On Wednesday, June 19, the Community Alliance of Mission Hill (CAMH) met for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, with newly elected President Gary Walling at the helm.
On the agenda for the meeting were a presentation by Andrew Kara about the 376 Riverway St. development and a short presentation by the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) about the new regulations relating to short-term rentals in the city.
The current design for the project at 376 Riverway fails to meet local zoning code in the following ways: some residences are at basement level, it doesn’t meet the required square footage of off-street parking or usable open space, and the floor area ratio (FAR) exceeds limits. Developer Andrew Kara is seeking variances for these items to be able to proceed with the project. Kara added rooms for laundry and bicycle storage upon the request of the CAMH Design Review Committee. He also wants to add two garden-level one-bedroom apartments to the existing 16-unit building.
The invited representative from Inspectional Services did not appear at the meeting, but told Gazette that short-term rentals in the city of Boston were now subject to a new citywide ordinance. As of Jan. 1, all short-term rentals within the city have to be registered. Short-term rentals are those that are available to guests for 28 consecutive days or fewer. This is especially concerning to the operators of short-term rentals managed through online booking sites, like Airbnb and Vrbo. Residents can learn more about the new ordinance at boston.gov/departments/inspectional-services/short-term-rentals.
Also at this meeting, member Rich Johnson posed questions about the election process, which initiated a conversation from those in attendance. Community members wanted to know if general members had been allowed to vote on the board-nominated slate officers. It was decided that at the July meeting, CAMH will hold a formal vote on these officer positions.
Community Alliance of Mission Hill meets on the third Wednesday of the month in auditorium G-3 of the Kresge building at the Chan School of Public Health at 677 Huntington Ave. from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Their next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 17. All members of the Mission Hill community are invited to attend. Email [email protected] to get on their email list.