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SLOW GROWTH
The Sox move to take Yawkey Way
BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

When Fenway residents objected to a Yawkey Way deal that City Hall cut with the new Red Sox owners last September — one that let the team close off the street to the public and hawk souvenirs, pretzels, and beer to fans on game days — they were painted as namby-pamby NIMBYs by fans who want to see the new owners succeed. But the issue was bigger than that: residents suspected that Sox officials were looking to add Yawkey Way to their real-estate portfolio. Now, their suspicions seem to have been confirmed.

In the Red Sox’ proposed filings for Fenway Park improvements, which were made public November 7, officials suggest that they’re angling to gain a permanent foothold on Yawkey Way. According to the 13-page application to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which must approve the renovations, the team " seeks agreements that would permit the continued use of Yawkey Way ... for 2003 and beyond. " To this end, the plan invokes the state law known as " Chapter 121B, " which gives the BRA eminent-domain powers. In effect, the plan would allow the BRA to take control of Yawkey Way away from the city — and its residents and taxpayers — and grant the Sox permanent rights to use it. " We see this as a problem, " says Shirley Kressel, an outspoken neighborhood activist. " Public streets aren’t potential real estate for the BRA to hand off to a private company. "

Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea declined to comment on the team’s plan, referring all questions to the BRA. Randie Lathrop, the agency’s deputy director for community planning, dismisses residents’ complaints that the Sox are getting away with some form of public theft. " That’s not true, " she says. Lathrop acknowledges that under the current Sox plan, the BRA would seize control of Yawkey Way — but, she contends, only because the agency aims to keep it public. While BRA officials want to allow the Sox to use the road on the 82 Red Sox game days each year, they do not want to sell it off altogether. Says Lathrop, " This is only a game-day proposal. So why would we sell a public street? "

Besides, she argues, the Sox won’t get access for nothing. In exchange, the team has agreed to spend up to $2 million to renovate Yawkey Way, installing lights, landscaping, and refurbishing storefronts. It also has to pay an as-yet-to-be-determined rent to lease the road. That money, Lathrop says, will go toward such BRA initiatives as affordable housing and community planning. Of course, if history is any indication, the Sox will still make out with a sweet deal. Last fall, for instance, the team rented Yawkey Way for the bargain price of $900 per game — or three cents per square foot.

In any event, residents see the move, if enacted, as a " first step " for the Sox to slowly encroach on their neighborhood. Peter Catalano, of Fenway Action Coalition, claims that the BRA’s seizure of Yawkey Way would classify it as a redevelopment parcel, not a regular city parcel. That means, he says, that any future work on the street would go forward without City Council approval. Thus, the Sox could expand the 90-year-old ball field into the surrounding neighborhood without public debate. " As a taxpayer and resident, " Catalano says, " I find it pretty outrageous for public property to be seized like this. "

Lathrop insists that the current plan addresses short-term improvements on the ball park only, as opposed to any future expansion. And, she says, the BRA, which will make a final decision on Yawkey Way in the next month, will " make sure that residents have participated in that process. "

Residents, though, aren’t finding much comfort in the BRA’s promises. Catalano and his colleagues are even exploring legal action. " There is a possibility of legal challenges to the public expropriations now under consideration, " he says.

In other words, stay tuned.

Issue Date: November 21 - 28, 2002
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