Union Square Group Pickets Affordable Housing Meeting

Union Square Rising, a group that opposes a proposed 40-unit affordable housing development in Union Square, picketed a community meeting about the project Wednesday night.

One person attending the meeting called the protesters "racist pigs" as he walked into the school cafeteria where it was taking place.

Inside the school, about 100 people participated in a comparatively uneventful presentation about the project's design features.

Picketing

Members of Union Square Rising stood in the tot lot of the , where the meeting took place, holding signs that read, "We will not be silenced," "We live here" and "Build something for EVERYONE in Somerville."

The group says it hasn't been given the opportunity at community meetings to voice their opposition to the project, which would be built by at 181 Washington St., the site of the former Boys & Girls Club.

"The developer's presentations do not allow the residents to be heard," said Zac Zasloff, a member of Union Square Rising, which objects to the size of the project and the fact it would be comprised entirely of affordable units.

They said they were boycotting Wednesday's meeting because they had been promised time to speak, but that promise had been reneged.

After four community meetings about the project, "We still don't have a voice," Zasloff said.

Meanwhile, Danny LeBlanc, CEO of Somerville Community Corporation, said city officials are planning a forum in which Union Square Rising and others can voice concerns. No date is set for that forum.

It is about affordable housing

Some Union Square Rising members object to the size of the proposed development, which would be five stories tall.

"One of the main problems is the scale. It's just too big, it's too massive," said Michael Nystrom.

Others openly object to the concentration of affordable housing it would bring to the neighborhood.

"We're concerned that if there's 40 or 45 units of affordable housing, it will chill market rate housing" in Union Square, said Lynn Laur, a Prospect Hill resident who was picketing the meeting and said there's a "stigma" to affordable housing.

Members of the group have said they would prefer a mixed-income project, not one that is 100 percent affordable.

Zasloff feels the site would be better suited for a park or some other use, "anything other than housing," he said.

Strong words from one man

Going into Wednesday's meeting, this proposal had already caused in the community.

At the Argenziano School, as members of Union Square Rising spoke to Somerville Patch, one man walked by and said, "Where are your white hoods?"

When asked about that comment, the man, Joe Beckmann, said of Union Square Rising members, "They're racist pigs."

He said he's not affiliated with Somerville Community Corporation and described himself as "a landlord in Union Square who wants more units at $1200 a month."

The encounter ended in a seemingly civil conversation between Beckman and some members of Union Square Rising about affordable housing and tax credits.

Design changes and reaction

In response to some neighborhood concerns, LeBlanc said Somerville Community Corporation has brought the proposed height of the project down by five feet. He also said designers have moved big machinery, such as air conditioning units, off the roof and into the building.

There remains a fundamental disagreement about the merits of the project, he acknowledged.

"I think their fundamental objection to the matter is to the affordable housing aspect of the project," he said about Union Square Rising's protest. "We obviously believe that a lot [of affordable housing] is needed. They don't."

"I think there's a knee-jerk reaction that affordable housing will lower property values," but studies have shown they don't, LeBlanc said, adding, "It matters more what the building looks like and feels like."

LeBlanc also said, "I would also disagree that they"—Union Square Rising—"haven't been heard. Because they've been heard a lot."

Asked about the "racist pigs" comment, LeBlanc said, "I don't want to see that happen. I don't want to be demonized and I don't want Union Square Rising to be demonized."

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