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Allston Civic Association (ACA) met for their monthly meeting on November 20. Here’s a summary of the meeting below:

Police Blotter

District 14 Sergeant Ed McMahon provided a crime report over the past month:

• Zero commercial burglaries 
• Five residential burglaries (mainly in the college district)
• One suspect arrested for breaking into two apartments in the GAP area
• Seven motor vehicle larcenies in Allston-Brighton (four in Allston)
• Four auto thefts (representing a “spike up”) 
• 36 package thefts in Allston-Brighton (18 in Allston)
• Nine bikes stolen (including three e-bikes) in Allston-Brighton

Sergeant McMahon also introduced Jillian Berte, District 14’s CompStat analyst, to provide more details about the Community Compstat, which will be held on December 16 from 6 to 7:30pm at the Harvard Ed Portal (224 Western Ave). The CommStat meeting represents an opportunity for residents to hear from the Boston Regional Intelligence Center as well as to provide feedback on how the neighborhood should be policed. 

The meeting will begin with an overview of the crime status throughout Boston and in District 14, which covers Allston-Brighton. The presentation will be tailored based on pre-survey results from community input. Then, detectives will talk about ongoing cases in the neighborhood. For the last hour, D-14 Captain Wayne Lancaster will host a Q&A to answer questions from attendees.

Holiday Events

There will be a tree lighting ceremony at the Jackson Mann on December 5 at 6:30pm. The Allston-Brighton Toy Drive will take place on Sunday December 14 at the Corrib (396 Market Street). 

Small Business Updates

Union Twist Inc. (doing business as Dutchess Cannabis on 257-259 Cambridge Street), a recreational cannabis establishment, proposes to extend their hours of operation. Currently, the business runs every day from 10 A.M. to 8 PM., but they hope to extend their hours to 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. from Monday to Saturday and 9am to 8pm on Sunday in order to keep up with market demand.

Holdfast Specialty Seafoods, which is a seafood restaurant that opened two weeks ago on 164 Brighton Avenue, requested a wine and malt beverages license. 

Franklin Street Plaza and Mural

Gina Bates spoke about the Franklin Street Plaza and Mural, a project led by a team of eight to ten lower Allston neighbors and the Boston Public Living Room. The goal is to gather community support for a street mural on the street as well as pedestrian/bike plaza on Franklin Street. Bates also requested a letter of support from the Allston Civic Association. There are currently over 100 signatures on a petition supporting the development of the plaza. After gathering proposals and evidence of community support, the City will select three plaza developments for funding by early 2026. If approved, the plaza would be created by spring or summer 2026.

Development Discourse

A development on 57-59 Riverdale Street came back to propose adding an addition to the building to increase the number of units from three to six units. A few neighbors spoke out against the proposal when it was originally presented at last month’s meeting. In response to previous concerns, Timothy Burke, the architect for the development, says that the development will have an automatic sprinkler system and that the owners will cover rodent control for abutting houses. However, the development once again drew opposition from three neighbors, who continue to express concerns that the additional units will lead to heightened fire risk and noise concerns in the surrounding neighborhood.