We represent the West Highland Neighbors and ask that the record be corrected regarding a number of items in the Chestnut Hill Local’s “Streetscape” column of May 20.  

The Local stated that the 30 W. Highland Avenue development is only three stories tall, an error that has resulted in needless confusion. The architect of 30 West affects a European standard of measurement that labels the project floors G-3. The first above ground level of heated living space and garage is floor “G” rather than floor one and results in what he calls a three-story building. For most people, any fully above ground level is considered floor one. Add three more floors and the results are a four-story building 38 feet tall plus roof deck and pilot house.

The Local also reported that the old building has no historic designation, when it is a contributing historic structure in our Federally designated historic district. The article is correct in stating the building has no protections from demolition in the eyes of the City. In fact, on February 15, 2021, before negotiations began, a demolition permit application was submitted to the City (subsequently granted approval on March 25), suggesting that our negotiations to save the old building may not have been conducted in good faith.

The press has published articles with quotes reflecting the enthusiastic support by members of the DRC, part of The Chestnut Hill Community Association board, to the extent that some may think that there was broad consensus. As a matter of public record, the DRC agreed with neighbors that the mass, density and height of the proposed structure would be overbuilt for this lot as reported in their meeting notes of October 2020. While slightly mitigated by architectural embellishments intended to mask the mass and height, the actual height and number of units have not changed.

The Chestnut Hill Conservancy (a Registered Community Organization) voted to not support the zoning variance on April 28. The DRC sub-committee voted to recommend approval by a margin of 3-2 with one abstention. At the CHCA board meeting, a motion to pause the final vote failed by one vote, (9-8). The pause was intended to give everyone time to consider a sketch presented by the architect less than an hour before the vote was taken. There was no consensus.

Subsequently, more than 60 neighbors signed up as “protestants” willing to testify at the ZBA meeting, a number that impressed ZBA Chair Frank DiCicco enough to grant the parties more time for cooperative discussions until a Resumption hearing occurs on June 23, because he felt the neighbors had not been sufficiently heard.

We are perplexed by the CHCA’s very public concern that neighbors are naive in the ways of design and development approval. To set the record straight, ours is a diverse neighborhood of architects, planning and land-use consultants, real estate professionals, medical professionals, horticultural experts, lawyers, design, tech and marketing professionals to name just a few areas of expertise. Like Mr. O’Reilly, many of us have lived here for generations. We respect our fellow neighbors and CHCA board members with opposing viewpoints and it is our sincere hope to continue our discussions regarding this development in a civil manner.

We are most seriously concerned about a quote in the Streetscape column attributed to John Landis, Co-Chair of the DRC, in which he seems to consider help from Cindy Bass, our duly elected representative to City government, to be somehow inappropriate. We are grateful to live in a country that values citizens’ rights and we all give our heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Bass for actively listening to her constituents when CHCA would not.

Finally, the reasons the neighborhood opposes this zoning variance are because 1) the mass, density and scale are out of place and will change the essential character of the unit block of West Highland Avenue, (2) because no actual hardship has been proven or significant community benefit offered to equal the demolition of an historically contributing building and (3) because it will set a dangerous precedent of disregarding historic designations throughout the entirety of Chestnut Hill. Chestnut Hill is one of America’s greatest neighborhoods, a distinction we should all hold dear.

Denis Lucey and Ross Pilling are Hill residents who were chosen by their neighbors to represent their concerns in a subcommittee of neighbors, CHCA representatives and the developer of 30 W. Highland Ave.