City Council Approves Shea Rd. Site To House Mentally Retarded Adults

The Walnut Street Center, Inc. may construct a home for mentally retarded adults on Shea Road in North Cambridge, the Cambridge City Council voted last night.

Center Director Claire Olsen told the council $300-350,000 in federal funds would go to buy the site from the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, the current owner of the propery.

The home will teach young men and women self-help skills and offer prevocational training by subcontracting work from businesses in the Boston area.

Of the People...

The council has considered the proposal before, and two weeks ago North Cambridge residents met with city officials to discuss the home's impact on the neighborhood. Residents said in a letter read to the council last night that they would prefer two or three two-family dwellings on the site.

Councilors debated for more than half an hour before passing the proposal, 7-2.

More and More

Olsen said the Walnut Street Center hopes to receive grants from the Department of Mental Health to fund an extensive program involving two additional sites in Somerville. She added the group has already found the Somerville sites, but must submit a Cambridge proposal before March 1 to receive the state funds. The grant totals more than $1 million.

"This council has that neighborhood over a barrel," Councilor Thomas W. Danehy said at the meeting. "Now that the election has gone by it's much easier to say 'I believe in neighborhood participation--to a point.' I'm voting for the neighborhood," he added.

Olsen said that when Danehy was mayor last year his office had approved the Shea Rd. site subject to community approval--a circumstance Danehy flatly denied.

All Tied Up

"Never have I signed off on anything like that," he said.

Federal guidelines require groups seeking funds to submit plans that take community need into consideration. Olsen said Danehy's letter had satisfied that requirement.

Councilor David Sullivan said last night sometimes neighborhood participation and concern is important but cannot always be a deciding factor.

"I think there are limits to neighborhood participation. There comes a time when the needs of the city take priority over the particular wishes of certain neighborhood in the city."