By Eric Eisenberg
BRIGHTON – Following the release of the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s response to Boston College’s expansion plans, residents’ unease about transportation and housing issues has proven to have had an impact.
“We want to have a resolved end product that works for the college because we realize how important they are to the city, but we also need to make sure that it works in the neighborhood that they reside within,” said Jessica Shumaker, a spokeswoman for the BRA.
Boston College announced its expansion plans in Dec. 2007, including construction of a baseball field and on-campus dormitories on land purchased from the Archdiocese of Boston last May. Plans to build dormitories on the Brighton campus upset many neighbors due to concerns regarding heavier traffic on Brighton streets and an increase in the number of college students in the neighborhood.
The response, called a scoping determination, was released on Feb. 21 and asks BC to address issues and concerns of the BRA through various studies and to produce alternative proposals.
“Right now, the undergraduate student housing is our top priority,” Shumaker said. “We are trying to decide where it would best fit on their campus.”
BC spokesman Jack Dunn said the expansion would reduce the number of off-campus students in half.
“We think it’s a good plan that will help to bring 610 students out of the Allston-Brighton neighborhood and on to campus,” Dunn said. “We are proposing to put beds on our campus as neighbors have requested. We already house more students than any other university in Boston.”
Dunn said the additional beds would put BC’s percentage of students living on campus at 92 percent, above universities such as Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cornell, University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
The city officials say that placing 500 undergraduates on the St. John’s Seminary land is not a solution, believing more dormitories can be built on BC’s main campus.
“I feel that Boston College can house more of their students on their main campus without having to build new dormitories on the St. John’s property,” said City Councilor Mark Ciommo.
Another issue rumbling residents is the possibility of greater traffic and transportation troubles, mostly regarding the planned construction of a baseball field.
“There are certainly traffic issues,” Shumaker said. “From the projects, they are proposing it could cause some traffic impacts.”
In response, the BRA has requested a traffic study. Dunn said the presence of a baseball stadium on the BC campus would have, “no discernable effect on traffic in the community.”
Dunn says BC’s master plan for its expansion will quell the concerns of neighbors.
“We think the plan that we have submitted is a good plan that is in the best interests of Boston College and the neighborhood of which we have been a part of for 95 years,” Dunn said.
© Eric Eisenberg, All Rights Reserved