Following accusations from the Fenway Community Devel-opment Corporation (Fenway CDC) concerning the alleged illegal operation of residence halls, Northeastern recently agreed to provide 15 units of housing for low-to-moderate income families from its leased Hemenway Street properties.
The Zoning Board requires any building occupied with more than 50 percent students be considered a residence hall and the appropriate license must be obtained.
The decision to provide the housing units came after members of the Fenway CDC and neighborhood residents gathered in a protest-turned-celebration in front of the Hemenway Street buildings on Aug. 31. It is in accordance with a Nov. 22, 1983 ordinance approved by the Boston Board of Appeals. The ordinance required Northeastern to house no more than five units with full-time students at the Hemenway Street complexes and no more than three additional units for use by “Northeastern personnel or other tenants whom it may select” in these buildings.
The remaining 12 units were to be filled with non-university related tenants such as low-to-moderate income residents, the ordinance said.
According to the Fenway CDC, Northeastern has been operating illegal residence halls at 142, 144, 146 and 148 Hemenway St., 106, 110, 116 and 122 St. Stephen St. and 319, 337 and 407 Huntington Ave. Northeastern obtained licenses to operate all of the buildings in question as residence halls Sept. 1, said Jeff Doggett, associate director for community affairs.
“[Northeastern] needed to make sure that the rents for the existing tenants stayed affordable so that they could continue to live there and limit the number of students that lived there,” said Maureen White, community or-ganizer of the Fenway CDC.
But while White said Northeastern failed to comply with the ordinance, Northeastern officials said the 2000 Institutional Master Plan (IMP) overrides any previous decisions.
“It is the university’s legal decision that the 2000 master plan and assessed institutional zoning trumps the 1983 decision,” Doggett said. “While legally we don’t feel there is a need to provide the 12 units of housing, morally the university agrees to live up to that agreement.”
In addition to the 12 units Doggett mentioned, Northeastern provided three additional units after discussions with the mayor and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), Doggett said.
While Northeastern’s decision may appease some Fenway residents, some said they feel it’s not enough.
“[Northeastern] is reaching out only after they were forced to. They were dodging the community for months, and then city councilors and the BRA tried to bring everyone together,” said Kristin Schneider, who has lived on Park Drive for five years.
Residents are complaining because they feel student housing is eliminating affordable options for residents in the area, White said.
“On campus they keep increasing enrollment. Students keep spreading into our neighborhood,” said Walter Hunt, who lives on Boylston Street and moved to the Fenway area to retire. Hunt was at the Aug. 31 protest.
In a Memorandum of Under-standing (MOU) with the city this July, Northeastern agreed to work with the BRA and the community to establish a new master plan.
“[Northeastern] needs to work with the neighborhoods to figure out what the next developments will be,” White said.
Northeastern is about to break ground on the last piece of the 2000 IMP – West Village building F. The building is set to be completed by 2006, said President Richard Freeland.
“We have an MOU with the city to amend the existing master plan to enable the construction of two additional student residence halls to replace leased housing over the next five years,” said Bob Gittens, vice president for public affairs.
White said the Fenway CDC is skeptical because Northeastern has not lived up to its previous promises.
“One issue that is still on the table is that for 21 years they haven’t been doing it and so the neighborhood is very interested in seeking reparations,” she said.
Northeastern is required to give the city a notification of the new IMP by September 2006. Amendments to the existing master plan must be reported by the end of the calendar year, Gittens said.
As part of the IMP, Northeastern will phase out the Master Lease Property Program (MLPP) by 2009, according to the agreement.
The agreement states North-eastern “will reduce the MLPP inventory to 750 beds for the fall of 2004 provided Northeastern could fully utilize the property located at 10 Coventry St. in Roxbury for student housing.” Northeastern obtained the licenses needed to operate the Coventry Street building as a residence hall Sept. 8.
City Councilor Michael Ross, who oversees the Fenway neighborhood, said when it comes to expansion, universities have to look at capping enrollment and retention rates.
“I think it needs to be incumbent of the university to bring these students back on campus,” Ross said.
Students are moving into the neighborhood and displacing community members, White said. Groups of students are not only taking large apartments in which families can live, but are also causing the price of all housing in the area to rise because landlords know students will pay most asking prices, White said.
Doggett said while the university agrees with White’s assessment, it is already working to correct the problem.
“The single greatest thing Northeastern can do to help mitigate this situation is to continue to build housing on the campus,” Doggett said. “This view is consistent with what the mayor has asked all universities to do and no university has heard that call from the mayor like Northeastern has.”
In the meantime, White said she will continue to protect expansion into the Fenway neighborhood and the Fenway CDC is committed to working with Roxbury, Mission Hill and the South End to protect affordable housing for residents.
“This neighborhood is made up of people. It’s a real live neighborhood and we really want to thrive here. Just because you are a big institution you don’t have the right to do whatever you want and sort of steam roll into our neighborhood,” White said.
