The Boston City Council today approved a request from at-large Councilor Michael Flaherty for a hearing to try to get Massport, the BRA and the city Economic Development and Industrial Corp. on the same page when it comes to re-use of the city-owned land on Boston Harbor.
Flaherty made his request after news broked that Massport has put land out to bid in the Boston Marine Industrial Park in South Boston and that one bid calls for relocating businesses from Widett Circle, including meatpacking plants, even though the industrial park is supposed to be limited to businesses having some relation to the seas.
He continued he's annoyed the authority seems willing to try to get bids for leases that would run less than 65 years, which he said is the minimum most developers would accept for new projects.
Calling that "disingenuous," Flaherty said Massport has botched a number of opportunities to redevelop the land for marine-related uses over the years. He said he's tired of Massport "making decisions on their own agenda and pretty much telling everybody else to just pound sand."
Massport, he continued, needs to realize that the city owns the land, and only leases it to the authority - and ultimately has to approve any new uses for it. "There is a city of Boston, there is a city council of Boston, there is a mayor of Boston, there is a BRA," he said.
Although most of Flaherty's ire was directed towards Massport in South Boston, he added his comments could also apply to some undeveloped land at the BRA-owned Charlestown Navy Yard.
Massport representatives did not attend the council meeting, the agenda for which did not list Flaherty's hearing proposal - he offered it for consideration after the council had finished its agenda items.