St. Mark’s Area Civic Association
Minutes of the June 24, 2014 Meeting
The meeting was held in the Parish hall and started at 7:07. There were 46 souls present.
President Doug Hurley read a letter from the owner of 376-380 Centre Street regarding the problems caused by the tenants. Most troublesome one have been evicted and the remaining are scheduled to be out soon. The owner Bill Gately also attended.
Officer Mike Keaney gave his police report. There were 87 documented incidents of which 24 were of a domestic nature. There were 17 arrests. Mike announced that the bike rodeo last month was a success with over 100 kids attending and 4 bikes given away. Twenty of the 56 officers who just graduated last week have been assigned to our area. After Mike’s updates, Bill Gately gave an update on his 376-380 Centre Street property.
Bernie from the Trees Division of Parks and Recreation gave an overview of his department and how it works. Requests to have a tree pruned takes up to 18 months, but has been trending better recently. The department is reactive, not proactive, meaning that one must call his office to have trees maintained. They are planting 1,300 trees this fiscal year and are planning to plant 1,300-1,500 next year. Tree plantings are done in the spring and the fall. Between 500 and 700 trees are removed annually. Neighbors are asked to help by watering the trees in front of their homes. Five gallons a week is good with additional gallons in the summer heat. Contact information: Phone-617-635-7275 [PARK], Email- [email protected], and the website is www.cityofboston.gov/parks.
Anthony from VN Express Café presented a request to obtain a take-out license. He is in the process of buying the restaurant from the current owner Eddie Lai, who requested the take-out license from the city. When questioned on how late he would like the license to be, he said 11:00. After a question and answer period, the request for an 11:00 pm closing was approved unanimously.
Mai Phung who is working for Nam Pham owner of the property at 389 Adams Street presented his request for a zoning variance to the attic for additional living space, which will consist of a bathroom, bedroom, and living room as an extention of the 2nd floor unit. After a question and answer period, the request was approved unanimously
John Russell and Chris Drew assisted Daniel Dumont’s presentation for his request for a zoning variance to change the legal occupancy from a three-family dwelling to a two-family dwelling and retail store with pharmacy and to erect an addition to the front of the building and renovate. There were many concerns by those present including lack of parking and the fact that other pharmacies are in the area. After a question and answer period, the request for denied unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Douglas Shaheen
Secretary
