Near BC, little common ground

Piecemeal action is urged on school plan

Boston's chief planner, Kairos Shen, speaks at a meeting with Boston College officials and concerned neighbors regarding BC's proposed development plans. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

If there's any area of community agreement that might allow approval of any single element of Boston College's 10-year expansion plan, it was not evident at Tuesday evening's meeting with the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

The meeting was called so that community members and BC representatives could meet with Kairos Shen, Boston's chief planner.

Shen admitted to being a "Johnny come lately" to BC's 10-year master planning process, in which residents have been active for more than a year.

But he asked the community whether any parts of the plan could be advanced so that the goal of housing all undergraduates in university housing could be achieved by 2018, something the neighborhood, the Rev. William Leahy, BC's president, and Mayor Thomas Menino all agree is paramount.

"The overarching goal is to make sure the university stays competitive and that the students are better neighbors," said Shen. "We want our universities to be successful because they're such a big part of our economy."

But he acknowledged that there was "a diversity of opinion" on almost every point of BC's proposal: from athletic fields and facilities on the newly acquired seminary land north of Commonwealth Avenue, to dorms proposed for Shea Field or almost any other location the university specified.

To start, Shen asked whether housing over 500 undergraduates at 2000 Commonwealth Ave., a high-rise that BC purchased this summer, could be advanced. Shen acknowledged the city's and neighborhoods' dismay at the university expanding outside its campus and taking residential real estate off the market. He stated that the university would have to compensate the city for lost tax revenue, and that a plan to handle student behavior in the building and around it would have to be resolved successfully before any kind of dormitory permit could be issued.

But he said that it might be possible to work out an agreement with the university that would address city and neighborhood concerns.

"This is a method to test whether students living in Commonwealth Avenue is tenable," he said. Noting the issues that neighbors have had with off-campus student behavior, he said that all of the university's proposals to deal with that would have to be implemented and tested during the 10-year building and approval process.

"If we don't approve the full plan, BC has to come back to us and fix the problems in subsequent approvals," he said. "I suspect that as the process goes on, the university will learn about itself and we will learn about them."

During the course of the evening, Shen took a similar detailed approach to many of the most controversial parts of the university's plan. He suggested that the city might allow some construction, while holding off approvals of other parts - dorm housing for 350 students on the new campus being the primary example.

Community representatives asked over and over how the approach might work. Of particular concern was the prospect of BC being allowed to construct lower-density dorms on its existing campus in Chestnut Hill, which might leave a significant number of undergraduates in Brighton, unless dorms on the new campus, on former archdiocese property, were allowed, something almost all the neighbors have agreed is unacceptable.

"The proposed master plan has a domino effect," said Mike Pahre of Foster Street.

"To house 500 more students, you need more stories" in the Chestnut Hill campus dorms.

Others were concerned that Shen's suggestion derailed a long and complex process that had already eaten up a considerable amount of their volunteer time.

"This has been a long, grueling, exhausting process," said Sandy Furman of Lane Park. "We just submitted our letters" commenting on BC's master plan. "Now I'm hearing that you're going to approve most of the broad strokes [of BC's master plan proposal] and work with us on the details."

Shen clarified: "Don't walk out saying 'They will approve everything but the 350" dorm beds on the new campus. "If you think something doesn't have legs, I'd like to hear that."

BC representatives were delighted at Shen's approach.

"This was a good meeting," said Tom Keady, BC's vice president for community affairs. "How many meetings can you have where it's just 'No, no, no'?"

Neighbors, however, expressed dismay.

"This looks like a workaround of the city's own process," said Alex Selvig, whose Lake Street home abuts the newly acquired former seminary land.

Shen said in a later interview that the city's regulatory process would still apply. He said his expectation was that neighbors would let the city know which BC-proposed projects are unacceptable and that they would continue from there.

A meeting of the BC Task Force to further discuss the issue is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at 77 Warren St.