Things to Know in the South End Today, Feb. 6: Chester Sq. Neighborhood Association Talks Trees, Trash
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of snow showers before 9 a.m. then a gradual clearing, with a high of 39 degrees. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent. 2. Chester Square Neighborhood Meeting: For the residents of the Chester Sq. area, there’s a meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Harriet Tubman House at United South End Settlements (566 Columbus Ave.) On the agenda is information and planning for an Arbor Day event in April, trash issues and information for new residents. See here for more information. 3. Brewers Helping Neighbors: Coming up on Thursday is a special event at the United South End Settlements, (566 Columbus Ave.) Join friends, colleagues, and neighbors for this year’s Brewers Helping Neighbors, which will feature a Mardi Gras theme with live music, ten local brewers, and four Your $ 40 ticket supports the work of United South End Settlements – direct services and community advocacy for the South End and Lower Roxbury. See here for more information. 4. Taste of the South End: Tickets are now on sale for the upcoming Taste of the South End, which benefits the AIDS Action Committee of MA. For $ 100, you can experience unlimited food and wine sampling from Boston’s best kitchens. For slightly more, you can experience Taste of the South End as a VIP, gaining early entry to the tasting room and enjoying special VIP benefits. The event takes place on March 5th from 7- 9:30 p.m. at the The Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts (539 Tremont St.) See here for more details. 5. Taylor Street Update: In case you’ve been following along, the Landmarks Commission reviewed the demolition at 8-10 Taylor Street on Tuesday night and determined that the stop work order would be lifted, and the demolished east wall of the property would need to be rebuilt up to preservation standards. The owners will also need to appear before the Landmarks Commission again next month with updated plans for the east wall. You can read the full story here. Things you can do every day on South End Patch: Share your news with the rest of the community. Click here to add an announcement. Add your events to our events calendar. Click here to sign up for breaking news updates. Want up-to-the-minute news? Click here to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Share your thoughts on your community in a blog. Click here to get started. South End Patch
Removed Tremont St. Trees Presented Public Safety Hazard, According to City
A big shock came to residents of the Tremont and W. Brookline area this week, when three trees marked for “maintenance” were completely removed. Resident Patrick Miller wrote in to South End Patch noting that the tree removal destroyed his property’s curb appeal and privacy. “My windows are directly above Gold Gallery looking out onto W. Brookline,” he said. “I now have no privacy, and the street looks horrible. They also destroyed our brick sidewalk in the process.” It wasn’t long before others began to share their own concerns. Reader Omar wrote that he was very disappointed – and borderline angry – to see the trees removed from the block. “Trees are a key component of West Brookline Street’s charm and beauty,” he wrote. “The fact that the removal came without warning adds insult to injury. The neighborhood should be more aware of this kind of activity and prevent it in the future.” However, the root of the issue actually dates back to 2011, according to the city of Boston, which has come through with an answer and specific information as to what lead to the tree’s removal through a Citizen’s Connect response from the Parks Department. Max Ford-Diamond of the Parks Dept. wrote in his response the three pear trees at 655-657 Tremont St on W. Brookline were removed due to the hazard that they posed to public safety. “The original case was created on June 10, 2011, which requested that the trees be pruned,” he wrote. “The site was inspected on June 30 by the Boston Parks Departments Inspector who is a Massachusetts Certified Arborist.” “At the time the three trees were inspected they were deemed unable to be pruned to the cities pruning specifications and in need of removal for several reasons: All three trees were leaning more then 25 degrees over the road; All three trees have had multiple emergencies where large leaders had broken off of them; The trunks of the trees have been hit numerous times by trucks and cars and have large wounds that have never healed and were starting to decay. The Boston Parks Department also does not plant this species of tree anymore due to there high risk of failure due to poor branch structure and weak branch attachment points. The Boston Parks Department has pictures of these defects that show why the trees needed to be removed. A new tree request will be made for this location to have the site inspected for new trees. The replanting process currently takes between 6 and 12 months. The contractor who removed the trees has been notified to go back to […]