Connolly Rails on Boston Redevelopment Authority, Menino

Mayoral candidate John Connolly said the B.R.A. is 'who you know culture' in City Hall.

    Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate John Connolly had some harsh words for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino. “Although we have thrived from a development perspective, we are trapped in a system that puts the focus on who you know rather than the merit of your project,” Connolly said at a candidates forum, according to the Boston Herald. “That’s what we need to break and that’s the transparency — we need transparent decision-making within the BRA.” Connolly made the comments during a development-oriented candidates’ forum hosted by the Boston Society of Architects on Wednesday morning. To read the rest of the article, click here.

• Photos (1)

BRA Director Peter Meade To Retire in January

The Boston Redevelopment Authority leader told the Boston Business Journal he does not plan to stay on under a new mayor.

  Boston Redevelopment Authority Director Peter Meade will be retiring in January, stepping down at the same time as Mayor Thomas Menino, the Boston Business Journal reported this week. Appointed to the position in April 2011, Meade, 67, is considered a member of the mayor’s cabinet but also is appointed by the five-member BRA board, so he wouldn’t necessarily be ousted by the election of a new mayor, the article states. But Meade told the BBJ that he is not interested in keeping the job under a new mayor, saying that, “I have a relationship with Mayor Menino that frankly I would never have with another mayor.” Meade also said he had promised his family he would retire, according to the article. Read the full article at bizjournals.com/…

• Photos (1)

S. Huntington Corridor Draft Guidelines Delayed

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has been assessing the changing nature of South Huntington Avenue since late last year.

BRA Approves 3 Percent Salary Increase

All but nine senior staff members at the Boston Redevelopment Authority will receive their first raise in five years.

  Boston Redevelopment Authority staffers will receive raises for the first time in five years, the Boston Herald reported this week. With a budget separate from the city’s budget, the BRA recently approved 3 percent raises for all employees except for nine senior staff members, including Director Peter Meade and Chief Planner Kairos Shen. The increase puts eight staff members above the $100,000 salary level, for a total of 34 BRA employees who make six digits, according to the Herald. BRA spokeswoman Susan Elsbree told the newspaper that the raises represented a cost of living increase. BRA employees have worked without raises since 2008 and even received a pay cut one year, in 2009, the Herald reported. The BRA employs 207 people today—a…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Feb. 26

It's meeting week in JP.

1. Though there's a small amount of snow coming tonight, it shouldn't be enough to stand in the way of the third annual State of Our Neighborhood Forum. The forum is from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kennedy Elementary School. 2. The Casey Overpass 25 Percent Design phase hearing is Wednesday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. at The English High School.  3. The Boston Redevelopment Authority is hosting a discussion of new BRA guidelines regarding developments in the area Wednesday night at the Curley School. This meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. 4. Today City Councilors Mike Ross and Ayanna Pressley are holding a public meeting regarding the Boston Residency Jobs Policy. City Hall. 3 p.m. 5. The city is asking those interested to sign up for the next civil …

• Photos (1)

How Would You Shape S. Huntington Corridor?

Whether you’re a South Huntington Avenue resident or just a resident of Jamaica Plain, do you have an opinion on how the South Huntington corridor should be developed?

The Boston Redevelopment Authority hosted a meeting to discuss development at the South Huntington Avenue corridor at the Hennigan School Wednesday night. The corridor consists of the length of South Huntington Avenue at its intersection with Huntington Avenue and Perkins Street, according to the BRA. What was your takeaway from the meeting? And if you didn’t attend, how would you like to see the area developed in the future? Leave your opinion in the comments.

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

BRA Hosts S. Huntington Corridor Talk Tonight

The meeting is at Hennigan Elementary School and begins at 6:30 tonight.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority will host its second meeting regarding the planning of an area of Jamaica Plain known as the South Huntington Avenue corridor. According to a BRA document: “The objective of the South Huntington Avenue Corridor Study is to establish a corridor vision, which will inform a set of development guidelines to shape the future corridor ‘feel’ and its physical character. In recognition of multiple recent development projects, and the individualized manner in which each of these projects are reviewed, the corridor study seeks to create a comprehensive vision and unified set of guidelines for the review of projects, and the guidance of future growth.”  The corridor consists of the length of South Huntington Avenue …

• Photos (2)

S. Huntington, Other BRA Meetings This Week

A look at some of the Boston Redevelopment Authority's upcoming public meetings.

  Boston residents can get involved and have their voices heard by attending a public meeting on a number of new developments underway this year and coming up. The Boston Redevelopment Authority has posted the following meetings for this week: The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 17 from 5:30-8 p.m. at Boston City Hall, in the ninth-floor room 900. All meetings are open to the public unless otherwise stated.

• Photos (1)

JPNC Unhappy with Zoning Process

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council has written an open letter to the BRA based on the recent city Zoning Board of Appeals’ approval of a forthcoming South Huntington Street development.

  With the Home For Little Wanderers officially out at 161 S. Huntington St., and a city Zoning Board of Appeals OK in its pocket, Boston Residential Group is set to build a $75 million 196-apartment complex at the site. The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council opposed the plan from the start, and after the Nov. 13 ZBA decision there’s nothing more they can do to block the razing and construction. JPNC member Joseph Wight expressed concern over the zoning process at a Tuesday night meeting. He said he did not feel like the neighborhood council’s voice had been heard. “There’s been a tremendous amount of community opposition,” he said, listing several Jamaica Plain boards that opposed the project. The incoming development is going to have 60 …

•  23 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)