Turtle Swamp Brewing and its landlord have filed separate lawsuits to prevent a project intended to provide housing to low-income and extremely low-income seniors, as well as a new spot for a longtime neighborhood Latino-owned restaurant.
Rendering of 3371 Washington St. development
"In short, this development is too big, too close to its neighbors, and does not provide parking or loading areas sufficient to serve the Project," says Turtle Swamp Brewing's lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
The project at 3371 Washington St. is a joint venture between New Atlantic Development LLC and nonprofit Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), and has already been approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency Board. The project will be five stories of supported affordable senior housing development, which would include 38 units of much-needed housing for low-income and extremely low-income seniors, and an 800-square-foot restaurant space for El Embajador Restaurant, a tenant of the current site.
Turtle Swamp Brewing is located at 3377 Washington St. Turtle Swamp Brewing's landlord Montgomery Gold recently settled a lawsuit against Pine Street Inn and Community Builders regarding their 202-unit supportive housing project at 3368 Washington St. In that lawsuit, a key provision of the agreement included Gold not opposing 3368 Washington St. further, and in return Pine Street Inn and Community Builders agreed to take no position on anything proposed in the future at 3377 Washington St. by Gold unless it materially impacts 3368 Washington St., a spokesperson for 3368 Washington St. told Jamaica Plain News.
In that lawsuit, in a letter to the City of Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals, Gold's lawyer indicated the construction of the project would significantly impact Turtle Swamp's customers' ability to find parking and the tenant's "ability to conduct their affairs in the manner they currently do," according to the Boston Globe.
In these latest lawsuits, Turtle Swamp Brewing (read the full lawsuit on Universalhub.com) and Gold (read the full lawsuit on Universalhub.com) are suing the ZBA, New Atlantic LLC, and JPNDC. The lawsuits state the ZBA granted numerous variances and that the zoning code is intended to, "protect neighboring land uses and the sheer number of variances needed, and granted, amounts to a complete re-zoning of the Project parcel in violation of Massachusetts law."
The lawsuits allege the ZBA's decision to grant the variances was "arbitrary and capricious and did not meet the applicable legal standards."
The project at 3371 Washington St. is at the corner of Washington and Green Street, one block away from the Green Street MBTA station. The project will also provide a broad range of supportive programs and services to both frail and independent residents, including 24-hour emergency response, service coordination and an on-site meal program. Live-in manager’s units will also be included, and the project will include indoor and outdoor common areas, a communal kitchen and dining room, and common laundry.