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A group of neighbors has filed a legal challenge a 45-unit residential development recently approved for 3353 Washington St. in Jamaica Plain, saying it would drive up rents and accelerate displacement of long-time residents.
The Boston zoning board of appeals approved eight variances in May for the development, which would be built on five parcels totaling 15,000 square feet. Developer Mordechai Levin, principal of Boston Community Ventures, said the project “will provide much-needed housing and a modern design standard” that fits in with the surrounding neighborhood.
Four buildings would be demolished to make way for the 6-story, 45,286-square-foot building containing a combination of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, including eight income-restricted units, and 4,000 square feet of retail space.
The lawsuit filed last week in Suffolk Superior Court states the project’s parking is deficient, with the board granting a variance for only 22 spaces which is less than one-third of the number required by the zoning code.
The site is located in a zoning subdistrict that encourages manufacturing and industrial uses, the lawsuit states. The project will change “the entire character of the immediate Green Street neighborhood from that of industrial use to a neighborhood burdened with a 45-unit building” and increased traffic, reduced street parking, air and noise pollution and rising rents, according to the complaint by attorney Mark Bourbeau of Hingham-based Drohan Tocchio & Morgan P.C.
Plaintiffs include Helen Matthews, a member of the Green Street Renters Association, which has sought a minimum of 25 percent of the units be reserved for households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income.
“Since Levin bought this land decades ago when it was inexpensive, he can build more affordable units. And along Washington Street, this is a hot spot of low-income families in Boston at risk of being pushed out due to rising rents,” Matthews said in a statement.
Boston Community Ventures said it refined the proposal to take into account the neighborhood’s objections.
“It is unfortunate that 45 families including eight in need of affordable housing units will either be denied, or have to wait for the process to unfold, in order to obtain homes in the neighborhood they want,” the company said in a statement issued Thursday.
The Boston Planning and Development Agency also had approved the project in December 2016.
This article has been updated since it was originally published to include comment from Boston Community Ventures.
