June 2013 - Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay

Bulletin
In this issue:
NABB Q
Friends &
Neighbors Events
• Architecture
Committee Report
• LBU Committee
Report
• Committee Meeting Dates
• New Members
•
•
If you’re receiving
your Bulletin by US
mail rather than email and need it
sooner, stop by the
NABB office after the
1st of the month and
we will have copies
for YOU!
If you’d rather receive your Bulletin by
e-mail, please send
your e-mail address
to: info@
nabbonline.com.
June 2013
C U @ THE
Q
?!!!
Meet new neighbors and catch up with old friends!
THE NABB-Q
Thursday, June 27th 5:30 pm until dark
Clarendon Street Playground
School's out and the warm weather has already arrived! Come
celebrate the summer with your neighbors while enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill, picnic salads and ice
cream at NABB's annual summer block party.
Adults: $10
Children under 12: $5
Ages 1-3: Free
Advance Tickets at www.nabbonline.com , a limited number of
tickets will be sold at the gate
Many thanks to our primary sponsor:
Kitchenwares by Blackstones
on Newbury Street
Further thanks to our generous food sponsors:
Shaw's Back Bay, Ben and Jerry's on Newbury Street and Cape
Cod Potato Chips.
Visit us on the web @ www.nabbonline.com
160 Commonwealth Avenue L8, Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 617.247.3961
Email: info@nabbonline.com
Saturday afternoon - Lunch and Riverboat Cruise June 22, 2013
NABB’s Special Events Committee is pleased to offer members a Saturday afternoon lunch and river boat ride. Come and join your NABB neighbors for an Architectural River Boat Tour on the Charles on Saturday, June 22 at 2:30 pm! This
90-minute tour, hosted by Charles Riverboat Company, offers spectacular views
of historic and contemporary architecture along Boston Harbor, the Charles
River Locks, and the Charles River basin and is narrated by a guide from Boston
by Foot. The Riverboat leaves from the CambridgeSide Galleria Mall in Cambridge. We will meet for lunch at a restaurant in the mall at 1pm for lunch and
then walk to the boat dock at 2:15pm. Tour tickets are $21 and can be purchased
on the NABB website www.nabbonline.com by clicking on the NABB Calendar
and then the event on June
22nd. Ticket price includes
the tour only; members will
pay for their own lunch.
Parking is available at the
mall for a reduced fee of $4.
Family and friends are welcome! Hope to see you then!
Friends & Neighbors Events
Dinner at a nearby restaurant to follow for those
The MYSTERY BOOK CLUB will meet on
who can join us. Contact Steve Wintermeier
Monday, June 2nd to discuss Suspect by
at swintermeier@hotmail.com for more informaRobert Crais. Linda Peters will lead the discus- tion
sion.
MOMS’ GROUP Help support the hundreds of
The BACK BAY SALON will meet on June
families with young children in the Back Bay, and
24th at Linda Morgan’s. The topic is Charity.
be a coordinator for the Moms' Group! If you have
The Salon is open to all NABB members and
an infant or toddler and can attend some of the
their guests. For more information contact
group's gatherings, please contact Angela Wang
Linda at words6@verizon.net or 617.437.0542. at wangahome@yahoo.com or 617-823-5378 (c) if
you're interested in helping the group.
YOUNG FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Stay tuned to the Facebook page for upcoming MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP This group meets
details at http://www.facebook.com
for lunch the third Tuesday of every month for fun,
/groups/170000949110/
new friendships and learning. For information,
please contact Jonathan Bagg at jonaNABB GOLF GROUP at Indian Pond CC in
than@beachbagg.com The next meeting is on
Kingston, MA on Sunday, June 30th at 2 pm.
June 18 at noon.
Architecture Committee Report May, 2013
Our committee heard two applications this month.
At 113 Marlborough Street the owner is seeking to replace a wooden fence with a brick wall in
the rear. We urged him to retain the two River Birch trees and to repave the parking area as
well. He agreed, and was approved by the BBAC.
At 532 Beacon, the Sigma Chi fraternity is seeking to renew the zoning relief granted in 2007 to
build a roof addition. At that time the owners had agreed that the occupancy of the building
would not be increased above the 32 students currently housed. We agreed not to oppose the
extension of a forbidden use subject to a letter agreement capping the occupancy. However, we
are concerned that the proposal places the outer edges of the addition towards the outer edges
of the chimneys, rather than inside the chimneys as recommended in the guidelines. We agreed
that the addition could extend to the middle of the chimney in the rear (on Back Street), but requested that the front façade be moved to the rear of the chimneys. We are awaiting the final
plans to see how this issue resolves itself.
NABB Licensing & Building Use (LBU) Committee Report for May 2013
Piattini (226-228 Newbury St.). The owner of Piattini restaurant currently has a wine and beer
license with cordials, and is seeking approval for the restaurant to operate instead with an all
alcohol license. The applicant is hoping to obtain a newly-issued license from the Licensing
Board, for which there would be only a nominal charge (if such a license is available), rather
than purchasing an existing license from another restaurant or bar at considerable expense.
Consistent with NABB’s longstanding policy that the Back Bay is already well served by establishments with all alcohol licenses and there is no public need for additional all alcohol licenses
in the neighborhood, the LBU Committee agreed not to oppose the application only if (a) the
applicant acquires a license that is currently issued for use at another location in the Back Bay, or
(b) the granting of a newly-issued license by the Licensing Board would not represent a net increase in the number of all alcohol licenses issued for use at locations in the Back Bay (i.e., the
newly-issued license in essence “replaces” a license that has been cancelled or has been transferred to a location outside of the Back Bay).
New NABB Members
Jack and Cathy Brennan
Sarah Carlton
Desiree D’Agostino
Matthew Ginsburg and
Dana Mandel
Sharri Harmel
Important Meeting Dates
Daniel Harris
Nick and Jill Mavro
Susan Shafer
Karen Sullivan
Greg and Jennifer Timilty
The SPECIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE will meet
on June 12 at 5:30pm in the NABB office.
The NABB LICENSING & BUILDING USE COMThe DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORTATION
MITTEE will meet on June 3 at 7:00pm at the
COMMITTEE meets on the 4th Tuesday of the
Lenox Hotel.
month. The next meeting is on June 25 at
6:30pm at The Learning Project, 107 Marlborough
The NABB ARCHITECTURE COMMITTEE
St. Please let the Committee know if you plan to
meets next on June 5 at 6:30pm at the New
attend.
England College of Optometry, 424 Beacon St.
The COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE will meet The BACK BAY POLICE PANEL meets on the
last Wednesday of the month . Next meeting:
on Monday June 3 at 6:30pm in the NABB ofWednesday, June 26, at 6:00pm in the Boston
fice.
Public Library. The NABB CRIME COMMITTEE
meets
at 7:00pm following the Police Panel. For
The CITY SERVICES COMMITTEE will meet on
information,
please call the NABB office.
June 10 at 6pm in the NABB office.
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
,
Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, Inc.
160 Commonwealth Ave. L8, Boston, MA 02116
NONPROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Boston, MA
Permit No. 56517