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CHINATOWN RESIDENTS DEMAND A VOICE:
Voters Reject Liberty Place and Combat Zone
8 /4/02
This press release comes from the Chinese Progressive Association, Campaign to Protect Chinatown, and the Chinatown Resident Association
Hundreds of Chinatown residents came out to vote on August 2 and 3 in a special non-binding, community-based referendum called for by community residents and activists opposed to the Liberty Place project proposed for Washington and Beach Street. A total of 923 residents participated in the voting, which was coordinated and monitored by the American Friends Service Committee and the League of Women Voters of Boston.
The referendum posed three questions concerning the neighborhood's future:
1) Should the City of Boston approve the current proposed Liberty Place project?
2) Should the City of Boston rezone the adult entertainment district created in 1974 in the lower Washington Street area?
3) Should the City of Boston establish a policy that provides residents of Chinatown, through an incorporated resident association, an ability to review and offer recommendations regarding development and land use project proposals that impact Chinatown?
Chinatown residents and community activists launched the referendum amidst a heated battle over the proposed Liberty Place project, a 28-story market-rate housing development supported by City Hall. Boston Redevelopment Authority representatives have claimed that most Chinatown residents support the project. A well-funded pro-development campaign was supported by Chinatown landlords, business leaders, and an elderly service group which stands to gain 20 housing units from the project. Yesterday's tallies showed that Chinatown residents opposed the Liberty Place project by a three-to-one ratio, with 220 voting in favor and 669 in opposition.
Liberty Place opponents have challenged the developer's claims that upscale development will remove the Combat Zone. Instead, they argue, working families and small businesses may be forced out while upscale strip clubs remain. Yesterday, residents called for rezoning of the adult entertainment district, moved from Scollay Square to the area known as the "Combat Zone" in 1974, with 830 voting in favor and 48 opposed to rezoning. Votes on the final ballot question were 814 in favor and 52 against establishing a resident procedure for review of development proposals. Development review in the Chinatown neighborhood is currently conducted through a neighborhood council with only 5 out of 21 seats reserved for residents.
Neither the mayor nor the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will consider the Liberty Place application for a zoning variance on Tuesday, has committed to honoring the residents' choices. Community residents, however, hope that the referendum will strengthen their stance against the project.
"We have won this battle, but the revolution is not over," said Henry Yee of the Chinatown Resident Association. "The residents have voted against the project, and now we need to take our message to the Zoning Board of Appeals."
"After two years of struggle, now we can see the results,"
said Serene Wong, a resident of Mass Pike Towers. "From this
vote, we can see that residents are becoming more aware of issues that
affect us. Attitudes are starting to change, and the City can no
longer afford to ignore our community's needs."
Related Links:
Chinatown Says "Respect the Masterplan" - 1/22/02
Liberty Plaza Developer Will Change Plan - 2/5/01
Campaign to Protect Chinatown Website
