To the Editor:

Many in the Harbor Point community read your Jan. 22 article “Harbor Point abutters appeal state permit decision for Dorchester Bay City” with great interest.  As we prepare for the state’s appeal hearing, we cannot allow Accordia Partners’ comments in your article to go unchallenged without deeper scrutiny.

We understand why Accordia Partners is “disappointed by the suit,” as they believe they have been “proactive, comprehensive, and forward-looking” in their efforts to create an “environmentally sustainable project.” While such statements might seem reasonable on the surface, they lack the substance necessary to address the real concerns of Harbor Point residents. For us, these remarks amount to little more than platitudes. What we need are clear, specific answers to pressing and profound questions.

Our experience has shown that developers often resort to vague, feel-good language to project a sense of collaboration without offering meaningful commitments. Take, for example, Accordia’s claim that their “proposal for raising the site and managing stormwater is not only best in class, it provides comprehensive protection for the surrounding neighborhood and nearby residential properties.” This assertion rings hollow, as wave propagation studies suggest that without raising the entire berm along Dorchester Bay, the elevated site of Dorchester Bay City will increase flooding risks for Harbor Point.

Furthermore, their statement that “the public/private partnership between DBC, the City of Boston, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and other expert public agencies resulted in a plan that will provide hugely important resilience measures and are a key component of the City’s overall resiliency strategy” leaves us deeply concerned. No formal Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) have been established to support these claims—only vague discussions that exclude us, the most impacted abutters.

Your article may not have been the appropriate venue for Accordia Partners to address their ongoing refusal to provide Harbor Point with direct access to Day Boulevard. Nor would it have been convenient for them to acknowledge our repeated calls for mitigation measures and accessible public open space. To be clear, we recognize that developers have a right to pursue profit; however, they do not have the right to diminish the quality of life of their neighbors in the process.

We rely on our elected officials and government regulators to stand firm and ensure our concerns are fully addressed before further progress is made.

Orlando Perilla
Chairman, Harbor Point Community Task Force Inc.