Residents Oppose Homeless Shelter on Arcadia Street

By Adam Swift

Residents of a dead end street are concerned about the possibility of a 24-bed homeless shelter opening in their neighborhood.

Monday night, many of those Arcadia Street residents appeared before the City Council to voice their concerns and ask for help. The councillors agreed to draft a letter in opposition to the plan by Boston-based Bay Cove Human Services to build the facility.

However, several councillors noted that their hands could be tied as the proposal would be allowed by right on the 84 Arcadia Street property as long as it met the city’s zoning requirements.

Council President Patrick Keefe said the type of facility being proposed by developers and Bay Cove, who are represented by local attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio, falls under the state’s Dover Amendment. The amendment  exempts agricultural, religious, and educational uses from certain zoning restrictions.

Discussion on the proposal, which Keefe noted is currently not filed with the city, was brought forward as a late motion by Ward 5 Councillor John Powers.

Powers sought to clear the air about some misconceptions, noting that he was not in support of a 24-bed facility on Arcadia Street.

“I’m having this meeting tonight because there is a lot of conversation going on in the Oak Island area, particularly, about what I support and what I don’t support,” said Powers. “I can say this from the beginning, several days ago, about a week and a half, I received notification from someone telling me that there was a project being planned on Arcadia Street … to allow for Chapter 50, Section A, Part 3 to be used to put a development down there that consisted of 24 or 26 beds for homeless people.”

Powers said he is in favor of services for homeless people, however he said he suggested to D’Ambrosio that the Arcadia Street and surrounding residents be notified that there was a proposal and what it was.

“Under the 40B acts of the state legislature, not the City Council, state legislature, they can come in and they can build without required zoning, without required City Council approval or anything else, with the exception perhaps of the health department, fire department, etc.,” said Powers. 

Powers said a meeting was held with the neighborhood and the attorney at Santorini’s last week, and because of the meeting, Powers said he felt some people believed he was in support of the project.

“I’m not in favor of the project, I never was, and I never will be of putting a unit with 24 individuals who are homeless into that area,” said Powers. 

Powers said there were other possibilities for providing a homeless shelter in the city, including renovating a portion of the McKinley School.

Keefe said he was only notified over the weekend by some residents in the area about the potential for a 24-bed shelter on Arcadia Street.

“Whether Councillor Powers is in favor of it or not is irrelevant,” said Keefe. “Whether I am in favor of it or not is irrelevant. All 11 of us have zero vote on this and it doesn’t look like it will become a council agenda item, and from what I’ve read up on the Dover Act … is they just have to follow basic zoning requirements when it comes to height, dimensions, and size.”

Councillor-at-Large Dan Rizzo said if the council did have a vote, they would vote against the proposal.

“I completely understand why the residents are here tonight because they are fearful of a facility like this in the middle of their neighborhood,” said Rizzo.

Rizzo did state that the council could meet with D’Ambrosio and the developer and express their concerns about the project. The councillor noted that as an attorney, D’Amborsio is often before the council and zoning boards representing different developments.

The council did vote unanimously to support a motion made by Rizzo to have the City Clerk draft a letter stating its opposition to the project.

Several of the neighborhood residents said they would still like to see the city do more to protect their neighborhood.

There was no community involvement in this process,” said Stephen Fiore. “It was done behind closed doors (and) there was not one city councillor who knew that this proposal was going through. The Oak Island residents believe strongly that a facility like this needs to be built in the city to take care of our most vulnerable. 

“What we don’t agree upon is a facility like this in the middle of a thickly settled residential neighborhood consisting of lifelong residents, senior citizens, and young children alike.”

Fiore said D’Ambrosio has no concerns with what the residents want.

“He told us this was getting done by matter of right and there’s nothing you can do about it,” stated Fiore. “Well as a collaborative effort of the entire Oak Island neighborhood, we organized with 82 signatures and showed up at the meeting in opposition to show him that this is our city and we will fight him to the bitter end to make sure this facility lands in a proper, more suitable location.”

During Monday night’s meeting, Arcadia Street resident Doug Brecher said he would spearhead a legal initiative by the residents to stop the development at 84 Arcadia.