A Success Story in Roslindale

West Roxbury Transcript
Arboretum plan is approved
By Jessica M. Smith

Roslindale - Following four years of community meetings and negotiations, the Boston Zoning Commission finally heard and approved Harvard University’s proposal for the Arnold Arboretum.

The plan, as presented by Harvard and the Boston Redevelopment Authority last Wednesday, involves a 14.5-acre parcel of the Arboretum called Weld Hill.
With the consent of the vast majority of the community, Harvard announced that it intends to build a 45,000-sqaure-foot horticultural research facility devoted to studying the biology of trees.

In exchange for allowing the building to be constructed, abutters requested that the remainder of the land remain untouched indefinitely. Instead, Harvard agreed to leave the land alone until 2882, the same year its lease on the Arboretum expires. The university’s intent will be recorded as a deed restriction, meaning that limitations will be placed on the land such as building additional structures or parking facilities.

The university appeared before the Zoning Commission because it was seeking to change the area’s zoning, which currently only allows for single-family residential structures. Unlike the community process that many described as contentious, those testifying during the hour-long hearing were all in support of the project.

In the 45,000 square feet proposed, Director Robert Cook said that about half the space will be devoted to research laboratories, growing facilities and office space.

According to Kevin McCluskey, a senior director of community relations for Harvard, the research performed in Roslindale is “very, very important scientific research that’s central to the mission of the Arboretum.”

“To the public, it is unseen and perhaps underappreciated,” said McCluskey.
Some of the research involves figuring out how to save trees in cities where foliage is declining.
The remainder will be for the technology that sustains the building, including a geothermal well system.

With the approval of the commission and the signature of the mayor, ground could be broken as early as this spring.

“I almost don’t know where to begin. I feel very good in supporting this process,” said Boston City Councilor Rob Consalvo.

As Roslindale’s representative on the council, Consalvo described the fate of the Arboretum as the number-one issue facing his constituents.

“This is not a case of ‘Not in my backyard.’ [Residents] said build it, but give us the protections we need. I’ve never seen a group work so tirelessly,” said Consalvo, who told the commission that the Institutional Master Plan before them had resolved “99.9 percent of the issues.”
State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez, who represents the 15th Suffolk District, agreed.

“It’s a product of the will of the community,” said Sanchez.

According to the two politicians present, the desirable proposal would not have been possible without direct input from Mayor Thomas M. Menino, numerous city officials and Roslindale residents who care dearly about their neighborhood.

For Julie O’Brien, a Mendum Street resident who has led community meetings about the Arboretum, the proposal wasn’t ideal, but it was one she would support.

“[The land] should have remained open, but this does preserve, for the most part, the things that the community wanted,” said O’Brien, adding that she still felt a certain ambivalence toward the proposal.

“I just hope the construction process works out as well as both sides anticipate,” said O’Brien, who was joined by Roslindale resident Walter Michalik.

Michalik, who sat on the Arboretum task force, told the commission that the project was one he had come to accept.