Cambridge Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci declared a "state of emergency" in Cambridge last Wednesday at a City Council meeting in response to Radcliffe's plan to build an athletic complex on Observatory Hill and to Harvard's long-range plan that designates a site near there for a potential parking garage.
Vellucci also requested that the Council review all building permit applications that Harvard might submit. The request is not legally binding on Harvard, however, because building permits are granted only by the City Department of Buildings.
"I don't think Harvard should build any more complexes, any more anythings," Vellucci said. "Let's call it finito, FINITO, as it's said in Italian. No more buildings," he said.
City Councilor Francis H. Duehay '55 said Sunday he believes Vellucci's declaration of a state of emergency was probably "not the most fruitful way to go about making a settlement with Harvard."
Radcliffe has not yet requested a building permit for the planned athletic facility on Observatory Hill because the plans are not yet complete. Construction is expected to begin the first week of October, Burton Wolfman, administrative dean of Radcliffe College, said Sunday.
More than 100 residents of the Observatory Hill area, however, submitted a petition last Tuesday to the Council to down-zone the block of land owned by the University on that site. Although the zoning change, if passed, will not affect Radcliffe's plans for the athletic facility, the process of changing the zoning map may delay the granting of a building permit, Duehay said.
The Cambridge Planning Board is expected to make its recommendation to the City Council, the only governing body with the legal power to make a change in the zoning map, next week.
Read more in News
Long and Winding Road to Commencement: Seniors on Life Post-ThesisRecommended Articles
-
Preparing for BattleIt surprised no one when President Bok said earlier this week that he and President Horner had been holding strategy
-
Vellucci Blasts Harvard For Construction ProposalsCambridge mayor Alfred E. Vellucci declared a "state of emergency" in Cambridge last Wednesday at a City Council meeting in
-
City Planning Board Will Recommend Down-Zoning of Observatory HillThe Cambridge Planning Board last night recommended that the Harvard property on Observatory Hill be down-zoned to limit the heights
-
A Quiet CommunityI N RESPONSE to a petition requesting that Cambridge down-zone Harvard-owned property on Observatory Hill, which would affect future construction
-
In ProgressThe Cambridge Planning Board recommended this week that the City Council change the zoning laws covering Observatory Hill. Harvard didn't
-
Zoning Change to Allow New Harvard ApartmentsThe long-awaited general amendment to the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, including provisions that allow for the construction of high-rise apartments on