A tree shall bring them together
A breeze rustled through the leaves outside 42 Craigie St. as evening fell earlier this month. For a group of neighbors who fear a new condo development will kill a 90-year-old elm on the property, the sound was bittersweet.
For them, the tree has become a lightning rod for activism.
The development, approved July 9 by the Zoning Board of Appeals, will put two new buildings behind an existing structure, yielding eight apartments in all, one deemed affordable.
Though you can barely see the grove behind the existing house, neighbor Jen Capuano, 44, US Representative Michael's sister-in-law, counted 79 trees with trunks over 1 inch in diameter, including the giant elm.
"It's an enormous, tremendous tree," she said, and one that regularly attracts a local hawk.
Neighbor and activist Maureen Barillaro, who volunteers with Somerville Climate Action, said the group collected 100 names on a petition opposing the developers' plan.
But because Alderman Sean O'Donovan, who represents another ward, is one of the developers, Barillaro said, many felt like the odds were stacked against them. It was "really difficult to feel we have any sort of voice," she said.
Madeleine Masters, Somerville's director of planning, said public perceptions of favoritism made the approval process "awkward," but that, if anything, the board was stricter on O'Donovan than other developers. (The city planning department serves the mayor-appointed zoning board.)
She said a similar case at 308 Beacon St. was approved at the same meeting sans publicity.
Though buildings and parking will replace many of the trees, the neighbors achieved some success: The zoning board decision said "best efforts shall be made to preserve" the elm.
Barillaro found that standard too vague, but Masters, while noting there are no guarantees in such a case, said new construction will impede only 10 to 12 percent of the tree's roots. "From what we understand," she said, "that is a manageable interference."
Truth be told, the city planners were treed too.
"The city doesn't really have any protection for trees on private property," said Masters. "It would be a big shame" if the tree died. She considered the situation a classic example of competing Somerville needs: density and green space. Officials are researching ways other cities protect trees on private property, with a view toward amending ordinances.
For the neighbors, the consolation prize might be greater unity, Barillaro said. Since the group started to meet, neighbors have lent her chairs for a family party and an off-street space to leave her car when she was on vacation.
Capuano agreed: "It's a really good opportunity for the community to come around a site like this."
Residents are also planning a block party for late summer or early fall, to thank people and possibly raise funds "for legal fees if we want to go that route," Barillaro said.
Residents can appeal the decision until Aug. 5, Masters said. The group's lawyer recommended checking the plans to see whether everything was to code. O'Donovan's lawyer, Rich Di Girolamo, said the developers plan to get a building permit in August or September and "probably start construction in the fall."
Disgruntled folks in other parts of the city have found additional ways to challenge approved projects.
A condo development on Summer Street is in limbo because the developers cannot find ways to meet the zoning board's conditions, Masters said. One obstacle? A public tree blocks the planned emergency egress route.
Capuano, for one, thinks it is time to look elsewhere. "There's other things that this neighborhood could rally around," she said.
Both she and Barillaro plan to raise the notion of transplanting the lot's smaller saplings to another location. It makes sense, Capuano said: Somerville is an 