or have to constantly move their vehicles every two hours to avoid being ticket or towed. This, Tinkhauser and McCann said, cuts down on productivity at the construction site.
Lendlease community relations liaison Paul Scapicchio said Lendlease and Cranshaw have come up with an idea they wanted to run by the community.
Scapicchio proposed the use of the waterfront parcel on Marginal Street that will be the future site of Piers Park Phase II for temporary parking for construction workers. The Massport-owned parcel is currently in the design phase and will be empty until construction on the waterfront park begins sometime next year.
Scapicchio said Lendlease is proposing to utilize the parcel as a short-term parking alternative for approximately 235 vehicles to support the construction of Clippership Wharf and the Clippership Apartments.
In exchange for use of the parcel Scapicchio said Lendlease would charge a fee for workers parking at the site that would in-part be donated to local nonprofits. The hours of operation for the parking lot are expected to be from 6 a.m.-4 p.m
Scapicchio said that Lendlease has been in discussions with Massport over the past 12 months, but were told to come to the community first.
“Currently, there are approximately 90 workers per day are using on-street parking,” said Scapicchio. “This requires them to park as much as 1⁄4 mile away from the jobsite, and to move their cars every two hours. The goal is to be able to access the Piers Park Phase II lot by July 2019, when the number of construction workers for these projects will reach a peak.”
Scapicchio said the area would be lit using existing light poles and timers would turn the light on between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.. The lights would be shut off at night as to not disturb neighbors.
Some residents, especially those on Orleans and Cottage Streets, said due to the narrow streets it would be preferable if the entrance to the parking facility was on Piers Park. This way workers would not have to travel through some of the more thickly settled areas of Jeffries Point and could enter the lot from So. Bremen Street.
Scapicchio said every effort would be made to control noise from the parking workers and clear signage will be used to direct the workers using the proposed parking area.
The proposal will also be before the Piers Park Advisory Committee (PierPAC) who oversees security and maintenance issues at Massport owned waterfront parcels.
A straw poll was held, with 10 residents in favor of the proposal and 16 residents opposed.
Scapicchio and Lendlease committed to present again at a future Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association (JPNA) monthly meeting if this proposal moves forward.