Somerville and Cambridge lawmakers have united to criticize Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick's position on the NorthPoint development plan.
The NorthPoint plan calls for construction on roughly 45 acres of land, incorporating a multi-acre park into the middle. The land falls largely in Cambridge's jurisdiction, while some five acres belong to Somerville.
Recently, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the state's Department of Environmental Protection had exceeded its authority when it exempted developers from a state law guarding waterways.
But a bill that Patrick is pushing would serve as a de facto nullification of the ruling, essentially forcing state legislators to cede authority on the matter to developers and driving a wedge between those developers and the community in which NorthPoint resides.
The result, according to Cambridge Mayor Kenneth Reeves, is that Cambridge citizens and lawmakers are on the outside looking in at a project that will have a major impact on the environment and demographics of their city.
"What people want is to see that there can be more public [benefits] from NorthPoint because it's such a big development," he told the Daily.
One concern is that the project would include the construction of a new T station, which would replace the current Lechmere station and force some Cambridge citizens to make their way across a 6- to 8-lane highway to get to it.
Under Patrick's bill, developers would not be accountable for this potential public safety menace, according to Jamie Chisholm, an aide to Cambridge Vice Mayor and Democrat Tim Toomey.
"The key representatives and legislators feel that NorthPoint [developers] should take responsibility for those public safety concerns and address those," Chisholm told the Daily. "The governor's bill essentially allows them to get out of any commitments in terms of public benefits."
David Jordan, the chief of staff for state Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville), said that city officials are not trying to impede the construction of NorthPoint, but are only trying to ensure that they have a say in it.
"Really what the legislators are stating here is not opposition to the governor's plan, but support for public and community input into the NorthPoint project," he told the Daily.
Somerville and Cambridge were early bastions of support for Patrick during his gubernatorial campaign, and legislators have reacted quickly and vocally to the bill to make sure their relationship with the governor remains candid and open.
"The meeting of the Cambridge/Somerville delegation with the governor was very frank and very open, but also very respectful," Chisholm said.
"[Officials] just want to make sure they're advocating for their constituents and that they're getting across to the governor that, for them, his legislation does not work in Cambridge and Somerville."
Cyndi Roy, spokesperson for Patrick, called the meeting "very productive," saying that that "they look forward to continuing discussions," according to the Somerville Journal.
Chisholm also outlined the concern that NorthPoint will become a "city unto itself," thus questioning the viability of incorporating the development into the greater Cambridge area.
Part of the issue is that NorthPoint would contain several one-bedroom studio apartments, housing a demographic that would be largely disconnected from the needs and concerns of Cambridge's families, Reeves said.
"We want to encourage more family housing so families with children would populate the housing and the school system."
Although the influx of new citizens into NorthPoint would represent a welcome surge in tax revenue, Reeves said that an additional 2-3,000 people would compound problems of congestion and scarce parking.
Included in proposed construction site are 13 acres of state-owned wetland, the treatment of which has spawned a separate set of environmental concerns.
A 40-year-old license that requires anybody who develops the land to maintain underground pipes has long been neglected, and Patrick's bill would allow this oversight to continue by giving carte blanche to the NorthPoint developers, Chisholm said.
Because the underground pipes are intended to mitigate sewage overflow in Somerville, if developers shirk their responsibility, Somerville could endure some unsavory consequences, Chisholm said.
"Essentially, NorthPoint could be developed and Somerville could end up with raw sewage on the streets when it rains," he said.
