logo/link to home page contact us |  site map |  comments  
Renewing the Charles River Parklands image of the charles

Home
Partnerships
Membership
Volunteer
Projects
Calendar
Get Involved
River Stories
Water Quality Quiz
Comments
Newsletter
Parklands
MDC Master Plan
River Portraits
Press
About Us
Subscribe
Join



"The life history of humanity has proved nothing more clearly than that crowded populations, if they would live in health and happiness, must have space for air, for light, for exercise, for rest, and for the enjoyment of that peaceful beauty of nature…"    (Charles Eliot)

A Call To Action - Legislation Proposed For Immediate Passage Threatens Charles River Basin And Entire MDC Parklands System!

Wednesday, 23 May 2001

Initiatives currently before the State Legislature have the potential to dismember and perhaps even permanently compromise the Charles River Basin parklands and the MDC park system as a whole. Of special concern are long-term prospects for the Basin master plan, which may well face oblivion if the MDC is disbanded. But that is just one issue among a host of attacks on precious public greenspace.

Among other things, a proposal from the Governor's office seeks to remove parkways along the Riverway, Charles River, Fenway, Jamaicaway and elsewhere from MDC control. The destructive effect of such action can not be stressed highly enough: Parkways are parkland, creating attractive buffer zones that mediate between commercial and resident areas surrounding parks. Without them, scores of historic park areas in Greater Boston are at risk! (See Globe op-ed piece of 30 April 2001).

Think of the impact on the trees, graceful design and special speed limits on parkways once they become part of a statewide system of highways designed to promote high-usage vehicular traffic. Many of these beautiful thoroughfares are the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of the Emerald Necklace. In some instances, such as Greenough Boulevard in Cambridge, parkways are scheduled to be returned to greenspace. We cannot let them go!

A hearing on two bills that would transfer both the parklands and parkways from the MDC is scheduled for May 30th. (See details about Senate 628 and Senate 629 below and on calendar). A hearing to put these items in the state budget has already been held -- and a hearing on House 3029 was held May 17th.

We must act now if we are to stop them. Putting the poorly funded MDC under the authority of a poorly funded Department of Environmental Management makes current problems worse. Both agencies need better funding if they are to be effective. Just as importantly, both our executive and legislative branches of state government need to be discouraged from ignoring Article 97. This obscure but crucial environmental protection law constrains the sale, lease or inappropriate modification of precious public parkland.

In a similar vein, the Massachusetts Highway Department may not understand the difference between limited-width, reduced-speed parkways and high-volume expressways. The traffic pouring through Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Watertown as well as other municipalities where MDC parkways are present, cannot help but increase in volume, speed, and negative environmental impact.

Following is a brief summary of proposed legislation. As hearings are scheduled and we learn more of their proponents' plans, we will update you. In doing so we may ask you to attend legislative events or communicate with various government officials. Indeed, if you share our present concern, one or more letters may already be in order. Please consider the legislative particulars of various bills that if enacted may well signal the death of the world's first integrated urban park system:

  • House 3029 would transfer the operation of MDC parkways to the Mass Highway Department (MHD). Those roads would then have to conform to state and federal highway rules which could include added lane width and allow truck travel. This bill also proposes privatization of skating rinks and golf courses.

  • Senate 628 would transfer ownership of MDC parkways to the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD).

  • Senate 629 would transfer ownership of MDC parkland to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

A hearing for S628 and S629 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th at 10:00 am in room B2. It will be held by the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development (see list of members below).

A hearing for H3029 was held Thursday, May 17th by the Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture.

Stay tuned and revisit our website for more information on these and other legislative actions destructive to MDC parkways and parklands.

Please Act Today! Call and get your friends to call or email your legislators!

Personal calls and letters from concerned citizens like yourself to the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development are essential if these unfortunate bills are to be stopped. We can't afford to see our public spaces spun off into oblivion!

Petitions and resolutions from membership organizations with an interest in these matters are also important. By presenting them at the hearings, your presence will make even more of a difference.

Letters to the editor of your local paper urging your neighbors to be in touch with their legislators are also very much in order. Local papers often have wide readership and your opinions, when concisely expressed, can go far in influencing public opinion.

Members of the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development

The following people are members of the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development, which is holding the May 30th hearing on S628 and S629. The two chairpersons are listed first, then the state senators in alphabetical order and the state representatives in alphabetical order.

A summary of the two senate bills follows:

Senate Bill 628 - An Act: To transfer ownership and responsibility of the Metropolitan District Commission's roadways and boulevards to the Department of Highways. Section 1: The Department of Highways shall assume control of all properties controlled by the Metropolitan District Commission under sections 35, 35A, 36, 37, 49, 69, 80, 88, and 106, of Chapter 92, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition. The Department of Highways is hereby directed and authorized to establish and execute a plan for the purpose of a transferring control and responsibility of the Metropolitan District Commission properties under this act must be completed within one year after passage of this act.

Senate Bill 629 - An Act: To transfer ownership and responsibility of the Metropolitan District Commission's Parks and Open Space to the Department of Environmental Management. Section 1: The Department of Environmental Management shall assume control of all properties and responsibilities controlled by the Metropolitan District Commission under sections 33 to 34 A of chapter 92, sections 38 to 49 of chapter 92, sections 50 to 55 of chapter 92, sections 72 to 76 E of chapter 92, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition. The Department of Environmental Management is hereby directed and authorized to establish and execute a plan for the purpose of a transferring control and responsibility of properties from the Metropolitan District Commission property under this act must be completed within one year after the passage of this act.

Next: Legislative Threat Averted! Approximately 25 neighborhood and environmental groups spoke out against the bills at the two public hearings; roughly 100 people attended and/or testified.

 

 
top calendar | projects | river basin | get involved | press | river portraits | home