Proposed birthing center and non-profit offices in Roxbury rejected

The Zoning Board of Appeal today rejected plans for what would have been Boston's first non-hospital birthing center on Winthrop Street in Roxbury after nearby residents and the district city councilor said the new building was the wrong idea for a parcel on a historic residential street.

The board actually voted 4-3 in favor of the proposal by the Neighborhood Birth Center to raze two former residences - one condemned by the city -  for a new building with four birthing rooms and offices for six other non-profit groups, but state law requires at least five votes in favor.

The board then voted 5-2 to deny the proposal without prejudice.

That vote means that, theoretically, Neighborhood Birth Center's Nashira Baril could come back within a year with a modified plan. But board member Hansy Better Barraza - who supported the proposal - cautioned that given the neighborhood opposition, anything short of ditching the idea of a birthing center and offices in favor of the housing residents said they wanted instead would likely result in another rejection.

The board had initially heard the case on Feb. 4, but deferred any vote until today to give proponents a chance to meet with nearby residents to try to resolve issues.

City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson said she supports the idea of an independent birthing center, just not on Winthrop Street. She said she would love to work with Baril to find a more suitable site in the more commercial areas of Roxbury; she cited Warren and Quincy streets in particular.

Fernandes Anderson said she's tired of people from outside Roxbury - in this case Jamaica Plain and Mattapan - trying to shove things down Roxbury residents' throats. And she expressed disappointment in her fellow elected officials - state Sen. Liz Miranda, state Rep. Chris Worrell and city councilors Ruthzee Louijeune and Brian Worrell  - for supporting the project without ever showing up at any neighborhood meetings about it. Through an aide, Councilor Erin Murphy (at large) said she also could not support the location and called for work to find a better spot.

Those officials who supported the project, however, said the birthing center would provide a much needed service for the Black community, which has historically suffered poorer birth outcomes than other groups, in a home-like center under the care of local midwives.

Miranda said she fully understands the historic nature of Roxbury in general and Winthrop Street in particular, but said the project would not change the fundamental nature of the street, did not involve out-of-town for-profit developers pushing office buildings on the neighborhood and would provide a service that could improve the birth process for local residents.

She noted that neither of the two buildings on the site are currently occupied; one is in such bad shape that ISD says it should be torn down.

Neighbor Sophia Burks, however, said the project would set a precedent that would lead to more development along the street, but that even more immediately, the project was "a group of businesses attempting to rezone" residential land, in a community that had made it clear it doesn't want that.

Like Fernandes Anderson, she said she rejects the idea of outsiders telling her and her neighbors what their future should be.

The project needed variances in part because clinics and offices are barred by the lot's zoning.

In addition to Better Barraza, members Norm Stembridge, Giovanny Valencia and Katie Whewell initially voted for the variances the project needed. Members Alan Langham, David Collins and Sherry Dong voted against.