Charlestown Homeowners Suing the City of Boston to Block Housing for Formerly Homeless

The Boston Globe is reporting that a group of Charlestown homeowners are suing the City of Boston to block a 100-unit permanently affordable apartment development in the Charlestown Navy Yard – half of which would be designated to housing for formerly homeless women and veterans.

The lawsuit was filed recently and alleges the BPDA did not consider opposition to the project and did not take certain testimony or “chat comments” in an October meeting held virtually into account. The plaintiffs argue the BPDA violated their First Amendment rights of assembly, speech, and petitioning activity when it “bypassed and waived the public review requirement and failed to allow the assembly of an Impact Advisory Group.”

Back in October of 2022, when the project was first proposed, the developers asked to waive the BPDA’s large development project review, aka Article 80. After neighbors began to complain and City Councilor Gabriela Coletta began to push back, the project went through the proper process, including public meetings and public comments. However, Coletta said that at the December BPDA meeting, an Impact Advisory Group was not convened.

The complaint also states that “significant adverse harms” will come to the neighborhood if the project is approved, including quality of life issues such as an increase in traffic and lack of parking.

You can read all the details here.