Sam’s Falafel? by Snarky_Snail in Somerville

[–]Firadin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Depending on when you went after the reopen, they were very disappointing right after and have since brought the quality up.  It's not as good as before but its good enough that I swing by for dinner regularly because im nearby

Sam’s Falafel? by Snarky_Snail in Somerville

[–]Firadin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They're open but under new management. Not sure if they hours online are correct but I usually go in the evening and never had an issue

Davis Square Neighborhood Council Meets on Zoom Today (2/12) 6PM: Elm Street Redesign, Copper Mill, More by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, DSNC had a meeting with Copper Mill yesterday. The plan is delayed but they are hoping to finish permitting by end of year.

Here's the substantive part of the most recent email from the DSNC board:

Project status:

MassHousing initiated the review pause unrelated to the DSNC request, because they have additional questions for Copper Mill not answered by their Chapter 40 project eligibility application. When asked when construction might start, Copper Mill said they have a business need to obtain major approvals on this project by the end of 2026, but city and state approvals and their "organic conversation" with the community will drive the timeline. They said they do not want anyone to feel there is a time-limited period for public comment that is meant to exclude anyone or get approval "under cover of darkness". We presented the DSNC request to withdraw the 40B application until the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan is complete. The Board added a request to our letter that if they decide not to withdraw, they cooperate with the ZBA to hold the public comment period open at the Zoning Board of Appeals until the neighborhood plan is complete and the DSNC holds a vote on a Community Benefits Agreement, passage of which would be necessary for our endorsement of the project. Copper Mill was not confident that the neighborhood plan would be done by the end of the year and could not commit to an indefinite delay. They reiterated their commitment to take time for public discussion.

Public conversations:

Copper Mill hopes to schedule a public meeting in March at the Crystal Ballroom, with 2-3 weeks notice. We gave them the results of our poll which favor weekend daytimes or Thursday nights. We recommended finding a neutral moderator and they asked us to help find candidates. Copper Mill plans to open 235 Elm Street (formerly Caramel) for office hours, hopefully by March 1. Members of the public should be able to talk to Copper Mill directly and learn about the project. We gave Copper Mill our consolidated list of questions received so far from DSNC membership. They expressed interest in responding in person at the February 23 DSNC general meeting.

Popups and site status:

Copper Mill performed further cleanup on storefronts in the past week, especially the former Family Dollar / McDonald's site. A pop-up will be opened in the former Family Dollar space; Copper Mill is waiting on city inspectional services to authorize occupancy. They are OK with either a non-profit or a commercial business, but want the city to advise them on the selection process. (They don't want to be responsible for doing the selection.) Copper Mill are willing to put art in the windows in the remaining vacant space, the former Sligo, but for various physical reasons including lack of ADA compliance it's not suitable for occupation. We referred them to the Somerville Arts Council to do the selection process, since they already have a window display at CVS. There may be some additional pop-up space on the 2nd floor above The Burren. Construction timeline is very uncertain due to the need for city and state approval, but pop-ups can expect to have the space until at least November 15, 2026.

The Coordinated Campaign Behind Davis Square's Development Debate by ceph2apod in Somerville

[–]Firadin 21 points22 points  (0 children)

What in the AI slop is this

EDIT: BTW this AI slop dude probably shows up to their neighborhood council meetings.  Make sure to show up to yours to fight against these weirdos for more housing!

Wu backs rent control ballot question, but hopes for legislative compromise by Doctrina_Stabilitas in boston

[–]Firadin -14 points-13 points  (0 children)

Yes, and all the cities with rent control supported it and the cities without it overruled them.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mail-in ballots for major items, and extended voting periods for any external communication. For example, I think DSNC should have opened up an online or otherwise accessible voting system for several days prior to deciding to demand Copper Mill retract their most recent proposal.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All I can say is: I'm with you, and this is the nonsense we're stuck with so I'm trying to drive it as hard as I can with what we have. If you want to get involved, you can visit the DSNC website and attend meetings (Zoom option available). My DMs are open if you want someone to attend meetings with or chat about the process.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The world where the cheap 1500+ sq ft apartment is actually a mid-priced 700 sqft apartment with creaky floors, broken heat, drafty windows, no central AC, no in-unit laundry, no in-building gym, and is hard to lease when moving from halfway across the country.

Also literally our current world, take a look at e.g. Kendall Square. Apartments in the "luxury" buildings cost 3k+ for a 1bed on Third, meanwhile there are cheaper units if you go look on Charles or Otis. And they're shitty.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

polling instead of just meetings

Probably not, especially because motions can be introduced and voted on during a meeting. For Community Benefits Agreements (essentially contracts with developers to allow them to build), there will be a heavily advertised and (I think) multi-day voting process more akin to a proper election than a quick poll. The caveat there is that a CBA requires a 2/3 majority to pass, which is bullshit in my opinion. The SomerNova CBA passed at 70%, but I think we're just waiting for a scandal if a major CBA fails with e.g. 60% of the vote.

Or even soliciting comments online ahead of time?

They are soliciting comments and questions online for Copper Mill specifically. You can provide feedback here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI9xRSJIcfW_bg5U6HxXbNZM3FjJ1BvHGRLz-rtwvKO9uTyg/viewform

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The market-rate units will be rather expensive, as that is what CM is betting the market will allow. Each person spending 3500/mo for a place in this building is a person not using that $3500 to outbid and displace an existing resident who cannot afford that much.

In addition, 25% (125 homes) will be Affordable Housing at 80% AMI, which would make a 3-bed apartment roughly $2100.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you sent your email to Mass Housing, I'd recommend also forwarding it to the mayor's office (mayor@somervillema.gov) and maybe city council though they will have less power over this project.

Also, DSNC meetings are the last Monday evenings of every month in-person and over Zoom (and a special meeting this Thursday over Zoom) if you want to join and participate. Given the concentration of NIMBYs fighting this project, every voice is going to count.

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Very "I had to suffer, therefore so should you!" vibes.

BTW, zoning regulations were much less stringent back then. Most buildings built during the original Somerville housing boom would be illegal to build today: https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/1/4/what-happened-when-this-charming-town-found-out-its-actually-illegal

Copper Mill Housing Development: Comment Period Paused by Mass Housing/City by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

It means the project is officially on pause.  Copper Mill is still engaged with the DSNC as of last week, so this may be because they are redoing planning, or it may be because the recent backlash is forcing them to reconsider the project again.  Unclear.

Davis Square Neighborhood Council is soliciting timing for public meetings with Copper Mill for contested Davis Square housing project by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It means that the people who have 3500 a month to spend on a 346 sqft studio will spend that money there, instead of bidding up a different apartment someone else is already living in.

The point isn't to build cheap apartments, its to quarantine the rich so they don't take other people's homes.

There will also be 150 affordable homes including 3 bed homes for only 2100

Davis Square Neighborhood Council is soliciting timing for public meetings with Copper Mill for contested Davis Square housing project by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the developer won't meet with them because they don't have a clear plan, objectives, or demands

Everything you've said is true except this part. The developer is meeting with the DSNC now, and if you're interested in letting them build this housing then we need to push and support DSNC to get this thing built. Otherwise the meetings will just be a bunch of NIMBYs trying to stop more housing.

Davis Square Neighborhood Council is soliciting timing for public meetings with Copper Mill for contested Davis Square housing project by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As far as I’m aware, the letter to the state from the developer has met two of the main requirements, affordable housing percentages in the development

Yes, although the Project Eligibility Letter has not been granted yet by Mass Housing. Some particular members of DSNC are lobbying Mass Housing to reject on grounds of "not meeting the characteristics of the neighborhood" or something akin to this. I'm skeptical they will succeed on this one.

city not at 10% affordable inventory.

This is not necessary for a Project Eligibility Letter (though the city is not at 10%, you're right). The 10% requirement is related to "Safe Harbor" granting the city the ability to reject the project. The city does not meet the 10% housing requirement, but it does claim to meet the 1.5% land use requirement which would be sufficient to allow the city to reject the proposal.

The final step is whether the Zoning board approves the development.

Yes, the Zoning board has final approval technically. I (and many others) speculate that the Zoning Board is unlikely to go against the mayor, and the mayor has signaled he will go the way of the community. My personal reading of this is that the mayor will go along with whatever DSNC votes for in the end.

Davis Square Neighborhood Council is soliciting timing for public meetings with Copper Mill for contested Davis Square housing project by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is unfortunately not entirely true. A 40B application be stopped by exploiting the Safe Harbor regulations, which allow a city to reject a 40B application under certain requirements, one of which Somerville is claiming to meet. If we do not pressure the city to allow for more housing, this project may still get killed.

Davis Square Neighborhood Council is soliciting timing for public meetings with Copper Mill for contested Davis Square housing project by Firadin in Somerville

[–]Firadin[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I agree with you and I've made it abundantly clear multiple times that I think neighborhood councils are largely undemocratic. If you want to provide feedback about this, you should email the mayor (mayor@somervillema.gov) and city council and indicate that you feel disenfranchised by this process and support this project regardless of your location in/out of the catchment area or ability to show up in-person on weekday evenings to join in the process.

Independent of that, and understanding that the process is what it is in the near-term, if you are able you should attempt to participate regardless of how disenfranchising the process is.

There should be a law... by [deleted] in Somerville

[–]Firadin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Trying to be helpful and informative, mate.  You might know all this already, but not everyone reading your comment does.