First Look: Proposals Emerge From Giant ‘Plan JP/Rox’ Effort

The once-in-a-generation planning effort that goes by the name "Plan JP/Rox" has started to produce specifics about what our neighborhood will look like. "We've listened to you. Now it's time to respond to you with your ideas wrapped up into planning policies," announced senior BRA architect John Dalzell at a packed Saturday morning workshop,  the fifth in a series which began in September 2015 to plan the future of the Washington Street corridor from Forest Hills to Jackson Square. Because there's so much information to digest, we've broken down this report into several posts. You can read about overarching concerns here in this story.

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Photos: Library Addition Makes Progress

Work continues on the long-sought renovation of the JP Branch of the Boston Public Library. Neighbors met with the city on Thursday to hear about the progress and discuss the hassles attendant to a big project being undertaken near the center of the neighborhood. We stopped by on Friday for a few photos of the construction. The Friends of the Library are also documenting the project. Its Facebook page is a good place to start to connect with the group.

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South Huntington Development Guidelines Could Be Added to Zoning Code

The Boston Redevelopment Authority is seeking to codify a series of community recommendations to guide current and future development along the South Huntington Avenue Corridor. “We decided to take these guidelines and translate them as codifying text amendments” to the zoning code, said Marie Mercurio, a senior planner at the BRA, during the authority’s Feb. 11 meeting. The Boston Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the proposed zoning code amendments this, Wednesday, March 9. The study area in question extends from Perkins Street to Huntington Avenue, and is divided into three precincts, Mercurio said, "because we noticed several distinctions in scale and use along the avenue”:

Precinct 1, from Huntington Avenue to Heath Street, is characterized by three-story brick row houses.

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Yale Terrace Group Gains Support in Effort to Revoke Permit at Bicon Dental

In the latest chapter in a long, strange saga, neighbors of Bicon Dental Implants won a small victory. Calling the matter "unique and a challenge," Dave Barron, chairman of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council Zoning Committee opened a hearing at its Wednesday meeting to consider whether Bicon Dental Implants at 501 Arborway should have its certificate of occupancy revoked. In a years-long struggle with the company, the Yale Terrace Association and Gerard O'Connor, acting for himself "seek to untangle the confusing, incomplete and inaccurate regulatory history of the property" as its Dec 14, 2015 zoning appeal states. Recusing himself as a member of the JPNC Zoning Committee and moving to the opposite side of the room, O'Connor (a resident of Yale Terrace, a private way with nine homes on it) said "We are looking for support from the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council to require Debbie LLC (the owners of the Bicon building) to put right in the regulatory files a clear and accurate record of what  is" happening inside 501 Morton Street (also listed as 123 Morton Street). "The current uses are dental clinic, clinical laboratory and professional school," O'Connor said.

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Community Feedback Wanted for Development at Next JP/Rox Plan Workshop on March 5

Come and discuss the future of the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury connection at the next JP/Rox Plan workshop on Saturday, March 5 at the Ana M. Cole Community Room at Bromley-Heath (10 Lamartine St.). The meeting will take place from 9:30 am to noon. There will be light refreshments available. At this meeting the Boston Redevelopment Authority will be seeking community feedback on early recommendations and further building scenarios. Open house networking begins at 8:30 am and the presentation begins at 9:30 am.

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E+J Auto Relocates to Columbus Avenue from Washington Street

One benefit of the 3200 Washington St. development is the relocation of an established and popular business, E+J Auto, which opened this week on Columbus Avenue. As part of the development, 3200 LLC bought a foreclosed garage at 1891 Columbus Ave., cleaned it up, painted it and E+J has moved in.  E+J will lease the garage from 3200 LLC.

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Pine Village Preschool Moving Into Old Harvest Co-Op Building on South Street

From groceries to little kids: the old Harvest Co-Op building on South Street will be empty no more come September. Joana Araujo, director of the Pine Village Preschool, confirmed to Jamaica Plain News that the school will be moving its classrooms at the First Baptist Church (633 Centre St.) to a roomier space at the former Harvest Co-Op location at 57 South St. Pine Village Preschool (PVP) is a Spanish Language Immersion school for toddlers and preschoolers with two locations in Jamaica Plain, with the second in St John's Episcopal Church on Revere Street. "Our Mission is to educate and nurture each child’s individuality within a culturally diverse, bilingual community so that every child develops a true passion for learning and an ability to engage in any environment and community," says the school's website. Araujo, originally from the Azores, immigrated to the United Sates 14 years ago.

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‘A Wasteland to Walk On’ — Residents Envision a Better Washington, Columbus

"Connecting people with places" was the theme of the fourth workshop in the Plan JP/Rox held on Thursday at English High School. Of all the workshops in of the planning process this was most egalitarian; low income or high income, hotel maid or money manager, everyone uses the sidewalks, the streets or some form of transit to get to work, to school and home. It was also the most interactive and personal; over 100 sat around tables and marked on maps how they get around their neighborhood to their special places or how they got to that night's meeting. "Mobility. Getting around.

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