An attorney for Boston’s Battery Wharf Hotel condo owners acknowledges some inadvertent violations of public access and programming and said the property “has been and continues to be welcoming of the public.”

In September, Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation notified the state Department of Environmental Protection of seven alleged violations of the hotel’s waterways license, which spells out public access requirements under Chapter 91, the Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act.

CLF cited the hotel’s promotion of $1,500 wedding ceremony packages on the Boston Harborwalk, the installation of an outdoor cafe on publicly-designated open space, and public areas including balconies and historic exhibits not open to the public as required. Areas including the hotel’s Coast Guard museum and the Harborwalk are rented out for private revenue-generating events, CLF’s Director of Environmental Planning Deanna Moran wrote in a Sept. 3 letter to DEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg.

In a response letter to DEP, attorney Matthew Snell of Nutter, McClennan & Fish said a 2008 management plan “expressly allows” the use of public areas for private events while ensuring they don’t conflict with public access.

“The association is willing to review its procedures with the department to determine if any additional measures are necessary to protect public access,” Snell wrote, on behalf of the Battery Wharf Master Condominium Association.

The association, which manages the property’s common public areas, also will work with DEP to resolve concerns about the Battery Wharf Grille and its outdoor patio seating, Snell wrote.

Alleged violations of the transient dock area have been corrected, including a broken telephone in the water taxi waiting area and an absence of schedule and ticketing information. A barge which was occupying the dock area this summer was performing repairs to the pier’s pilings which are completed, according to the letter.

“The Wharf has been and continues to be  welcoming of the public. The association continues to look for activities to activate the wharf,” Snell wrote, citing discussions with the U.S. Coast Guard about updates to the museum exhibits and artifacts.

The timing of the CLF complaint and a similar one by the Unite Here Local 26 union, which represents striking Battery Wharf workers, is “an apparent attempt to gain leverage in ongoing collective bargaining,” Snell wrote.

DEP spokesman Edmund Coletta said today the complaint remains under review.

The hotel and condos were originally developed in 1999 by Raymond Property Co. The current owners, Toronto-based Westmont Hospitality Group and Thomas Tan of Bestford Hospitality Group, acquired the property in 2015 for $48.6 million.

Battery Wharf Hotel Responds to CLF Complaint

by Steve Adams time to read: 2 min
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