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GOOD EVENING.UH, WELCOME TO THE MAY 14TH, 2026 MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE BOARD OF ZONING APPEAL.
MY NAME IS STEVEN ING AND I AM THE CHAIR PURSUANT TO CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2023, ADOPTED BY MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR.
THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE BOARD OF ZONING APPEAL.
THIS MEETING IS BEING VIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDED AND IS BROADCAST ON CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL 22 WITHIN CAMBRIDGE.
THERE WILL ALSO BE A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PROCEEDINGS.
ALL BOARD MEMBERS, APPLICANTS, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL STATE THEIR NAME BEFORE SPEAKING.
ALL VOTES WILL BE TAKEN BY ROLL CALL.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE KEPT ON MUTE UNTIL IT IS TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
I WILL GIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AT THAT TIME.
AND YOU CAN ALSO FIND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CITY WEBPAGE FOR REMOTE BZA MEETINGS.
GENERALLY, YOU WILL HAVE UP TO THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK.
I'LL START BY ASKING STAFF TO TAKE BOARD MEMBERS ATTENDANCE AND VERIFY THAT ALL MEMBERS ARE AUDIBLE.
DANIEL DELGADO, Y'ALL GO PRESENT.
PRESENT, UH, FIRST ITEM ON THE, THIS EVENING'S AGENDA FOR 6:00 PM IS CASE NUMBER 1 2 0 5 5 7 9 79 SHERMAN STREET, CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
UH, UH, SEEKING, UH, BOTH A VARIANCE, UH, TO BUILD A NEW MUNICIPAL FACILITY, SALT SHED THAT WILL EXCEED THE ALLOWABLE HEIGHT AND SIT WITHIN FRONT YARD SETBACK, AS WELL AS A SPECIAL PERMIT TO ALLOW FOR THE CONTINUED USE OF MUNICIPAL FACILITY AT THIS LOCATION THAT WILL LOSE ITS USE STATUS WITH THE DEMOLITION OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURES ON THE LOT.
IS SOMEONE, UH, OF ONLINE TO PRESENT THIS APPLICATION? UH, YEAH, I'M, I'M THE PETITIONER FOR THAT.
UH, WE, UH, ARE CONTRACTED BY THE CITY TO DESIGN, UM, THE SALT SHED.
I'M WORKING WITH TYLER CHE, UH, WITH WESTERN AND SAMPSON.
UM, AND THEN WITH THE CITY WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, EFA ANTE, UM, WITH THE CAPITAL BILLINGS DEPARTMENT, UM, ALONG WITH, UH, JOHN NARDONE, UM, FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS.
AND I GOT A PRESENTATION TO GO TO, YOU KNOW, TO START THE DISCUSSIONS IF, UH, CAN SHARE MY SCREEN.
UM, ARE YOU ABLE TO EMAIL IT TO ME? WE DON'T ALLOW APPLICANTS TO.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS, UH, FOR THE DPW SALT SHED PROJECT, UH, GOING OVER OUR REQUEST FOR A SPECIAL PERMIT AND VARIANCES.
SO JUST STARTING AT A HIGH LEVEL FOR FOLKS, THIS IS, UM, YOU KNOW, MAP OF THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
AND OUR PROJECT IS AT DHE PARK.
UH, YOU KNOW, JUST, UH, EAST OF FRESH POND.
UM, SO LET'S, AND THEN IF WE ZOOM IN, WE GOT A AERIAL OF THE, OF THE PARCEL THAT THE PROJECT'S ON.
UM, THIS PARCEL IS LOCATED WITHIN THE MUNICIPAL, SORRY, THE OPEN SPACE DISTRICT.
UM, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT 'CAUSE THIS IS A PROPOSING A MUNICIPAL USE, WHICH REQUIRES A SPECIAL PERMIT.
AND THEN THE KEY DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DISTRICT ARE A 35 FOOT TALL BUILDING HEIGHT AND A 25 FOOT FRONT YARD SETBACK.
UM, AND OUR SITE IS LOCATED IN THE BOTTOM CORNER OF THIS PARCEL.
SO, ZOOMING IN A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, THIS IS A AERIAL OF THE EXISTING CONDITIONS OUT AT THE SITE.
UH, THE RED LINE IS THE PROPERTY LINE, AND THIS GREEN LINE IS APPROXIMATES THE LIMIT OF THE LANDFILL VENT TRENCH, WHICH, UM, ENCAPSULATES THE, UH, LIMITS OF THE CLOSED LANDFILL, UH, UNDER DANA DANEE PARK.
UM, THE EXISTING SALT SHED'S, KIND OF KENNY QUARTERED BETWEEN THE LANDFILL AND THE PROPERTY LINE.
IT'S CURRENTLY 40 FEET TALL, AND IT'S ROUGHLY 60 BY 80, AND THEY STORE
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APPROXIMATELY 1300 TONS OF SALT IN THE EXISTING SALT SHED.UM, THEY ALSO HAVE BRINE TANKS AND A BRINE SHED ON THE SITE.
AND, UH, CURRENTLY IN THE FRONT YARD, WE HAVE ROUGHLY 82 FEET BETWEEN THE SHED AND THE BRINE EQUIPMENT, WHICH, UM, IS, UH, IMPORTANT THAT I'LL, I'LL BRING UP LATER ON IN THE PRESENTATION.
UM, SO SWITCHING OVER TO PROPOSED CONDITIONS, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING TO DO IS CONSTRUCT A, A SMALL GARAGE FOR THE DEPARTMENT, HUMAN SERVICES FOR THEM TO STORE EQUIPMENT IN, FOR MAINTAINING THE PARK, UH, FORMALIZED WASHED AREA, AS WELL AS COVERED BINS FOR, UM, IT'S, UM, CLAY FOR THE BALL FIELDS AND SOLAR SALT FOR THE RINE OPERATIONS.
AND THEN THE NEW PROPOSED SALT SHED.
IT'S GOING RIGHT ON TOP OF THE OLD ONE.
THIS ONE'S SLIGHTLY BIGGER TO STORE MORE, MORE SALT FOR THEIR SNOW OPERATIONS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE, WE'RE TRYING TO MATCH THE EXISTING CONDITIONS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
THIS IS, UH, ABOUT TWO FEET SHORTER THAN WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE OUT THERE.
UM, SO THAT'S KIND OF AN OVERVIEW WE'RE PROPOSING TO DO.
AND JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THE REGULATORY ITEMS THAT WE'RE HERE TO DISCUSS.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO LET, UH, FLAG THAT WE DID SUBMIT A, UH, SECTION 4.25 REPORT TO THE PLANNING BOARD.
WE, UH, ATTENDED A HEARING AND, UH, I BELIEVE THEY HAD SUBMITTED A RECOMMENDATION, UM, BASED ON OUR, UM, APPLICATION TO THEM.
UH, THAT'S AVAILABLE TO THE BOARD FOR REVIEW.
UM, AND THEN, UH, THE TWO VARIANCES THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS A BUILDING HEIGHT.
UH, THE PRO PROPOSED SHED IS 40 FEET TALL, MATCHING THE EXISTING SHED.
UM, AGAIN, THAT'S FIVE FEET HIGHER THAN THE DISTRICT REQUIRES OR ALLOWS, AND THEN WE'RE ASKING FOR A FRONT YARD SETBACK AS WE'RE PROPOSING THE SHED TO BE FIVE FEET CLOSER THAN THE SETBACK.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, A SPECIAL PERMIT FOR A MUNICIPAL USE IN AN OPEN SPACE DISTRICT.
SO, UM, JUST GONNA GO INTO OUR CASE FOR WHY WE'RE REQUESTING A VARIANCE FOR THE HEIGHT IN THE, THE FRONT YARD SETBACK.
SO I'M, I'M SUPER POSING THE EXISTING SHED IN BLUE, UH, AGAIN, 80 BY 60 IS THE ROUGH DIMENSIONS, INCLUDING THE CANOPY.
AND THAT, UH, GIVES US 20 FEET FROM THE LANDFILL LIMITS TO THE, AND 30 FEET FROM THE PROPERTY LINE.
AND THE PROPOSED SHED IS IN RED, WHICH AGAIN, IS ABOUT 10 FEET WIDER AND 10 FEET LONGER.
SO THE REASON THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR THESE VARIANCES IS BECAUSE OF THE, THE CONSTRAINTS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THE SITE.
UM, BECAUSE THEY NEED TO STORE, THEY CAN ONLY STORE 1300 TONS OF SALT NOW, AND THEY'VE, YOU KNOW, DURING LONG SNOW DURATIONS, THEY'VE, THEY CAN RUN OUTTA SALT.
AND BECAUSE OF THOSE CONDITIONS, SALT IS HARD TO COME BY.
SO TO HELP, UM, PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE RESILIENCY FOR THEIR SNOW OPERATIONS, THEY ARE, WE'RE TRYING TO INCREASE THE STORAGE TO 2000 TONS.
SO IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE THE, UH, SALT SHED A LITTLE BIT BIGGER, TO STORE MORE SALT.
AND, UH, WE'RE KIND OF FIXED AT THE SOUTHERN END.
PETE'S BALL FIELD THERE, AND WE ALSO HAVE THE DRIVEWAY THAT WE KIND OF HAVE TO MAINTAIN AND WE CAN'T ENCROACH ON THE, UH, WESTERN SIDE OR THE FRONT FACE 'CAUSE WE NEED THAT OPERATIONAL SPACE TO ALLOW, UH, SALT DELIVERIES TO COME IN AND BACK IN AND DUMP DIRECTLY INTO THE SHED.
UM, AND WE, SO OUR FIRST AVAILABLE OPTION WAS TO EXPAND TO THE NORTH.
UM, HOWEVER, WE'RE LIMITED TO HOW FAR WE CAN GO TO THE NORTH BECAUSE WE ARE TRYING TO AVOID ENCROACHING ON THE LANDFILL.
UM, AND THAT 10 FEET DIDN'T QUITE GET US TO THE STORAGE CAPACITY THAT WE REQUIRE.
SO WE ARE PUSHING THE SHED 10 FEET FARTHER BACK, UM, TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED STORAGE CAPACITY.
UM, AND THEN AS RE REGARDING THE HEIGHT, ONE OF, UM, THE, THE USE OF THIS BUILDING REQUIRE, ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A BUILDING THIS TALL IS TO ALLOW DUMPING OR THE SALT DIRECTLY INTO THE SHED.
IF WE DON'T HAVE THE REQUIRED CLEARANCE FOR SALT DELIVERIES, THEN, UM, YOU HAVE TO DUMP THE SALT IN FRONT OF THE SHED, AND THEN, UH, AN OPERATOR HAS TO THEN MOVE IT FROM OUTSIDE THE SHED INTO THE SHED, UM, WHICH THEY CAN NEVER GET A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE SALT.
THERE'S ALWAYS SOME RESIDUAL LEFT OUT THERE, WHICH, UH, INCREASES THE AMOUNT, UH, SUSCEPTIBLE TO BEING TRANSPORTED INTO THE STORMWATER SYSTEM.
SO BY ALLOWING, UM, OPERATIONS TO DUMP IN THE SHED,
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IT HELPS, UH, RE REDUCE HOW MUCH SALT IS BEING, UM, YOU KNOW, LOST AND, UH, DUMPED DOWN THE STORM DRAIN.UM, THE OTHER, THERE'S OTHER OPERATIONAL BENEFITS WITH HAVING CLEARANCE THIS HIGH IS THAT THE LOADERS THAT ARE OPERATING INSIDE THE BUILDING, UM, HAVE LOWER ABILITY OR THEY'RE LESS LIKELY TO ACTUALLY HIT THE SHED AND CAUSE DAMAGE TO IT.
A LOT OF OLDER SHEDS THAT ARE SHORTER ARE BEING REPLACED BECAUSE THEY, UM, GET DAMAGED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.
UM, AND THEN JUST, UH, TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT THE SALT DELIVERY TRUCKS LOOK LIKE AND WHY THEY REQUIRE SUCH TALL BUILDINGS IS A, AN EXAMPLE FROM SHREWSBURY OF SALT DELIVERY TRUCK DUMPING DIRECTLY IN THE SHED.
SO WHEN THEY, THEY DUMP ALL, ALL THE WAY BACK, THEY CAN DRIVE FORWARD WITHOUT HITTING THE RAFTERS ABOVE.
UM, SO JUST THE SUMMARY OF WHY WE'RE ASKING FOR THE VARIANCE, WE'RE CONSTRAINED BY THE LANDFILL AND WHERE WE CAN EXPAND, UM, AS WELL AS WE NEED TO MAINTAIN THE OPERATING AND MANEUVERABILITY IN FRONT.
AND BECAUSE OF THESE UNIQUE CON CONSTRAINTS ON SITE, WE ARE, UH, JUST ASKING FOR RELIEF FROM THOSE TWO VARIANCES.
UM, AND THEN OUR CASE FOR THE SPECIAL PERMIT.
UM, SO WE'RE NOT PROPOSING A NEW MUNICIPAL FACILITY IN OPEN SPACE DISTRICT.
WE'RE JUST CONTINUING A HISTORICAL USE.
UH, SALT'S BEEN USED AT THIS LOCATION, AT LEAST SINCE THE 1970S.
AND THE EXISTING SALT SHED HAS BEEN THERE SINCE THE 19, SINCE 1990.
UM, THE PROPOSED CONDITIONS DOESN'T INCREASE ANY TRAFFIC TO THE SITE, AND WE'RE STAYING WITHIN THE EXISTING, UH, DEVELOPMENTAL LIMITS, SO WE'RE NOT ENCROACHING ON OR REDUCING ANY OF THE AVAILABLE OPEN SPACE, UH, AT THE PARK.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I'LL JUST OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD? I, NONE, NO QUESTIONS.
UM, YEAH, I THINK, UH, MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED, UH, BY TYLER'S PRESENTATION ABOUT THE NEED FOR, WHY THE NEED FOR, UH, THE INCREASE IN SIZE AND GETTING UP TO 2000 TONS.
UM, UH, BUT, UH, I GUESS, UH, WE CAN MOVE ON TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT.
I DON'T BELIEVE THERE'S ANYTHING, THERE WEREN'T, THERE WASN'T ANYTHING IN THE FILE.
UM, SO WE'LL GO TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT ONLINE.
ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK SHOULD NOW CLICK THE ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR ZOOM SCREEN THAT SAYS, RAISE HAND.
IF YOU'RE CALLING IN BY PHONE, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND BY PRESSING STAR NINE AND UNMUTE OR MUTE BY PRESSING STAR SIX.
I'LL NOW ASK STAFF TO UNMUTE THE SPEAKERS ONE AT A TIME.
YOU SHOULD BEGIN BY SAYING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND STAFF WILL CONFIRM THAT WE CAN HEAR YOU.
AFTER THAT, YOU'LL HAVE UP TO TWO TO THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK BEFORE I ASK YOU TO WRAP UP.
UH, HEARING THAT THERE IS NO ONE ONLINE, UH, WISHING TO SPEAK, UH, WE CAN MOVE TO, UH, BOARD DISCUSSION.
ANY THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS FROM MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS? THIS IS WENDY EREN.
I SHOULD HAVE USED MY RAISE THE HAND THING.
UM, BUT, UH, NO, MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED ADEQUATELY BY THE PRESENTATION AS WELL.
UM, IF THERE'S, UH, NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, I'M, I'M, WE CAN MOVE TO A MOTION AND, UH, I'LL DO TWO SEPARATE MOTIONS, UH, ONE FOR THE VARIANCE, FOLLOWED BY A MOTION FOR THE SPECIAL PERMIT.
UH, THE CHAIR MAKES A MOTION TO GRANT RELIEF FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ORDINANCE UNDER SECTIONS OF 5.0.
SECTION 5.35, OPEN SPACE DISTRICT, UH, AND ARTICLE 10.30, UH, FOR VARIANCE.
AND, UH, WE'LL REVIEW THE CRITERIA, CONDITIONS TO BE MET FOR VARIANCE.
UH, ITEM A A LITTLE ENFORCEMENT OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDINANCE WOULD INVOLVE A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP, FINANCIAL, OR OTHERWISE, TO THE PETITIONER OR APPELLANT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UM, DUE TO SITE SPECIFIC CONSTRAINTS, ADJACENT LANDFILL, LIMITED BUILDING AREA, AND THE OPERATIONAL NEED TO PRESERVE FUNCTIONAL LOADING
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AND MANEUVERING SPACE ARE CREATES A UNIQUE CONDITION AT THIS PROPERTY AND DO NOT GENERALLY AFFECT, UH, OTHER PARCELS IN THIS OPEN SPACE DISTRICT.UH, ITEM B, THE HARDSHIP IS OWING TO THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES RELATED TO SOIL CONDITIONS, SHAPE, UM, OR TOPOGRAPHY OF SUCH LAND OR STRUCTURES, AND ESPECIALLY AFFECTING SUCH LAND DESTRUCTIONS, BUT NOT AFFECTING GENERALLY THE ZONING DISTRICT IN WHICH IT IS LOCATED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UH, HARDSHIP RESULTS FROM THE UNIQUE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE SITE SPEC, SPECIFICALLY THE PROXIMITY OF THE CLOSED LANDFILL AND THE LIMITED BUILDING AR BUILDABLE AREA, WHICH PREVENT WIDENING THE STRUCTURE AND REQUIRES BOTH THE PROPOSED LENGTH AND HEIGHT TO MEET OPERATIONAL NEEDS.
UH, ITEM C DESIRABLE RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT EITHER A DESIRABLE RELIEF, UH, MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UH, GRANTING THE REQUESTED VARIANCE WILL NOT RESULT IN A SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD.
THE PROPOSED PROJECT REPLACES THE EXISTING SALT SHED WITH A MODERNIZED STRUCTURE IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LOCATION AND AT THE SAME HEIGHT, RESULTING IN NO SIGNIF SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE SURROUNDING AREA.
AND ITEM B, DESIRABLE RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT NULLIFYING OR SUBSTANTIALLY DEGRADATING FROM THE INTENT OR PURPOSE OF THIS ORDINANCE FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UH, REPLACING, UH, PROJECT REPLACES AN EXISTING MUNICIPAL FACILITY WITH A MODERNIZED STRUCTURE IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LOCATION OF SIMILAR SCALE, MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY WITH THE EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS.
THE VARIANCES ARE LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM RELIEF NECESSARY TO ACCOMMODATE REPLACEMENT OF THE EXISTING FACILITY WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS OF THE SITE.
THE PROJECT DOES NOT INTRODUCE A NEW USE OR EXPAND INTO PREVIOUSLY UNDEVELOPED AREAS.
AND, UH, AND IT REMAINS CONSISTENT WITH SURROUNDING CONTEXT.
SO BY THAT FINDINGS OR THESE FINDINGS, UH, THEY MEET THIS CRITERIA ON THE SECTION 10.30 FOR VARIANCE ON THE CONDITION THAT THE WORK PROPOSED CONFORMED TO THE DRAWING SET.
INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION ENTITLED CAMBRIDGE SALT SHED 79 SHERMAN STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASS 0 2 1 4 0, DATED FEBRUARY 13TH, 2026 BY WESTON AND SAMPSON, AS WELL AS EXISTING CONDITION SURVEY SALT SHED AT DANEE PARK, 2 23 GARDEN STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASS, MIDDLESEX COUNTY BY BRENNAN CONSULTANT CONSULTING DATED NOVEMBER 15TH, 2022.
AND FURTHER THAT WE INCORPORATE THE SUPPORTING STATEMENTS AND DEMI DIMENSIONAL FORMS SUBMITTED AS PART OF THE APPLICATION ON A VOICE VOTE, PLEASE.
BOARD MEMBERS, UH, WENDY ERON.
THE VOTE IS FIVE TO ZERO IN FAVOR AND THE VARIANCE, UH, PASSES.
UH, NEXT UP IS THE SPECIAL, UH, MOTION FOR SPECIAL PERMIT.
UH, THE CHAIR MAKES A MOTION TO GRANT A SPECIAL PERMIT FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ORDINANCE UNDER SECTIONS 5.31, A TABLE OF DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS 8.2.
AM I DOING THAT RIGHT? UM, SPECIAL PERMIT, NO.
5.35 FOR OPEN SPACE DISTRICT, AS WELL AS APOLOGIES.
5.35, UH, SECTION 4.33 F FOUR, MUNICIPAL SERVICE FACILITY 4.25 NON-OPEN SPACE USES AND OPEN SPACE DISTRICTS.
AND SECTION 10.4, SPECIAL PERMIT.
UM, AND THE CONDITIONS CRITERIA FOR THE SPECIAL SPECIAL PERMIT, UH, ITEM A APPEARS THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS ORDINANCE CANNOT OR WILL NOT BE MET EXCEPT FOR THE SPECIFIC RELEASE REQUESTED UNDER THIS APPLICATION, THE PROPOSED SALT, SHE COMPLIES WITH APPLICABLE ZONING AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.
THE PROJECT REPLACES AN EXISTING MUNICIPAL FACILITY IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LOCATION, UH, AND HAS BEEN DESIGNATED TO RESPECT SITE CONSTRAINTS.
UH, ITEM B, TRAFFIC GENERATED OR PATTERNS OF ACCESS OR EGRESS WOULD CAUSE CONGESTION, HAZARD, OR
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SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE.THE PROPOSED PROJECT DOES NOT INCREASE TRAFFIC VOLUMES BEYOND EXISTING CONDITIONS AS IT REPLACES AN EXISTING FACILITY SERVING THE SAME MUNICIPAL FUNCTION.
UH, ITEM C, CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ADJACENT USES AS PERMITTED IN THE ZONING ORDINANCES WOULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED.
UH, SALT SHED IS A ESTABLISHED MUNICIPAL USE ON SITE.
PROPOSED REPLACEMENT DOES NOT INTENSIFY THAT USE OR INTRODUCE NEW IMPACTS.
ADJACENT PROPERTIES AND USES WILL CONTINUE TO FUNCTION AS PERMITTED UNDER ZONING ORDINANCE.
ITEM DA NUISANCE OR HAZARD WOULD BE CREATED TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE HEALTH, SAFETY, OR WELFARE OF THE OCCUPANT.
UH, THE PROPOSED REPLACEMENT SALT SHE SHALL WILL NOT CREATE A NUISANCE OR HAZARD AND MAINTAINS EXISTING CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CURRENT USE, UH, ITEM E FOR AND FOR OTHER REASONS, THE PROPOSED USE WOULD IMPAIR THE INTEGRITY OF THE DISTRICT OR ADJOINING DISTRICTS.
AND THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL NOT IMPAIR THE INTEGRITY OF THE DISTRICT OR ADJOINING AREAS, NOR WILL IT DEGRADATE FROM THE INTENT OR PURPOSE OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE.
THE PROJECT REPLACES EXISTING MUNICIPAL FACILITY, UH, WITH SIMILAR USE IN BUILDING FORM, RESULTING IN NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE SURROUNDING AREA.
SO BY THAT FINDING, THEY MEET THE CRITERIA UNDER FIVE 10.40 FOR A SPECIAL PERMIT ON THE CONDITION THAT THE WORK PERFORMED, PROPOSED CONFORMED TO THE DRAWING SET.
INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION PACKAGE INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING, UH, CAMBRIDGE SALT SHED 79 SHERMAN STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASS 0 2 1 4 0, DATED FEBRUARY 13TH, 2026 BY WESTON SAMPSON, AS WELL AS EXISTING CONDITION SURVEY SALT SHED AT DHE PARK.
2, 2 3 GARDEN STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASS, MIDDLESEX COUNTY BY BRENNAN CONSULTANT, DATED NINE, UH, NOVEMBER 15TH, 2022.
AND FURTHER THAT WE INCORPORATE SUPPORTING STATEMENTS IN DIMENSIONAL FORMS SUBMITTED AS PART OF THE APPLICATION ON A VOICE PHONE, PLEASE, UH, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, WENDY ERON.
UH, EZRA NASH, RA NASH IN FAVOR.
AND STEPHEN ING ALSO IN FAVOR, UH, VOTE IS FIVE ZERO IN FAVOR, AND THE SPECIAL PERMIT IS ALSO GRANTED.
I'LL SIGN THE DRAWINGS, RIGHT? OKAY.
DO YOU WANNA DO IT NOW OR, UH, I COULD DO IT NOW.
UH, SO NEXT UP ON THE AGENDA IS FOR SIX 15.
UH, CASE NUMBER 1 2 0 6 0 5 9.
UM, 60 64 WINTER STREET, NUMBER 64.
UH, REQUESTING A SPECIAL PERMIT TO BUILD A SECOND AND THIRD FLOOR ADDITION THAT SITS IN THE FRONT YARD, SET BACK.
UM,
UH, THANK YOU FOR ALL FOR ALLOWING ME TO JOIN TODAY.
UM, MY WIFE AND I LIVE IN A CONDO AT 64 WINTER STREET, UH, AS YOU INTRODUCED, UH, WE LOVE OUR HOUSE, BUT AS OUR PARENTS HAVE GOTTEN OLDER AND MY MOTHER-IN-LAWS AND FAILING HEALTH, WE'VE STARTED TO THINK ABOUT THEIR POTENTIALLY NEEDING TO MOVE IN WITH US.
WE DO WANNA MAKE SOME SMALL CHANGES TO THE PROPERTY TO ACCOMMODATE THAT.
UH, TO DO THIS, UM, UH, WE WOULD NEED A SMALL VARIANCE IN TWO AREAS, UH, WITHIN THE FRONT YARD SETBACK.
UM, I KNOW WE'VE SUBMITTED SOME DESIGNS AS PART OF THIS, UM, BUT TO HELP CLARIFY THOSE FOR THE BOARD, UM, MY WIFE AND MY LIVING AREA IS, UH, OVERWHELMINGLY ON THE SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS OF THE BUILDING.
UM, SO FOR CLARITY, WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE EXISTING FOOTPRINT, UM, OR HOW IT APPEARS FROM STREET LEVEL.
UH, THE FIRST OF THESE, UM, VARIANCES IS ON THE SIERRA SIDE OF THE BUILDING, UH, WHERE THERE'S CURRENTLY A SMALL SECOND FLOOR DECK, UH, BETWEEN OUR SMALL KITCHEN AND A LIVING ROOM.
UM, WE'D LIKE TO ENCLOSE THIS DECK TO ALLOW US TO ENLARGE THE KITCHEN TO PUT IN A PANTRY, UM, AND MORE EASILY COOK FOR A LARGER FAMILY.
UM, AND THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY ENABLE US TO EXTEND THE EXISTING ROOM ON THE THIRD FLOOR, UH, WHICH CURRENTLY IS A SMALL OFFICE.
UH, THE SECOND AREA WE'RE SEEKING A VARIANCE IS ON THE WINTER STREET SIDE OF THE HOUSE, UH, WHERE WE'D LIKE TO EXTEND THE EXISTING MAIN BEDROOM ON THE THIRD FLOOR FROM ITS CURRENT LOCATION, UH, UP TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE ON WINTER STREET, UH, WITH A VERY SMALL CANTILEVER OFF OF THE SIDE FOR
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ENGINEERING PURPOSES.UH, THIS ROOM HAS AN EXISTING EN SUITE BATHROOM, AND COMBINED WITH THE EXTENDED SPACE, WOULD GIVE MY IN-LAWS SOME PRIVACY IN THEIR OWN SPACE, UM, WHERE THEY DIDN'T NEED TO MOVE WITH US.
UH, THE PROPOSED CHANGES WOULD MAINTAIN THE CURRENT BUILDING HEIGHT OF THREE STORIES.
UH, THIS TYPE OF STRUCTURE, A A THREE STORY BUILDING THAT IS BUILT AGAINST THE SIDEWALK IS EXTREMELY COMMON IN THIS PART OF CAMBRIDGE.
UM, ON THE MAP IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, WE WERE RIGHT BY LEACH MIRROR.
UH, ON MY WALK HOME YESTERDAY, I COUNTED OVER 30 SUCH STRUCTURES IN A ONE BLOCK RADIUS, UH, INCLUDING THREE OF MY FOUR IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS.
UH, I'VE SPOKEN WITH MY NEIGHBORS ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
UH, OUR DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR IS SUPPORTIVE.
UH, I BELIEVE HE MIGHT BE ON THE CALL TODAY.
UM, I DO UNDERSTAND OUR NEIGHBOR AT 66 WINTER STREET, UM, HAS SOME, UH, CONCERNS THAT THIS MAY SHADE HER HOME.
UH, AND I MET WITH HER FOR SOME TIME YESTERDAY.
UH, HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THIS IMPACT WILL BE MINIMAL AS THE ONLY WINDOW IN HER UNIT, UH, THAT FACES OUR PROPERTY IS SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE REAR OF THE SETBACK THAT WE'RE SEEKING.
UM, IT IS ALSO 15 FEET AWAY FROM OUR STRUCTURE, UH, AND AS WINTER STREET RUNS EAST WEST, UM, I THINK THE, UH, I THINK THE STRUCTURE SHOULD, THIS SHOULD HAVE MINIMAL, UM, IMPACT ON THE SHADING OF HER BUILDING.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS FROM FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS? UM, THIS IS VIRGINIA.
DO YOU HAVE A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM YOUR DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR? UH, I DON'T HAVE ONE SUBMITTED AT THE MOMENT.
UM, HOWEVER, IT WOULD BE, UH, I COULD, I COULD PROCURE ONE AND, AND OFFER IT IF NECESSARY, BUT I DON'T HAVE IT TODAY.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S A, UH, GREAT QUESTION.
VIRGINIA, UM, IT IS A CONDOMINIUM, CORRECT? UH, CORRECT.
IT'S A, IT'S A TWO STORY CONDOMINIUM.
SO OUR DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR HAS, UM, EFFECTIVELY ALL OF THE FIRST FLOOR LESS, UH, HALLWAY AND STAIRWELL TO GET TO OUR UNIT.
UH, AND THEN WE HAVE THE OTHER UNIT IN THE BUILDING.
YEAH, IT'S, IT, UH, WE TYPICALLY WOULD BE HELPFUL TO GET, UM, YOU KNOW, LETTERS OF APPROVAL OR SUPPORT FROM, UH, ALL CONDO MEMBERS OR CONDO OWNERS IN YOUR PROPERTY.
UM, I THINK, STEVE, THIS IS, UH, WENDY ERS AND I THINK IT'S A REQUIREMENT THAT WE GET THE CONDO ASSOCIATION'S APPROVAL LETTER RIGHT BEFORE WE GRANT SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
AND, UM, IN THE APPLICATION, I THINK, UH, OLIVIA, IF YOU CAN GO TO THE PHOTOS.
ARE THERE ANY, ARE THESE ACTUAL, OR ARE THEY MODELED? UH, 11 AND 12 IN YOUR, UH, THUMBNAILS ON THE LEFT, UH, ARE ACTUAL PHOTOS.
UM, THERE'S NO LEAVES ON THE TREES, SO I TOOK THESE PROBABLY ABOUT A MONTH AGO.
UM, THIS IS THE BUILDING AS IT EXISTS TODAY.
UH, 13, 14, AND 15 ARE, UH, RENDERINGS.
SO THERE'S NO EXISTING PHOTO SHOWING THAT, UH, REAR ALLEYWAY BALCONY, OR IS, IS THAT ACTUALLY, UM, I EMAILED ONE TODAY, UH, GOOGLE STREET VIEW.
AND WHO, WHO'S THIS SPEAKING, PLEASE? THIS IS, UH, UH, ANTHONY LIN.
I ACTUALLY BUILT THIS BUILDING IN 2004 AND, AND DESIGNED THE ADDITION WITH, WITH COOPERATION WITH THE HOMEOWNERS.
SO THERE'S NO REAL PHOTO SHOWING THE CONDITION OF THE EXISTING CONDITION OF THAT BALCONY AREA, OR, UM, YOU MEAN IN, ON THE, UM, WINTER STREET SIDE BETWEEN 64 AND 66, OR DO YOU MEAN, RAY, THE PICTURE WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW IS, IS THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NOW ON THE ROPA STREET SIDE? IS THAT YOUR QUESTION? UH, NO MORE IN THE, THE, IT'S A, IT IS A CRAZY HOUSE.
IT'S SORT OF HARD TO, UM, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON.
BUT, UM, YEAH, YOU ASKED ABOUT THE, THE, UM, WE'RE NOT ENCLOSING A DECK ON, ON BETWEEN 64 AND 66.
THERE'S AN INTERIOR COURTYARD.
WE'RE MAKING A BRIDGE OVER THE TOP OF IT, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE KEEPING THAT OPEN SPACE.
UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE FLOOR PLAN ON, YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, BEFORE AND AFTER, LET'S SEE, AND THERE'S AN ELEVATION AS WELL.
SO YOU CAN SEE, SEE THE EXISTING AND THE PROPOSED HERE IN PLAN VIEW.
[00:30:02]
AND THE BOX IS A, IS A CLOSET ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AND THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, IT'S THE NEW BEDROOM, AND THEN A BRIDGE THAT GOES OVER THE COURTYARD.AND THEN WHAT WE'RE ASKING IN RELIEF IS THAT FRONT ROOM ON THE TOP, LOWER RIGHT HAND ON THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OR UNDER PROPOSED, IT'S, IT'S BASICALLY LIKE A 10 BY 10 BOX APPROXIMATELY, OR 13 BY 10 BOX, BECAUSE THE, THE OTHER PARTS OF THE ADDITION CAN BE BUILT AS RIGHT, UM, AS THEY DON'T INFRINGE ONTO THE, UH, THE FRONT YARD SETBACK.
UH, I KNOW FROM THE SECTION A FEW MOMENTS AGO THAT SCREEN SHARING IS ATYPICAL HERE, BUT IT'S HELPFUL.
I, I DO HAVE A PHOTO OF THE, UM, THE CURRENT ALLEY THAT I TOOK, UH, YESTERDAY, THE DAY BEFORE.
I'M HAPPY TO TOSS THAT UP ON SCREEN.
IT'S WHAT, UH, CAN YOU EMAIL THAT TO, UH, OLIVIA
SHE, SHE SHOULD HAVE, UH, I ATTACHED TO THE, TO THE ENTIRE FILE TONIGHT, A PICTURE, UM, FROM THE WINTER STREET SIDE.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S, IT'S, IT'S POSSIBLE THOUGH, BUT IT'S IN THE, UM, UM, IT SHOULD BE PART OF THE ZONING APPLICATION.
THEY WERE, UM, AND AN UPDATED PLOT PLAN AS WELL.
UH, ONCE WE HEARD THAT THE NEIGHBOR HAD SOME RESERVATIONS, WE, UH, MADE SOME ADDITIONS TONIGHT.
SO THEY, THEY ARE UPLIFT, UM, UPLOADED ON THE SYSTEM IN CAMBRIDGE.
BUT BASICALLY IT'S A, IT'S A, UM, IT'S A 15 FOOT, UM, ONCE ABOUT A 18 FOOT, UM, OPEN SPACE.
PART OF IT IS THE NEIGHBOR'S DRIVEWAY, WHICH IS ABOUT A LITTLE UNDER 10 FEET.
AND THEN 64 WINTER GIVES THEM AN EASEMENT TO INCREASE THEIR DRIVEWAY WITH 10 FEET.
AND THEN, UM, THERE'S A FRONT YARD.
SO IT'S, IT'S BASICALLY ALMOST 20 FEET, THE TWO BUILDINGS SEPARATE APART RIGHT NOW.
AND, UH, OLIVIA, I'VE JUST EMAILED YOU THAT PHOTO OF HELPFUL.
UM, STEVE, EVEN IF IT'S EMAILED TODAY, ISN'T IT TRUE THAT THE DOCUMENTS WAS AVAILABLE ON MONDAY FOR OTHERS? YEAH, THAT IS CORRECT.
UM, IT'S PRETTY MUCH, THERE IS A DEADLINE, UH, FOR THE HEARING, FOR DOCUMENTATION.
AND, UM, I JUST, I MEAN, I'M, IF, IF YOU LOOK AT, EXCUSE ME, UM, SLIDE NUMBER 15, THAT'S A RENDERING OVERLAID A GOOGLE MAPS VIEW, WHICH, WHICH SHOWS THE ALLEY.
AND THEN IF YOU GO 14 AS WELL, THAT'S THE RENDERING OVERLAID ON A GOOGLE MAPS VIEW SHOWING THE ALLEY.
AND SO THAT SHOWS YOU WHAT WE PROPOSE.
SO THE, THE, THERE'S A LOWER CAN DECK THAT CANTILEVERS OUT, WHICH IS EXISTING ON THE SECOND FLOOR, AND WE'RE PROPOSING TO MAKE THE ADDITION ROUGHLY THE SAME, UH, CANTILEVER OUT AS THE EXISTING BUILDING AS IT ALREADY DOES.
STEVE, ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO ASK A QUESTION? THIS IS WENDY, OR YEAH, HELP, HELP YOURSELF.
UM, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS.
I, I MUST CONFESS, BECAUSE THIS IS AN UNUSUALLY DESIGNED BUILDING, UM, I'M HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF TROUBLE REALLY WRAPPING MY HEAD AROUND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THIS BUILDING.
SO THE ORIGINAL GARAGE, WAS THAT JUST ONE STORY? WAS THAT THE, BASICALLY THIS, THIS BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF THE YEAH, IT WAS A GREEN BUILDING BUILT IN 1945 AND, UM, WAS CONVERTED, UM, TO A, UM, TO THE HOUSE ON TOP.
THE ONLY THING THAT, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE, THE CURRENT VIEW, THE ONLY THING THAT WE'RE PROPOSING TO ADD IS THE, UM, WELL, THE BOX ON THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER AND THE, UM, THE, THE DECK AND, AND THEN THE BOX IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER.
BUT YEAH, WE, WE BUILT ON TOP OF IT AND WE WENT OUT 10 FEET TO THE RIGHT.
SO THE WHERE THE GLASS BLOCKS ARE? YEAH, THAT'S YOUR QUESTION.
AND, BUT BASICALLY THE BUILDING, THE ROOF WAS TAKEN OFF.
WE KEPT THE FOUR WALLS, UM, OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURE AND REINFORCED IT YEP.
AND THEN WE WENT UP, UM, ONE AND A HALF STORIES.
[00:35:01]
IF I, IF I UNDERSTAND THE, THE HISTORY ON THIS ONE, WE HAD THIS ORIGINAL ONE STORY STRUCTURE THAT WAS 10 FEET, UM, FURTHER SET BACK FROM THE ABUTTERS NEIGHBORHOOD, RIGHT.AND NOW, AND THEN YOU WENT 10 FEET OUT TOWARDS THE ABUTTERS, AND THAT'S THE, NOW AN EXISTING NON-CONFORMITY.
IS THAT CORRECT? IS THAT WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? UM, IT'S CONFORMING, UM, IT'S CONFORMING.
SO THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS CONFORMING TO THE 10 FEET THAT YOU ADDED IN THE PAST? THE ONLY, YEAH.
THE ONLY THING THAT, UM, THEY, THEIR DRIVEWAY WAS UNDER 10 FEET.
SO AS PART OF THE BILL OF SALE, THE FENCE THAT WE BUILT, AND THEN WE BUILT A FENCE LATER ON, UM, WHICH WAS A LOT OF THE NEIGHBOR WASN'T HAPPY WHEN WE BUILT THE FENCE, BUT BASICALLY WE'VE PERMANENTLY GIVEN THEM THE EASEMENT.
SO THEY'VE A 10 FOOT, 10 FOOT DRIVEWAY NOW, UM, THAT WAS PART OF THEIR SALE TO YOU THAT YOU NEGOTIATED THIS EASEMENT SITUATION THAT WAS SORT OF, THE TITLE WAS A LITTLE MESSED UP.
THEIR UNCLES OWNED IT, AND MM-HMM
UM, JOE DESIMONE, HIS, UM, MOTHER HAD DIED.
AND, UM, THE TITLE, IT WAS JUST A BIG MESSED UP THING.
AND SO AS PART OF THE SALE, WE AGREED TO GIVE THEM AN EASEMENT TO MAKE THEIR DRIVEWAY WIDER.
SO THAT WAS THEIR SALE OF THE PROPERTY TO YOU.
THE EASEMENT WAS PART OF THAT.
THEY, THEY WEREN'T THE SELLERS, BUT THEY WERE, NO, I MEANT THEY WERE PART TO THE SALE.
UM, THE EASTMAN, BECAUSE THE TITLE WAS, UM, THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION AS TO WHO ACTUALLY OWNED THE, THE BUILDING.
IT'S LIKE HIS UNCLES OR, AND, UH, OKAY.
WELL, THAT FAMILY'S SALE TO YOU, UH, RESULTED IN AN EASEMENT.
SO, UM, AND THEN YOU WENT, UM, AFTER THE SALE, YOU THEN BUILT UP AND OUT.
UM, WE WENT OUT, UH, WHERE THE GLASS BLOCK IS, WE WENT OUT 10 FEET AND THEN WE WENT UP AND A SECOND STORY.
SO THE ONLY SETBACK THAT, UM, CHANGED WAS THE RIGHT HAND.
BUT THAT ACTUALLY, UM, UM, EVEN IN 2004, I MEAN, WE'RE BASICALLY, IT'S ABOUT, IT'S ABOUT 10 FEET.
SO THAT ACTUALLY IS, IS TO CODE.
SO, UM, AND AS FAR AS I'M UNDERSTANDING IT, THE NEIGHBORS HAVE NO OPPOSITION TO YOUR, UH, THE PROPOSED CHANGES ON THE OTHER PARTS OF THE HOUSE AWAY FROM THIS LOT LINE.
UM, BUT THAT WHEN IT'S THEIR OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, THEY CAN CLARIFY THAT.
UM, AND THEN WHEN WE GO UP TO THE TOP OF WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, IT JUST, UH, I DON'T MEAN TO BE PAINSTAKING, BUT, UH, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I REALLY UNDERSTAND 'CAUSE OF THE PLANS AND THINGS HERE.
UM, CAN YOU SHOW ME WHAT'S HAPPENING INSIDE? WHERE'S THE SKETCH, OLIVIA, IF YOU COULD PUT IT ON? SO WHAT ARE THESE LINEAR LINES REPRESENTING HERE? IT'S DECKING.
SO, AND THIS IS THE THIRD STORY, CORRECT? UM, MIKE? YES.
AND SO RIGHT NOW, IS THERE A PART THIRD STORY, OR NO THIRD STORY.
THERE'S, THERE'S A FULL THIRD STORY, BUT YOU'RE JUST EXPANDING THE SPACE ON IT? CORRECT.
THE BED, THE BED TO THE LEFT OF THE SPIRAL STAIR IS, IS A, UM, IS A THIRD STORY.
THERE'S A DOUBLE HEIGHT SPACE WITH AN X IN IT.
THE SPACE TO THE RIGHT OF THE, UM, CIRCULAR STAIRCASE IS A BEDROOM RIGHT NOW.
I MEAN, VERY SMALL BEDROOM AND A BATH.
SO WE DIDN'T DRAW THAT IN, BUT THAT'S, WE'RE JUST BUILDING OUT A LITTLE MORE OF THE, UM, THE THIRD STORY, BUT NOT COMPLETELY.
'CAUSE THE FRONT DECK WOULD STILL, UM, BE OPEN THE FRONT ROOF DECK.
SO IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO ACHIEVE WHAT YOU NEED TO ACHIEVE FOR, UH, YOUR PURPOSES OF EXPANDING YOUR FAMILY IN THE FUTURE WITHOUT GOING FURTHER INTO THE SETBACK? BECAUSE I SEE ALL THIS DECKING ON THE THIRD FLOOR.
UM, SO I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY, WHY IS ALL THAT DECKING THERE? WHY DOES IT FORCE YOU TO MOVE INTO THE SETBACK? WHY, WHY CAN'T, WHY CAN'T YOU DO WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO WITHOUT ENCROACHING? UM, MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE RULES IS THAT ALL OF THE DECKING SITS WITHIN THE SETBACK.
SO IF WE WERE TO, UH, TO, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN AS A PROPOSED SPACE, IF WE WERE TO BASICALLY SHIFT THAT ROOM TO ANY OTHER PLACE IN THE CURRENT DECKING, I, I THINK WE WOULD STILL BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION.
IS, IS MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE RULES, UNLESS IT WERE MOVED TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BUILDING? CORRECT.
THE, THE, THE ONLY THING BY RIGHT, THAT CAN BE BUILT OUT IS THE, IS THE,
[00:40:01]
UM, BACK RIGHT HAND CORNER.AND THAT ACTUALLY WE COULD INCREASE THE CANTILEVER OUT.
SO IT WAS ACTUALLY EVEN, EVEN GREATER TO THE NEW CODE, WHICH IS A FIVE FOOT SETBACK.
UM, SO THE PROPOSED PLANS HAVE LIKE A, UM, A BEDROOM AND THEN A, A NEW OFFICE.
UM, AND THEN ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IT'S, IT'S A, IT, UM, I MADE A, NOT, NOT A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL, BUT THE ORIGINAL HOUSE WAS, UM, MADE WITH A GUY AT, WORKED AT MOSIA SOFTIE.
AND I BASICALLY, UM, DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF FUNDS AND I BASICALLY BUILT WHATEVER HE DESIGNED.
IT WAS, UH, AND IT'S A, IT'S A VERY, UM, CUT UP HOUSE.
IT'S, IT'S, IT HAS WEIRD TRAFFIC.
IT'S, UM, IT'S NOT THE BEST HOUSE FOR A LIVING.
WE'RE JUST SORT OF TRYING TO MAKE IT A MORE LIVABLE SPACE.
AND IT'S ALL, THE EXISTING BEDROOMS ARE 10 FEET BY 10 FEET.
UM, THEY DON'T REALLY FIT A, A NORMAL, LIKE A DECENT SIZED BED AND HAVE A GOOD ROOM FOR PEOPLE.
UM, THE CURRENT OCCUPANTS ARE ACTUALLY IN A BED BEDROOM THAT IS UNDER A HUNDRED SQUARE FEET.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S EXTREMELY, UH, THE DECKS MAKE IT EXTREMELY CUT UP RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT, UM, AND WELL, UM, I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, UH, THE DIFFICULTIES 'CAUSE I CAN SEE THEM ONLINE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE HOUSE, BUT I, I THINK I'M HAVING TROUBLE BEING ABLE TO VOTE ON THIS ONE, NOT HAVING SEEN THE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION IN A TIMELY MANNER.
TWO, NOT REALLY UNDERSTANDING THE PLANS AS DRAWN IN TERMS OF WHAT'S GOING ON, TO UNDERSTAND, UH, I MEAN, I COULD FOLLOW, AND THREE, THERE'S NO, UH, LIGHT STUDY.
AND, BUT AGAIN, I'LL WAIT UNTIL HEAR FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS.
PERHAPS THEIR POSITION IS CHANGED, BUT FOR NOW, I'M, I'M GONNA LEAVE IT TO OTHER PEOPLE TO SPEAK WHILE I TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
UH, UH, AND THIS IS STEVEN SPEAKING.
I, I ALSO SHARE, UH, A LEVEL OF CONFUSION WITH THE DOCUMENTATION.
I DON'T THINK IT'S VERY CLEAR WHAT, WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED.
AND, UM, I'M, WELL, COULD WE, I HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE IN, IN THE ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING INDUSTRY, AND I, I THINK IT'S, IT'S MISSING A LOT OF INFORMATION.
YOU DON'T HAVE AN UPDATED SITE SURVEY FOR ME TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.
SO, AND I LIKE THE UNITS OF MEASUREMENT.
I, I, I MEAN, JUST SOME BASIC INFORMATION ON THESE DRAWINGS ARE NOT THERE FOR ME TO REALLY GET A, A GRASP OF, OF WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING.
CAN, CAN WE JUST, I MEAN, EVEN IF WE CONTINUE IT, I'D LIKE TO CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT IT SOME MORE SO THAT, UM, I GET YOUR VIEWPOINTS.
CAN WE LOOK AT THE RENDERINGS? BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S THE BEST.
UM, CAN WE LOOK AT, UM, 13? UM, SO, AND I, I APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE, JUST SO THAT WE CAN AT LEAST, UM, UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE BUILDING.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE ROPA STREET SIDE, UH, RIGHT NOW AT THE RENDERING IN THE CENTER, YOU SEE, UM, SOME VERTICAL WINDOWS, UM, 2, 4, 6 8 VERTICAL WINDOWS, AND THEN SOME CLOISTERING WINDOWS ON TOP.
I ACTUALLY SEE 10 WINDOWS, 10, SORRY, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
SO THAT ON THE SHEPA STREET SIDE, THAT'S THE ADDITION WE'RE PROPOSING.
UM, AND BASICALLY IT'S JOINING ON THE, UM, UH, TOWARDS THE WINTER STREET SIDE, THERE'S A KITCHEN, AND ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THERE'S A LITTLE SITTING AREA.
SO WE'RE BASICALLY CONNECTING THOSE TWO AND FILLING IN THE, THE DECK ON THOSE TWO SIDES.
AND THEN ABOVE IT WHERE THE, UM, CHANNEL GLASS IS IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER.
UM, AND, UM, WE'RE MAKING THE AREA WITH THE CLOISTER WINDOWS, UM, A WALK-IN CLOSET.
SO IT'S BASICALLY, IT'S MAKING THE, UH, CHANNEL GLASS AREA, GIVING IT A CLOSET, GIVING THAT BEDROOM A CLOSET.
AND RIGHT BELOW IT, WE'RE JOINING THE TWO, THE KITCHEN AND THE LITTLE LIVING ROOM TO MAKE A LITTLE COFFEE AREA.
SO I THINK THAT SIDE AT LEAST IS PRETTY EASY TO UNDERSTAND.
BUT, UM, UM, BUT IT'S A, IT'S, IT IS A PRETTY CRAZY HOUSE.
BUT I THINK, CAN I ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? THIS SIDE OF THE BUILDING, YOUR DRAWINGS ARE CALLING OUT QUARTER SCALE, BUT YOU HAVE DIMENSION STRINGS.
IS THAT METRIC? NO, THEY'RE JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M
[00:45:01]
NOT AN ARCHITECT.AND, UM, UM, BUT I, I THINK THE INTENT OF THE, AND WE CAN GET AN ARCHITECT INVOLVED WITH THIS AND CLEAN UP THE DRAWINGS.
BUT MY, MY QUESTION, JUST SO THAT WE CAN, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE THIS, BUT CAN WE, CAN WE JUST GO OVER THE MEAT OF THIS, WHICH IS THE SHEPA STREET SIDE.
ARE WE, UM, ARE WE CLEAR ON WHAT THIS ADDITION, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING ON THIS SIDE? UH, THIS IS WENDY MM-HMM
UM, YOU, ON THIS SIDE, YOU'RE PROPOSING A WALK-IN CLOSET AND A COFFEE AREA.
IS THAT WHAT I UNDERSTOOD? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THOSE ARE ADJACENT TO, THAT'S EXPANDING A BEDROOM, I ASSUME, A MASTER BEDROOM SUITE OR SOMETHING.
WE'RE ADDING A CLOSET TO THE CHANNEL GLASS AREA.
SO I THINK THAT AREA IS PRETTY.
AND THEN CAN WE MOVE TO THE, UM, UM, YEAH, THE OTHER SIDE, I, WE COULD DO A LOT MORE RENDERINGS AND WE COULD DO A COMPUTER WALKTHROUGH.
'CAUSE IT IS A, WITH A, THERE'S A ROOF DECK, THERE'S A COURTYARD, THERE'S JUST A, A TON GOING ON.
IT IS REALLY, IT WOULD BE HARD TO UNDERSTAND THIS WITHOUT A, A, A, A WALKTHROUGH, BUT, UM, WE DO HAVE A NEIGHBOR AT 66 WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE, UM, THE LIGHT, UM, BEING BLOCKED FROM THE, UM, FRONT SETBACK AREA, BASICALLY WHERE THOSE GLASS BLOCK THE, ON THE THIRD FLOOR ARE.
UM, ALTHOUGH THEY DON'T HAVE MANY WINDOWS THAT ARE ACTUALLY FACING THAT AREA OF THE BUILDING.
UM, BUT THAT'S SORT OF, UM, WHAT THE, UM, WHAT PEOPLE AREN'T VERY HAPPY ABOUT.
UM, AND THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF PERSONAL ANIMUS FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, LIVING NEXT TO THIS CRAZY HOUSE, WHICH WENT UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR A LONG TIME.
UM, SO THERE'S A HISTORY, UM, YOU KNOW, LIVING NEXT TO A CONSTRUCTION SITE FOR A COUPLE YEARS, WHICH, UM, DIDN'T MAKE PEOPLE VERY HAPPY.
UM, I'M, YOU KNOW, IT'S, WE CAN'T, UH, I'M NOT NECESSARILY INTERESTED IN THE SURE.
UM, BUT, UM, I AM INTERESTED IN THE FACT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THE BULK OF THIS HOUSE WITHOUT AN INCREASE IN HOUSING STOCK NECESSARILY IS A DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, JUST GETTING TO THE INTENT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE HERE, UM, OVERCROWDING AND LIGHT AND SHADOW AND THINGS LIKE THAT ARE RELEVANT TO OUR ANALYSIS.
SO I'M JUST, I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND THAT, ESPECIALLY AS OVER TIME, THIS BUILDING HAS CONTINUED TO BE EXPANDED.
SO, AND, AND PUTTING ASIDE, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S NEUTRAL AS TO WHO THE PEOPLE ARE.
I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE, UH,
UM, ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIGHT STUDIES ARE NOT PART OF, UM, THAT'S NOT A CONCERN FOR ZONING? I'M JUST, NO, I SAID LIGHT IS A CONCERN.
UH, WHAT IS NOT A CONCERN IS, IS PERSONAL ANIMUS.
UM, THE, THE THING IS, IS THAT, UH, EVEN WITH THESE ADDITIONS, WE'RE STILL 15 FEET FROM THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE.
UM, AND, UM, CURRENT ZONING IN CAMBRIDGE IS WITHIN FIVE FEET.
SO WE'RE, UM, THERE'S A TON OF OPEN SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO STRUCTURES.
UM, UM, AND SO, UM, BUT IT'S UP TO YOU TO DECIDE IF THAT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, I'M NOT ON THE ZONING BOARD, BUT THE FACT IS THAT THERE'S, THERE'S A QUITE A BIT OF AREA BETWEEN THE, THE TWO BUILDINGS.
UM, AND, UM, EVEN IF WE, UM, BY RIGHT BUILT OUT THE BACK OF IT, UH, WE'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE, THE FRONT, UM, WINTER STREET BOX, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE TWO BIG KENT, UM, TWO BIG GLASS BLOCK WINDOWS THAT ARE, UM, AT A 90 DEGREES TO EACH OTHER.
UM, BUT I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT, UM, WE'RE JUST PROPOSING THIS AND WE'RE GETTING INPUT FROM YOU AND, YOU KNOW, WE APPRECIATE IT.
UM, I GUESS ONE QUESTION IS, ARE YOU, COULD WE, UM, ARE YOU ABLE TO APPROVE THE, THE WINTER STREET SIDE, UM, ADDITIONS? OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO JUST SORT OF, UM, HAVE US GIVE YOU BETTER DRAWINGS AND MAYBE MAKE A, UM, UH, A WALKTHROUGH ON A COMPUTER AND, UM, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, CAN WE GET SOME DIRECTION? YOU KNOW, WE'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR FEELINGS ARE ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW, I DON'T THINK THERE'S A NEED FOR A ANIMATED WALKTHROUGH.
THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING, I THINK I JUST NEED DOCUMENTATION THAT KIND OF EXPLAINS
[00:50:01]
WHAT'S HAPPENING, AND THEN IN PLAN WITH SOME DIMENSIONS MM-HMMUM, ROOM NAMES, YOU KNOW, IT, I, IT'S GOTTA STAND ON ITS OWN FOR THE RECORD.
UH, AND THEN I THINK, UH, THE, UH, SURVEY DOESN'T REALLY SHOW, LET'S SEE THE DATE OF THIS.
IT'S NOT REFERRING TO KIND OF THE ADDITION YOU'RE ADDING.
UM, SO THAT SURVEY IS NOT REALLY HELPING US, IT'S JUST MAKING IT MORE CONFUSING FOR ME.
BUT THE SURVEY, UM, WE'RE NOT ADDING ANYTHING TO THE FOOTPRINT, SO IT DOESN'T REALLY AFFECT THE, YOU KNOW, THE SURVEY.
IT DOESN'T AFFECT THE BUILDING OUTLINE.
DO YOU MEAN LIKE A, UM, BUT YOUR CANTILEVER IS KIND OF COMING OVER THE, THE DEPTH OF THE BALCONY, ISN'T IT? UM, IT'S LINED UP WITH THE BALCONY.
I MEAN, SO IT'S BASICALLY, YOU MEAN LIKE A SITE PLAN? UM, UM, BUT NOT A, NOT A REGI NOT A PLOT PLAN.
BUT, UM, SO YOU WANT, UM, BASICALLY YOU WANT TO SEE THE FOOTPRINT OF THE BUILDING REFLECTED, SORT OF VIEWING IT FROM SPACE, LOOKING LIKE DOWN, UM, WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE, AND WITH, WITH LOT LINES, UH, DRAWN FROM THAT ADDITION FROM THE CANTILEVER.
I THINK THAT WOULD HELP US UNDERSTAND THIS A LITTLE BETTER.
I MEAN, WE'RE BASICALLY, WE'RE ADDING THREE FEET TO THE, UM, THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE BUILDING, BUT, UM, BUT WE CAN DO THAT.
AND YOU WANNA, UM, WE WEREN'T TOLD THAT, UM, THE NEIGHBOR THAT YOU WANT TO SUPPORT LETTER, BUT WE CAN GET THAT FROM THE, UH, NEIGHBOR.
UM, UM, SO, UM, MIKE, WHAT DO YOU THINK, UH, ON, SORRY, ON WHICH PART DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD CONTINUE? SO I GUESS WE COULD CONTINUE THE CASE AND YOU BETTER DOCUMENTS, UM, ABOUT THE BUILDING.
YEAH, WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO DO THAT.
UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS ON THIS ONE? JUST A TECHNICAL QUESTION, STEVE, IS IT, IS THE LETTER SUPPOSED TO COME FROM THE CONDO ASSOCIATION, OR DOES, IS IT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RULE IS HERE.
SO I'M ASKING, UH, THIS IS OLIVIA
IF IT IS A TRUE CONDO ASSOCIATION, IT WILL NEED TO BE A CONDO ASSOCIATION LETTER.
I WAS ACTUALLY TOLD THAT, UM, NOT IT, IT MATTERS AT THIS POINT THAT, THAT THAT WASN'T A ZONING ISSUE, BUT, UM, MAYBE I SPOKE TO THE WRONG, I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING, BUT WHATEVER.
UM, UM, SO IT'S WORTH LIKE, UM, WE SHOULDN'T GIVE UP ON THIS, RIGHT? YOU'RE WILLING TO LOOK AT IT AGAIN, IF WE, UM, UM, GET YOU BETTER DRAWINGS AND GO FROM THERE.
UH, YEAH, I, I, I GUESS I, I DON'T WANNA MAKE A DECISION UNTIL I GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT, WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO HERE.
UM, AND DO YOU, DO YOU WANT A SUN STUDY, UM, ON THE ROPA STREET SIDE, A SHADOW STUDY, HOW IT WOULD IMPACT THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR IS, UH, HOW, HOW DO MY, UH, FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS FEEL ABOUT THAT? UM, I, THIS IS DANIEL DOGGO.
I, I PERSONALLY DON'T NEED ONE.
I MEAN, I, I'M INTERESTED IN HEARING WHAT NEIGHBOR, THE NEIGHBORS HAVE TO SAY, BUT, UM, I GUESS I'M LESS, I DON'T REQUIRE THAT THERE IS A, A FOUR PAGE LETTER THAT WAS SUBMITTED TODAY, UM, UM, FROM THE NEIGHBOR.
UM, I MEAN, BASICALLY, UM, THE BIG CONCERN WAS THE SUN FROM HER.
UM, AND THEN ALSO ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MY, IF I HAD A LICENSE, AND THEN WHETHER THE DRAWINGS WERE UP TO CODE AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT I THINK IN TERMS OF WHAT, UM, WHAT WOULD'VE ANY, UM, RELEVANCE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, A SUN STUDY IN TERMS OF THE, WHAT THE NEIGHBOR, THAT'S WHAT THE NEIGHBOR'S REALLY WORRIED ABOUT, THAT IT'S GONNA BLOCK THEIR LIGHT.
AND THERE'S A LETTER ON FILE THAT THEY SENT THAT THEY SUBMITTED TODAY.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR ABOUT WHETHER A LIGHT STUDY WOULD REASSURE THEM OR NOT, UH, BEFORE GOING TO THE EXPENSE OF IT.
[00:55:01]
OH, OKAY.SO, SO YOU DON'T REALLY, THE BOARD DOES NOT WANNA LOOK AT A LIGHT STUDY.
THE LIGHT STUDY WOULD ONLY BE GOOD TO GIVE TO THE NEIGHBOR TO SEE IF IT WOULD MAKE THEM HAPPY.
BUT YOU AS THE BOARD, IT'S NOT AN IMPORTANT, UM, ELEMENT.
I'M SAYING THAT I PERSONALLY ON THE BOARD AM NOT REQUIRING IT, BUT IF IT WOULD BE PERSUASIVE TO THE BOARD'S FINDINGS IN LIGHT OF THE OPPOSITION THAT YOU WILL BE RECEIVING, THEN YOU MAY CHOOSE TO PRESENT ONE.
BUT, UM, IF WE, IF WE DO A LIGHT STUDY AND THE NEIGHBOR STILL ISN'T HAPPY, WHICH WE ANTICIPATE THAT THE CASE, UM, IS IT, SHOULD WE STILL DO IT? I GUESS, WOULD IT, WOULD IT REALLY, WOULD IT HELP THE BOARD AT ALL? AND I KNOW I'M ASKING THE SAME QUESTION OVER AGAIN, BUT I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER.
WELL, I THINK IT'S BEST FOR ANY APPLICANT TO TAKE THE TIME AND, UH, REVIEW THE PROPOSED DESIGN AND THE APPLICATION WITH, WITH ALL, YOU KNOW, ANY ABUTTERS WHO HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
UM, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN HOPEFULLY COME TO SOME AGREEMENT WITH THEM.
UM, AND I KNOW, UH, THE LETTER THEY SHARED A SUBMITTED A LETTER TODAY, BUT IT HAD SEVERAL POINTS, UM, OF CONCERN.
SO I, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I THINK YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU CAN TO WORK, WORK WITH FOLKS WHO, YOU KNOW, HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR APPLICATION, RIGHT? I MEAN, THERE ARE, IT IS IN A CORNER, THERE WERE LIKE 30 30 ABUTS OR SOMETHING, BUT, UM, UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO, UM, TALK TO THEM, UM, AND TRY TO MAKE THEM HAPPY.
IT IS ALWAYS THE CASE I FIND IN ANY ZONING MATTER THAT THE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE PROPERTY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE THE MOST IMPACTED.
SO THOSE ARE THE ONES I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT.
UM, SO WE'LL, UM, WE'LL KEEP WORKING AT THIS AND I APPRECIATE YOUR, BECAUSE SO CAN, CAN WE CONTINUE THIS? WELL, THIS IS VIRGINIA.
I JUST HAVE ONE OTHER QUESTION BEFORE WE MOVE ON FROM BOARD QUESTION.
UM, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THE DIMENSIONAL INFORMATION TABLE AND IT, IT'S SAYING THAT, UM, NONE OF NONE OF THE SETBACKS ARE, ARE CHANGING.
AND MAYBE THIS IS ALSO MY CONFUSION A LITTLE ON THE PLANS, BUT IS THAT CORRECT? I MEAN, THAT SEEMS NOT CORRECT TO ME.
YEAH, I TALKED TO, UM, OLIVIA TODAY.
THERE WAS A MISTAKE ON THE, UM, OKAY, THE HAND SETBACK.
AND SHE SAID WE COULD, UM, UPDATE THAT AFTER THE APPLICATION.
I MEAN, THE ISSUE ISN'T, UM, THE BIG THING IS THE, IS THE FRONT SETBACK IS THAT'S SORT OF WHAT WE'RE GOING AFTER.
IT'S NOT THE, THE SIDE SETBACK, BUT I GUESS IF YOU'RE APPLYING FOR RELIEF ON THE, THE FRONT SETBACK, IT'S, UM, I DON'T KNOW, IT'S, THE SIDE SETBACK IS STILL, UM, A CONCERN.
MR. DEVLIN, UM, I WILL, UH, MAKE A MOTION TO THE BOARD FOR A CONTINUANCE, UH, FOR THIS ITEM.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE TO, SINCE UH, YOU WERE ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS EVENING, I'D LIKE TO, UH, OPEN IT TO, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME JUST IN CASE ANYONE WHO, WHO JOINED US, UM, HAS, YOU KNOW, SOME COMMENTS TO SHARE.
SO, UM, WE DO
66 WINTER STREET, JOE AND SARAH D SIMONE.
UM, AND, UH, THEY HAD, UH, SEVERAL CONCERNS ABOUT, UH, THE PROJECT, UM, QUESTIONING, UH, YOU KNOW, CONCERNS ABOUT THE CANTILEVER, ENCROACHMENT, INADEQUATE SPACE, UM, AND A SECOND ITEM, INACCURATE DIMENSIONS IN THE APPLICATION, WHICH, YOU KNOW, CREATING SOME CONFUSION, UH, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S,
[01:00:01]
WHAT'S HAPPENING.UH, THEY HAD SOME, UH, CONCERNS WITH IMPACTS ON LIGHT AIR AND, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER IMPACTS AS WELL, UH, FOLLOWED BY, UM, UH, THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT, UH, REQUIRE, UH, SUN AND SHADOW STUDY, UM, OF THE PROJECT AND HOW IT WOULD IMPACT THEIR PROPERTY.
UM, AND SOME OTHER, UH, SOME COMMENTS REGARDING, YOU KNOW, INFORMATION NON-STANDARD MEASUREMENT SYSTEM USED IN SUBMITTED PLANS.
UH, AND JUST QUESTIONING, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDING AN ARCHITECT OR A CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANT OR SOME TYPE OF ENGINEER COULD ASSIST YOU WITH, UH, DEVELOPING DOCUMENTATION THAT THAT PRESENTS YOUR PROJECT, UH, A LITTLE, UH, MORE CLEARLY, UH, FOR REVIEW.
UM, AND, UM, YEAH, AT A MINIMUM WE REQUEST A BOARD REQUIRE THE APPLICANT TO PROVIDE VERIFIED AS-BUILT DRAWINGS REFLECTING ACTUAL CURRENT CONDITIONS PLANS PREPARED IN STANDARD MEASUREMENT UNITS, PROFESSIONALLY PREPARED SUN AND SHA SUN AND SHADOW STUDY, AND CONFIRMATION THAT THE DESIGNER OF THE PLANS IS APPROPRIATELY LICENSED UNDER THE, UNDER MASSACHUSETTS STATE LAW.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THAT, THAT LAST PART, YOU DON'T, NO NEED TO RESPOND BACK MR. DEVLIN.
I'M JUST STATING WHAT THEIR COMMENTS ARE.
AND AS YOU KNOW, IF YOUR ABUTTERS ARE, HAVE THESE TYPES OF CONCERNS, I, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU, YOU SCHEDULE TIME TO MEET WITH THEM.
UM, FOR CLARITY, I, I DID SPEND TIME SPEAKING WITH HER FOR ABOUT AN HOUR YESTERDAY.
UH, BUT, UH, NOW WE'LL, WE'LL ALSO OPEN IT UP, UH, TO PUBLIC COMMENT ONLINE.
ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK SHOULD NOW CLICK THE ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR ZOOM SCREEN THAT SAYS, RAISE HAND.
IF YOU'RE CALLING IN BY PHONE, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND BY PRESSING STAR NINE AND UNMUTE OR MUTE BY PRESSING STAR SIX.
I'LL NOW ASK STAFF TO UNMUTE THE SPEAKERS ONE AT A TIME.
YOU SHOULD BEGIN BY SAYING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS AND STAFF WILL CONFIRM THAT WE CAN HEAR YOU.
AFTER THAT, YOU WILL HAVE UP TO TWO MINUTES TO SPEAK BEFORE I ASK YOU TO WRAP UP.
OLIVIA, ANYONE OUT THERE? BELINDA WATT, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
I RESIDE AT 79 DANA STREET IN CAMBRIDGE.
I'M A FRIEND OF SARAH AND JOE DE SIMONE WHO LIVE AT 66 WINTER STREET.
SHE ASKED ME IF I WOULD READ HER LETTER.
THEY'VE HAD A, THEY HAVE A LONGSTANDING, UM, FAMILY EVENT TONIGHT THAT THEY COULD NOT MISS.
UM, THE, THE, I'M PROBABLY GONNA RUN OUT OF TIME, SO JUST LET ME KNOW.
UM, DEAR MEMBERS OF THE BOARDING ZONE OF APPEAL, WE'RE CONTACTING YOU ABOUT OUR CONCERNS REGARDING THE PENDING APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT EDITIONS ON THE SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS OF THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 60 TO 64 WINTER STREET SITUATED ON THE CORNER OF SHARAA AND WINTER STREETS.
THE APPLICANTS HAVE REQUESTED A SPECIAL PERMIT TO ALLOW THEM TO BUILD ADDITIONS ON THE SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS WITHIN THE REQUIRED 10 FOOT SETBACK.
WE ARE ABUTTERS WHO LIVE DIRECTLY ADJACENT TO THIS PROPERTY IN VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY.
OUR HOME IS LOCATED AT 66 WINTER STREET AND IT IS ONLY OUR DRIVEWAY WITH AN EASEMENT BETWEEN OUR HOMES.
OUR FAMILY HAS LIVED AT 66 WINTER FOR FOUR GENERATIONS, AND JOE IS A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF OUR HOME.
THE PROPERTY AT 60 TO 64 WINTER WAS ONCE A GARAGE THAT WAS PART OF OUR PROPERTY OWNED BY JOE'S GRANDFATHER.
THE FORMER OWNER, ANTHONY TONY DALIN, PURCHASED THE PROPERTY FROM JOE'S FAMILY AND CONDUCTED YEARS OF LENGTHY CONSTRUCTION THAT HE SELF-DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED.
THE YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION THAT WE EXPERIENCED WERE DIFFICULT AND SPANNED OVER 20 YEARS WITH DIFFERENT PROJECTS.
WE'VE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH CURRENT OWNERS, MIKE HANNER HAN, AND SLOAN PHILLIPS, AND DO NOT WISH THEM ANY ILL WILL.
BUT WE HAVE GRAVE CONCERNS FOR THE PROPOSED CANTILEVER AND THE IMPACT TO SPACE AND LIGHT AS A RESULT OF THIS CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE REQUISITE 10 FOOT SETBACK.
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL INCLUDES A CANTILEVER THAT EXTENDS TOWARD OUR PROPERTY, AN ENCLOSURE OF ROOF DECKS, ANY CANTILEVER OR EXTENSION WITHIN THE 10 FOOT SETBACK EITHER ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE TOWARDS OUR PROPERTY OR THE REAR OF THE HOUSE, WOULD IMPACT ON OUR PROPERTY BY LIMITING LIGHT AND SPACE.
IT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE NEW CAMBRIDGE ZONING LAWS WERE ONLY RECENTLY ENACTED TO ALLOW FOR GREATER, GREATER LENIENCY FOR RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION, BUT THAT SETBACK REQUIREMENTS WERE GIVEN GREAT CONSIDERATION AND DEFERENCE AND WERE MAINTAINED TO PREVENT EXPANSION SUCH AS THIS THAT WOULD INFRINGE UPON LIGHT AND
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SPACE FOR HOUSES IN CLOSE PROXIMITY.THERE IS NO HARDSHIP OR JUSTIFICATION THAT WOULD WARRANT EXPANSION WITHIN THE REQUIRED SETBACK.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE NO OBJECTION TO THEIR PROPOSAL ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE HOUSE THAT BORDER SHEPA STREET.
IT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION ON THE SHEPA STREET SIDE OF THE BUILDING WILL ONLY INCLUDE AN EXISTING SPACE AND WILL NOT EXPAND THE WIDTH OF THE STRUCTURE.
IT'S ONLY ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE BUILDING TOWARDS OUR HOME.
THAT EXPANSION IS PROPOSED THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD EXTEND BOTH THE WIDTH AND HEIGHT OF THE HOUSE.
WE HAVE PARTICULAR CONCERNS ABOUT THIS CONSTRUCTION BECAUSE WE WERE INFORMED THAT THE DESIGNS FOR THIS PROPOSAL REQUESTING A SPECIAL PERMIT WITHIN THE SETBACK HAVE BEEN DRAFTED BY THE FORMER ONLY OWNER, TONY DALIN, AND HE'S ACTING AS THE PROJECT MANAGER.
MR. DALIN IS NOT AN ARCHITECT.
MR. DALIN IS A GLASS ARTIST WHO DESIGNED AND BUILT THE CURRENT STRUCTURE.
AT ONE POINT, HIS GLASS STUDIO WAS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE RESIDENCE BEFORE HE CONVERTED IT INTO LIVING SPACE AND SOLD IT AS A SEPARATE UNIT.
THE CURRENT OWNERS APPARENTLY NEEDED TO CONSULT MR. DALIN TO KNOW WHERE THINGS WERE LOCATED BECAUSE OF THE UNORTHODOX MANNER IN WHICH HE AND CONSTRUCTED THE PROPERTY.
THERE WERE MANY UNORTHODOX PRACTICES EMPLOYED BY MR. DALIN, SUCH AS A PERSON JACKHAMMERING OUR DRIVEWAY ONE DAY WHILE WEARING A BICYCLE HELMET, OR RETURNING FROM A VACATION TO FIND DIRT DEPOSITED IN OUR DRIVEWAY UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR WINDOWS THAT HAD BEEN EXCAVATED FROM THE PROPERTY.
I MENTION THIS BECAUSE OF OUR CONCERNS WITH THE MEASUREMENTS AND ILL INABILITY TO TRUST THE PROPOSED DESIGNS THAT DO NOT INCLUDE EXACT MEASUREMENTS, ONLY PROPOSED ELEVATIONS AND ARE NOT SUBMITTED IN TYPICAL ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS.
THE DRAWINGS LACK IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS, WHICH SHOULD BE IN FEET AND INCHES, LABELS AND NOTES.
THEY DO NOT SHOW THE EXISTING ELEVATIONS.
SO THE PROPOSED ELEVATIONS ARE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND AND THE ELEVATIONS DO NOT SHOW THE SURROUNDING CONTEXT SUCH AS ADJACENT HOUSES.
SINCE THE SPACE AND PROXIMITY ARE SO TIGHT IN THIS AREA, EVERY LINE OF DEMARCATION IS IMPORTANT AND NEEDS TO BE EXACT.
WE LIVED WITH ALMOST 20 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION WITH TONY DALIN AND ALLOWED MUCH OF THE CONSTRUCTION TO OCCUR.
HOWEVER, WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION, PARTICULARLY WITH MR. DALIN INVOLVED WITH THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION.
THE DIMENSIONS OF THE EXISTING PROPERTY IN THE CURRENT PROPOSAL ARE UNCLEAR AND DIFFER FROM A PRIOR VARIANCE APPEAL.
MR. DALIN FILED WITH THE CITY IN DECEMBER, 2022.
WHILE WE DO NOT TOTALLY OPPOSE MR. HANRAHAN AND MS. PHILLIPS'S PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION, WE ASK THAT CONS, THE CONSTRUCTION NOT INCLUDE A CANTILEVER OR EXTENSION TOWARDS OUR HOME OR BEHIND THEIR HOME.
WITHIN THE 10 FOOT SETBACK AS IT WOULD IMPACT ON OUR SPACE AND LIGHT.
WE ARE ALSO CONCERNED WITH THE ADDITION OF AN ENCLOSURE OF THE SECOND AND THIRD FLOOR THAT ARE CURRENTLY OPEN ROOF DECK, AS THAT ALLOWS LIGHT TO FILTER THROUGH TO OUR HOME.
THE PROPERTY IS ALREADY LOOMING AND LARGER THAN ANY OF THE OTHER HOMES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AFTER CAREFUL REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION MATERIALS, AND GIVEN OUR DIRECT PROXIMITY TO THE SUBJECT PROPERTY, WE WOULD RESPECTFULLY URGE THE BOARD TO DENY THIS SPECIAL PERMIT REQUEST FOR THE REASONS SET FORTH BELOW OR THAT ALTERATIONS BE MADE THAT WOULD REMOVE THE PROPOSED EXTENSION TOWARD OUR HOME AND ANY STRUCTURE OR ENCLOSURE THAT WOULD INHA INHIBIT VALUABLE LIFE AND SPACE.
MS. WATER, I THINK I'LL, I GAVE YOU PLENTY.
I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I THINK IT, YOU YEAH, YOU, YOU CAPTURED THE, UH, INITIAL ITEMS IN, IN THEIR LETTER AND I MENTIONED THE SIX OTHER CONCERNS.
SO, CAN I, THERE'S A COUPLE MORE LINES WHERE AT THE END WHERE SHE SAYS, OKAY.
UM, MR. HANRAHAN AND MS. PHILLIPS HAVE BEEN VERY NICE NEIGHBORS, AND WE APPRECIATED THEIR WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE WITH US.
AND I, I THINK THAT LAST PART IS THEY ARE, THEY ARE OPEN TO CONVERSATION AND, UM, THAT I'LL, I'LL, I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
THANK, THANK YOU FOR HEARING ME.
UH, PHONE NUMBER ENDING AT EIGHT THREE ONE ONE.
HELLO, HEATHER HOFFMAN, TWO 13 HURLEY STREET.
I REMEMBER THE TRANSFORMATION OF THIS PROPERTY, AND I REMEMBER WHEN MR. DALIN CAME TO THE EAST CAMBRIDGE PLANNING TEAM AT THE START OF IT WHEN HE WANTED TO MAKE IT HIS STUDIO.
UM, BUT THAT'S NOT THE REASON THAT I'M CALLING.
I'M CALLING BECAUSE I'M A REAL ESTATE LAWYER.
I'M A TITLE EXAMINER, AND I CAN EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW THE CONDO LAWS WORK, AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.
THE REASON YOU HAVE TO GET THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THE, THE ENTIRE CONDOMINIUM
[01:10:01]
TO CONSENT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO AMEND THE MASTER DEED.YOU ARE ENCROACHING ON WHAT IS CURRENTLY COMMON AREA, AND BECAUSE IN GENERAL, THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING IS COMMON AREA, AND YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO AMEND THE MASTER DEED BECAUSE YOU CHANGING WHAT THE UNIT 64 IS.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET AN ARCHITECT OR A SURVEYOR, SOMEONE WITH A LICENSE TO DRAW THOSE PLANS, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET THE OTHER OWNER TO SIGN THE, THE AMENDMENT.
SO, UM, SO THAT'S WHY BEFORE YOU GET TO THAT POINT, IT'S REALLY GOOD TO HAVE THEIR BUY-IN ON THIS.
AND FOR CLARITY, I, I DO HAVE THAT.
I WILL, I WILL GET IT IN WRITING.
UM, BUT I APPRECIATE THE CLARIFICATION ON THE RULES.
I LIVE AT, UH, 60 WINTER STREET.
I'M THE OTHER OWNER AND MEMBER OF THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
I'M AWARE OF THE PLANS, AND I'M VERY SUPPORTIVE OF IT AND CAN HELP ENSURE THAT WE SUBMIT A LETTER FROM THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION IN SUPPORT OF THIS PROJECT.
UH, AND THAT'S IT, UM, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, SO WE'LL CLOSE, UH, THE PUBLIC COMMENT AND, UM, I CAN MAKE A MOTION, UH, TO CONTINUE.
UH, AND I GUESS, WHAT'S THE NEXT AVAILABLE DATE? OLIVIA? JUNE 11TH.
UH, MR. HANRAN IS, UH, JUNE 11TH, UH, A GOOD DATE FOR YOU? MAKE SURE, OH, YES.
OUR FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS AVAILABLE, UH, JUNE 11TH FOR A CONTINUED CONTINUANCE OF THIS HEARING.
I'M JUST CHECKING, UH, GRADUATION AND SENIOR YEAR ACTIVITIES.
WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A POLL OF THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS? OKAY.
HOW'S THE JUNE 11TH LOOKING? UM, I, I BELIEVE I HAVE A WORK OBLIGATION THAT DAY, BUT I AM DOUBLE CHECKING, UM, MY CALENDAR AS WELL, SO GIMME ONE MINUTE AS WELL.
UH, DANIEL, THAT'S FINE WITH ME.
UH, EZRA, I SHOULD BE AVAILABLE.
AND, UH, YEAH, I'LL, I I'M AVAILABLE PRETTY MUCH IN JUNE.
UM, SORRY, GIVE ME ONE MORE MINUTE.
I, MY, MY RECOLLECTION IS THAT I'M NOT, BUT LET ME, UM, THIS IS WENDY ERS AND I AM ALSO AVAILABLE JUNE 25TH, WHICH WOULD BE THE NEXT, YEAH, B, CA MEETING IF, UH, JUST ANTICIPATING THAT VIRGINIA IS NOT AVAILABLE, DOES THAT WORK BETTER FOR YOU, VIRGINIA? JUNE 25TH? UH, JUNE 25TH WOULD WORK BETTER? YES.
AND DAN AND EZRA, DOES THAT WORK FOR YOU, FOR YOU BOTH? YES.
AND, UM, MR. HANDWRITTEN IS, UH, JUNE 25TH WORK.
YEAH, I CAN MAKE EITHER OF THOSE DATES, SO WHATEVER WORKS FOR THE BOARD IS, IS FINE ON OUR SIDE.
UH, SO, UH, LEMME MAKE A MOTION TO CONTINUE THE MATTER OF BZA CASE, UH, CASE NUMBER 1 2 0 6 0 5 9 FOR, UM, 60 TO DASH 64 WINDOW STREET, UNIT 64, LOCATED IN CAMBRIDGE, MASS, UH, TO THE JUNE 25TH, 2026 HEARING ON THE CONDITION THAT THE PETITIONER CHANGED THE POSTING SIGN TO REFLECT THE NEW DATE OF JUNE 25TH AND THE NEW TIME OF 6:00 PM
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ALSO THAT THE PETITIONER SIGN A WAIVER TO THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE HEARING.THIS WAIVER CAN BE OBTAINED FROM MARIA PACHECO OR OLIVIA
I ASK THAT THE PETITIONER SIGN A WAIVER AND RETURN IT TO THE INSPECTION SERVICES DEPARTMENT BY A WEEK FROM THIS COMING MONDAY.
FAILURE TO DO SO WILL DEFACTO CAUSE THIS BOARD TO GIVE AN ADVERSE RULING ON THIS CASE.
ALSO, THAT THERE IS AN, IF THERE ARE ANY NEW SUBMITTALS, CHANGES TO THE DRAWINGS, DIMENSIONAL FORMS OR ANY SUPPORTING STATEMENTS, UH, THAT THOSE BE IN THE FILE BY 5:00 PM ON THE MONDAY PRIOR TO THE CONTINUED MEETING DATE.
SO, DO YOU HAVE THAT DATE? DO YOU HAVE THAT DATE? UH, JUNE 25TH, AND THEN, HOLD ON.
I BELIEVE IT'S THE 22ND WILL BE THE MONDAY, YEAH.
JUNE 22ND, 5:00 PM UM, AND, UH, ON A VOICE VOTE, UH, THE MOTION TO CONTINUE THIS MATTER UNTIL JUNE 25TH.
AND, UH, THE MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSES TO JUNE 25TH.
UH, FINAL ITEM THIS EVENING, UH, SCHEDULED FOR SIX 30, UM, IS CASE NUMBER BZA 1 2 6 5 4 3, UM, UH, FOR 75 BROADWAY, UH, BY PROPERTY OWNER MIT, UH, VOLPE, UM, FOR A VARIANCE FOR INSTALLATION OF AN INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED WALL SIGN, IDENTIFYING THE BUILDING TENANT BIOGEN WITH GREATER AREA AND GREATER HEIGHT THAN ALLOWED BY ARTICLE SEVEN PER SECTION 7.1, 6.22 POINT C FOR WALL SIGNS AND SECTION 10.30 FOR VARIANCE.
UM, AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO DISCLOSE THAT I DID FILE, UM, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, UH, SECTION 19, UH, CONFLICT OF INTEREST LETTER, UH, TO THE CITY, UH, MANAGER.
UM, AND, UH, JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, MY EMPLOYER DOES, UH, PROVIDE PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES TO, UM, UH, THE TENANT AND, UH, THAT I AM NOT, UH, HAVE ANY, UM, OWNERSHIP OR, UH, PROFIT IN, IN OWNERSHIP OF THE COMPANY.
AND I'VE NEVER WORKED OR BEEN ASSIGNED TO, UH, THE BIOGEN PROJECT, UH, IN ANY SHAPE, WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
SO, UH, THAT, THAT DOCUMENT IS ON FILE, UH, FOR ANYONE INTERESTED.
UM, SO, UH, MOVING ON TO THE PRESENTATION OF, UH, THE CASE.
UH, WHO, WHO IS AVAILABLE FOR PRESENTING? UH, THIS IS CHARLES LARAY.
I AM HERE AS, AS WELL AS MICHAEL W OKAY.
SHOULD WE START WITH THE INTRODUCTION? YEP.
GOOD EVENING, UH, CHAIR ING AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
WE, AND I'M BIOGEN'S GLOBAL HEAD OF REAL ESTATE AND OUR CAMBRIDGE SITE GENERAL MANAGER.
I'M SPEAKING TONIGHT ON BEHALF OF BIOGEN'S REQUEST.
MY MICROPHONE LOCKED UP ON ME.
I'M SPEAKING TONIGHT ON BEHALF OF BIOGEN'S REQUEST FOR ASSIGNED VARIANCE FOR OUR NEW GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS AT 75 BROADWAY.
THIS BOARD HAS SEEN MANY SIGNAGE REQUESTS OVER THE YEARS, SO I WANNA SHARE WHAT MAKES THIS ONE DIFFERENT AND WHY IT ALSO MEETS BOTH THE LETTER AND THE INTENT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE.
KENDALL SQUARE DIDN'T BECOME WHAT IT IS BY ACCIDENT.
IT IS KNOWN AS THE MOST INNOVATIVE SQUARE MILE ON EARTH, BECAUSE WORLD-CLASS ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, ENTREPRENEURS, VENTURE CAPITALISTS,
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AND GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED COMPANIES DARED TO BRING THEIR LIFE-CHANGING IDEAS HERE, AND THE ECOSYSTEM CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR THOSE IDEAS TO FLOURISH.MANY WOULD SAY THAT BIOGEN IS THE COMPANY THAT HELPED START IT.
BIOGEN AND OUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF KENDALL SQUARE SINCE 1982.
WE HAVE DRIVEN BREAKTHROUGHS BY DELIVERING THE FIRST APPROVED TREATMENTS FOR SMA, THE GENETIC CAUSE OF A LS AND FREDRICH ATAXIA, WHICH IS A RARE INHERITED NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE FOR ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND ORAL MEDICINE FOR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION.
AND WE WERE THE PIONEERS THAT HELPED ESTABLISH MODERN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, UH, TREATMENTS.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO ADVANCING A PORTFOLIO THAT DELIVERS FIRST AND BEST IN CLASS MEDICINES FOR SOME OF THE MOST DEBILITATING AND LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES.
AS WE APPROACH OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY AND AS WE BUILD OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS.
THIS REQUEST ISN'T JUST ABOUT A SIGN, BUT IT'S ABOUT RENEWING OUR COMMITMENT AS WE PREPARE FOR THE NEXT ERA OF GROWTH FOR OUR COMPANY.
JUST TODAY, BIOGEN COMPLETED ITS ACQUISITION OF APELLIS PHARMACEUTICALS, COMBINING TWO GREAT MASSACHUSETTS BASED COMPANIES, TALENT AND INNOVATION, AND A POWERFUL STEP IN RESHAPING THE NEW BIOGEN.
THIS SUSTAINABLE BUILDING AT 75 BROADWAY WILL SERVE AS THE EPICENTER OF OUR RESEARCH FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE, RARE AND IMMUNOLOGICAL DISEASES, BRINGING OUR RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS AND COMMERCIAL TEAMS TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF THAT SUPPORTS THAT MISSION.
TODAY, BIOGEN EMPLOYEES, APPROXIMATELY 1500 PEOPLE IN CAMBRIDGE.
IN TOTAL, WE HAVE EMPLOYED OVER 8,000 EMPLOYEES IN CAMBRIDGE SINCE OUR INCEPTION.
WE MADE THE DECISION TO KEEP THAT TALENT HERE, THIS SCIENTIFIC EPICENTER, BECAUSE NO OTHER LOCATION CAN REPLICATE KENDALL SQUARE'S CONFLUENCE OF TALENT, ENERGY, INGENUITY, AND COLLABORATION.
WE ARE PROUD OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE SO FAR TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS COMMUNITY.
LATER TONIGHT, YOU WILL HEAR FROM THE, UH, CAMBRIDGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND KENDALL SQUARE ASSOCIATION AS WELL.
THOSE LETTERS SHARE HOW IT IS CRITICAL THAT BIOGEN CONTINUES TO INVEST IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OF KENDALL SQUARE.
AND THE REQUESTED SIGNAGE SHOWS THAT COMMITMENT HOSPITALS, UNIVERSITIES, STARTUPS, AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS ALL COME TO KENDALL SQUARE.
OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS IS DESIGNED TO FURTHER SUPPORT THAT ECOSYSTEM, INCLUDING A CONFERENCE SPACE FOR APPROXIMATELY 450 PEOPLE, WHICH WILL BE ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE AREA WHERE WE CAN CONVENE PARTNERS ACROSS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, MEDICAL PATIENT ADVOCACY, AND THE COMMUNITY.
AND AT THE HEART OF OUR NEW BUILDING WILL BE THE BIOGEN'S COLAB, WHICH HAS ALREADY REACHED MORE THAN 69,000 LEARNERS INSPIRING STUDENTS AND CAREER-READY ADULTS SERVING AS A CRITICAL ENGINE OF TALENT FOR BIOGEN AND FOR MASSACHUSETTS.
IN 2025, WE WELCOMED UNDERSERVED STUDENTS FROM THE NONPROFITS, MASS BIO ED, AND DIGITAL READY, ALONG WITH STUDENTS FROM CAMBRIDGE AND SOMERVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
THE FRONT DOOR OF BIOGEN WILL BE EVEN MORE VISIBLE FOR ANYONE TO IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN LIFE SCIENCE AND HEALTHCARE CAREERS.
OUR PRESENCE ALSO BRINGS BENEFITS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO THIS REQUEST.
WE CONTINUE TO INVEST HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS LOCALLY THROUGH JOBS, VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS, AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.
WE SUPPORT MBTA RIDERSHIP SMALL BUSINESSES IS, OOPS, MY APOLOGIES.
OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS IS DESIGNED TO FURTHER SUPPORT THAT ECOSYSTEM, AS I SAID, INCLUDING CONFERENCE SPACE FOR APPROXIMATELY 450 PEOPLE.
AT THE HEART OF OUR NEW BUILDING WILL BE THE COLAB, WHICH IS ALREADY REACHED MORE THAN 69,000 LEARNERS INSPIRING STUDENTS AND CAREER-READY ADULTS SERVING AS A CRITICAL ENGINE OF TALENT.
WE ARE EXCITED THE FRONT DOOR, AS I SAID, BIOGEN WILL BE EVEN MORE VISIBLE FOR THOSE TO IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN LIFE SCIENCE AND HEALTHCARE CAREERS.
OUR PRESENCE ALSO BRINGS BENEFITS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO THIS REQUEST.
WE CONTINUE TO INVEST HUNDREDS OF MILLION DOLLARS.
WHEN PEOPLE COME HERE, WHAT THEY SEE MATTERS.
THE VISIBLE PRESENCE OF BIOGEN AND OTHER LIFE SCIENCE LEADERS REINFORCES KENDALL SQUARE'S IDENTITY AS A PLACE WHERE BREAKTHROUGHS BEGIN AND HOW WE WILL REMAIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP.
THE PROPOSED SIGN WILL BE INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED HIGH ON THE BUILDING AND STATIC.
IT IS MODEST RELATIVE TO THE SCALE OF THE BUILDING.
IT WON'T CHANGE LAND USE PATTERNS, INCREASE FOOT TRAFFIC, OR CREATE ADVERSE IMPACTS FOR RESIDENTS.
SINCE IT FACES THE CHARLES, WHAT IT WILL DO IS MAKE VISIBLE A LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A COMPANY AND A CITY THAT HAVE GROWN TOGETHER.
THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING THE SIGN VARIANCE.
AS MICHAEL SAID, BIOGEN IS, IS PROUD TO BE IN CAMBRIDGE, PROUD TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST BIOMEDICAL
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COMPANIES IN CAMBRIDGE, AND WANTS TO CELEBRATE ITS ITS PRESENCE IN CAMBRIDGE BY DISPLAYING ITS NAME ON ITS NEW HEADQUARTERS.THE SIGN WILL ALSO HELP WITH WAY FINDING THE NEW BUILDING FOR EMPLOYEES AND COLLABORATORS AND VISITORS.
AS, AS MIKE SAID, IT WILL HAVE THE LARGEST CONFERENCE CENTER IN KENDALL SQUARE, CAPABLE OF HOSTING FOUR 50 PARTICIPANTS.
MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE WILL BE COMING TO THE BUILDING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
SOME OF 'EM WILL BE COMING TO CAMBRIDGE FOR THEIR FIRST TIME, AND HAVING A, A VISIBLE SIGN WILL HELP THEM FIND WHERE THEY WANT TO GO.
IT ALSO HOSTS BIOGEN'S COLAB PROGRAM.
THIS IS A LABORATORY STYLE CLASSROOM SETTING, WHICH HAS, UH, BIOGEN EMPLOYEES, INSTRUCTORS FROM VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES IN THE AREA, AND FROM THE BIOTECHNOLOGY NON-PROFITS IN THE AREA, WHO ALL COME TOGETHER TO COLLABORATE AND INSPIRE, UH, FUTURE HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCE PARTICIPANTS THROUGH HANDS-ON LEARNING.
AND THIS, WERE ORIGINALLY FOCUSED ON MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, BUT IN RECENT YEARS HAS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE OLDER STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS.
UP TO 800 STUDENTS A YEAR, PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMBRIDGE PROGRAM, AND THIS NEW COHORT STARTING EVERY FEW WEEKS TO FEW MONTHS, DEPENDING ON THE PROGRAM.
SO WE HAVE LOTS OF PEOPLE COMING FROM AROUND CAMBRIDGE AND FROM NEIGHBORING CITIES, AND ALSO FROM FROM OTHER PLACES, BOTH TO PARTICIPATE AND TO TEACH, WHO WILL BE LOOKING TO FIND THE BUILDING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
AND, AND AGAIN, THE, THE SIGN IS GREAT WAY FINDING FOR THEM.
THE ZONING ORDINANCE, SIGN REGULATION WOULD LIMIT US TO A WALL SIGN WITH AN AREA OF UP TO 60 SQUARE FEET, AND A HEIGHT OF NOT MORE THAN 20 FEET WITH EXTERNAL ILLUMINATION, AS I'LL SHOW IN A MINUTE.
THAT SIGN WOULD ESSENTIALLY BE INVISIBLE.
THE EXISTING STREET TREES ALONG THE SIDEWALK ARE BEING PRESERVED DURING CONSTRUCTION.
AND UNLIKE MOST STREET TREES IN CAMBRIDGE, WHICH ARE BETWEEN THE SIDEWALK AND THE ROADWAY, THESE TREES ARE INBOUND OF THE SIDEWALK BETWEEN THE SIDEWALK AND THE BUILDING.
SO THEY BLOCK NOT ONLY DRIVERS, THEY BLOCK PEDESTRIANS FROM SEEING WHERE A CONFORMING SIGN WOULD BE.
ALSO, THIS SECTION OF BROADWAY IS TRULY A BOULEVARD.
THERE IS A LANDSCAPE ISLAND DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD BETWEEN THE TWO DIRECTIONAL LANES WITH ADDITIONAL TREES FURTHER BLOCKING THE CONVENTIONAL SIGN LOCATION FROM DRIVERS OR FROM PEDESTRIANS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
SO WE'RE SEEKING ZONING RELIEF TO LOOK AT A SIGN NEAR THE TOP OF THE BUILDING WHERE IT WILL BE VISIBLE.
AND AS I'LL SHOW YOU IN SOME RENDERINGS, A SIGN PARTWAY UP REALLY WOULD NOT HAVE MUCH VISIBILITY AND, AND WOULDN'T SERVE ITS PURPOSE.
UM, AND BECAUSE WE'RE ASKING FOR A SIGN THAT'S FARTHER UP, WE'RE WE'RE ASKING FOR IT ALSO TO BE LARGER SO THEY CAN BE SEEN.
AND SO THE, THE TOP OF THE PROPOSED SIGN WOULD BE 303 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND.
AND WE'RE, UM, ASKING FOR A SIGN THAT WOULD BE ABOUT 13 FEET TALL AND 41 FEET WIDE.
SO AN AREA OF ABOUT 540 SQUARE FEET.
AND FINALLY, UH, WE'D LIKE TO IN INTERNALLY ILLUMINATE THE SIGNS LETTERS, SO THE SIGN WILL BE VISIBLE AFTER DARK.
UM, IF OLIVIA CAN PUT UP THE SLIDES RIGHT NOW, I'LL RUN YOU THROUGH SOME RENDERINGS.
SO HERE, YOU SEE, AS IT WAS, WE'RE CALLING IT PROJECT JUBILEE, AS, AS MIKE MENTIONED THIS, THE, IN 2028, IT'S THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF BIOMEDS FOUNDING, AND ALSO WILL BE THE YEAR THAT THE NEW HEADQUARTERS BUILDING IS FULLY OPEN.
YOU CAN SKIP THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH IS JUST A, A BLUE SCREEN.
SO THIS SHOWS, UH, RENDERINGS OF WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE.
ON THE LEFT IS THE BUILDING DURING THE DAYTIME MIDDLE NIGHT, AND THE RIGHT IS A CLOSEUP.
UM, IF YOU CAN SHIFT IT TO THE LEFT A BIT SO THAT PEOPLE'S, UH, OR MAYBE, UH, MAYBE IT'S JUST MY VIEW THAT'S GOT PEOPLE OVERLAPPING ON THE RIGHT, THERE'S AN ELEVATION OF THE BUILDING.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE PARTWAY UP THE BUILDING IS SORT OF A TWIST IN IT.
THIS IS NOT A, A SLAB RECTANGULAR BUILDING.
IT'S GOT CURVES TO THE FACADE.
AND A, A INTERESTING TWIST IN THE MIDDLE.
SO THIS IS DETAIL OF THE SIGN ITSELF.
THERE'S NO, NO BACKGROUND ELEMENT TO IT.
SO ALTHOUGH THE RECTANGLE IS 13 TWO BY 41 1, A LOT OF THAT RECTANGLE IS WHITE SPACE.
AND THEN WE HAVE SOME VISIBILITY STUDIES, RENDERINGS OF WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE FROM CERTAIN LOCATIONS.
SO THIS FIRST ONE YOU'VE CROSSED ALONG FELL A BIT BRIDGE.
YOU'RE COMING UP MAIN STREET TOWARDS THE BROADWAY INTERSECTION.
AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE CENTER IN THE, IN THE, UH, BACKGROUND IS THE BUILDING WITH THE SIGN UP, BUT ON THE TOP.
AND OBVIOUSLY AS YOU GO UP BROADWAY TO GET CLOSER, THE SIGN BECOMES LARGER.
THIS IS FROM THE KENDALL SQUARE T STOP.
AND AS YOU, AS YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT, THERE'S THE MARRIOTT BUILDING WITH A SIGN UP ON THE TOP WITH THE MARRIOTT NAME.
ON THE LEFT IS A GOOGLE BUILDING WITH ITS LOGO UP TOP, AND IN THE MIDDLE IS A VIEW CORRIDOR DIRECTLY AT THE BIOGEN BUILDING WITH THE BIOGEN SIGN THERE.
SO IF YOU'RE GETTING OUT AT THE KENNEL SCORE, T STOP, WONDERING WHERE TO GO.
THIS IS FARTHER AWAY FROM THE PEDESTRIAN PATH LEADING TO THE KENDALL TCO STOP.
AND, AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE SIGN ON THE BUILDING AND THE VIEW CORRIDOR BETWEEN EXISTING BUILDINGS.
[01:30:01]
THIS IS THE NUMBER 85 BUS STOP IN THE AREA ON AM STREET.AS YOU COME OUT OF THE BUS STOP, YOU CAN SEE THE BUILDING AND PART OF THE SIGN.
AND OBVIOUSLY, AS YOU WORK, WALK UP AM STREET TOWARDS THE BUILDING, THE BUILDING ON THE RIGHT BECOMES LESS AND LESS OF AN IMPEDIMENT.
YOU, AND YOU WILL SEE THE ENTIRE SIGN.
THIS IS FARTHER AWAY ON AMES STREET.
AND ON THE, ON THE RIGHT, YOU COULD SEE THE TOP OF THE BUILDING WITH THE SIGN VISIBLE.
AND THIS IS AMHERST STREET, FARTHER AWAY.
BUT AGAIN, THERE'S A VIEW CORRIDOR DIRECTLY BETWEEN EXISTING BUILDINGS WHERE YOU WOULD SEE THE TOP OF THE BUILDING ON THE SIGN.
AND THE LAST SLIDE JUST SHOWS THAT FROM MEMORIAL DRIVE, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE IT AT ALL, BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER TALL BUILDINGS INTERVENING.
AND THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR VISUALS.
SO THE VARIANCE STANDARDS UNDER 10 32, IT'S A THREE PART TEST.
FIRST, IT, LITTLE ENFORCEMENT, THE PROVISIONS OF THE ORDINANCE WOULD INVOLVE SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP.
FINANCIAL, OTHERWISE, I THINK HAVE SHOWN THE HARDSHIP IS THAT A CONFORMING SIGN WOULD BE INVISIBLE, BE BLOCKED BY TREES.
THAT, AND IN SOME, A DOUBLE ROW OF TREES MAKING IT INVISIBLE.
THE SECOND TEST IS HARDSHIP, IS OWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING THE SOIL CONDITIONS, SHAPE OR TOPOGRAPHY OF THE LAND, OR STRUCTURES, ESPECIALLY AFFECTING THE LAND OR STRUCTURE.
AGAIN, WE, WE HAVE THESE TREES UNUSUALLY INBOUND OF THE SIDEWALK THAT ARE ACROSS THE ENTIRE FRONT OF THE PROPERTY IN A SECOND ROW IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET.
THIS IS NOT A COMMON CONDITION IN THE AREA, UH, THE DESIRABLE RELIEF.
THE THIRD TEST IS SBRA RELIEF COULD BE GRANTED WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD OR NULLIFYING SUBSTANTIAL INTERROGATING FROM THE INTENT OF THE ORDINANCE, UH, FAR FROM, UH, DETRIMENTAL THE PUBLIC GOOD.
THE SIGN IS CONSISTENT WITH SECTION SEVEN POINT 11.1, WHICH EXPLICITLY RECOGNIZED THAT PUBLIC INTEREST IS SERVED BY HAVING BUSINESSES AND SERVICES IDENTIFY THEIR PREMISES.
THE PROPOSED SIGN DIRECTLY SUPPORTS HIS INTENT BY LONG BY AGENDA, CLEARLY MARKETS HEADQUARTERS, AND TO WAYFIND SO THAT PEOPLE CAN, CAN IDENTIFY THE BUILDING, AND THEY'RE TRYING TO FIND IT.
FINALLY, 10 32 SAYS THAT IN ADDITION TO CONSIDERING THE CHARACTER AND USE OF NEARBY BUILDINGS, THE BOARD IN MAKING ITS FINDINGS SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE NUMBER OF PERSONS RESIDING OR WORKING IN THE BUILDING, UH, AND THE PRESENT PROBABLE FUTURE TRAFFIC CONDITIONS.
BUT I DON'T THINK THE SIGN WILL HAVE ANY IMPACT ON PRESENT OR FUTURE TRAFFIC.
UH, IN TERMS OF NEARBY BUILDINGS AND LAND ACROSS BROADWAY AND TO THE NORTHWEST, ACROSS THE LOWY WALKWAY, ALL OF THOSE ADJACENT PROPERTIES ARE THE MXD DISTRICT, WHERE THE SIGN WILL BE ALLOWED BY, RIGHT? SO IT'S, IT'S CONSISTENT WITH THE CHARACTER AND USE OF NEARBY BUILDINGS.
AND THERE WILL BE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WORKING IN THE BUILDING AND ADDITIONAL HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS EVERY YEAR COMING TO IT FOR CONFERENCES OR COLAB.
SO WE BELIEVE THAT WE MEET THE STANDARD FOR A VARIANCE.
UM, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF LETTERS OF SUPPORT THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED RANGING FROM THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO CITY COUNSELORS, TO CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS.
AND, UM, I'LL LEAVE IT TO THE CHARTER, IDENTIFY ALL THOSE FOR THE RECORD, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, ANY QUESTIONS FROM MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS? OH, SHE HAS HER HAND.
OH, WENDY, I'M SORRY, I, OUR, MY SCREEN.
I DON'T, I CAN'T SEE THE HANDS RAISED ON THE SCREEN.
SO, UM, THIS IS WENDY EREN, AND, UM, I JUST WANTED TO PARSE YOUR, UH, REQUEST FOR RELIEF INTO THREE SEPARATE ISSUES.
ONE IS HEIGHT, ONE IS SIZE, AND ONE IS INTERNAL ILLUMINATION.
IS THAT CORRECT? THOSE ARE THE THREE GROUNDS FOR WHICH YOU'RE REQUESTING RELIEF? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO, PUTTING ASIDE FOR A MOMENT, THE HEIGHT AND THE SIZE OF THE SIGN, UM, I JUST WANTED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERNAL ILLUMINATION, PLEASE.
SO, UM, FIRST OF ALL, I DO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT WE ALL APPRECIATE WHO BIOGEN IS, THE INCREDIBLE WORK THAT YOUR COMPANY DOES, ITS VALUE TO CAMBRIDGE IN PARTICULAR, AND THE LEADERSHIP, UH, IN INDUSTRY THAT BIOGEN IS.
SO, UH, WE, THESE THINGS ARE NOT IN QUESTION.
UM, I DID WANT TO, UM, ASK YOU, WHEN YOU, YOU MADE THE DECISION IN YOUR PRESENTATION, YOU SAID YOU MADE THE DECISION TO LOCATE IN CAMBRIDGE, BECAUSE NO OTHER LOCATION CAN REPLICATE WHAT IS IN CAMBRIDGE IN TERMS OF THE EXPERTISE AND THE, UH, COMMUNITY, UH, OF EXPERTS AND OTHER COHORTS THAT YOU FIND HERE.
UM, SO I JUST WANNA SAY THAT, UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT
[01:35:01]
SIGN IS ALLOWED TO IMPACTED YOUR DECISION, OR, OR YOU WOULD HAVE PROBABLY NEGOTIATED THATUM, SO MY QUESTION, THOUGH, AS A MEMBER OF THE ZONING BOARD IS, I, I'M NOT A CITY NEGOTIATOR.
MY, MY, MY ROLE IS TO INTERPRET WHAT THE ZONING LAW IS.
AND THAT'S THE ONLY ROLE I HAVE.
AND JUST AS IF THIS WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD DISPUTE OR A VARIANCE FOR BUILDING A HOUSE, I HAVE NO DISCRETION ABOUT WHETHER I LIKE THE PERSON ON ONE SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT MORE THAN THE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT.
THAT'S JUST IRRELEVANT TO MY DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
SO I, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN I'M ASKING YOU THESE QUESTIONS.
UM, WITH REGARD TO INTERNAL ILLUMINATION OF THE SIGN, UM, I, I DO AGREE FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE VISIBILITY OF BIOGEN DOES REINFORCE THE ATTRACTION OF CAMBRIDGE FOR TWO OTHER VISITORS AND TO, UM, OTHER INDUSTRY PEOPLE TO APPRECIATE THAT SOMEONE OF THE CALIBER OF BIOGEN RESPECTS WHAT CAMBRIDGE AND ITS PEOPLE HAVE TO OFFER IN TERMS OF, UH, THE WORKFORCE AND THE RESEARCH THAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR YOUR PRODUCTS.
UM, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY INTERNAL ILLUMINATION WOULD BE REQUIRED AFTER CERTAIN HOURS OF THE DAY FOR WAY FINDING PURPOSES.
COULD YOU PLEASE ADDRESS THAT? SO IT DEPENDS ON THE TIME OF THE YEAR IN, IN THE WINTER IT GETS DARK, WHAT, FOUR O'CLOCK SOME OF THE TIME, UH, WELL BEFORE THE BUILDING OPERATIONS HAVE CLOSED.
AND IT DOESN'T GET LIGHT UNTIL SEVEN 30 OR EIGHT AFTER PEOPLE WOULD BE ARRIVING.
UM, I KNOW THAT MANY OF THE SIMILAR SIGNS OPERATE FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.
I THINK IF, IF, UH, THAT RANGE OF ILLUMINATION WAS AN ISSUE FOR THE BOARD, THERE'S PROBABLY A TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WOULDN'T NEED THE SIGN NECESSARILY ILLUMINATED.
IT COULD HAVE AGREED NOT TO HAVE IT ON IF, IF THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO THE BOARD.
AND, UH, I JUST ALSO WANTED TO, UH, ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IN YOUR, YOUR CORPORATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, YOU, YOU HAVE PUT OUT THERE THAT YOU ARE A LEADER AND WANT TO BE A LEADER IN THE INDUSTRY IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.
AND I KNOW THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THE OPPOSITIONS THAT HAS BEEN FILED HAS RAISED THE ISSUE OF THE IMPACT ON BIRDS AND BATS AND INSECTS THAT COME FROM, UH, CHANGES IN THE NATURAL LIGHT SYSTEM OF HAVING SIGNAGE AT NIGHT.
SO, UM, SO I WANTED ALSO TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THAT IS WHERE YOUR COMPANY HAS, IS COMING FROM.
AND, UH, THAT'S ALL FOR MY QUESTIONS FOR THE MOMENT.
ANY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS WITH QUESTIONS? NOPE.
UM, YEAH, WE CAN MOVE, UH, TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, THE PROCESS THIS EVENING WILL BE TO, UH, SUMMARIZE AND PRESENT ALL WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE FIRST, AND THEN OPEN IT TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT, UH, AFTER SUMMARIZING THAT.
SO, UM, FIRST, UH, WE, I'LL PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF CORRESPONDENCE IN FAVOR OF THE APPLICATION.
UM, WE'VE RECEIVED, UH, LETTERS, UH, FROM MASS BIO, UH, CEO AND PRESIDENT, UH, KENDA, KENDALL BERLIN O'CONNELL, UH, LIFE SCIENCE CARES, BOSTON, UH, ROSIE CUNNINGHAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MASS LIFE CENTER, UM, KIRK TAYLOR, PRESIDENT, CEO.
UH, THESE ORGANIZATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, CITE, UH, ALL THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND, UH, UH, GREAT WORK THAT, UH, BIOGEN HAS, UH, CONTRIBUTED, UH, IN LIFE SCIENCE AND, UH, SUPPORT, UH, THE APPROVAL OF THE SIGNAGE VARIANCE.
UM, UH, THE NEXT, UH, SERIES OF LETTERS ARE FROM CAMBRIDGE BASED, UH, GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, WE RECEIVED, UH, A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM CHAMBER OF CAMBRIDGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, UH, THE KENDALL SQUARE ASSOCIATION, UM, AND THE MIT OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT, UH, AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS.
UH, SARAH, SARAH GALLUP, UH, DIRECTOR, UM, MY APOLOGIES ON,
[01:40:02]
UH, LET'S SEE, YEAH, BETH O'NEILL, UH, SORRY, MALONEY FROM, UH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KENDALL SQUARE ASSOCIATION, ALL ALSO, UH, SUPPORTING, UM, BIOGEN'S APPLICATION, UH, REQUESTING APPROVE, SUPPORTING APPROVAL OF THE VARIANCE AS WELL.UM, WE HAVE, UH, SOME LOCAL, MORE, UH, CAMBRIDGE LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS EXPRESSING SUPPORT, UH, THE CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE, UH, ASSAD, SIA, UH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, JESSICA A CANTON, CEO FOR FOOD FOR FREE, UM, ORGAN ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE, UM, UH, PARTNERED WITH BIOGEN IN, IN VARIETY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE, UH, AND SUPPORT FROM THAT, UH, FROM BIOGEN AND, UM, UH, UH, EXPRESS, UH, APPROVAL, UH, FOR THE VARIANTS.
AND THEN, UH, MORE, UH, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, UM, FROM THE SAME SETTER, CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
A LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH, UH, MR. ERIC PALEY.
UM, AS WELL AS, UH, LETTERS OF SUPPORT FROM THE CITY COUNCIL AS MARK MCGOVERN AND TIM FLAHERTY.
UM, AS WELL AS, UH, HER HONOR, UH, UH, MAYOR OF CAMBRIDGE, SOME BY
UM, AND WE ALSO RECEIVED, LEMME FIND THOSE, UH, TWO, UH, LETTERS, UH, FROM, UH, MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF THE EAST CAMBRIDGE, UH, PLANNING TEAM.
UH, WE RECEIVED, UH, A, A LETTER FROM OVE VEDA R CMA, UH, A TRUSTEE OF, UH, THE EAST CAMBRIDGE OPEN SPACE TRUST.
UM, AND, UH, I COULD READ EXCERPTS OF IT OR TRY TO QUICKLY SUMMARIZE.
UH, SIGN ORDINANCE WAS DESIGNED TO ENSURE THAT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND BUSINESSES WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO THEIR PREMISES AND SERVICES, NOT TO PROVIDE, NOT PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ILLUMINATED SIGNS THAT ARE MOUNTED HIGH UP ON BUILDINGS THAT SIMPLY ADVERTISE THEIR PRESENCE.
THE SIGN PROPOSED BY THE DEVELOPER ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGEN COMPANY VIOLATES THE PRINCIPLE AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED, UM, UH, ILLUMINATED SIGN PROPOSALS, WHICH HAVE COME BEFORE THE BZA IN THE PAST, SUCH AS ONE PROPOSED BY THE AL LAMB CORPORATION A FEW YEARS AGO ON THIRD STREET, WERE RIGHTLY REJECTED.
AND THE SIGN THAT WAS FINALLY ERECTED IN CONFORMANCE AND HAS DEMONSTRATED ITS EFFECTIVENESS AS ITS WAYFINDING DEVICE, AND IS BOTH HANDSOME AND HAS PROVIDED EASY IDENTIFICATION FOR PERSONS SEEKING ACCESS TO THEIR HEADQUARTERS ON A TREE LINE THIRD STREET.
THE PROPOSED ILLUMINATED SIGN PROPOSED FOR THE BIOGEN COMPANY CANNOT IN ANY WAY BE JUSTIFIED AS MITIGATING A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP.
BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD ARE EASILY IDENTIFIED BY CONFORMING SIGNS.
THE ARGUMENT THAT A CONFORMING SIGN SHOULD, WOULD BE HARDSHIP BECAUSE IT WOULD BE OBSCURED BY STREET CHEESE, IS PARTICULARLY INSULTING.
THE PROPOSED SIGN ON THE BUILDING NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT 75 BROADWAY, UH, IGNORES THE FACT THAT MATIKO, THE DEVELOPER OF THE VOLPE PLAN, URGED THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC DURING THE APPROVAL OF ITS ZONING, THAT BUILDINGS AND LANDSCAPE ALONG BROADWAY WOULD BE BUILT TO CREATE A UNIFORMLY COMFORTABLE ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCE FOR VISITORS AND EMPLOYEES TO THEIR BUILDINGS.
IT IS GALLING TO HEAR THAT TREES ARE AN IMPEDIMENT TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
SINCE THEY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN HELPING TO MAKE UP FOR THE OVER 150 MATURE TREES THAT WERE DESTROYED FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT.
UH, WE URGE YOU TO REJECT THIS PROPOSAL AND ENCOURAGE BIOGEN TO WORK WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE ORDINANCE TO FIND A CONGENIAL SOLUTION, UH, TO THEIR IDENTITY CONCERNS.
[01:45:01]
A LETTER FROM EAST CAMBRIDGE PLANNING TEAM ITSELF, UM, DATED MAY 14TH.UM, THAT, UH, JUST TRYING TO SUMMARIZE HERE, UM, I THINK, UH, EAST CAMBRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN CON, UH, UH, HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT PROTECTOR AND STEWARD OF THE SIGN ORDINANCE TO ENSURE THAT COMMERCIAL ILLUMINATED SIGNS DO NOT UNDERMINE THE OBJECTIVE OF THE ORDINANCE.
AN ORDINANCE DESIGNED TO ENSURE THE SIGNS ARE USED FOR INFORMATION NEEDED BY THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY THE LOCATION OF A BUSINESS AND NOT FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES.
WE, TOGETHER WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING SEVERAL MAJOR COMPANIES IN THE AREA WHO HAVE HONORED THE ORDINANCE AND HAVE FOUGHT SIDE BY SIDE WITH US IN PREVENTING THE OBLIGATION OF PROVISIONS OF THE ORDINANCE FROM THE DESIRE TO USE BUILDINGS AS ILLUMINATED ADVERTISING SITES.
UM, UH, THEY ALSO CITE THE SAME, UM, ALAM CORPORATION, UM, APPLICATION THAT WAS REJECTED.
UH, THEY ALSO CITE, UH, THE MICROSOFT COMPANY, UM, UH, SIGN THAT WAS PROPOSED AT ONE MEMORIAL DRIVE BEING REJECTED AS WELL.
UH, THE PROPOSED ILLUMINATED SIGN PROPOSED FOR THE BIOGEN COMPANY CANNOT IN ANY WAY BE JUSTIFIED AS MITIGATING A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP.
BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD ARE EASILY IDENTIFIED BY CONFORMING SIGNS THE PROPOSED, AND ANY FUTURE OCCUPANT OF 75 BROADWAY WOULD ENJOY THE SAME WITH A CONFORMING SIGN TO ARGUE THAT AN ILLUMINATED SIGN 17 OR 18 STORIES ABOVE THE STREET WOULD PROVIDE MORE CONVENIENCE TO THE PUBLIC IS DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE.
UM, AND, UH, I THINK THAT WAS, UH, SOME OF THE KEY POINTS THERE.
UM, UH, FROM THE LETTER FROM THE ECPT, UM, AND THAT WAS IT IN THE FILE, UH, FOR S UM, SO WE'LL MOVE NOW TO, UH, PUBLIC SPEAKERS ONLINE.
ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK SHOULD NOW CLICK THE ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR ZOOM SCREEN THAT SAYS, RAISE HAND.
IF YOU'RE CALLING IN BY PHONE, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND BY PRESSING STAR NINE AND UNMUTE OR MUTE BY PRESSING STAR SIX.
I'LL NOW ASK STAFF TO UNMUTE THE SPEAKERS ONE AT A TIME.
YOU SHOULD BEGIN BY SAYING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND STAFF WILL CONFIRM THAT WE CAN HEAR YOU.
AFTER THAT, YOU WILL HAVE UP TO TWO TO THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK BEFORE I ASK YOU TO WRAP UP CHARLES HINES.
I'M THE, I LIVE AT CHARLES STREET IN EAST CAMBRIDGE.
I'M THE CURRENT, UH, PRESIDENT OF THE EAST CAMBRIDGE PLANNING TEAM, AND I'M HERE ON THEIR BEHALF.
UH, THE CHAIR HAS, UM, PRETTY MUCH SUMMARIZED THE LETTER WE SENT IN OPPOSITION.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD A LITTLE BIT THAT HE LEFT OUT.
UH, AND THE SECOND PAGE OF THE LETTER SAYS, IN ADDITION TO THESE CONCERNS, WE NOTED THAT THE ALUMINUM ILLUMINATED SIGN AT THE HEIGHT PROPOSED WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE RESIDENCE AT THE 270 APARTMENTS AT 100 MEMORIAL DRIVE, AND THE NEW MIT GRADUATE STUDENT HOUSING SOUTH OF MAIN STREET.
THESE RESIDENCES, THESE BUILDINGS WOULD HAVE TO LIVE WITH AN ILLUMINOUS ILLUMINATED SIGN 24 7, WHOSE ONLY PURPOSE IS TO ADVERTISE THE BIOGEN COMPANY.
THE FACT THAT FAMILIES LIVING IN THESE DWELLINGS WOULD FEEL WARMLY PUT, BIOGEN REQUIRES AN EXTRAORDINARY LEAP OF IMAGINATION.
UM, THAT'S THE ONLY PARAGRAPH I WOULD LIKE.
AND TO ADD IN, TO ADD, THAT'S NOT IN THE LETTER, WE HAVE NOT ALWAYS OPPOSED EVERY APPLICATION FOR SIGNED ORDINANCE.
WE DID SUPPORT THE EF UH, VARIANCE FOR THE SIGNED ORDINANCE.
'CAUSE THEIR SIGN WOULD'VE BEEN OBSCURED BY THE SOUTHEAST EXPRESSWAY.
AND WE THOUGHT THAT WAS, UH, A GOOD REASON TO HAVE A SIGN HIGHER IN THAT BUILDING.
UH, AND FOR WAY FINDING, I MEAN, I THINK EVERYBODY, NO, PEOPLE REALLY DON'T USE SIGNS FOR WAY FINDING ANYMORE.
THEY USE ELECTRONIC WAY FINDING, LIKE GOOGLE MAPS, EVEN, YOU KNOW, YOU GET INTO AN UBER AND THEY'RE FOLLOWING A MAP, THEY'RE NOT LOOKING IN THE SKY FOR SIGNS.
UH, I DO, UH, APPRECIATE BIOGEN HAS BEEN A WORLD LEADER IN BIO, UH, BIOTECH, AND THEIR MERIT IS NOT IN QUESTION.
UM, AND THEY'VE NEVER NEEDED A SIGN BEFORE TO BECOME GREAT.
THEY'VE BEEN IN EAST CAMBRIDGE FOR GOD SINCE THE EIGHTIES, AND THEY'VE
[01:50:01]
NEVER HAD A BIG SIGNER IN THEIR BUILDING.ANYWAY, THAT'S, THAT'S ALL I WANTED THEM TO ADD, UH, TO THOSE COMMENTS.
AND, UH, I WISH THE, UH, UH, THE BCA CAN CONSIDER OUR, OUR, UH, OUR COMMENTS.
AND THANK YOU FOR, UH, MENTIONING THAT ONE POINT IN THE SECOND PAGE.
THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING THAT.
MS. DONAHUE, CAN YOU HEAR US? SORRY, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
DID YOU HEAR ANY OF MY BEGINNING? I APOLOGIZE.
NO, UM, UM, UNFORTUNATELY WE DIDN'T.
UM, COULD YOU, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? START OVER? MY APOLOGIES.
SO, GOOD EVENING, MR. CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS NANCY DONAHUE, AND I SERVE AS SENIOR DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS FOR THE CAMBRIDGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
ON BEHALF OF THE CHAMBER, I'M HERE TO EXPRESS OUR SUPPORT FOR BIOGEN'S APPLICATION FOR SIGNAGE AT ITS NEW GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS AT 75 BROADWAY.
SINCE COMING TO CAMBRIDGE IN 1982, BIOGEN HAS HELPED ESTABLISH KENDALL SQUARE AS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE DISTRICTS IN THE WORLD.
BIOGEN HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAMBRIDGE'S BIOTECH ECOSYSTEM, MUCH OF IT THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH OUR LOCAL UNIVERSITIES, HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS, AND FELLOW BIOPHARMA COMPANIES.
BIOGEN'S NEW GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS REFLECTS ITS LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO CAMBRIDGE AS A BIOTECH HUB, AND HELPS ATTRACT TOP TALENT IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY AT A TIME WHEN THE BIOTECH SECTOR IS FACING CHALLENGES FROM GLOBAL COMPETITION, FEDERAL UNCERTAINTY AND TALENT LEAVING THE STATE.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT CAMBRIDGE REMAIN A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE LIFE SCIENCES AND CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN ITS INNOVATION ECONOMY.
THE PROPOSED SIGN WOULD ALLOW BIOGEN TO DEMONSTRATE ITS PRIDE IN AND COMMITMENT TO CONTINUED GROWTH IN CAMBRIDGE.
IT IS ALSO CONSISTENT WITH THE CITY'S BROADER PUBLIC INTEREST IN ALLOWING BUSINESSES TO IDENTIFY THEIR PREMISES AS REFLECTED IN CAMBRIDGE ZONING REGULATIONS.
THE SIGN DOES NOT UNDERMINE THE INTENT OR PURPOSE OF THOSE ORDINANCES AND WOULD NOT NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.
BIOGEN IS A VALUED COMMUNITY PARTNER, AND I RESPECTFULLY URGE THE BOARD TO ACT FAVORABLY ON ITS APPLICATION.
AND I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING MUTED AT THE BEGINNING.
UM, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
SO I AM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE KENDALL SQUARE ASSOCIATION.
SO I'D LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO CHAIR ENG AND TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
AND I TOO AM HERE IN SUPPORT OF BIOGEN'S REQUEST FOR WHAT I THINK IS A VERY REASONABLE SIGNAGE VARIANCE AT THE GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS.
UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW AND HAVE HEARD, WE DO DESCRIBE OURSELVES AS THE MOST SQUARE, INNOVATIVE SQUARE MILE ON THE PLANET.
AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT I SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF TIME, UM, SHOWING FOLKS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES AND ALL OVER THE GLOBE AND KENDALL SQUARE.
AND IT IS EXTREMELY USEFUL TO ME TO BE ABLE TO POINT TO THE SIGNS, WHETHER IT'S AKAMAI, WHICH WAS IN THE NEWS TODAY, OR GOOGLE OR THE MARRIOTT, AND TO REALLY HELP FOLKS FIND THEIR WAY AROUND KENDALL SQUARE, IT'S EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND VAL VALUABLE.
SO I THINK THE HEIGHT IS IMPORTANT.
IT'S ALSO CONSISTENT WITH THE OTHER SIGNS IN THE AREA, INCLUDING THE ALNYLAM SIGN, WHICH WAS REFERENCED EARLIER.
AND OBVIOUSLY THE HIGHER THE SIGN IS IN THE BUILDING, UM, THE LARGER IT DOES NEED TO BE.
I THINK THAT THE ISSUE OF ILLUMINATION IS ALSO IMPORTANT.
I AM IN KENDALL SQUARE FIVE DAYS A WEEK, UH, 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR, AND, UM, IT DOES GET QUITE DARK AT FOUR O'CLOCK AND FOLKS DO COME FOR CONFERENCES.
I THINK THE COLLAB, WHICH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED, IT'S REALLY TRULY GONNA BE, THIS BUILDING WILL BE A BEACON FOR FOLKS COMING TO KENDALL SQUARE AND LOCATING BIOGEN.
FROM MY REVIEW OF THE MATERIALS THAT WERE SUBMITTED, THE LIGHTING LOOKS MODEST.
IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA STREAM INTO
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THE NEIGHBORHOOD.AND I THINK IT, IT, TO MY EYE, IT IS QUITE APPROPRIATE AND WORTHY OF, OF CONSIDERATION.
UM, I THINK THAT YOU ALL HAVE HEARD ABOUT WHAT MAKES OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SPECIAL AND THE POWER OF PROXIMITY WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT COMPANIES WORKING SIDE BY SIDE, WHETHER IT'S BIOTECH, DEEP TECH, NOBEL LAUREATES, MIT, HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS, VENTURE CAPITAL AND STARTUPS.
THEY'RE ALL THERE IN KENDALL SQUARE, WHICH, AND IN A FAIRLY DENSE AND DENSER THAN MANY PARTS OF, UM, CAMBRIDGE AND PARTICULARLY AND HEIGHT-WISE.
AND I THINK THAT REALLY MAKES IT REALLY IMPORTANT THAT IN THIS SORT OF THICKET OF BUILDINGS, THAT FOLKS ARE ABLE TO SEE FROM VARIOUS VANTAGE POINTS, WHICH AGAIN, WERE SHOWN IN THE MATERIALS, THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO FIND THEIR WAY THROUGH KENDALL SQUARE AND LOCATE THIS BUILDING.
UM, THE REST OF THE, THE, THE POINTS THAT I'D LIKE TO MAKE, UM, HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED IN WRITING AND ARE CONSISTENT WITH BOTH THE CHAMBER AND OTHERS.
SO I WON'T TAKE UP ANY MORE OF YOUR TIME OTHER THAN TO SAY, UM, WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL TO BIOGEN AND BELIEVE THAT IT SHOULD HAVE THE SAME VISIBILITY AS THE IT AS ITS NEIGHBORS AND THE OTHER COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN KENDALL SQUARE THAT HAVE SIMILAR SIGNAGE.
AND I WANNA SAY THANK YOU, AND I HOPE YOU WILL, UM, POSITIVELY CONSIDER THIS REQUESTED VARIANCE.
PHONE NUMBER ENDING EIGHT THREE ONE ONE.
HELLO, HEATHER HOFFMAN, TWO 13 HURLEY STREET.
I WANNA POINT OUT THAT MS. MALONEY WAS TALKING ABOUT THE WRONG ALNYLAM SIGN.
THEIR ORIGINAL BUILDING HAS A NON-CONFORMING SIGN, AND WHEN THEY CAME TO ASK FOR THE PLANNING TEAM SUPPORT FOR ANOTHER NON-CONFORMING SIGN ON THEIR NEW BUILDING, I, I TOLD THEM HOW MANY YEARS I HAD HATED THEIR NON-CONFORMING SIGN AND THAT SIGN WAS NOT APPROVED.
I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT ALSO THAT THIS IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY INCONSISTENT WITH THE ZONING ORDINANCE, FIRST OF ALL, TO TALK ABOUT, OH, THERE ARE OTHER BUILDINGS NEARBY WITH NON-CON WITH SIGNS THAT, THAT ARE HIGH UP.
THOSE ARE IN THE MXD DISTRICT, WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE SIGN ORDINANCE.
OTHER ZONING PETITIONS HAVE ASKED FOR EXEMPTIONS FROM THE SIGN ORDINANCE, AND NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN GRANTED NONE.
SO IT IS COMPLETELY CONSISTENT TO REQUIRE CONFORMANCE WITH ARTICLE SEVEN.
IN ADDITION, IF KENDALL SQUARE IS EVER SO INNOVATIVE, THE MOST INNOVATIVE PLACE ON EARTH, THAT PROBABLY EXPLAINS WHY EVERYBODY I SEE TRYING TO FIND THEIR WAY AROUND.
AND I GO THROUGH KENDALL SQUARE EVERY DAY, UM, DURING WORKING HOURS, UM, THEY'RE USING GPS.
THEY'RE LOOKING UP BECAUSE WHAT THIS REALLY IS, AND IT'S VERY CLEAR FROM WHAT EVERYONE HAS SAID AND WHAT'S IN THE APPLICATION, IS A BILLBOARD CAMBRIDGE OUTLAWED BILLBOARDS.
DECADES AGO, THEY WERE RIGHT TO DO IT.
AND WHEN THEY TRIED TO HAVE SPECIAL LIT UP BILLBOARDS IN KENDALL SQUARE, THAT ORDINANCE THREW SUCH OPPOSITION, THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF CANTER SIGNED A A REVOCATION PETITION IN 20 DAYS.
AND THE CITY COUNCIL WAS FORCED TO RESCIND THAT ORDINANCE.
AND THEY HAVE NOT TRIED TO RE TO BRING IT BACK BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE CITIZENS OF CAMBRIDGE WANT.
WE'RE, WE SHOULD NOT BE THE VEGAS STRIP.
WE SHOULD NOT BE BEAMING LIGHT INTO PEOPLE'S HOMES.
WE SHOULD NOT BE KILLING BIRDS.
WE SHOULD BE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF THE INNOVATION OF KENDALL SQUARE TO DO A CONFORMING SIGN.
BIOGEN HAS DONE QUITE WELL WITH CONFORMING SIGNS ON ALL OF ITS OTHER BUILDINGS, AND PUTTING UP A BILLBOARD ON THIS ONE IS UNWORTHY OF THEM.
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VARIANCE ARE NOT MERIT BADGES.PAT'S ON THE HEAD FOR BEING GOOD CORPORATE CITIZENS.
THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SUBJECT TO STRINGENT RULES AND REAL HARDSHIPS.
AND NOT BEING ABLE TO PARADE YOURSELF SO YOU CAN BE SEEN ON MARS IS NOT A HARDSHIP.
SO YES, PEOPLE WILL FIND THIS PLACE SOMEHOW, I THINK THE EMPLOYEES CAN MANAGE, THE VISITORS CAN MANAGE, BUT YOUR ADDRESS ON THE BUILDING, PUT YOUR NAME ON THE BUILDING IN A CONFORMING PLACE, PUT A, UM, PUT A SIGN OUT FRONT.
I SUPPORT THOSE, BUT I DO NOT SUPPORT LIGHTING UP OUR SKY SO THAT YOU CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.
YOU HAVE FAR BETTER THINGS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT.
THAT'S IT FOR, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO WE'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT NOW AND, UH, MOVE INTO, UH, DELIBERATIONS.
UM, ANY THOUGHTS FROM FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS? THIS IS DANIEL ALGO.
UM, SO I, I WORK RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM, FROM THE SITE, AND, UM, AND I GUESS I'M, YOU KNOW, I'M PERFECTLY FINE WITH THIS.
I MEAN, I'D BE SATISFIED WITH, UH, I MEAN, I'D BE OKAY WITH SOME KINDA RESTRICTION ABOUT NIGHTTIME ILLUMINATION IF THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS FELT STRONGLY ABOUT THAT.
BUT I JUST STRIKES ME AS QUITE CONSISTENT WITH, UH, THE, YOU KNOW, THE CHARACTER OF KENDALL SQUARE RIGHT NOW.
I THINK, UM, I, YOU KNOW, I, I DO THINK SOMETIMES IT CAN BE A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING GIVEN ALL THE CONSTRUCTION AND, AND, UH, NEW BUILDINGS UP TO, TO, YOU KNOW, TO PINPOINT EXACTLY WHERE YOU'RE GOING.
UM, I UNDERSTAND PEOPLE USE GPS, BUT OFTENTIMES WHEN YOU'RE IN THE IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORHOOD OF WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO GO, IT'S JUST NICE TO BE ABLE TO, TO TO SEE SIGNAGE.
SO I'M, I'M, I'M, I'M FINE WITH THIS.
ANYONE ELSE? THIS IS WENDY EREN.
I DO BELIEVE THAT THERE SHOULD BE A, UH, AN INTERNAL ILLUMINATION LIMIT ON THE HOURS THAT, UH, THE SIGN WILL BE LIT.
UM, ON THE OTHER POINTS OF HEIGHT AND SIZE, I BELIEVE THAT THE, UM, PRESENTATION MATERIALS CONVINCED ME THAT, UM, FROM THE DIFFERENT ANGLES THAT THE, UM, LOCATION OF THE SIGN AND THE PROPOSED SIZE WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UH, NAVIGATING AROUND, I MEAN, IF YOU'RE DRIVING YOU, YOU KNOW, AND LOOKING UP, OR IF YOU'RE WALKING AND LOOKING UP, IT IS USEFUL.
UH, FRANKLY, MAYBE I'M A LUDITE, BUT I DON'T THINK SO.
UH, SOMETIMES I HAVE TROUBLE WITH GOOGLE MAPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY TRYING TO IDENTIFY AND PINPOINT WHERE I'M, UM, AND, UH, IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT OTHER LANDMARKS, UH, TO HELP NAVIGATE.
SO ON THAT POINT, BUT IN TERMS OF THE, UH, THE LIGHTING AT NIGHT WHEN, UH, ONE WOULD PRESUME THAT CONFERENCES ARE NOT CONTINUING, AND THERE ARE, UM, BOTH RESIDENTIAL CONCERNS THAT WERE RAISED BY SOMEONE.
AND THERE WAS ALSO ANOTHER POINT IN THE LETTER THAT WAS NOT, UH, BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE BOARD, BUT IT WAS THE POINT ON THE SECOND PAGE OF THE LETTER ABOUT THE IMPACT ON, UH, BIRDS.
AND I KNOW THAT, UH, PERSONALLY, I AM AWARE OF, UH, STUDIES THAT SHOW THAT BATS AND INSECTS ARE, UM, IMPACTED BY NIGHTTIME ILLUMINATION AS WELL.
SO I WOULD STRONGLY ADVOCATE FOR RESTRICTION ON THE HOURS, AND I THINK THAT BIOGEN, UH, HELPING US AS A COMMUNITY TO SET STANDARDS FOR THEIR CORPORATE COHORTS WOULD BE A WELCOME, UH, WELCOME ADDITION TO OUR CITY AS WELL.
ANY, ANY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS, UH, SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS? UH, THIS IS VIRGINIA.
I WOULD SAY THAT I, I FEEL VERY SIMILARLY TO DANIEL.
I DON'T FEEL, YOU KNOW, AS STRONGLY ABOUT RESTRICTING THE NIGHTTIME ILLUMINATION, BUT I'M, I'M WILLING TO BE CONVINCED, UM, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON, UM, WHAT MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS THINK.
AND I, UM, SOME OF THAT'S THE, WITH WHAT WENDY IS SAYING.
UM, SO I, I, I KIND OF IN, IN LINE WITH SAY, DANIEL AND WENDY.
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ESSAM.ANY THOUGHTS TO SHARE? YES, THIS IS ESSAM FOR THE MOST PART.
I, I CONCUR WITH DANIEL, WENDY IN VIRGINIA.
UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, GENERAL IN AGREEANCE WITH THIS AND, UH, POTENTIALLY LIMITING, UM, UH, NIGHT NIGHTTIME ILLUMINATION.
UM, AND THAT, THAT COULD BE, UH, IN, IN LIMITING THE, THE HOURS AND ALSO THE, I GUESS THE MAGNITUDE OF, OF HOW, HOW MUCH IT'S ILLUMINATED, UM, GENERALLY.
UM, I AGREE WITH THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS.
UH, I GUESS, UH, A QUESTION FOR, UM, MR. LARE AND MR. WIFE, UH, REGARDING, UH, IT SEEMS FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS, UH, ARE ASKING ABOUT THE, UH, ILLUMINATION, IF THERE COULD BE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT THOUGHTS ON, UH, TIMING TO CONTROL THAT, OR PERHAPS EVEN INTENSITY.
UM, ARE THERE ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? SO O OBVIOUSLY WE, WE'D PREFER TO HAVE DUSK KILLED ON, UM, IN TERMS OF LIMITING IT, I THINK THE SIGN WILL SERVE AS WAYFINDING FOR THE BUILDING.
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, ANY IDENTIFIABLE BUILDING BECOMES A REFERENCE FOR PEOPLE.
THEY'RE TRYING TO GET TO THE AREA.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE TELL YOU, GO TOWARDS THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, GO TOWARDS WHATEVER BUILDING, AND IT'S A BLOCK TO THE LEFT.
SO I THINK THAT THE, THE BUILDING MAY SERVE AS A WAY FINDER FOR PEOPLE THAT AREN'T ACTUALLY COMING TO THE BUILDING.
THEY'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, GET OUT OF THE, GET OUT OF THE KENDALL T STOP AND LOOK FOR THE BIOGEN BUILDING HEAD TOWARDS THAT.
AND THEN WE'RE A, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A BLOCK SHORT, WE'RE JUST THE LEFT, WHATEVER.
SO TO THAT EXTENT, I THINK HAVING IT ILLUMINATED AT LEAST UNTIL, YOU KNOW, 11:00 PM OR MIDNIGHT WHEN, WHEN ACTIVITY DIES DOWN AND PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER TRYING TO FIND RESTAURANTS OR OTHER THINGS IN THE AREA WOULD MAKE SENSE.
AND THEN SIMILARLY, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, MIDNIGHT TO 4:00 AM LET'S SAY THAT THERE PROBABLY ISN'T A LOT OF ACTIVITY.
IT'S, IT'S WAY FINDING PURPOSE PROBABLY ISN'T THAT STRONG.
AND THEN AS YOU GET TOWARDS THE MORNING HOURS, AGAIN, YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS.
SO MAYBE, YOU KNOW, HAVE IT OFF MIDNIGHT TO 4:00 AM MIDNIGHT TO 4:00 PM 4:00 AM TO FOUR 4:00 AM SORRY ABOUT THAT.
UM, THOUGHTS FROM MY, UH, FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS ON THIS? I, NO, THIS IS WENDY.
I APPRECIATE, UH, I APPRECIATE THE PETITIONER'S FLEXIBILITY ON THIS POINT.
UM, I WAS TRYING TO GOOGLE WHAT'S THE AVERAGE TIME OF DAWN, UH, FOR
I'M SURE I'M ASKING THE WRONG AI, UH, BOT.
BUT, UH, IN ANY EVENT, UM, IS, IS 5:00 AM TOO MUCH OF A PUSH THROUGH THERE TO, TO PUSH BACK ON? WOULD 5:00 AM WHAT TIME DO YOU YOUR OPERATIONS START? I'M ASKING THE PETITIONER, SORRY.
YEAH, I, I THINK THIS IS MIKE.
S SURPRISINGLY, WE ROUTINELY HAVE PEOPLE THAT COME IN EXTREMELY EARLY IN THE MORNING.
OFTENTIMES IT'S TO PREPARE FOR MEETINGS OR CONFERENCES THAT START AS EARLY AS SEVEN.
FOUR O'CLOCK WOULD BE A STRETCH, BUT IT IS NOT THAT UNUSUAL FOR PEOPLE TO BE COMING IN AROUND THE FIVE O'CLOCK HOUR TO PREPARE FOR THE DAY.
AND YOU KNOW, AS, AS CHARLES HAD HIGHLIGHTED BEFORE, THE CHALLENGE WE HAVE AS THE, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO GOOGLE AS THE SEASONS CHANGE, UH, FIVE O'CLOCK CAN ACTUALLY BE FAIRLY LIT IN THE MORNING AT PART OF THE SEASON.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE OTHER REASON WE'D PREFER TO, UM, SHORTEN THAT WINDOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM ILLUMINATION.
I THINK, YEAH, 5:00 AM UM, TIME WORKS.
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TO FOUR.SO BASED ON THAT AND SEEING NO, UM, OTHER COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS, UH, WE CAN CONDITION THAT IN THE MOTION.
UM,
UM, AND WE SHALL REVIEW THE CRITERIA AND CONDITIONS TO BE MET FOR VARIANCE.
UH, ITEM A A LITERAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDINANCE WOULD INVOLVE A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP, FINANCIAL, OR OTHERWISE TO THE PETITIONER OR APPELLANT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
A CONFORMING SIGN WOULD BE VISIBLE ONLY TO PEOPLE ON THE SIDEWALK DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING, WHICH WOULD CREATE A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP FOR TO CONNECT WITH GENERAL PUBLIC BUILDING VISITORS OR COLLAB PARTICIPANTS.
UH, ITEM B, THE HARDSHIP IS OWING TO THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO THE SOIL CONDITIONS, SHAPE, OR TOPOGRAPHY OF SUCH LAND OR STRUCTURES, AND ESPECIALLY AFFECTING SUCH LAND OR STRUCTURES, BUT NOT AFFECTING THE ZONING DISTRICT IN WHICH IT IS LOCATED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UH, THE SITE TOPOGRAPHY CREATES A SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP IN THAT A CONFORMING SIGN WOULD BE INEFFECTIVE.
UH, SUCH A SIGN WOULD BE OBSCURED BY THE STREET TREES ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF BROADWAY.
UH, A ROW, TREES ON THE BROADWAY MEDIAN IN FRONT OF THE PROPERTY WILL FURTHER OBSCURE THE VISIBILITY OF THE LOWER FLOORS OF THE NEW BUILDING.
AND THE HEIGHTS OF NEARBY BUILDINGS WOULD GREATLY DIMINISH THE CONE OF VISIBILITY.
UH, THE CONE OF VISIBILITY, UH, CONFORMANCE SIGN THIS DOUBLE ROW OF TREES IS A CONDITION THAT DOES NOT GENERALLY AFFECT, UH, THE, UH, ZONING DISTRICT IN WHICH THE BUILDING IS LOCATED.
EMPLOYEES, VISITORS, COLAB PARTICIPANTS AND GENERAL PUBLIC WOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO SEE A CONFORMING SIGN FROM THE SIDEWALK DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING.
A CONFORMING SIGN WOULD BE OF LITTLE VALUE FOR WAYFINDING.
UH, ITEM C, DESIRABLE RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT EITHER A DESIRABLE RELIEF, UM, MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
UH, THE REQUESTED VARIANCE WILL ENABLE VIAGEN TO HAVE A SIGN THAT WILL ASSIST PUBLIC VISITORS AND COLAB PARTICIPANTS IN FINDING ITS HEADQUARTERS BUILDING.
RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT NULLIFYING OR SUBSTANTIALLY DEGRADATING FROM THE INTENT OR PURPOSE OF THIS ORDINANCE FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
THE SITUATION WITH THE TWO ROWS OF TREES OBSCURING THE BUILDING'S GROUND FLOOR IS UNUSUAL ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION 7.1 0.1 STATES IN PART THAT THE PUBLIC INTEREST IS SERVED BY THE USE OF SIGNS, BUSINESSES FOR BUSINESS AND SERVICES TO IDENTIFY THEIR PREMISES.
THE PROPOSED SIGN WILL ALLOW BIOGEN TO IDENTIFY HEADQUARTERS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC VISITORS, COLAB PARTICIPANTS, NOT JUST THE PEOPLE STANDING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING.
UH, SO BY THESE FINDINGS, UH, THEY MEET THE CRITERIA UNDER CONDITION UNDER SECTION 10.31 FOR THE VARIANCE, UH, ON THE CONDITION, UH, ADDING A CONDITION, UH, THAT A SIGN ILLUMINATION WOULD, UH, HOURS WOULD BE, HOW DO I PHRASE THAT? UM, DESIGN TURNED OFF WILL BE TURNED OFF BETWEEN THE TIME HOURS OF MIDNIGHT TO 4:00 AM AND ON THE CONDITION THAT THE WORK PROPOSED CONFORMED TO THE DRAWING SET, INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION PACKAGE ENTITLED PROJECT JUBILEE, EXTERIOR SIGNAGE V FIVE, DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CONTEXTUAL STUDY DATED APRIL 9TH, 2026 BY GENSLER.
AND FURTHER THAT WE INCORPORATE SUPPORTING STATEMENTS DIMENSIONAL FORM SUBMITTED AS
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PART OF THE APPLICATION.BOARD MEMBERS, UH, WENDY ERON.
DANIEL NADAL IN FAVOR, THANKS.
UH, THE VOTE IS FIVE TO ZERO IN FAVOR AND THE APPLICATION PASSES.
UH, THIS CONCLUDES OUR BUSINESS FOR THE EVENING.
UM, THANK YOU, OLIVIA, FOR YOUR HELP.