A controversial proposal for major renovations to White Stadium will go before the board of the Boston Planning Department on Thursday. Members will be asked to approve a recommendation that would allow the city agency’s director Arthur Jemison to move forward in executing detailed plans with the project proponent, Boston Unity Soccer, which plans to bring a professional women’s soccer team to the stadium in a public/private partnership with the city and Boston Public Schools.

The proposal before the planning board on Thursday includes improvements to the stadium’s West Grandstand, the Grove area east of the facility, the scoreboard, and outdoor spaces. The stadium’s East Grandstand and accompanying BPS facilities are not part of the approval recommendation and are exempt from zoning since it is a municipal project.

The entire project is tabbed at $100 million, with $50 million being borrowed by the city for its portion and $50 million pledged by Boston Unity for its portion.

The overall project is also subject to a pending lawsuit brought by abutters, calling themselves the Franklin Park Defenders, and a trial date in Suffolk Superior Court’s Civil Division for February 2025 has been scheduled.

The discussion has been ongoing since last summer, but was introduced officially in January in a series of public meetings. The Board review and expected vote on Thursday would represent the end to the Planning Department’s review process.

“Based on the foregoing, staff recommends that the BPDA Board, after due consideration of the filings, written and oral comments received, and meetings held regarding the Proposed Project: authorize the Director to issue a Scoping Determination waiving the requirement of further review…issue one or more Certifications of Compliance or Partial Certifications of Compliance for the Proposed Project…upon successful completion of the Article 80 Large Project Review process; and take any and all actions and execute any and all documents deemed necessary and appropriate by the Director in connection with the Proposed Project including, without limitation, executing and delivering a Cooperation Agreement, which will include a provision requiring compliance with the Boston Residents Jobs Policy.”

It has been a contentious process that has weighed the positives of having a pro soccer team in the neighborhood, and the cons of having up to 10,000 or more spectators flowing into a public park from across the region at least 20 times a year.

Already, with the news of the BPDA vote, two long-time Franklin Park advocates and abutters, Louis Elisa and Dr. Jean McGuire, issued a letter of warning to the City Council outlining their opposition to the project.

“Mayor Wu is moving forward at lightning speed with a plan for a 30-year lease of White Stadium to a group of billionaire investors,” read the letter to the Council and sent to The Reporter. “The BPDA has the approval of White Stadium on its agenda for this coming Thursday, July 18. We are asking that every City Councilor speak out publicly at Thursday’s BPDA Board Meeting in opposition to this project, and that you schedule a public hearing on this issue as soon as possible. It is bad for Boston’s schoolchildren, bad for our neighborhoods, and bad for Boston.”

Elisa and McGuire argue that the proposal “places unfair burdens for noise, traffic, crowd control, alcohol consumption, and all the effects of large-scale events on the residents of the neighborhoods that surround the park,” they wrote. “When soccer games are not scheduled or in the likely event of financial failure, BUSP intends to use the stadium as a concert venue. Unlike the Franklin Park Coalition’s free neighborhood-oriented ‘Concerts in the Park,’ the sole purpose of the BUSP large-scale concerts would be a return on investment for their wealthy suburban backers. Franklin Park is not an appropriate location for any of this.”

A 38-page memorandum prepared for Thursday’s board meeting details more pieces of the project, but no exact details about aTransportation Access Plan Agreement (TAPA), the stadium operations agreement, or a lease agreement.

Advocates for the partnership agreement say it will allow for expanded access to White Stadium in the off-hours, having the Stadium and Grove area open to the public from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily or a minimum of 15 hours open. The Grove will also be open to the public when not used and will have enhanced availability for community gatherings and a year-round concession stand open to the public.

“To enhance the intended open space nature of the Grove, security fencing will be moveable and put in place and used to secure the area only during Boston Unity Games and Grove events,” read the document. “There will be no restrictive security fencing or barriers affecting the Grove area adjacent to the Overlook and Playstead at all other times, except to account for alcoholic beverage licensing requirements.”

The memo also spells out a four-tier list of priority usage, with major events including community special events in the Stadium and Playstead and BPS events as the top tier. Second tier events include BPS games and up to 20 Boston Unity soccer games per year. The third tier includes BPS practices and other city events, and the fourth tier is a Boston Unity practice during the week prior to a game.

Boston Unity games are to start no later than 8:30 p.m. and Stadium noise cannot exceed 80 decibels in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Boston Unity also agreed in the memo to establish a Community Annual Fund that will provide $500,000 annually to the community, growing at 3 percent each year – along with $1 from each ticket sold being put into a separate fund to help maintain and improve Franklin Park. The Community Fund proceeds would be distributed to local organizations including Franklin Park improvements, youth sports and development programs, health and wellness in the Black and Brown community, and investment in local businesses.

For young people, there would also be opportunities for paid internships, soccer clinics for BPS students, scholarships, and for the public, favorable ticket pricing to games for neighborhoods abutting the stadium.

But some of the questions that linger include the community oversight committee, called the White Stadium Neighborhood Advisory Council (WSNAC) that would be a watchdog for the community moving forward. While the concept is applauded, the memo indicates that control of the council would lie with the soccer team and the city.

“WSNAC will be co-chaired by the Parks Department and (Boston Unity), who shall together be authorized to make changes to the composition, operation, and responsibilities of the WSNAC, in consultation with the membership, without resort to the BPDA,” read the memo.

As referred to by the letter from Elisa and McGuire, the “other” events frequently discussed during the review process, but not defined by Boston Unity, are included in the memo.

“Team Events refers to National Women’s Soccer League games hosted by Boston Unity and other private Boston Unity events in the Stadium allowed by the City, but excluding Boston Unity practices and Boston Unity private gatherings in areas within the West Grandstand,” reads the memo.
The memo also discusses a system of shuttle buses operating in the neighborhoods and outside of the city to satellite parking lots and a resident parking program for areas within a three-quarter mile radius of the stadium.

The proposed plan calls for a maximum of 145 shuttle trips on game days that would in part travel to MBTA stations in Dorchester, including Four Corners/Geneva and Fields Corner – plans that hadn’t yet been proposed or shopped around in those neighborhoods. Also, satellite parking have not yet been identified or defined.

“Prior to execution of the TAPA, the following details about the shuttle system will be finalized, (including) location and quantity of parking spaces provided at remote parking lots,” reads the memo.

Also, a key Ride Share depot was slated for the parking lot at Seaver Street and Humboldt Avenue, where thousands of soccer fans were expected to be dropped off and picked up. That lot is also heavily used by the Berea Seventh Day Adventist Church across the street, which has its main day of worship on Saturdays when soccer games are expected to also be played, said Elisa.

In an interview with The Reporter on Wednesday morning, Elisa said more details needed to be hammered out before the board vote, and more mitigation needed to be provided given that other events like concerts could take place.

“Nobody is spending $100 million on a venue for 20 soccer games and some practices,” he said. “I just hope they recognize the problems they will create if they don’t get it right.”

The BPDA meeting starts at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. No public testimony will be taken during the portion of the meeting that considers the White Stadium proposal.