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Back Bay property owner cited for illegal driveway ramp in public alley
By adamg on Tue, 06/21/2016 - 12:17pm
Nope.
A 311 complaint about a ramp built in Public Alley 420 between Beacon and Marlborough so a resident wouldn't have to risk car damage going over the curb resulted in the property owner getting a ticket for building a ramp from the alley to the driveway, or more specifically, for "occupying city street with tar ramp." In the historic alleys of the Back Bay (well, actually, anywhere in the city), you just can't do that sort of thing.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
What could make it worse than Back Bay entitlement?
I'll tell you what: an expensive Mercedes with NY plates in the shot.
They may be evading excise taxes...
And registration fees, etc. for failing to register them in Massachusetts, if that car is in the state for an extended period of time. There is a process to report them to the RMV. Unfortunately it must be mailed or faxed. The RMV apparently doesn't do email.
They don't do fax either
I tried to fax once. The number rings busy. I wish I were making that up. Sully down the DMV probably took the phone off the hook 10 or 12 years ago before going home at 2:30.
The wealthy and powerful in
The wealthy and powerful in the Back bay think they can do whatever they feel , rich person wakes up one morning tells his wife that he will be calling the asphalt company to make a tar ramp on city owned sidewalk and curb , wife says is that is against the law, husband says if I get caught what will they do fine me $1000 .
What could be worse? Paying practically no real estate taxes.
Per the Redfin listing shown below, the tax is only $28K on a $6million dollar condo. That's 0.47%, which is not even close to the 1.2% that everyone else pays. Who did the evaluation on the unit?
Looks like there is hardly
Looks like there is hardly even a bump there...
Yeah, the way for a well-connected person to do this
is to have your assistant call up your government official friend, and have the alley repaved tomorrow in a way that also quietly removes that little bump from your perfect life.
The city should tear up the
The city should tear up the ramp and then take their sweet time putting it back to normal. Make it a construction zone for weeks. Then send the bill to this turdish homeowner.
Repair the curb too
An 8" high curbstone would be good there.
Big enough bump for your...
...garaged Porsche's low profile tires.
Probably not a problem for
Probably not a problem for the daily grocery getter Range Rover HSE Sport (those damn curbs are exactly why these cars MUST be driven in the city), but a problem for the weekend low-rider Porsche/Ferrari/Maserati.
That looks like an easily identifiable window
Now we'll see which Bay Bay neighbor wields more power.
My money is on driveway guy. Powerful people don't use 311.
I hope window guy doesn't swim with the fishes.
Wait
A contractor was asked by a private citizen to apply asphalt to a public street (for Chrissakes, it says Public right in the name of the street), and he just did it without asking any questions? Is he out of his mind?
Well
It certainly isn't his problem.
If the contractor was smart...
He'd have the driveway owner sign a document stated that he (the driveway owner) has clearance from the city and will indemnify the contractor should the city take issue with him.
The contractor would then charge $1000 for what would be about a 1/2 hour of work between two guys with the tar they had left over from another project.
To keep it a historical-appearing neighborhood
They should not allow cars to park on the streets or in alleys...at all.
(I know that's not gonna happen, but put your money where your mouth is, hysterical society!)
Hysterical Society
Hahahaha
Don't forget the horse crap and smog
Maybe a few street urchins begging too, for that real 1800s flavor.
What property address is it?
What property address is it?
187 Beacon St.
187 Beacon St.
Here is the listing
https://www.redfin.com/MA/Boston/187-Beacon-St-02116/unit-3/home/55291126
It's a lovely home. It must
It's a lovely home. It must be nice to live in something like that, especially where it is.
I'm enjoying the Back Bay bashing as much as anyone
But at some point we'll have to draw a line between bashing some abstract filthy rich person, and being personally invasive.
its a real estate listing
on a public site
Slippery slope to doxxing
Unless you understand how it goes wrong, you won't know where to draw the line.
Christ, just the HOA fee is
Christ, just the HOA fee is $1550 a month.
Who does he think he is, John Kerry?
If only it was a fire hydrant and not a curb cut.
Yawn
Snore.
Kerry paid for it to be relocated to a better location.
Yes he did, but you cannot
Yes he did, but you cannot deny what an elitist thing to do.
Funny, if Kerry were a republican I have a feeling you wouldn't be yawning. (just a hunch).
Did you hear about Baker!?
When he came into office did you hear what Baker did that cost us millions in taxpayer dollars to have his car/office/house exactly how he wanted it??
No, because liberals don't care about such stupidity and accept the cost as part of the cost of our government. The reason you hear about "Cadillac Deval" or "Elitist Kerry" is because shithead conservatives dig up the dumbest shit to feed to even dumber conservatives to create issues with government out of thin air. Literal pennies per person turn into mountainous disasters of epic proportions.
An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Anyone could find an equivalent Baker story. They just choose not to.
Double Standard
Liberal Politician does something and pays for it/is entitled to it: OMG ELITISTTTTT!!!!!!!!!
Conservative Pol does something and pays for it/is entitled to do it: Well, that's a PERK and our guy EARNED it/is special/etc.
I personally think that all the politicians on Beacon Hill should pay market rate for parking, but I'm not going to whine that "scary black governor picked a state car how dare he" when Romney spent just as much on his vehicles (and it is something a governor gets to do).
I also woudn't give two bags of dog crap if Romney had done what Kerry did with the fire hydrant: the new location made more sense AND he paid for it!
Slightly off the subject but...
Have you ever seen Baker's house? It's an elegant antique in Swampscott: beautiful and not huge or showy. It's damn near perfect. He has superb taste, I'll give him that.
Have you seen it?
Baker actually left Patrick's office as is and offers tours to show the public how lavish it is. I'm told Baker works out of older already established office.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/13/charlie-baker-eschew-use-we...
Why did the city approve a
Why did the city approve a garage and a sloping driveway down to it, but not lowering the curb two inches to provide access to that garage?
To the credit of the person
To the credit of the person who reported it, their reason was not because it was "unsightly" or something silly. It's because it would screw up the drainage. That's why there is a lip up to the curb to begin with.
Ok, so...
Ramps: Not permitted.
Newly developed underground garages: Permitted.
Got it.
Yeah I sort of don't get it
If the city allowed them to have a driveway & garage there, why is it a problem to get a curb cut? Clearly this guy shouldn't have taken things into his own hand, but seems he should be allowed both or none at all.
(Also agree with the above comment about drainage.)
Look on a map
None of the public alleys in Back Bay have curb cuts. For whatever reason that's just the way it is.
City to blame
The cut curb is most likely approved. At my family home, we once went to great trouble to get our driveway approved with the city. However, every time the street gets repaved, away goes our ramp not to be put back. It's incredibly frustrating and potentially damaging to our cars. We just deal with it because it's easier than navigating the red tape at 1010 all over again.
To be fair though, those
To be fair though, those curbs look like they have minimal reveal - only an inch or two. Barely noticeable in most cars. It looks to me like the curbs are there more to delineate the through way from peoples' driveways than anything else.