St. Aidan's latest scuffle: a lawsuit

Last November, a chain-link fence appeared around the large medieval-looking building on Pleasant Street. Then construction crews moved in, lowering windows and adding dormers. The old Roman Catholic church would soon become high-end condos.

Six months later, after builders completed the first model unit, work stopped at St. Aidan's, a turn-of-the century, Tudor-style church where the young John F. Kennedy worshiped with his family. The plan was to sell the church units -- which will subsidize 36 affordable units elsewhere on the site -- based on the model, and continue construction in the fall.

Now, the project is in jeopardy.

About 75 town residents filed a lawsuit last month in Norfolk Superior Court to reverse design changes approved by Brookline's Housing Advisory Board and prevent the town from contributing another $1 million to the project. Overall, it will cost about $4 million, half in federal grants and half from the town's housing trust.

In an answer filed in court last Wednesday, Town Counsel Jennifer Dopazo argued recent changes to the project do not require an additional public comment period.

In July, the developer, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, said higher-than-expected construction costs forced it to seek more money from the town and to temporarily convert 14 units marked for moderate-income town employees to market rate.

Those and other last-minute changes have made the plan seem unfair to some residents.

''Giving the [developer] another million dollars because they screwed up is wrong," said Ken Jacobson, a Town Meeting member and one of the plaintiffs who sought to bring more affordable housing to Brookline.

Only about 8 percent of the town's housing stock is considered affordable; that figure is below the state-required 10 percent.

Supporters of the project argue that the lawsuit will only drive up costs and keep residents from moving into the available affordable housing.

''I am extremely frustrated and disappointed that this is the route they chose," said Robert Allen, chairman of the town's Board of Selectmen. ''This was a huge chunk of affordable housing for Brookline. We won't see a lot of [projects this size in town] in our lifetime."

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michael Giaimo, said the purpose of the lawsuit isn't to stop the project; the residents just want to make sure they get what they were expecting, he said.

''This complaint is about a deal on a project . . . which has changed since it was originally approved," Giaimo said. ''Things have been done differently than [the town and developer] originally stated."

Others are concerned the town has become too closely tied to the church. The planning office, which is an independent organization but pursues the affordable housing goals of the archdiocese, originally bought the St. Aidan's property from Brookline's St. Mary of the Assumption parish for less than market rate. In exchange, St. Mary's parishioners would have received three affordable units in the St. Aidan's development.

The arrangement sparked so much outrage that the developer recently decided to abandon it, in favor of a cash payment to St. Mary's. To some, the payment still smacks of a violation of the separation of church and state.

''To give money to any one body is not what the town should be about," said Stanley Wayne, another Town Meeting member and plaintiff.

Jacobson added: ''It is immoral to give money to the Catholic Church."

Fran Price, who is in charge of housing for the town's planning office, said the town's price per affordable unit remains a better value than in previous town projects.

The town paid $99,000 per ''tiny" family unit for six renovated units west of Brookline Village on Route 9, with no parking, she said. With the cost increase, the St. Aidan's units will cost the town about $125,000, she said, and that's for new apartments with parking.

Susan Feinstein, one of the lead plaintiffs, declined to comment.

The suit, filed Sept. 6, followed a two-year design review process with the town, said Lisa Alberghini, the planning office's executive director. She said the town will fight to get construction to resume.

''We're not going away," she said. ''This is the work that we do, and we also know the need is great. Our mission and convictions run deep."

One St. Aidan's neighbor is concerned the lawsuit might ultimately make things worse for residents in the area.

Peg Senturia, whose house faces the empty construction site, was concerned when the planning office originally proposed tearing down the church and adding 140 units to the site. She and others fought to preserve the church and has served on the project's design advisory committee.

''I am concerned about delays," from the lawsuit, she said. ''It seems to me that so far we've had a fairly good public process [for the project]. I'm not entirely happy with the outcome, but I don't think anybody is. It seems to me there's been a reasonable compromise among competing interests."