The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) met on Thursday, April 2 and led off with President Mimi Turchinetz’s comments regarding the Planning Department’s proposed Squares + Streets (S+S) zoning map for Cleary Square that was released for public review on March 17.

“It was not what people anticipated.” Turchinetz said of the map – which would allow for seven-story construction on Hyde Park Avenue and River Street at Cleary Square, and four-story mixed-use construction in nearby residential streets, all without required parking minimums. “In fact, it was far more aggressive – in terms of height and density – than we had thought.”

At the core of City Hall’s S+S initiative is the rezoning of neighborhood business districts to allow more residential development in the form of bigger and taller buildings – likely at the cost of the previously-required commercial/business/active-use footprint.

Since early 2024, the Planning Department has been engaged in this process for Cleary Square – initially describing it, repeatedly, as a consensus-driven community collaboration. However, it consistently refused to address the neighborhood’s zoning questions and concerns in any detail.

Consequently, an ad hoc committee was formed to draft a petition to change the S+S amendment (Article 26) to buffer its six zones, which had been very quickly codified in April 2024.

This led to the committee’s engagement in behind-the-scenes City Hall communications that resulted in the Planning Department drafting two new S+S zones. They were adopted, as were other committee-informed changes to Article 26, by the Boston Zoning Commission (BZC).

On Jan. 22, the ad hoc committee held an in-person public meeting at which its proposed S+S map was voted on and approved, in consensus, by about 50 neighborhood attendees.

On March 18, the Planning Department held a virtual community meeting regarding its proposed zoning map and plan for Cleary Square, during which most of the commenting attendees voiced varying levels of shock, dismay, and betrayal regarding the selected zones and their placements.

It also hosted an in-person meeting on April 8 about the same thing, and it is also holding regular virtual and in-person office hours before the public comment period closes on May 1.

After a close-out meeting sometime in May, the final S+S map and plan is slated to go to the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Board for approval on June 18, after which the Cleary Square S+S map will go to the BZC on July 15 for adoption into the zoning code.

After that, those upsized S+S zoning districts will go into effect.

“The neighborhood really needs to push back and get something more of what we think is in keeping with the neighborhood,” Turchinetz pressed on, despite the S+S clock winding down.

For information, visit www.bostonplans.org/planning-zoning/planning-initiatives/cleary-square.

In the evening’s main appointment, Eversource Project Engagement Senior Specialist Cody Diehl gave an update on the energy provider’s Greater Dorchester Area Initiative, which will build a new electrical substation in Dorchester and connect it to substations in Hyde Park and West Roxbury – both of which are operating at greater than 95 percent capacity. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2028 and will bring overload relief and more reliable service to those three neighborhoods, as well as to Jamaica Plain and Mattapan.

Advertisement

Planning for the project began in 2023 and is now in its engineering and design phase, with two sets of potential transmission routes (underground cable lines) mapped between the proposed New England Avenue substation and the existing ones in Hyde Park and West Roxbury.

Both potential Hyde Park routes follow Wood Avenue, Tacoma Street, Huntington Avenue, Clare Avenue, and American Legion Highway to the substation on Hyde Park Avenue.

For West Roxbury, its southern route option would trace Hyde Park’s through Tacoma Street and then break off along Metropolitan Avenue into Roslindale, turn left on Washington, continue into West Roxbury, turn right onto LaGrange, left on Centre, and then right to the Baker Street substation. The northern option would go through Jamaica Plain along the Arborway, cut through the Arboretum, follow Weld Street, and then continue onto Vermont Street toward Baker Street.

Diehl noted that both transmission lines would be installed underground, and that upgrades would be made to distribution lines (the wires between utility poles) throughout the surface area.

For more information, visit https://gvimes.link/eversourcesubstation

Lieutenant Amos Monteiro and Deputy Commissioner Kevin P. Coyne also appeared, promoting the Boston Fire Department’s collaboration with the American Red Cross to install free carbon monoxide/smoke detectors in Hyde Park and Mattapan from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. To schedule an installation, call 1-800-564-1234, or visit tinyurl.com/home-fire-campaign.

“Do you guys have ladder trucks that go up seven stories?” HPNA Vice President Brian Putnam – the proposed S+S map still on his mind – asked Monteiro at their appointment’s conclusion.

“Uh, yeah,” Monteiro replied, sounding slightly puzzled at the question.

“Bummer!” Turchinetz interjected, triggering a quick burst of knowing laughter from the room.

The HPNA meets on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Hyde Park Municipal Building/BCYF (1179 River St.). For information, email hydeparkneighbors@gmail.com.