It’s back to the drawing board for some refinements on a planned four-unit townhouse configuration for long-derelict 15 Parkman St. in the wake of a rejection of the project by the St. Mark Area Civic Association (SMACA).

The attorney Chung Lee presented the plan, and while it was a bit of a scattered presentation, the nuts and bolts include four townhouse units on the lot in a long building with entrances facing the side lot-line and not the street. The units would include two three-bedroom units (with three baths), and two two-bedroom units (with two baths). One of the four units would be designated as affordable housing, Lee said. The development would also include six parking spaces and an unfinished basement space.

The property has been unoccupied for many years and contains a vacant, boarded up on home that is reportedly full of feral pets and wildlife.

Lee said they are aiming to create townhouses for sale to families, hence the large numbers of bathrooms, which raised red flags for some SMACA members who thought it could be a rooming house in disguise.

“Right now, our goal is to sell the units and not rent them,” said Lee. “We’re looking for families. I believe successful communities need to have families…When you have families, you have kids, and when you have kids without bathrooms, it’s (difficult).”

The building would be situated on a narrow, but long 6,200-square-foot. lot, which is very common on Parkman Street. The parking spaces would be in the back of the lot with some landscaping as a buffer, and the height of the building would be three-stories, but only 34 feet.

Nearly everyone in attendance at the civic group’s June 27 meeting who was from Parkman Street voted to reject the proposal – though most said it had some positive attributes. The vote was 7 to 6 to reject the project.

A previous plan from a different developer called for a larger building with more units, and that was turned away, too. But St. Mark’s residents, those on Parkman Street in particular, said they have been battling developers for the past two years who have found great value in the large lots on Parkman Street and have proposed developments much larger than the one-family and two-family homes that dominate the area.

Some neighbors felt it wasn’t the worst plan they had seen, but they wanted more information and felt the presentation wasn’t complete. Others wanted more creative solutions for green space to reduce the amount of asphalt on the site. Other neighbors said the plan was “reasonable,” but needed some refinement. Several said they liked the orientation with the building running lengthwise on the lot.

One neighbor said there was “a lot of good” in the plan, including volunteering one unit for affordable housing. Affordable units are not required by city officials with such a small project.

SMACA President Mike Folan said the group’s development committee had looked at the project beforehand and recommended that the project come in at three units. “If they do that, all the dominos will fall into place – more green space, more landscaping,” he said.

Lee had told the audience earlier that three units was a breaking point, and four was the lowest they could go and still be profitable.

SMACA members agreed to invite the developer back for further conversation on the project, perhaps to refine it and make some changes.

ST. MARK’S NOTEBOOK

•Centre Street concerns: BPD Officer Mike Keaney was at last month’s meeting and noted a drop off in incidents from the previous month, but there remains trouble in and around the street. He reported that on June 14 at 10:40 p.m., shots were fired into a parked Jeep with two passengers inside. Two bullet holes were found in the vehicle, and the passengers were found hiding in a backyard. They said they heard and saw the shots and then fled in fear. Officers noted they weren’t very cooperative with police. District C-11 has been conducting several walking patrols in the area during all shifts to mitigate the issues that have gone on the past two months.

Police reported that on May 7, a single shot was fired at Centre and Clematis Streets. No ballistics were found, but later a man showed up at Boston Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the torso. He later died in what is being considered a homicide tied to Centre Street. On May 11, shell casings were found at 378 Centre St. when the ShotSpotter detected shots, and on May 13 a couple of shots were fired at the market at Centre and Adams Street, breaking glass and injuring one woman. On May 13, on nearby Whitten Street, a man in a car was shot in the neck and didn’t know why. He was okay and it wasn’t a serious injury. Finally, on May 6 in the early morning on Centre Street, a man fired a gun at two unidentified people, threw a brick through the window of O’Brien’s Market, entered the store and stole cigars.

•Summer break: SMACA is taking the summer off after having had a successful summer BBQ at Loesch Park earlier this month. They will resume meeting on Sept. 26 in the basement of St. Mark’s Church.