City officials should ask Boston College to significantly rein in its expansion, according to the neighborhood task force advising the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
In a letter commenting on the university's institutional master plan, the BC Task Force stressed student housing, noting the community's wish for all undergraduates to be housed on campus by 2018 while keeping the former archdiocese property north of Commonwealth Avenue free of such housing.
"This represents a broad consensus in the community around several issues, housing being preeminent," said Tim Schofield, a member of the task force. "This is a dialogue. We're sharing facts and concerns with the understanding that the BRA wants this information and will respond appropriately."
The authority is required to issue a "scoping determination" by Wednesday. This document will specify what Boston College will need to change to get city permission to build.
BC spokesman Jack Dunn said the university will review the recommendations and the BRA's document before submitting a master plan this spring "that is in the best interest of Boston College and the Allston-Brighton community."
Kevin Caragee, a task force member, said the housing concerns were highlighted in an August 2004 letter the task force sent to BC vice president Thomas Keady.
"We're not trying to be obstructionist, but this is a very fragile community," Caragee said, adding that in the last two decades the community has lost owner occupants and families, seen an increase in poverty, and lost several important schools. "We're at a key moment in this community's history."
Another major point of community concern is BC's plan to put a 1,200-seat baseball stadium on the so-called Brighton Campus.
"This is very important to people because it's so close to the neighborhood," said Schofield. Also, "football games are a major impact on the community. There are fears that baseball games may now be similar."
The task force also asked the university to detail how street or transit changes would affect traffic.
The group also criticized what it called the college's lack of planning to encourage non-car commuters, and opposed the relocation of St. Thomas More Drive. Neighbors also agreed that the use of lighting and artificial turf on all four archdiocese fields was excessive, and asked for conservation easements to protect some open areas of the Brighton Campus in perpetuity.
The recommendations were not all negative. The letter expresses "very strong community support" for a proposal the university floated to give mortgage assistance to staffers who want to buy in the neighborhood.
"We are asking for significant revisions," said Caragee. "But we want to engage the university constructively so the plan will better serve the community and the university."
