What goes up then comes down (240, 260, 240)

The BRA today released another set of emails and documents in response to my numerous attempts to convince them to comply with the Public Records Law.

The BRA Board will consider the Charlesview proposal on Tuesday at 5:30 in room 900 on the 9th floor of City Hall.

It is interesting that:

• In March, Charlesview planned with the BRA to have 240 apartments at the Brighton Mills site (page 4).
• In July, Charlesview publicly announced plans for 260 apartments at Brighton Mills.
• Today, in an email sent this afternoon from the BRA, Charlesview has "responded to public comments and reduced the number of apartments at Brighton Mills to 240."

Was Charlesview ever serious about 260 or was this all a set-up so that they could pretend to be responsive when they made this change from their previously published plans?

• The BRA has no information about how Charlesview will pay for the post-construction operations and maintenance of Charlesview, despite the BRA's own insistance in its Scoping Determination that this information be provided and Charlesview's consistent problems with maintenance and generating a sufficient revenue stream for repairs.
  
• The only information the BRA has about construction financing for Charlesview is from April, 2008 when we were all living with a very different economy. (page 29)
  
• The BRA has no information about ownership, public access, and maintenance of new parks and other supposedly public areas created by Charlesview, so we don't know if the tiny parks being planned will really be open to the public or restricted to Charlesview residents and we don't know how they will be maintained.

If this is how the BRA reviews a large development proposal, I am not impressed.

Charlesview Records Nov 12 2009