Spending part of my day at the Zoning Board of Appeals was partly a waste of my time and partly an instructive civics lesson. Yes, the board voted to approve the drive thru at the Bennington Street Dunkin Donuts, a project about which I continue to have misgivings. There never was a letter from the Orient Heights Neighborhood Council included in the packets given to the ZBA board members. That was made clear this morning. So much for transparency and accountability. However, the board has instructed the proponents to work with the Boston Traffic Department on a more extensive traffic study. One would think that was something that should have been done earlier. I remain convinced that the process was intrinsically flawed and, quite frankly, skewed to benefit the proponent. What was amazing to hear was when the chairman made mention that he and the others members were only hearing things for the first time this morning. Then, they proceeded to a vote. No deliberation. No discussion among themselves. No. Lets just vote and move on to the next item on the agenda. IMHO, that is not helpful to the community and todays hearing illustrates that the process needs to be revisited. I would like to commend, though, the lone board member who voted against the proposal.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:40:55 +0000
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