UPDATE: The hearing was postponed until October 22nd. We are talking with the owner about some improvements to the design and landscaping.
On Thursday, August 27th at 7:45pm October 22nd at 7:00 pm the Board of Zoning Appeal will hear the request for a special permit and variances that would enable the former Tokyo restaurant (at 307 Fresh Pond Parkway) to be used as an extension of the auto repair garage next door.
Below are links to the most recent elevations, which have been revised to address some of our suggestions for design improvements. We are waiting for a revised landscaping plan, as one of our greatest concerns is how the parking lot facing Vassal Lane will be screened from the heavily traveled route between Fresh Pond and the Tobin School.
Scheduling an important hearing in late August when many residents are out of town is unfortunate, and the proposed change of use to auto repair is hardly ideal from a land use standpoint for such a prominent gateway location. It’s hard to reconcile yet another auto business with the planning goals of the Parkway Overlay District (20.6), which are “to create unified identifiable images of designated areas, to enhance public safety by reducing visual confusion and haphazard development, to encourage development which will protect and enhance the use and enjoyment of public open space resources.”
Comments to the BZA may be emailed to Maria Pacheco at mpacheco@cambridgema.gov. If you are able to attend the hearing it will take place at the Senior Center in Central Sq. Here’s the full agenda.
Elevations (as of 8/19)
Site plan with landscaping (as of 7/31)
Fresh Pond Residents Alliance 
Might the Tokyo be an excellent location for a spray park, a skate park? One holds out hope that one day something like this could happen. We were amazed to see the large crowds gathered at the spray park in front of the Boston Public Market during the labor day weekend. The market too was quite a sight. An incredible transformation of a location that was a desolate stretch, especially on weekends. There is no denying the amount of work and investment that was put into the big-dig project that has now opened up never-before possiblities for public spaces in the heart of Boston. Maybe the new housing coming up in the area helps underwrite all this excellent work. Everything does look shiny when new. Its our good fortune that the city did not sell-off the air-rights atop the tunnel when under pressure with all the big-dig budgetary over-runs and kvetching on different fronts.
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