What have you heard from City Council members about Starlight Square?

Submitted by cos t3_11trrxl in CambridgeMA

After seeing the recent post about the Board of Zoning Appeals voting to shut down Starlight Square, I wrote to the city council.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CambridgeMA/comments/11oqloh/board_of_zoning_appeals_shutting_down_starlight/

I got replies from councilors Daniel Totten, Alanna Mallon, Quinton Zondervan, and Patricia Nolan. All four of them said they are working on something to override the BZA.

Councilors Burhan Azeem, Dennis Carlone, Marc McGovern, Sumbul Siddiqui, and Paul Toner, did not respond to my email, so I do not (yet) know where they stand or what they plan to do. I assume at least some of them feel similarly.

Posting here to find out who else wrote to the City Council, and if so, which councilors did you get responses from? What did they say?

P.S. I also asked councilors to make clear to the city manager that all BZA members who voted in favor of shutting Starlight down will NOT be approved for reappointment, and urge the manage to get them off the board. None of the councilors who wrote me back directly said whether they would do that, so I plan to ask again in a followup later on.

37

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

ik1nky t1_jcki7ze wrote

FYI Daniel Totten is Quinton Zondervan's aide, not a councillor.

20

commentsOnPizza t1_jcl00ft wrote

It makes me sad that we have so many unelected officials that control so much of Cambridge. The City Manager is hired by the council, but then appoints BZA members that are kinda unaccountable. The City Manager appoints the Cambridge Historical Commission members who can veto changes in a large portion of Cambridge and are also unaccountable.

> I also asked councilors to make clear to the city manager that all BZA members who voted in favor of shutting Starlight down will NOT be approved for reappointment

Does the City Council have that power? The Zoning Ordinance just says they're appointed by the City Manager and doesn't mention anything about approval by the City Council. Maybe something else overrides that?

https://library.municode.com/ma/cambridge/codes/zoning_ordinance?nodeId=ZONING_ORDINANCE_ART10.000APVASPPE

18

cos OP t1_jcl50ka wrote

I'm fairly sure BZA members up for reappointment can be rejected by a council vote. Nonetheless I both emailed and called the city manager to request the remove the BZA members who voted to shut down Starlight. You could also do that. But if the city manager hears from the council, that would definitely help.

6

matthew0517 t1_jcmx7wd wrote

FYI: the ability to reject is new this cycle. I think that was a ballot amendment, meaning the current bza was not subject to much of a democratic process.

4

IntelligentCicada363 t1_jcylxjd wrote

I completely agree with you but the city council uses the BZA and other unelected boards as a scapegoat. The council could, at any time, make these people powerless by changing the city laws. They don't. It is a feature, not a bug.

1

blackdynomitesnewbag t1_jckf0s2 wrote

Marc McGovern also said they’re working on something. There’s also a citizens petition on the agenda for Monday’s council meeting. It’s agenda item APP-2. I wrote in support of it, but I don’t think it’s going to pass because it’s written in a legally confusing way.

11

IntelligentCicada363 t1_jcylqza wrote

Carlone is probably the only one who would oppose this. He'll trot out his Robert Moses era Urban Planning degree as if that is a positive thing and talk about how this popular urban amenity is actually a bad thing.

​

Because, you know, Cambridge needs to be like every other soulless suburb in this country. Any semblance of culture and fun is to be stamped out immediately.

2

pattyorland t1_jcl66kz wrote

I'm a bit surprised that so many people are taking this position.

I like outdoor music, but I would not want to live across the street from a venue. Why doesn't the city find a more appropriate location that isn't next to any residential buildings?

−15

cos OP t1_jclv8f8 wrote

If you live that close to the main streets of Central Square, you're near bars, loud trucks, and all sorts of other loud stuff. Starlight events always ended by 9pm, and it was hardly ever the loudest thing happening in Central Square on any particular day. It makes no sense whatsoever to shut it down. Better to vote to shut down Mass Ave, outlaw construction, and close all the businesses, if you want quiet. It's just inane beyond all belief.

18

pattyorland t1_jcm7qqj wrote

That's not my experience. When I've been on Bishop Allen at night, there's no noise nearly as disruptive as an amplified concert.

There might be fewer people disrupted by this than attending the concerts, but one purpose of the law is to protect the needs of minorities.

Are you interested in finding a solution, or just rhetoric? It would be much easier to relocate the venue than to close Mass Ave and all the businesses in Central.

−11

zeitpop t1_jcmhcei wrote

I used to live on Bishop Allen and would regularly get woken up at 2am on a weeknight by mentally ill people screaming at the top of their lungs

9

pattyorland t1_jdbdwep wrote

Clearly a justification for zoning the area for more outdoor nighttime noise.

1

some1saveusnow t1_jcmn9cg wrote

Everything about their comments rings of a frothing screamer who is not interested in dialogue

3

jujubee516 t1_jclbahz wrote

Same. Although unfortunate that it has be be closed, I think the concerns of those affected by the noise are very valid as well.

2