Changes urged on BC plan to expand

Task force fears possible impact on Allston-Brighton

A community task force reviewing Boston College's proposed expansion is urging city officials to seek "substantial modifications" to the plan and require a 10-year moratorium on further development by the college in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood.

In a strongly worded 17-page letter received by city officials Monday, the Allston-Brighton advisory group cited a range of concerns about the impact of the $1 billion campaign on the neighborhood.

Reflecting the consensus among neighbors, the group voiced strong opposition to the university's plan to build dormitories for 500 undergraduates on BC's Brighton campus, the former headquarters of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

Instead, it wants the college to house those students on its main Chestnut Hill campus, and called for the moratorium to "safeguard Allston-Brighton's residential character." The panel asked city officials to deny the college a permit to convert a high-rise apartment complex near its campus on Commonwealth Avenue into a dormitory unless it accepted the conditions.

The 12-member panel also criticized the college for not being "fully responsive to Task Force and community concerns," and urged city officials to "respect those concerns by holding BC accountable."

Such task forces, appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, carry significant influence over city decisions on college expansions.

This summer, Menino said he squarely opposed BC's plans for the Brighton and off-campus dormitories, and urged the college to make room for students on its main campus.

College officials view the expansion as critical to its future, and say they cannot reach their goal of guaranteeing undergraduates four years of campus housing without building dormitories beyond its traditional Chestnut Hill campus. In June, BC announced plans to add student housing for nearly 1,300 students to ease neighborhood complaints about unruly students who live off-campus.

The college now houses about 85 percent of undergraduates on campus.

A BC spokesman declined to comment, saying college officials were still reviewing the task force's comments.

In its letter, the task force said it strongly supported the college's goal of housing all its undergraduates and supported the plan to turn the apartment complex into a 560-student dormitory. But the panel criticized the college for not consulting with members before the purchase, and called for "an unprecedented level of college supervision" over students living there.

Tim Schofield, a task force member, said members believed their support of the off-campus dorm marked a significant concession that should persuade the college to withdraw its plans for the Brighton dorms. Many neighbors dispute the college's contention that it cannot build more dorms on the main campus.

Schofield said, however, that many residents are pleased the university has pledged to house all its students on campus.

They believe that keeping students on campus will help attract more homeowners to the area, stabilizing the neighborhood with an influx of families.

"A lot of the problem is reputation," he said. "People think there are students everywhere."

The college has said the off-campus dormitory would be overseen like other housing facilities, staffed by resident assistants and a priest.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority, which oversees college developments, will review the project in the coming weeks. It will either send the proposal to a vote or ask the college to modify the plan.