The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 19

THE BOSTON GLOBE SATURDAY. JANUARY 29. 1983 19 bqdectog Suburban life UlUA MCCAIN Public servants, private parking in Framingham mimmi Wrrrrr Construction is scheduled to begin this year on office building, shown in architect's drawing, above parking lot at MBTA's Red Line station in North Quincy. TpusKes development of its land to cut deficit OJEWTON jL. i WESTWOOD Private development on MBTA suburban sites? QUINCY North Quincy station Office complex to be built over parking lot.

Groundbreaking scheduled for this spring. DEDHAMWESTWOOD Rte. 128 station MBTA has two proposals from developers for hotel and office complexes. NEWTON Riverside station City officials, interested in developing site, have urged MBTA to study a new access road from Rte. 128 because of possible traffic congestion.

MALDEN Maiden Center station Redevelopment Authority exploring idea of office space or market-rate housing above parking lot. MEDFORD Wellington station City has designated Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland to develop a probably with a mall, office space and a garage, beside and above the station. SALEM City officials envision relocating the commuter rail station to site more accessible to downtown and then developing it. WOBURN Commuter rail station planned for Mishawum road. Woburn Redevelopment Authority has solicited developers for that site several times, but City Council has opposed development because of increased traffic.

It is only a small skirmish In the never-ending war between the people and the system a matter of a few parking places in a Framingham housing project for the elderly. But to some of the residents, it is yet another signal that public servants have lost sight of the public they are supposed to serve. When elderly and handicapped tenants moved into the 110 units of the new John Brady project last June, there were nine parking spaces in front of the community house. Two were reserved for the handicapped and seven were used by elderly residents of the nearby buildings or by those who came to the center to use the laundry room or attend meetings in the large community room. When the Framingham Housing Authority moved its offices into the center in mid-December, residents were told to use the junior high school parking lot.

half a hlock down the street, or another lot at the end of the project. One handicapped space was designated: "Parking-Official Only." and signs went up in the other spaces: "Diane." "Beth." "Mr. Murphy." "Mrs. Daley." Guerra" and "Susan." Those names belong to housing authority staff members. John Murphy is director of the authority.

Kenneth Fox. who is partially paralyzed on one side, and his neighbor. Dinkar Chinai. who is legally blind, have complained publicly about what they say is a blatant example of bureaucrats putting their convenience above the public's need. Fox.

who walks with a cane, says he cannot get to the center while carrying his laundry or by pushing it in a cart. He has to drive and now. he says, he cannot park in front because the one handicapped space is seldom free. "In my opinion, this housing was created to help the elderly," Fox says. "I can't see why the elderly should have to walk while the staff parks in front.

They're more capable of walking." "Mr. Murphy is losing the point," Fox adds. "He says the office is a place of business, but the real business and the first priority is the elderly. When he puts himself above them, he's got the wrong approach." Chinai, who cannot drive himself, thinks others should not have to be inconvenienced by parking far away. Murphy has been director of the housing authority for seven years, and seems perplexed by the fuss.

As he explains it, "Until we got moved in, we let some of the tenants park there. Then we made other arrangements for them." Why not let the employees park in the more distant lots? "The spaces in front of the office are designed for office use This is an office area and" we will continue to park there." Murphy says the spaces in front of the building are also needed for tenants from other projects who -come to do business with the central office. What he cannot explain is where they might park, since seven of the nine spaces have staff names on them, one is Voffi-cial" and one is designated for the-handicapped. The situation will be resolved this spring. Murphy says, when another parking lot is opened directly across the street from the office.

"That's going to be for everybody," he says. "That will relieve the pressure out in front." Employees may continue to park in front, of the office, he says, but he doesn't "expect" that they will have their names on spaces. Murphy says only one resident has complained to him personally about the parking. Fox and Chinai say other residents are upset but are reluctant to complain. Four women tenants waiting for a bus on the corner by the project said they were not directly involved because "we're not lucky enough to have cars." But one, her breath frosty in the cold morning air and her accent strongly Irish, had her own opinion.

"I say, why not let them park in the Junior high lot and let the seniors have the spaces. They're all young girls. Well, Mr. Murphy Is about ready for retirement and Mrs. Hixon is not as young as she used to be.

But then, who Is?" mm ,1 -a By Daniel Golden Globe Staff MBTA officials are hoping for millions of dollars in revenue and morning trains to the suburbs as crowded as the Green Line weaving downtown. City planners envision jobs, taxes, and the final touch on downtown revivals. Developers foresee access to prime land once closed to them. And businesses anticipate sites with links to public transit. An MBTA land-use innovation that holds out such promise makes Authority property available for private development: Retail or commercial buildings share space with a transit station or parking lot.

As undeveloped land along and within Rte. 128 has become scarce, the MBTA one of the largest landowners in the metropolitan area has assumed the role of lobbyist and solicitor for economic development. In Quincy, a parking garage looms above MBTA tracks, and an office building is planned to tower oyer North Quincy station. From Dedham to Medford, developers have drawn up blueprints for offices, malls and hotels above or around MBTA stations and tracks. From Newton to Salem, officials looking to broaden tax bases shriveled by Proposition 2V2 and inflation have looked with interest at the idea of attracting businesses to subway and commuter rail locations.

Overall, the MBTA has identified more than a dozen stations with potential for development, and it has not yet completed its Inventory. In most of these places, the MBTA owns air rights. By leasing those rights, it can reduce a $200-million deficit. The exceptions are Maiden and Medford, which own air rights over their stations as a result of state legislation in the 1960s. 'It's a tremendous opportunity' At a time when federal subsidies for capital improvements in transportation systems are decreasing, the MBTA plans to improve stations by requiring private developers to build garages or perform maintenance as a condition for being allowed to build on the property.

The MBTA also benefits when employees In the new complexes and shoppers ride public transit. "Developing the land could bring in millions of dollars per year," says MBTA General Manager James O'Leary. "It's a tremendous opportunity." Frederick Salvucci, new Massachusetts secretary of transportation and MBTA chairman', concurs, although he says that it's more important to create jobs in the suburbs than revenue for the Authority. "If the MBTA comes in saying. 'We want to squeeze every nickel out of our it's setting itself up for fights with the towns If it aims to generate jobs, revenue will follow." The garage over the MBTA tracks in downtown Quincy.

which opened early last year, is the sole Joint development already standing in the suburbs. The MBTA receives $6000 per year for leasing air rights. Without the parking, Quincy officials say, a 10-story office building would not have been built next door. Sites where development is planned or possible include: -North guincy station. Construction is expected to start this year on a office building over the parking lot.

After a long legal fight over the MBTA's taking of city land by eminent domain, Quincy purchased air rights from the MBTA for $1 and surrendered its claim to the property. The Authority will receive $5000 in rent for ground-level store nlus a percentage of Income, maintenance of what one MBTA employee calls the "kiss and ride" area where wives drop off their husbands, and other Dickinson Development Corp. one of the developers, predicts that the MBTA will gain $65,000 in fares 1 3 Building is planned for parking lot at North annually mainly fromT'reverse commuters" from Boston. -Rte. 128 station on the Dedham-Westwood The MBTA has received proposals from Gilbane Properties in Providence and Boston Properties to build a hoteloffice buildinggarage complex on the six-acre site.

''It's one of the few remaining accessible, visible and obviously appropriate sites for development along Rte. 128," says a Gilbane official. The site does have drawbacks, such as being near a wetlands area. Dedham and Westwood have problems with water supply, and the development would increase water use. Also, ordinances in both towns restrict building to a height of 40 feet, so the developer will need a variance.

"I have a feeling the didn't do enough homework," says Alf Howard, chairman of an advisory committee that will review the Rte. 128 site. Riverside station in Newton. One potential developer calls Riverside "the MBTA's premier property" because of its large size, site in a wealthy western suburb and proximity to the Turnpike. Rte.

128 and bus lines. Barry Canner, Newton planning director, says Riverside could sustain $300 million in development. But planning for Riverside will proceed with caution because it sits in a residential area. Canner says residents would oppose more traffic on Grove street. He has urged the MBTA to study the possibility of an alternative access road from Rte.

128. Maiden Center station. A pedestrian walkway is planned to link the station with the new office buildings and housing in downtown Maiden. Once it Is built, city officials will solicit development either offices or market-rate housing over the station. -Wellington station in Medford.

City officials see construction over the station as a second stage of development. This Quincy station, globe photo by david ryan year and next, the city plans to acquire and demolish the strip shopping center and drive-in theaters beside Wellington. Cabot, Cabot and Forbes will build on the drive-in site, and Forest City Enterprises has been chosen to build on the shopping center parcel and above the station. A retail mall is one likely use. Salem's commuter rail station! City officials say that the station's site is isolated and dangerous.

There has been a pre: liminary study of another location one half mile north, nearer downtown, where development of a station would "spark more urban renewal and stabilize what we've done for the past 10 years," says Michael Moniz. Redevelopment Authority project administrator. Woburn's planned commuter rail station. The Woburn Redevelopment Authority and the MBTA have agreed on Joint development of the Mishawum road site. Developers have shown interest but said they cannot afford to build a garage for MBTA riders without an Urban Development Action Grant, says Thomas Foley, executive director of the Woburn Redevelopment Authority.

The City Council has refused to apply for the grant, because it is concerned about traffic congestion. Not only the MBTA, but transit systems across the country are promoting Joint development, following the models of Toronto and Montreal, where planners emphasize the link between mass transit and growth. Atlanta and Miami are pursuing Joint development and Philadelphia Is soliciting proposals. Washington's Metro system, which opened in 1976. has five joint ventures either finished or in construction.

"There's a national consensus that, given the limits any transit Authority has on the fare box and the lack of subsidies, authorities must look at new sources of GtOBE MAP BY JANE SIMON revenue." says Henry Cord, head of the Metro's development branch. In the Boston area, a commercial boom around MBTA extensions built in the last decade has piqued developers' interest In the stations themselves. Boston's higher rents cited As the regional economy has shifted from manufacturing to services, offices have sprouted in the suburbs. Some insurance firms and banks have moved part of their operations from Boston to areas abutting MBTA stations in cities such as Quincy. Their reasons included Boston's higher rents and tight space; population drift out of Boston; advances in communications that enabled firms to divide operations into two locations; and the proximity of MBTA stations not only to public transit but to major highways such as the Southeast Expressway.

Today, In many suburbs, office buildings have taken up all of the private land adjacent to MBTA property. Land values have risen, and the stations themselves -mostly one-story buildings with surrounding acreage are perceived as precious, underused property. Developers are looking at them with interest, despite the expenses of providing extra parking for MBTA riders. In the MBTA's enthusiasm about Joint development and its potential for expanding ridership, experience does provide one note of caution. Officials of State Street Bank, which shifted computer operations to North guincy in 1973, say that in the mid-1970s many of their employees used the Red Line.

Then, gradually, State Street South employees moved closer to their Jobs, and the bank hired more Quincy residents. Now, officials say, very few State Street South employees ride the MBTA. 1 A 1.