Beacon Hill Rallies to Block Capital One Move to Charles Street

A number of efforts are under way on Beacon Hill to thwart Capital One Bank's attempt to move into the location now occupied by Charles Street Market. 

In in email sent to members Friday afternoon, the Beacon Hill Civic Association asked the neighborhood to stand together to oppose an attempt by New Hampshire-based Linear Retail to install a Capital One Bank in the property it now leases to Charles Street Market, also known as the former 7-Eleven.

"The Board is committed to maintaining a vibrant and diverse business community made up primarily of non-franchised, locally owned businesses that meet residents' needs on Beacon Hill ... We ask for your help," the email reads.

On Jan. 9 the BHCA board of directors unanimously voted to oppose the necessary zoning relief Capital One would need to move into 62-63 Charles St. But despite neighborhood opposition, the developer plans to ask the city's zoning board to approve the move at its Feb. 28 meeting. 

In advance of the meeting, the BHCA is asking Beacon Hill residents to:

• Voice their opposition to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, the city Board of Appeal and elected officials representing Beacon Hill by explaining why they think a bank would be detrimental to the neighborhood.
• Sign a grassroots petition electronically or on paper at the Charles Street Market, Charles Street Supply or Moxie.
• Make every effort to attend the daytime hearing on February 28. We will keep you posted on the time as well as any change that may occur between now and then.

140 signatures and counting

As of 3 p.m. Friday, the grass-roots petition, on change.org, had the electronic signatures of 140 people who are asking the city's zoning board to not "let the old 7-Eleven on Charles Street become a Capital One Bank branch."

The petition letter says that Capital One wants the Beacon Hill location as a "trophy address" but has no real interest in serving the community. 

"Capital One would be the 5th bank in a 3 block radius and the 8th bank on Beacon Hill. Charles Street is zoned as a local business district – meaning that businesses should be here to support the neighborhood. Cleary there is no need for another bank on Charles Street. The neighborhood need goods and services that residents can use and that bring foot traffic to Charles Street. The survival of locally owned-independent stores depends on a vibrant street, where people come to visit, shop, and eat every day of the week," the letter states. 

Many people who signed the petition wrote that they were concerned about the future of the neighborhood.

"I have real concerns about the vibrancy of the neighborhood if a large commercial institution with limited ties to the community, limited presence in terms of hours of operation and the potential traffic they will generate, and limited neighborhood value in terms of service provided supplants a business that provides all the above and more. The soul of the neighborhood needs to be protected," James Houghton, a "long-time resident of Beacon Hill," wrote. 

And Kenneth Olson writes, "My family frequents this location several times a week. Eliminating this will darken an important corner of the neighborhood. It is a step in the wrong direction."

Others said they not only worried about what they considered the deleterious effect to the life of the community the bank would have, but also about the increase in crime. Last week Sovereign Bank, at 1 Beacon St., was robbed, and Cambridge Trust, on the corner of Beacon and Charles, has been robbed three times this year, possibly by the same person. 

"The market is at the heart of our neighborhood. It keeps the streets safe late at night because there are always neighbors running in at all hours for groceries. The have been a rash of robberies at the Sovereign and Cambridge Trust banks ... and I do not want to attract that type of dangerous crime to the middle of Beacon Hill--which happens to be across the street from Hill House, our community center, where children come and go all day," Dana Lewis wrote in the petition.