* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] UH, GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. [NOTE] WELCOME TO THE JUNE 16TH, 2026 MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE PLANNING BOARD. MY NAME IS MARY FLYNN AND I AM THE VICE CHAIR ACTING AS CHAIR FOR THIS EVENING'S MEETING. PURSUANT TO CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025, ADOPTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR, THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PLANNING BOARD. ALL BOARD MEMBERS, APPLICANTS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL STATE THEIR NAME BEFORE SPEAKING, AND 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. YOU CAN ALSO FIND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CITY'S WEBPAGE FOR REMOTE PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS. THIS MEETING IS BEING VIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDED AND IS BEING STREAMED LIVE ON THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE ONLINE MEETING PORTAL AND ON CABLE TELEVISIONS CHANNEL 22 WITHIN CAMBRIDGE. THERE WILL ALSO BE A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PROCEEDINGS. I'LL START BY ASKING STAFF TO TAKE BOARD MEMBER ATTENDANCE AND VERIFY THAT ALL MEMBERS ARE AUDIBLE. JEFF, THANK YOU. THIS IS JEFF ROBERTS FROM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT H THEODORE COHEN. ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE. THANK YOU, TED. MARY, UM, I'LL GO BACK TO MARY. MARY ECKER. ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE. THANK YOU. MARY DIEGO MACIAS, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE. THANK YOU. DIEGO. ASHLEY TAN, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE. THANK YOU. ASHLEY. CAROLYN, ZERN, ARE YOU PRESENT AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE. THANK YOU. CAROLYN. UM, ASSOCIATE MEMBER DAN ANDERSON, UH, IS ABSENT AS IS THE NORMAL CHAIR, MVI. SO, UH, COMING BACK TO MARY FLYNN, CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT YOU'RE PRESENT IN THE MEETING IS VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? UH, YES TO ALL THREE. THANK YOU, MARY. SO WITH THAT, WE HAVE SIX PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT. THANK YOU JEFF. UM, WE ARE NOW GOING TO, UH, GO TO AN UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. UM, AND FOR THAT WE'RE GONNA STAY WITH JEFF, ACTUALLY. AND, AND JEFF, IF YOU WOULD INTRODUCE OTHER STAFF PRESENT WITH YOU, I'D APPRECIATE IT. ABSOLUTELY. UM, I AM JEFF ROBERTS. I'M THE DIRECTOR OF ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE IN THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT WITH ME. UM, ON THE ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM ARE SWATHI JOSEPH, UM, AND EVAN NEY. AND WE HAVE WITH US FROM THE COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DESIGN STAFF IN CDD, BRIAN GREGORY. UM, AND WE HAVE, UH, CHRIS KOTTER FROM THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, AND WE'LL BE INTRODUCING HIM AND POSSIBLY SOME OTHER STAFF FROM THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT A LITTLE BIT LATER. UM, SO TONIGHT'S MEETING, UH, WE DO HAVE ONE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED, WHICH WE'RE GONNA GET TO RIGHT AWAY. AND THEN FOLLOWING THAT, WE'LL HAVE, UM, SOME OF OUR, OUR HOUSING DEPARTMENT STAFF, AS NOTED, WHO WILL BE TALKING ABOUT A RECENT FIVE YEAR PROGRESS UPDATE ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS PROVIDED AND DISCUSSED WITH CITY COUNCIL, UH, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO. AND WE WILL, UH, LAST WEEK, I THINK, AND WE'LL, UH, UH, HAVE A CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT THAT WITH THE PLANNING BOARD. SO THAT'LL BE, THAT'LL BE EXCITING. UH, BIT TO GET INTO, UM, JUST LOOKING AHEAD TO FUTURE PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS ON JUNE 30TH, WE HAVE SCHEDULED OUR ANNUAL UTILITY REPORTS MEETING. SO THERE WON'T BE ANY PUBLIC HEARINGS THAT WILL BE A, UH, OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM, UH, DIFFERENT UTILITY PROVIDERS IN THE CITY. UH, THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, WHICH MANAGES THE CITY'S PUBLIC, UM, SEWER AND STORM WATER. UH, THE CAMBRIDGE WATER DEPARTMENT, UH, WILL BE THERE TO REPORT VICINITY ENERGY, WHICH OPERATES, UH, DISTRICT ENERGY IN CAMBRIDGE AND EVERSOURCE, WHICH IS THE PUBLIC, UH, ENERGY, UH, GAS AND AND ELECTRIC PROVIDER. SO, WE'LL BE HEARING FROM ALL OF THOSE. UM, AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DISCUSSION ON JUNE 30TH. UM, AND LOOKING AHEAD TO JULY, WE HAVE A COUPLE THINGS SCHEDULED, UM, ALREADY, ALTHOUGH THESE ARE, I DON'T THINK THEY'VE BEEN, UH, FULLY ADVERTISED YET, SO THEY'RE STILL TECHNICALLY TENTATIVE, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY SURE, UH, WE'VE GOT THEM LOCKED IN. UH, JULY 14TH WILL BE A PUBLIC HEARING ON A ZONING PETITION, UH, FROM A SET OF REGISTERED VOTERS, UH, THE, THE DOUG BROWN AND OTHERS, UH, ZONING PETITION, WHICH RELATES TO, UM, SOME OF THE REGULATIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE [00:05:01] CITY AND PROPOSES SOME CHANGES TO THAT. SO, WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE A HEARING ON THAT ON JULY 14TH AND JULY 21ST, UH, THE WEEK AFTER A PUBLIC HEARING ON A RESIDENTIAL PROPOSAL AT NINE AND 25 BIR STREET AND 30 TO 36 BAYSTATE ROAD. UM, IT'S A LOT OF ADDRESSES, BUT IT'S REALLY ONE, ONE LOT THAT KIND OF TOUCHES SOME DIFFERENT STREETS. UM, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S SCHEDULED FOR JULY 21ST. WE'LL LIKELY HAVE SOME GENERAL BUSINESS ITEMS SPRINKLED IN THERE THAT, THAT ARE, WILL BE NAILED DOWN, AND WE'LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE AS WE GO ALONG. SO THAT'S WHAT'S COMING UP AT THE PLANNING BOARD. UH, I'LL JUST GIVE A COUPLE OF UPDATES ON SOME THINGS HAPPENING AT CITY COUNCIL. UM, JUST EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON, THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE HELD, UH, ITS PUBLIC HEARING ON, UH, PUBLIC HEARINGS ON TWO ZONING PETITIONS. UM, IT WAS THE, THE MASS AVE AND CAMBRIDGE STREET ACTIVE USE ZONING PETITIONS, WHICH THE PLANNING BOARD HEARD AT, AT YOUR PREVIOUS MEETING. UM, ORDINANCE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED THE, THE BOARD'S RECOMMENDATION AND, AND THE PETITIONS IN GENERAL. UH, THE, THE MEETING WAS RECESSED, UH, WITHOUT ANY, ANY RECOMMENDATIONS. SO IT'LL, IT'LL COME BACK FOR SOME FURTHER DISCUSSION. SO FOR ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED IN WHERE THAT DISCUSSION IS HEADING, UM, YOU KNOW, STAY TUNED FOR, UH, FOR SCHEDULING OF, OF A FOLLOW-UP MEETING ON THAT AT SOME POINT. AND NEXT WEEK, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH, THERE WILL BE A JOINT MEETING OF THE HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD LONG-TERM PLANNING COMMITTEES TO DISCUSS, UM, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CITY. SORT OF A FOLLOW UP ON, UH, PREVIOUS MEETINGS HELD IN THE SPRING TO LOOK AT, UM, DEVELOPMENT, UH, SINCE THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING AMENDMENTS FROM LAST YEAR, AND TO TALK ABOUT ISSUES AND, UM, THAT HAVE COME UP AND HOW THOSE ISSUES MIGHT BE ADDRESSED. SO, UM, SO THAT'LL BE, UH, IN, I BELIEVE THE EARLY AFTERNOON, UH, NEXT THURSDAY. SO THAT IS, UH, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR MY UPDATES. I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO THE CHAIR. THANKS, JEFF. UH, BOARD MEMBERS, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON THE UPDATE FROM JEFF? RIGHT. UM, I'M SEEING NONE. THANK YOU, JEFF. UM, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON, UH, TO THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES. THE BOARD HAS RECEIVED CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPTS FOR THE MEETINGS HELD ON APRIL 28TH AND MAY 12TH, 2026. UM, IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND NOW ON EITHER SIDE OF TRANSCRIPTS. OKAY. UM, SEEING NONE, UM, IS THERE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE TRANSCRIPTS AS THE MEETING MINUTES? THIS IS MARY. OH, SO MOVED. OKAY, MARY, UH, AND THEN, IS THERE A SECOND, PLEASE? THIS IS DIEGO. SECOND DIEGO. THANK YOU. UM, JEFF, COULD WE HAVE A ROLL A CALL, PLEASE ON THAT MOTION? TED COHEN? YES. MARY ECKER? YES. DIEGO MACIAS? YES. ASHLEY TAN? YES. CAROLYN ZERN? YES. MARY FLYNN? YES. THAT'S ALL SIX MEMBERS PRESENT. VOTING IN FAVOR? I. OKAY. UH, MOVING ON. UH, THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA THIS EVENING IS A PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE, UH, PB 4 1 1, A SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION BY SED JAFFERY AND CARLOS FERRERA TO CONSTRUCT A SIX STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WITH 23 RESIDENTIAL UNITS. UH, BEFORE WE BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE TO NOTE FOR THE RECORD, UH, THAT THERE ARE ONLY SIX PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS, UH, PRESENT THIS EVENING TO HEAR THE CASE. AND FIVE VOTES ARE REQUIRED TO APPROVE. UM, DOES THE APPLICANT AGREE TO PROCEED WITH THE PUBLIC HEARING WITH THE FIVE MEMBERS, UH, WHO ARE PRESENT? YES, MA'AM. WE ARE, WE ARE AWARE OF THAT AND FINE WITH THAT. THANK YOU. SIX. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU. UM, ACTUALLY WE HAVE SIX MEMBERS, I THINK, RIGHT? ALL RIGHT, SO IT'S SIX. VERY GOOD. OKAY. UM, SO WE'RE GONNA BEGIN WITH AN UPDATE FROM THE CDD STAFF. UH, THEN WE'LL HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM THE DEVELOPER FOLLOWED BY PUBLIC COMMENT. AND THEN THE BOARD WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO ASK QUESTIONS. UH, FINALLY, WE'LL DELIBERATE AND DECIDE HOW WE WANNA PROCEED ON THIS CASE. UH, SO I'M GOING TO TURN THIS OVER TO EVAN, WHO WILL GIVE US A BRIEF UPDATE. THANK YOU. UM, YES. [00:10:01] SO THIS IS A SIX STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING. UM, THIS IS THE FIRST PROJECT BEFORE THE BOARD WITHIN THE NEW CAMBRIDGE STREET ZONING DISTRICT. SO IT'S, IT'S NOT ON CAMBRIDGE STREET. IT'S IN THE, THE AREA OF THE, THE CAM SIX DISTRICT OVER ON O'BRIEN HIGHWAY. UM, THIS PROJECT HAS, UH, A BIT OF A UNIQUE HISTORY TO IT THAT I, I THINK THE APPLICANT WILL GET INTO IN, IN MORE DETAIL. UM, THE APPLICANT IS REQUESTING A SPECIAL PERMIT TO MODIFY CERTAIN BUILDING AND SITE PLAN STANDARDS ESTABLISHED IN THE CAMBRIDGE STREET ZONING. THE CDD MEMO SUMMARIZES THE PLANNING AND ZONING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPOSAL AND THE URBAN DESIGN. COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSAL, UH, STAFF ARE PRESENT IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, AND THE BOARD'S ACTION IS TO GRANT OR DENY THE REQUESTED SPECIAL PERMIT. THANK YOU, EVAN. UM, OUR PRESENTER THIS EVENING IS EE JAFFERY. UH, MR. JAFFERY, YOU'LL HAVE UP TO 30 MINUTES, UH, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT PLEASE BE AS CONCISE AS POSSIBLE. UM, AND IF YOU WOULD BEGIN, UH, BY INTRODUCING YOUR PROJECT TEAM, UM, WE'D APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. GREAT. THANKS. UH, MS. FLYNN. SO MY NAME IS, UH, SE JRE. I'M THE DEVELOPER FOR THIS PROJECT. AND, UH, ON MY TEAM WITH ME IS, UH, PATRICK, UH, BARRETT, UH, WHO HAS BEEN, UH, A GREAT PARTNER WITH US, UH, ADVISING US ON THIS PROJECT. AND, UH, PATRICK WILL, UH, ACTUALLY TAKE THE LEAD IN, UH, PROVIDING AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF, UH, THE PROJECT FOR A FEW MINUTES. AND THEN, UH, THAT WOULD BE FOLLOWED BY, UH, CARLOS FERRERA. AND, UH, AHI IS NEWLAND, UM, AHORA, UH, CARLOS IS, UH, OUR BUILDER AND ENGINEER FOR THIS, UH, PROJECT. AND AHI IS, UH, PART OF HIS TEAM. AND CARLOS WILL WALK THROUGH SOME OF THE DETAILS OF, UH, THE PROJECT. AND, UH, WITH THAT, I WILL HAND OVER TO PATRICK. THANK YOU, SAEED. AND, UH, MADAM CHAIR. UH, COMMISSIONERS. UM, I'M ACTUALLY HERE, UH, ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS THIS EVENING BECAUSE, UM, I, I, I HAD HELPED SAEED AND HIS TEAM PUT THE PROJECT TOGETHER ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO. AND I VIEWED MY JOB AS BEING DONE. WE HAD SOME COMMUNITY MEETINGS. WE PUT THE PROJECT ON A GOOD PATH. UM, AND I THINK THE HISTORY OF THIS PROJECT IS WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE. IT WAS SUBJECT TO A VARIANCE. IN 2023, THE DEVELOPER WHO SOUGHT THAT VARIANCE THEN SOLD THE PROJECT TO SAEED AND HIS TEAM. UM, AND AT THAT POINT, THE CAMBRIDGE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING HAD BEEN CONTEMPLATED AND THEN HAD BEEN PASSED. UM, SO WE BEGAN THE PROCESS OF A PERMIT MODIFICATION. THE BUILDING PERMIT HAD ALREADY BEEN ACHIEVED FOR THE SITE. SO THEY HAD, UM, UH, BEEN APPROVED FOR A FOUR STORY BUILDING. THEY GOT A PERMIT FOR THAT FOUR STORY BUILDING, AND THEY BEGAN TO PURSUE THE TYPICAL PERMITS FOR THAT DEMO DEMOLITION PERMIT. AND THEN EVENTUALLY THROUGH THE PROCESS OF GETTING A BUILDING PERMIT, UM, THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING HAD PASSED AND THEY LOOKED TO MODIFICATION. THAT'S WHEN THEY HAD REACHED OUT TO ME, AND I HAD HELPED THEM ASSEMBLE WHAT, AT THAT POINT IN TIME THE ZONING WERE ALLOWED FOR. UM, IT'S AN INTERESTING TIME TO BE IN CAMBRIDGE, 'CAUSE THE ZONING DOES SEEM TO CHANGE WITH A MORE FREQUENCY THESE DAYS. UM, UH, AND HAVING BEEN HERE FOR A WHILE, I'M, I'M, I'M, I FEEL LIKE I'M JUST CATCHING UP MYSELF. UM, BUT THE BUILDING, UM, PERMIT MODIFICATION WAS FILED ABOUT A YEAR AND A FEW MONTHS AGO. UM, IT DID NOT OCCUR TO ME AT THE TIME THAT, THAT IT WOULD TAKE THAT LONG TO GET THROUGH A BUILDING PERMIT MODIFICATION. SO, UM, FAST FORWARD TO THE CAM SIX ZONING THAT WAS PASSED AND HAD SOME NUANCES IN IT THAT FRUSTRATED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PROJECT. THEY HAD PROCEEDED WITH DEMOLITION OF WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE WAS A DUNKIN DONUTS AT THE SITE BEFORE THEY BEGAN IN EARNEST TO BUILD ON THE RESIDENTIAL PROJECT. THE FOUNDATION IS THE SAME, THE FOOTPRINT REMAINED THE SAME. AND WHEN THEY HAD ENGAGED ME, THEY WEREN'T SEEKING TO DEVELOP THE SITE AS WE'RE SEEING WITH A LOT OF PROJECTS WITH MULTIFAMILY HOUSING VIEWING TO THE UTMOST CAPACITY. THEY WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR A SOMEWHAT MODEST, UH, UH, INCREASE. THEY ADDED TWO MORE FLOORS, BUT THEY KEPT THE, THE SETBACKS THAT WERE ORIGINALLY SOME OF THE SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION AMONGST THE NEIGHBORS AT THE PRIOR, UM, UH, VARIANCE HEARINGS THAT THEY HAD HAD. UM, WE HAVE HAD ONE OFFICIAL FOOTNOTE 37 MEETING, WHICH WOULD BE REQUIRED UNDER THE NEW MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING. BUT WE'VE ALSO HAD, UH, I THINK AROUND THREE IN TOTAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS WHERE WE SENT OUT THE TYPICAL OUTREACH TO THE, UH, 300 FOOT RADIUS OF ABUTTERS. UM, TRYING TO EXPLAIN SOME OF THE NUANCES OF THE PROJECT, BUT ALSO MAKING THE PLANS AVAILABLE TO FOLKS WHO WANTED THEM. AND ALSO PUTTING UP SIGNAGE TO ALLOW FOR FOLKS TO INQUIRE ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WERE, WHAT THEY WERE BUILDING. UM, [00:15:01] SO THE REAL ISSUE IS, WHILE IN PROCESS FOR THEIR BUILDING PERMIT MODIFICATION, THE CAM SIX PASSED. AND I THINK MOST PEOPLE ASSUME THAT THE CAM SIX WAS REALLY JUST CAMBRIDGE STREET. YOU WOULD IMAGINED IT WRAPPING AROUND ON THIRD INTO WINTER. I THINK IN TERMS OF NOT ONLY, UH, FROM, UH, THE STANDPOINT OF REQUIRING RETAIL AT THE BASE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE SPECIAL CURRENTS WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR RIGHT NOW, IS TO LOWER THE, THE MEZZANINE HEIGHT FROM 15 TO, YOU KNOW, TO SLIGHTLY LOWER. UM, BECAUSE IT DIDN'T, THE, THE ZONES THAT WE WERE IN WERE BA AND C ONE AT THE TIME, AND THAT'S ALL CHANGED A LITTLE BIT NOW. BUT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE USES WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED OR BEEN SUBJECT TO A SPECIAL PERMIT OR VARIANCE THEMSELVES. SO THE DEVELOPER WANTED TO BUILD AN ALL RESIDENTIAL PROJECT THAT WAS WHAT WAS APPROVED AT THE VARIANCE. AND, YOU KNOW, IN THIS TIME OF MODIFICATION, TWO ZONING PETITIONS HAD PASSED AND HAD THE CAM SIX NOW REQUIRED A SLIGHTLY MORE NUANCED SETBACK, UM, AND THE REQUIREMENT FOR A FULL MEZZANINE HEIGHT. UM, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, I THINK JEFF MENTIONED IT EARLIER, UH, THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE WAS IN SESSION TODAY DISCUSSING YET ANOTHER MODIFICATION TO THIS AREA WHICH WOULD REMOVE OUR, OUR SECTION OF WINTER STREET FROM THE CAM SIX AND EFFECTIVELY MAKE THIS CONVERSATION MOOT AND OUR PROJECT BY. RIGHT. SO I THINK THAT THAT, AND I MENTIONED THAT TO SPEAK TO SORT OF THE, THE HILL WE HAVE TO CLIMB, UH, A ALONG THE SPECIAL PERMIT. UM, AND WHAT, WHAT AND THE RE THE RELIEF THAT WE'RE AT THAT WE'RE SEEKING WAS CONTEMPLATED FORTUNATELY BY CDD, THAT'S WHY WE COME TO YOU WITH A SPECIAL PERMIT. NOT, WE'RE NOT AT THE BCA SEEKING A VARIANCE. UM, BECAUSE I THINK JEFF AND CDD UNDERSTOOD THAT, LIKE IN ALL THINGS IN ZONING, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU PUT A NUMBER DOWN, YOU'RE GONNA EVENTUALLY FIND SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO MOVE THAT AROUND A LITTLE BIT. UM, I DO BELIEVE THAT THESE PRO UH, THE PROPONENT CARLOS AND SE HAVE ONLY BEEN MOVING IN GOOD FAITH. UM, THEY HAVE KEPT IN GOOD CONTACT WITH THE NEIGHBORS. I'VE RECEIVED SOME EMAILS BACK AND FORTH, EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT OFFICIALLY, UH, REPRESENTING HIM ANY ANYMORE, ALTHOUGH TONIGHT I AM. UM, AND, UH, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BOARD UNDERSTOOD WHERE WE WERE ON THE TRAJECTORY OF THIS CASE. IT'S JUST, IT'S A WEIRD ONE, AND I THINK YOU'RE GONNA SEE THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE COMING DOWN THE LINE WHEN IF WE MODIFY MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING ZONING OR IF WE ADD, YOU KNOW, WE MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO THE CAM DISTRICT, CAM DISTRICT, THERE ARE LOTS OF PROJECTS THAT ARE IN APPLICATION. AND RIGHT NOW, AND THIS IS NO SLIGHT ON, ON ISD, THEY HAVE BEEN INUNDATED WITH SMALLER, SMALLER GROUPS. UM, BUT THE BACKLOG IS SIGNIFICANT. AND IF CASES ARE TAKING SIX TO 12 MONTHS TO GET APPROVAL THROUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS, THEN YOU KNOW, THE ZONING COULD CHANGE , IT DON'T, IT NORMALLY DOESN'T HAPPEN. BUT THAT'S, THAT, THAT IS WHERE WE ARE. UM, I'LL, I'LL PASS IT TO CARLOS. AND I DO APPRECIATE, UM, YOUR TIME AND YOUR, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, AND, AND ED'S ACTUALLY LETTING, ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK AHEAD OF TIME HERE. BUT CARLOS, UM, YES. I THINK, UH, IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, IF THEY ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, I THINK AT THIS POINT THERE'S LIKE, UH, GIVE A PRESENTATION ON, ON THE, THE ALTERATION THAT YOU'RE MAKING, UM, BUT MAKE IT, YOU KNOW, SHORT AND BEAUTIFUL. UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'LL TRY TO MAKE IT SO EVERYONE GET HERE IN A TIMELY FASHION. BUT THANK YOU. YES. I MEAN, UH, SO I'M JUST GOING TO, UH, UH, LET ME SHARE MY SCREEN WITH THE, UH, WITH THE PRESENTATION IN HERE. LEMME SEE THIS DOCUMENT SCREEN SHARE. WELL, UH, AGAIN, GOODNIGHT, UH, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. MY NAME IS CARLOS FAIDA. I'M THE, UH, ENGINEER AND ALSO LIKE THE CONTRACTOR FOR, FOR THIS PROJECT WITH ME. I HAVE A CURIOUS NEWLAND. I MEAN, UH, SHE WAS LIKE THE DESIGNER, UH, PART OF LIKE MY TEAM, UH, THAT PULL LIKE THIS THING TOGETHER. UH, SO THIS IS LIKE EIGHT CAMBRIDGE, UH, WINTER STREET IN CAMBRIDGE. UH, AND WE ARE, UH, APPLYING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE SPECIAL PERMIT PRESENT, UH, DOING LIKE A COMPREHENSIVE SPECIAL PERMIT PRESENTATION. UH, THE PROJECT, THE PROJECT IS ON THE CORNER OF LIKE, UH, THIRD STREET AND MCGRATH HIGHWAY, EVEN THOUGH LIKE THE, THE ADDRESS IS EIGHT WINTER STREET, BUT EIGHT EIGHT WINTER STREET IS A LITTLE BIT, UH, BACK, UH, FROM, UH, FROM THE PROPERTY, THE, UH, UH, THE BUILDING. UM, SO LIKE, THIS IS LIKE WINTER STREET HERE ON THE EAST IS LIKE THIRD STREET. AND THEN MCGRATH HIGHWAY IS LIKE BORDERING THE WHOLE PROPERTY. UH, THE BUILDING THAT, UH, WE, WE ARE PROPOSING IS LIKE A, IT'S A SIX STORY. UH, THIS IS LIKE JUST THE ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT AND, YOU KNOW, THE INTRODUCTION OF LIKE [00:20:01] THE, THE MATERIALS AND, AND TYPE OF MATERIALS AND WHAT WE PLAN TO, UH, DO THE FINISHES ON IT. UM, THE PROJECT HAS SIX STORIES, UH, 63.3 FEET HIGH. UH, THE, THE RESIDENTIAL, UH, GROSS FLOOR AREA IS 24,819 SQUARE FEET, ZERO OFF STREET PARKING, UH, AND IS A TRANSIT ORIENTED DESIGN. UM, SO AGAIN, WE, UM, THE LOT IS, UH, 7,000, UH, 404 SQUARE FEET, BOUNDED BY MONOR, UH, O'BRIEN HIGHWAY THIRD STREET AND WINTER STREET, UH, NEAR, UH, MBTA BUS SERVICE ON O'BRIEN HIGHWAY. AND WALKING DISTANCE TO THE GREEN EXTENSION, UH, EXTENSION STATION. AGAIN, ZERO OFF STREET PARKING, UH, UH, SUPPORTS A RESIDENTIAL TRANSIT, UH, IN ELIMINATING THE, THE DRIVE. WE REDUCED SIDEWALKS AND, UH, VEHICLE CONFLICT, UH, ON THE STREETS. UM, AS PATRICK HAS MENTIONED, I MEAN, THE, THE PROJECT, UH, STARTED, UH, WITH A BUSY, UH, BOARD ZONING BOARD OF APPROVALS LIKE IN, UH, NOVEMBER OF 2023. UM, WE STARTED THE APPLICATION FOR THE SIX STORY BUILDING IN APRIL OF LIKE 2000, UM, 25. WE ACTUALLY HAD A FOUNDATION PRIOR TO THAT, UH, BUILDING PERMIT PRIOR TO THAT. AND WE STARTED, UH, CONSTRUCTION WITH THAT, UH, PERMIT ON JULY 18, UH, 2025. AND THEN, UM, IN JANUARY 26, UH, 2026, UH, SIX WAS ADOPTED. UH, WE HAD A, A MEETING WITH THE CDD ADVISORY REVIEW, UH, BACK IN MARCH OF LIKE, UH, UH, 17 OF LIKE THIS YEAR. UM, THE, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE ARE REQUESTING THERE ON THE ZONING, IT'S BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, UM, THINGS THAT CHANGE IT, UH, WITH THE NEW ZONING, THE CHEM SIX ZONING, UH, WHICH IS LIKE FRONT YARD SETBACK ALONG LIKE THE MOST SENIOR BRIAN, BECAUSE ZONING HAS LIKE TWO DIFFERENT, UH, UH, THERE'S LIKE THE MAIN STREET AND THE SECONDARY STREET. I MEAN, WE FIND ON THE SECONDARY STREET, UH, THE MONOR O'BRIEN, UH, UH, WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE A LIMITATION. SO, UH, WE ARE, UH, ENCROACHING A LITTLE BIT INTO THE SETBACKS INTO THAT, UH, AREA. THE OTHER, UM, THE OTHER ELEMENT WAS THE GROUND STORY HEIGHT, WHICH IS THE NEW ZONING, UH, REQUEST IS LIKE A, A 15 FOOT, UH, HEIGHT ALONG LIKE A MO O'BRIEN. AND WE ARE SHORT BY 2.43 FOOT ON THAT. AND THE OTHERS, UM, UH, IS THE ENTRANCE LOCATION. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE MAIN AXIS FOR, I MEAN, THE MAIN AXIS OF THE BUILDING IS ON A SECONDARY STREET, IS ON THIRD STREET, NOT ON, ON, UH, ON, ON MOOR O'BRIEN. THE, UM, SO THEN, I MEAN, A, A BROADLY VIEW OF LIKE THE COMPLIANCE, UH, FOR CHEM SIX, IS IT? SO RESIDENTIAL USE, MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL PERMIT, WE ASKING FOR 23 UNITS. UH, IT'S ALLOW 75 FEET, SIX STORIES. WE HAVE 63.3 FEET, SIX STORIES. A BUILDING LENGTH IS 200 FEET MAXIMUM. WE HAVE, UH, 73.2 FEET FACADE TRANSPARENCY, 20% MIMO. WE HAVE, UH, 20%, UH, ON THIRD STREET AND 25% ON O'BRIEN HIGHWAY BICYCLE PARKING, UH, 24 LONG TERM AND THREE SHORT TERM. WE PROVIDE 24 LONG TERM AND FOUR SHORT TERM OPEN SPACE. UM, WE MEET OPEN SPACE REQUIREMENT OF 23% OF THE LOT, UH, 2,310 SQUARE FEET. THE RELIEF THAT WE TARGET IS ITS GEOMETRY GRADE AND FOUNDATION CONDITIONS. NOT, UH, UH, WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR ANY OTHER, UH, WE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ZONING. UM, YOU KNOW, WE BELIEVE THAT OUR PROJECT, UH, SUPPORTS THE PUBLIC REALM. I MEAN, THE BUILDING FRAMES ON THIRD STREET AND O'BRIEN HIGHWAY. UH, IT'S AN INTERSECTION OF A CONTINUOUS URBAN EDGE ARTICULATED FACADES AND LANDSCAPE TREATED THE SIDEWALK. UH, WE HAVE LIKE A, WE HAVE LIKE A, A VERY LARGE DOUBLE SIDEWALK ALONG LIKE, UH, UH, O'BRIEN HIGHWAY. WE, UH, AND WE INTEGRATED THE BUILDING WITH THAT ON THE, UH, ON THE, ON ON THAT SIDE. UH, WE BROUGHT LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF LIKE A MASONRY PATTERN, UH, ON THE BASE GROUNDS OF THE BUILDING, UH, TO INTEGRATE THAT WITH LIKE THE, THE, THE [00:25:01] SURROUNDING BUILDINGS. AND THEN WE HAVE LIKE A CEMENT BOARD, UH, PATTERN, UH, WITH LIKE, UH, A GOOD, LIKE A WINDOW, UH, A LOT OF LIKE WINDOW OPENINGS, UH, FOR THE BUILDING. UM, THE, UH, OOPS, THE OPEN SPACE, UH, FOR THE BUILDING, IS IT ON ALONG THE, UH, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BUILDING? UM, ON THIS AREA, WE, UH, THE, THE LAND FOR, UH, THE PROPERTY EXTENDS ABOUT LIKE ANOTHER 20 FEET IN HERE. UH, THIS WAS LIKE A, A DRIVEWAY THAT HAS BEEN USED FOR THE, FOR THE NEIGHBORS AND, AND FOR THE ACCESS OF A PARKING LOT. THIS IS ON THE BACK IN HERE FOR, FOR MANY YEARS. AND I THINK, LIKE, UH, THE PREVIOUS OWNER, UH, CAPTURED THAT AREA OPEN. AND WE ALSO, UH, WITH THE MODIFICATIONS, WE DIDN'T TOUCH THAT, WE DIDN'T INCREASE THAT AREA. SO WE MAINTAINED THIS DRIVEWAY, WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE NEIGHBORS. THERE ARE ALONG OUR SIDING HERE. AND, UH, AND BY THAT DRIVEWAY, IT WILL PROVIDE LIKE, UH, PEOPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, DELIVERIES OR PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY COME, UH, DROP OFF, UH, FOR THE BUILDING TO BE OUT OF THE STREET. SO PEOPLE DON'T NEED TO USE THIRD STREET FOR THAT. AND ALSO, WE HAVE, UH, ON THE BACK OF THE BUILDING, WE PROVIDED LIKE A SORT OF A, UH, AN OVERHANG WHERE WE HAVE LIKE A THRESH IN, IN BICYCLE STORAGE ON THE, ON THE BACK OF THE BUILDING. UH, THIS SECTION IN HERE IS FOR LIKE A TRANSFORMER, UH, PAD. UH, SO EVERYTHING IS LIKE HIDDEN FROM LIKE, THE VIEW AND, AND ENHANCE LIKE THE, UH, THE, THE, THE APPEAL OF THE BUILDING WE ARE PROPOSING, LIKE, UH, THE, THE, THE CANOPY TREES. UH, SO WE COMPLY WITH THE GREEN FACTOR FOR THE, THE, THE ZONING. UH, ALSO THE BUILDING IS LIKE FILES COMPLIANT, UH, UH, WHICH IS LIKE, UH, REQUIRED BY THE CURRENT ZONING. UM, AND THEN, UM, SO REGARDING THE PLANNING BOARD FIGHTING THAT WE HAD LIKE MEETINGS, UH, WITH LIKE SECTION 19.3 OBJECTIVES, UH, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIVE LIKE DEVELOPMENT PATTERN, PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION, YOU KNOW, LIKE PASSIVE HOUSING ENVELOPE SCREENING, UH, EQUIPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE COMPATIBILITY, MODEST RESIDENTIAL, UH, AND RESIDENTIAL DEMAND. UM, CAMBRIDGE URBAN CHARACTER, UM, HOUSING EXPANSION, OPEN SPACE ENHANCEMENT, AND CLIENT, UH, RESILIENT. SO WE BELIEVE IN, YOU KNOW, LIKE IN TAKING THE LEAD FROM LIKE THE PLANNING BOARD, UH, WE MET ALL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR, FOR THIS, UH, WITH OUR DESIGN. UM, THEN, UM, WHAT WE REQUESTING IN HERE OF WITH LIKE FOR THE APPROVAL IS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, SECTION 17.705, 1.3, SITE PLAN MODIFICATION, FIND THAT THE REQUEST MODIFICATIONS ARE LIMITED SITE SPECIFIC, UH, IN RESPONSIVE TO, UH, DOCUMENTED PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS. UH, THE, THE LOT IS LIKE A CORNER LOT. AND, AND IT'LL BE HARD TO, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO PUSH THE LOT, UH, THE BUILDING WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, IMPACTING THE NEIGHBORS MORE TO THE, UH, TO THE EAST OF US. UM, SO WE HAD TO MAINTAIN THE BUILDING, LIKE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE CORNER. UM, THE 17.702 CAM SIX STANDARDS CONFIRMED THAT THE PROJECT REMAINS BROADLY ALIGNED WITH CAM SIX HOUSING HEIGHT TO MOBILITY, OPEN SPACE AND DESIGN OBJECTIVES. UH, UH, 10.43 SPECIAL PERMIT CRITERIA, FIND THE PROPOSAL WILL CAUSE NO SUBSTANTIAL DETRIMENT AND SUPPORTS ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT, NEIGHBORHOOD COMPATIBILITY, AND PUBLIC BENEFIT. IN 19 POINT 30, UH, URBAN DESIGN OBJECTIVES RECOGNIZED CONSISTENT WITH THE CITYWIDE OBJECTIVES FOR HOUSING WORKABILITY SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCE IN CAMBRIDGE URBAN CHARACTER. UM, AND, UH, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT, UH, THAT'S WHAT WE HAD TO PRESENT. AND IF YOU, UH, GUYS HAVE ANY, ANY QUESTIONS, UM, WE WILL, UH, GET TO QUESTIONS, UM, IN A, IN A SHORT WHILE. BUT, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE FIRST TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT. UM, THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO, UH, PLANNING BOARD QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS. SO, [00:30:01] AS I MENTIONED, UH, THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING. UM, ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK SHOULD NOW CLICK THE BUTTON THAT SAYS RAISE HAND. IF YOU'RE CALLING IN BY PHONE, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND BY PRESSING STAR NINE. UM, AS OF 5:00 PM YESTERDAY, THE BOARD HAD RECEIVED NO WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS ON THIS CASE. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER 5:00 PM YESTERDAY WILL BE ENTERED INTO THE RECORD. UH, SO LET US CHECK ON, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT. OKAY. IT DOES APPEAR, OH, TED, DID YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING BEFORE WE, YOU'RE MUTED IF YOU, I, I'M SORRY, MADAM CHAIR. THAT WAS AN ERROR. OH, OKAY. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT THOUGH. UM, SO LET'S SEE. UH, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE, UH, MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISHES TO SPEAK. SO, UM, I'M GONNA ASK STAFF TO UNMUTE, UH, THE SPEAKER AND ANY OTHERS WHO MAY FOLLOW. UM, PLEASE BEGIN BY SAYING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND STAFF WILL CONFIRM THAT WE CAN HEAR YOU. AFTER THAT, YOU'LL HAVE UP TO THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK BEFORE I ASK YOU TO WRAP UP. UM, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO ASK JEFF TO MANAGE PUBLIC COMMENTS. THANK YOU. UH, WE HAVE A COUPLE SPEAKERS. UH, THE FIRST SPEAKER IS KENNETH AND I, I APOLOGIZE FOR MISPRONOUNCING ANYONE'S NAME, JUST I'M READING WHAT'S ON THE ZOOM. UM, BUT PLEASE GIVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS WHEN YOU START. KENNETH PAKE, WHO'S FOLLOWED BY HEATHER HOFFMAN. HELLO, UH, MY NAME IS KENNETH PECK. UM, I LIVE RESIDE AT 47 GORE STREET. UM, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY AND MORE SIGNIFICANTLY, I'M ACTUALLY ADJACENT TO THE PRIVATE WAY, UM, THAT IS REFERENCED, UH, IN THE PLAN. UM, I GUESS TECHNICALLY 10 LINEHAN COURT. UM, I'VE BEEN, UH, I I, I KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE PROJECT . UM, I'VE BEEN, UH, ACTIVE ON THE PREVIOUS, UH, WITH THE PREVIOUS OWNER. UM, AND, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I DID MEET WITH SED AND HIS TEAM LAST YEAR WHEN THEY FIRST PURCHASED THE PROPERTY. UM, AND AT THAT TIME, YOU KNOW, THEY GAVE REASSURANCES THAT THEY WOULD PRETTY MUCH FOLLOW THE, THE PREVIOUS PLAN, UM, UH, UH, FROM THE PREVIOUS OWNER. AND, YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME FACTORS WERE ADHERED TO, FOR INSTANCE, THE WIDTH OF THE PRIVATE WAY. HOWEVER, SOME OTHER THINGS THAT WERE NOT WRITTEN DOWN ARE, ARE POPPING UP IN THESE NEW PLANS THAT ARE QUITE CONCERNING TO US AS THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY LIVE AND, UM, A ADJACENT TO THIS PROPERTY. UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE USAGE AND LAYOUT OF THIS PROPERTY THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AND IS VERY FRUSTRATING TO US AS ABUTS. UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, BASICALLY IT'S JUST IMPRACTICAL TO HAVE THIS TOWERING SIX, SIXTH FLOOR BUILDING RIGHT NEXT TO MY HOME, LOOKING STRAIGHT INTO MY BACKYARD. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST THE EXPERIENCE OF HAVING THE CONSTRUCTION WORK THERE NOW, IT JUST HIGHLIGHTS HOW POORLY PLANNED, UM, THIS, UH, THE LAYOUT FOR THE, THE PARKING AND, AND TRA AND TRAFFIC AND TRASH, UM, IS, YOU KNOW, I HAVE, I CAN'T ACCESS MY DRIVEWAY 20% OF THE TIME WHEN WITH TRUCKS BLOCKING THE PRIVATE WAY. UM, I'VE PREVIOUSLY ASKED FOR ADVANCED NOTICE FOR THESE THINGS, AND IT DOESN'T HAPPEN, AND IT HAPPENS VERY FREQUENTLY. UM, AND I UNDERSTAND THEY HAVE TO GET THE WORK DONE. AND SO THIS TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE IS UNDERSTANDABLE AND MANAGEABLE. BUT, UM, WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE THIS THING IS GONNA BE COMING UP IN 23, 23. NEW NEIGHBORS ARE GONNA BE MOVING IN ALL ORDERING, UM, THEIR FOOD DELIVERIES. UM, THEY'RE, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE THEIR FRIENDS AND UBERS DROP OFF AND BLOCK THE WAY, AND THEY'RE PURPOSELY DESIGNING IT TO ACTUALLY LITERALLY BLOCK MY DRIVEWAY. AND IT'S VERY FRUSTRATING. I'VE COMMUNICATED THIS AND WITH THEM BEFORE, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN, THEY SHOULD ESTABLISH NO PARKING, NO STANDING ZONES RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE BLOCKED. I KNOW, I UNDERSTAND THAT. AND IF THEY HAD JUST GONE AHEAD AND THOUGHT ABOUT THE DESIGN IN ADVANCE AND MOVED THE TRASH AND, UH, THEIR LOADING ZONE TOWARDS THE BACK OR TOWARDS THEIR WINTER STREET ADDRESS ENTRANCE, INSTEAD OF INTENDING TO BLOCK IT, UM, YOU KNOW, INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED IT TO BLOCK THE THIRD STREET ENTRANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I WISH THAT THEY HAD COMMUNICATED THIS AND HEARD, UM, THE ABUTTERS VOICES INSTEAD OF JUST WAVING THEIR HANDS AND SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE JUST WANT MORE PROPERTY, MORE PROPERTY. AND I UNDERSTAND MY TIME IS UP, BUT, UM, I'LL PROBABLY WRITE A LETTER TO COMMUNICATE AND EXPRESS, UH, MORE VIEWPOINTS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THE NEXT SPEAKER IS HEATHER HOFFMAN, [00:35:01] WHO'S FOLLOWED BY QUENTIN SMITH. HELLO, HEATHER HOFFMAN, TWO 13 HURLEY STREET. UM, I, I CAN TELL YOU ONE OF THE REASONS YOU DIDN'T GET ANY, UM, EARLIER CORRESPONDENCE IS THAT PEOPLE WOULD'VE HAD TO READ THE CITY CALENDAR TO NOTICE THAT THIS WAS ON IT. UM, I THINK THAT THE WHOLE IDEA OF JUST NOTIFYING ABUTS AND NOT TALKING TO THE LARGER NEIGHBORHOOD AND NOT TALKING TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION THAT WAS INTIMATELY INVOLVED WITH WORKING OUT THE VARIANCE, UM, WAS A MISTAKE. AND THAT IS A MISTAKE THAT CAN BE IFIED, BECAUSE YOU'RE ALREADY HEARING PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT HAPPY WITH HOW THIS DESIGN HAS GONE. THEY DON'T FEEL HEARD. AND I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE A THOUSAND MEETINGS, IF YOU JUST HOLD THEM AND DON'T RESPOND TO WHAT PEOPLE TELL YOU IS IMPORTANT TO THEM, THEN, YOU KNOW, WHY, WHY DID YOU WASTE THEIR TIME? UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT WE WOULD LIKE VERY MUCH AS A NEIGHBORHOOD TO MEET WITH THESE GUYS. UM, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THEIR PLANS WHEN THE ZONING CHANGES TO ALLOW THEM TO DO MORE STUFF, EVEN THOUGH THEY GOT A VARIANCE. AND PART OF WHAT COMES WITH A VARIANCE IS AN UNDERSTANDING THAT WE'VE ALREADY ALLOWED YOU TO MODIFY THE ZONING FOR CERTAIN REASONS. SO, AND, AND I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU DON'T EXPECT IT TO TAKE A YEAR TO CHANGE YOUR BUILDING PERMIT. SO I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATIONS ON THEIR SIDE, BUT THEY COULD HAVE TALKED TO THE LARGER NEIGHBORHOOD AND GOTTEN INFORMATION AND POSSIBLY GOTTEN ALLIES, WHICH TENDS TO MAKE THINGS GO BETTER. SO I DEFER TO THE ABUTTERS FOR THE ACTUAL CONDITIONS THAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH. BUT I WILL SAY THAT THE MOMENT I HEARD, OH, WELL, ALL OF THE LOADING AND UNLOADING AND EVERYTHING WILL HAPPEN ON LENIHAN COURT, I THOUGHT, ARE YOU NUTS? THAT DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION, ESPECIALLY FOR A BUILDING THAT'S HALF AGAIN, AS BIG. SO, UM, I, I HOPE THAT THEY WILL ASK FOR A CONTINUANCE SO THAT THEY CAN TALK TO THE NEIGHBORS SOME MORE, BECAUSE I AM CERTAIN THAT THERE IS A GOOD RESOLUTION THAT CAN BE WORKED OUT, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO HELP. THANKS. THANK YOU. THE NEXT SPEAKER IS QUENTIN SMITH. UM, THAT'S THE LAST HAND RAISE. SO IF ANYONE WASN'T CALLED AND YOU INTENDED TO SPEAK, UM, NOW IS THE TIME WE'D, WE'D LIKE YOU TO PUSH THE RAISE HAND BUTTON. UM, SO WE CAN HAVE YOU IN THE QUEUE. YOU CAN GO AHEAD. HI, UH, QUENTIN SMITH, 86 PLYMOUTH STREET. CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU GREAT. UM, SO THIS, UH, I, I ACTUALLY DID HEAR ABOUT THIS DESPITE NOT BEING IN ABUTTER. UH, THIS IS SORT OF MY EXTENDED BACKYARD, UM, JUST OVER THE LINE FROM EAST CAMBRIDGE INTO WELLINGTON HARRINGTON. UM, THIS SEEMS LIKE EXACTLY THE KIND OF PROJECT THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE CONSTRUCTION ON, AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT, IT'S NOT SEEKING A BUILDING THAT IS SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN THE ZONING'S INTENDED TO ALLOW. IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, WE'RE WE'RE TRYING TO FIX. IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS TRYING TO FIX A, A, AN EDGE CASE IN ALL OF THE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS THAT JUST HASN'T QUITE, UH, WORKED IN THIS PARTICULAR SCENARIO. UM, AND I, I DO WANNA RESPOND TO, TO THE COMMENTS ABOUT TRAFFIC. THIS USED TO BE A DUNKING DONUTS, AND I REMEMBER GOING TO THAT DUNKING DONUTS, I'VE PROBABLY BEEN THERE A DOZEN TIMES OVER THE YEARS. UM, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, OPEN, I THINK AT, AT TIMES IT WAS 24 7. SO IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TAKING A, A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY THAT PREVIOUSLY HAD A, A COUPLE UNITS ON IT AND NOW HAS, YOU KNOW, 20 UNITS WORTH OF PEOPLE THERE. IT'S, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A PROPERTY THAT PREVIOUSLY HAD, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS OF CARS, UH, EVERY DAY COMING IN TO, TO, IN AND OUT TO GO TO THE DUNKING DONUTS. SO TO ME, THE, THE, THE TRAFFIC ARGUMENTS IN THIS VERY UNIQUE SCENARIO SEEM NOT SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT ALREADY WAS [00:40:01] A PROPERTY THAT HAD LOTS OF TRAFFIC. SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THIS, THIS SEEMS LIKE EXACTLY THE KIND OF CONSTRUCTION WE SHOULD BE SUPPORTING SEEMS LIKE A, A VERY SIMPLE, UH, AND SMALL, UH, ADAPTATION TO THE CONDITIONS THAT EXIST IN THIS PARTICULAR SITE. AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE, UH, THE PLANNING BOARD TO APPROVE THIS PERMIT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UM, SO WE HAVE A COUPLE MORE SPEAKERS. AUDREY CUNNINGHAM, FOLLOWED BY LEOM, FOLLOWED BY LIO KONI. HI. YES. UM, I AM A DIRECT ABUT MY DRIVEWAY OPENS UP, UM, TO THE PRIVATE WAY. EXCUSE ME. CAN YOU START BY GIVING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, PLEASE? OH, SORRY. I'M AUDREY CUNNINGHAM. I LIVE AT 49 GORE STREET, DIRECTLY BEHIND WHERE THE PROJECT IS. UM, WE HAVE HAD MANY MEETINGS WITH, UM, THE DEVELOPER. WE DID, THEY DID AGREE TO GIVE US MORE SPACE SO WE CAN ACCESS OUR BACKYARDS. UM, HOWEVER, IT IS A PROBLEM AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE WORRIED, WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT SNOW REMOVAL, WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT TRASH COLLECTION. THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT. AND THE MANAGER SPOKE REALLY IS NOWHERE NEAR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. HE IS NOT IN A BUTTER . I MEAN, TO THINK HE WOULD SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A PROJECT THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS PEOPLE THAT HAVE LIVED HERE LITERALLY FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. I MEAN, MY FAMILY'S BEEN HERE FOR A HUNDRED YEARS, UM, YOU KNOW, AND WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THE DEVELOPER AND WE, WE HAVE SOME THINGS TO IRON OUT. UM, CARLOS HAD SAID THAT HE WOULD, IF IT BECOMES CONDOMINIUMS, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE CAN DO IT, BUT HE WOULD ASSURE THAT THERE WOULD BE SNOW REMOVAL. UM, THE TRASH COLLECTION IS STILL AN ISSUE. WE DON'T KNOW HOW THAT'S GONNA, AND, AND THAT THEY PROBABLY WON'T KNOW UNTIL IT BEGINS. BUT WE WOULD LIKE THEM COMING IN OFF OF THIRD STREET AND THEN EXITING VIA WINTER STREET. UM, AND AGAIN, WE'D LIKE TO KNOW THE HOURS, THE HOURS OF ALL THE DELIVERIES, THE HOURS OF THE TRASH COLLECTION. SO THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS TO IRON OUT THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DO WITH THE DEVELOPER. UM, THEY'VE BEEN REACHABLE, SO THAT HASN'T BEEN AN ISSUE. BUT, UM, WE DO HAVE DEFINITE CONCERNS AS ABUTTERS, NOT BY SOMEONE THAT LIVES BLOCKS AND BLOCKS AWAY. UM, THAT'S ABOUT ALL I HAVE TO SAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THE NEXT SPEAKER IS ELIO KUONI. YOU CAN UNMUTE YOURSELF AND BEGIN WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. IF YOU CAN HEAR ME. CAN BEGIN WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. I DON'T KNOW. UM, THE PERSON IS UNMUTED, BUT CLEARLY NOT COMMUNICATING. UH, UH, DO YOU WANT TO, LET'S GIVE HIM 15 MORE SECONDS AND THEN, UM, MISS, I'M ASSUMING IT'S A MALE, IF NOT, I APOLOGIZE. BUT MR. CONE, IF YOU CAN HEAR US, UM, PLEASE, UM, BEGIN YOUR, YOUR COMMENTS. UM, AND IF NOT, THEN I GUESS WHAT WE'LL DO, UH, NOW HE'S MUTED AGAIN. IF YOU UNMUTE, YOU MAY NEED TO CHANGE YOUR MICROPHONE SETTINGS OR JUST MAKE SURE YOU'RE, YOU'RE SPEAKING DIRECTLY INTO THE MICROPHONE ON YOUR COMPUTER OR PHONE. ALL RIGHT. WELL, I AM NOT SURE THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET THIS RESOLVED AT THE MOMENT. UM, I'M JUST WONDERING IF, UH, WE SHOULD JUST MOVE TO, UM, TO BOARD DISCUSSION AND THEN IF, UH, WE ARE ABLE TO CONNECT, UH, WITH MR. CONE, WE CAN TAKE THE, UH, THE COMMENT, UH, WHEN HE IS AUDIBLE. OKAY. WHY DON'T WE DO THAT? I WILL. SO I'M GONNA REMOVE, I'M GONNA LOWER THE HAND, AND IF YOU THINK [00:45:01] YOU CAN RESOLVE THE ISSUE, THEN UM, YOU CAN, CAN RAISE YOUR HAND AGAIN. WE'LL TRY ONE MORE TIME. UM, AS LONG AS WE, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN INTO DELIBERATION BY THAT POINT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. UM, YEAH, THAT'S UNFORTUNATE. UM, OKAY. SO, UH, WITH THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE MAY GO BACK FOR THAT ONE SPEAKER. UM, OTHER THAN THAT, WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD TO, UH, BOARD DISCUSSION. AND, UM, ADDITIONAL WRITTEN COMMENTS MAY BE, UH, SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD. UM, WE HAVE RECEIVED, UH, WRITTEN MATERIALS, UH, FROM STAFF AT CDD, UM, AND THOSE STAFF ARE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE BOARD MIGHT HAVE AS, AND THE APPLICANT ALSO IS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. SO LET'S, UM, START WITH THAT. AND, UH, BEFORE WE, UH, ENTER INTO DELIBERATIONS, WE'LL DOUBLE CHECK AGAIN TO SEE IF, UH, WE CAN CONNECT WITH THAT MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC. SO WHO, UH, WHO WOULD LIKE TO START WITH QUESTIONS, TED? THANK YOU. SO, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS FOR STAFF OR FOR THE PROPONENT. IF ZONING HAD NOT CHANGED, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT WOULD'VE BEEN A FOUR STORY BUILDING, WHAT UN UNDER THE CURRENT PROPOSAL, OTHER THAN, OR IN ADDITION TO THE, UH, TWO ADDITIONAL HEIGHT STORIES, WHAT OTHER CHANGES ARE THERE FROM THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL THAT GOT THE VARIANCE AND THE ISSUANCE OF THE BUILDING PERMIT? UM, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER THAT. CAN I ANSWER THAT? SURE. IF THAT WORKS FOR THE TEAM. GO AHEAD, MR. BARD. THANK YOU. UM, SO, UM, UH, UH, MR. COHEN, UM, THERE WERE A COUPLE ZONING CHANGES. SO THE ORIGINAL VARIANCE, UH, SOUGHT VARIANCES FOR, UH, SETBACKS. AND, UM, BEING THAT IT'S A CORNER LOT, IT WAS SUBJECT TO 5.4, 0.5 0.2, 4.3, UM, IS ALSO IN A BA IT WAS ALSO IN A BA ZONE. SO IT HAD, UM, UH, IT WAS ALSO IN A BA ZONE, BUT ALSO THERE'S A BACK SLIVER OF IT THAT'S IN A C ONE ZONE. SO IT HAD SOME FAR ISSUES, IT HAD SOME SETBACK ISSUES. ALL OF THOSE WERE AMELIORATED BY THE PASSAGE OF THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING. SO UNDER THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING, OUR MODIFICATION WAS ALL BY. RIGHT. UM, IT WAS ONLY THE PASSAGE OF THE CAM SIX ZONING THAT CAME AFTER THAT THAT CAUSED AN ISSUE FOR US. THE BIGGEST ONE BEING, OF COURSE, THE, UM, THE FIRST FLOOR MEZZANINE HEIGHT'S KINDA HARD TO CHANGE. AND I THINK THAT'S THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CRUX OF THE PROBLEM IS WE HAVE A STEEL FRAME IN PLACE ON THE BUILDING SITE WITH AN ELEVATOR SHAFT. UM, WE WOULD HAVE TO ESSENTIALLY SCUTTLE THE ENTIRE PROJECT TO MAKE IT COMPLIANT WITH THE CAM SIX ZONING, WHICH ALSO IS WHY I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT THE COUNCIL IS NOW, AGAIN, LOOKING AT MODIFYING THIS AND REMOVING THIS AREA FROM THE CAM SIX, WHICH WOULD MAKE THIS ENTIRE EVENING SOMEWHAT MOOT. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? UH, PARTLY , SORRY. SO I, I UNDERSTAND IT'S THE TWO ADDITIONAL STORIES. YEAH. AND NOW YOU'RE SAYING IT'S, IT'S THE ISSUE OF THE FIRST FLOOR HEIGHT. YEAH. ARE THERE ANY OTHER CHANGES, UH, AS TO THE, SAY, THE ENVELOPE OF THE BUILDING? UH, SO THE ABUTTERS ARE, ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS MM-HMM . ABOUT ACCESS AND, YOU KNOW, OTHER ISSUES ABOUT THE ACCESS WAY. MM-HMM . WERE THOSE ISSUES, OR HAVE THOSE BEEN CHANGED FROM, UH, WHEN THE VARIANCE WAS GRANTED? NO, WE, WE, WE WORKED, WE, AUDREY WHO WAS SPEAKING EARLIER, UH, SHE WAS THE LIKE PRIMARY ATTEND AT ALL OF ATTENDEE OF ALL OF OUR MEETINGS. UM, AND I THINK WHEN WE HAD MET WITH ISD WITH ACTUALLY ABUTTERS AN ATTENDANCE WITH PETER MCLAUGHLIN AND JACOB LAZAR TO TALK ABOUT OUR PROPOSED CHANGES, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY WERE VERY CONCERNED WITH, MAKING SURE THAT RIGHT OF WAY IN THE BACK WAS MAINTAINED, WHICH WE DID. UM, IN TERMS OF ENVELOPE, WE, ON THE THIRD STREET SIDE, WE KICKED OUT AN AREA FOR THE TRANSFORMER, BUT THAT DIDN'T IMPEDE THE RIGHT OF WAY. THAT'S IN A DIFFERENT ZONE OF THE, OF THE BUILDING. BUT IN TERMS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY, WE'RE NOT ENCROACHING ANY MORE ON IT THAN WE WERE BEFORE. THANK YOU. OKAY. UM, ASHLEY, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR. I HAVE A FEW JUST CLARIFYING QUESTIONS. THE FIRST ONE IS, THERE'S [00:50:01] SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS MENTIONED A COMPREHENSIVE PERMIT, UM, OR SEEKING ONE. I JUST WANNA CONFIRM. THE PROPONENT IS NOT, YOU KNOW, SEEKING ONE. 'CAUSE FIRST OF ALL, WE CAN'T GRANT ONE, BUT ALSO, UH, THAT WOULD REQUIRE EBA APPROVAL. AND THE SECOND QUESTION IS, SO JUST FOR MY END ETHIC, SO JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, IT SOUNDS LIKE THE MODIFIED BUILDING PERMIT WAS NEVER ISSUED. IS THAT RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S WHY, OR ISSUED IN TIME BEFORE, SO I'M, I'M SORRY, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FIRST QUESTION. YEAH, THERE'S SOME BUILDING MATERIAL, OR EXCUSE ME, THERE'S SOME MATERIALS. EVEN THE PRESENTATION I REFERENCE IS A COMPREHENSIVE PERMIT. I JUST WANNA CONFIRM YOU GUYS ARE NOT THINKING ONE BECAUSE THAT'S NO, NO, 40 B. OKAY. BZ. OKAY. UNDERSTOOD. OKAY. AND THE SECOND QUESTION IS, UM, I JUST WANNA CONFIRM. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BUILDING PERMIT OR BY THE BUILDING PERMIT WAS NEVER ISSUED IN TIME. IS THAT OKAY? THAT'S CORRECT. THAT'S, THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE. OKAY. THAT BEEN APPROVED WOULD WOULD'VE BEEN APPROVED. OKAY. GOT IT. UM, AND THEN THIS IS KIND OF A SIDE ISSUE, BUT I WAS JUST CURIOUS. DOES, I DON'T KNOW IF THE STAFF OR THE PROMOTE IT KNOWS THERE IS, UM, ALL THE PLANS, THERE'S A LITTLE PARCEL SLIVER OF LAND NEXT TO THE HIGHWAY. I WAS JUST CURIOUS WHO OWNS THAT, RIGHT? THAT'S GRASS. UM, AND THEN THE FOURTH QUESTION IS, SO JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, I KNOW THERE'S ABUTS WHO TALKED ABOUT, UH, LETTERHEAD COURT, BUT RIGHT NOW THAT'S 10 FEET. AND MY HOW READING THE PLANS, IT LOOKS LIKE THE COURT WILL BE, OR THE DRIVEWAY WILL BE EXPANDED 25 FEET. IS THAT RIGHT? AND SO IS THAT GOING TO BE SHARED? IS THAT GONNA BE JUST 15 FOR YOUR USE? UH, IF YOU COULD CLARIFY THAT. THANK YOU, CARLOS. CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT LAST QUESTION? SO THE, THE, THE LAND BELONGS TO SED AND THAT'S PART OF OUR LOT. IT'S NOT LIKE AN EASEMENT. THERE'S NOT LIKE A DRIVEWAY THERE. THE ACTUAL DRIVEWAY IS ONLY THE 10 FEET, I BELIEVE, 10 OR 15 FEET. THAT IS THE, THE DRIVEWAY FOR THE PROPERTY. ACTUALLY THE PRIOR DEVELOPER AND SED MAINTAINED THAT SETBACK OVER THERE. UH, YOU KNOW, AS IN GOOD FATE TO WORK WITH, LIKE ALL THE ABUTTERS, I MEAN, IF WE WENT ACTUALLY BY THE ZONING, I MEAN, WE COULD HAVE LIKE A ZERO SETBACK OVER THERE. UH, CORRECT. UH, UH, PAUL, UH, WHAT'S THAT ON THAT SIDE OF THE PROPERTY? DID YOU JUST CALL ME PAUL? OH, SORRY, SORRY, . THAT'S OKAY. IT HAPPENS, IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. UM, SO YOU'RE IN A BA ZONE AND THERE ARE ZERO SETBACKS. UM, THERE'S ALSO LIMITED OPEN SPACE. I, I THINK THE REAL DISCUSSION REALLY IS ABOUT THE MULTIPLE ZONING CHANGES, HOW WE CAME UPON THE SHORES. AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, THAT THE, THE, THE DRIVEWAY IS BEING MAINTAINED AS PART OF THE PROJECT AND PART OF A PROMISE TO THE NEIGHBORS. AND I THINK ONE THING THAT HAS BEEN CONSISTENT WITH ED AND HIS TEAM IS THEY, THEY HAVE REACHED OUT TO YOU ABOUT, AND THEY'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THESE PROJECTS AS THEY COME ALONG. YOU'LL PROBABLY SEE ME WITH THOSE PROJECTS. AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THIS PROJECT IN PARTICULAR. 'CAUSE THEY'RE NOT REALLY USING THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING ZONING TO MAXIMIZE THE FOOTPRINT OF THE LOT. THEY'RE SIMPLY, THEY, THEY, THEY DID KEEP PRIMARILY WITH THE, THE CONSTRAINTS OF THE VARIANCE. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THAT DRIVEWAY, UM, WILL BE THAT, UH, THE, AT LEAST THE 10 FOOT SPACE WILL MAINTAINED AND SHARED AND HOW I'M READING THE PLANS. SORRY, THIS IS ASHLEY. GOOD, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL BE EXPANDED BY ANOTHER 15 FEET. IS THAT RIGHT, CARLOS? YEP. YEAH. YEAH. WE MAINTAINING THAT, I MEAN, THE WHOLE LENGTH FROM THE BUILDING TO THE, TO THE ADJACENT PROPERTIES, LIKE 23 FEET, 25 IS I SAYS. OKAY. GOT IT. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. UH, MOVING ON. LET'S GO TO DAR NEXT. UM, UH, I GUESS I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS AND JUST THE FOLLOW UP ON THE LUHAN COURT. 'CAUSE, UH, ONE OF THE PUBLIC COMMENTERS BROUGHT THIS UP. I WAS KIND OF CURIOUS IF THOUGHT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE TRASH PICKUP AND IF THEY COULD EXIT ON THAT PRIVATE WAY ONTO WINTER STREET. UM, AND ALSO IF SORT OF THAT COURT EXPANSION THAT ASHLEY WAS TALKING ABOUT IS GONNA BE SORT OF THE LOADING AREA FOR LIKE DROP OFFS AND PICKUPS. UM, AND THEN MY SECOND KIND OF THAT FIRST PART WAS LIKE TWO QUESTIONS. THE SECOND PART IS, UM, I, AGAIN FOLLOWING UP ON ASHLEY'S, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF WE GOT A RESPONSE, UH, WAS THE, THAT GRASS SPACE THAT'S ON THE HIGHWAY AND WINTER STREET, KIND OF LIKE WHO, UH, I KNOW IT'S NOT ON YOUR PROPERTY LINE, BUT I WONDER WHO THAT BELONGS TO. SO I CAN ANSWER THE FIRST TWO QUESTIONS. I THINK IN TERMS OF, UM, PROGRAMMING FOR THE BUILDING, UM, THIS [00:55:01] IS A CORNER LOT. THE INTERSECTION ITSELF INTO MCGRATH HIGHWAY. IF YOU KNOW THAT AREA AS YOU PULL IN, THERE'S NOT TOO MANY PLACES REALLY THAT ARE SAFE TO STOP ALONG THAT CORNER. IT DOES MAKE SENSE TO ENCOURAGE CARS TO COME IN AND PULL IN TO PICK UP AND TAKE OUT. I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN INCONVENIENCE THERE, BUT THERE'S ALSO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT, IN TERMS OF YOUR OTHER QUESTION ABOUT WHO OWNS THAT LOT, UM, HAPPENS TO BE ANOTHER CLIENT OF MINE, UM, WHO, UH, RIGHT NOW IS BEING USED AS A PARKING LOT. I THINK THERE'S PLANS IN THE DISTANT FUTURE FOR POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. UM, THEY WERE A LAB DEVELOPER. UH, NOW THEY'RE NOT , SO, UM, THEY'RE TRYING TO RE RE RECONFIGURE THEIR, THEIR PLANNING FOR THAT SITE. UM, BUT I DO THINK IN TERMS OF, NO, NOTHING'S EVER ETCHED IN STONE, BUT WE ALSO ARE WORKING WITH TRAFFIC AND PARKING AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SATISFY CD'S REQUIREMENTS AS WELL. SO TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, I THINK A LOT OF THESE, YOU KNOW, TRASH COMES ONCE A WEEK. UBER DRIVERS, AMAZON, ALL OF THE, THE COUTRE MA OF THE CITY DOESN'T COME ALL AT ONCE OR ALL DAY LONG, OR EVEN WITH SOME SIGNIFICANCE. I HAVE A LOCATION IN CENTRAL SQUARE THAT'S A HOTEL. WE HAVE MULTIPLE RESTAURANTS AND SPACES. UH, LOTS OF, UH, DELIVERIES ACTUALLY COME TO THAT SITE. AND IT'S VERY, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T REALLY SEE MUCH INTERACTION AT THAT CORNER. UM, I THINK IT'LL BE THE SAME HERE. I THINK IT'S A LITTLE BIT OVERPLAYED IN TERMS OF THE CONGESTION THAT YOU'LL SEE. BUT I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS WILL BE A PRO A PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED BUILDING. UH, ONE OF THE COMMENTERS HAD WAS SHARED CONCERNS ABOUT SNOW REMOVAL. THAT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY 100%. THAT'S PART OF WHATEVER PROGRAMMING AND PLAN WE'LL HAVE. UM, AND THE SAME WILL BE FOR HOW WE HANDLE LOADING AND UNLOADING IN TERMS OF HOURS OF OPERATION. AND I WILL JUST SAY THAT WHEN YOU DO APPLY AN HOURS OF OPERATIONS REQUIREMENT FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING, UM, IT'S JUST LIKE ZONING. IF YOU, IF YOU MAKE A RULE, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UM, WHAT'S THE EXPRESSION? UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT PLANS SURVIVES EXECUTION. UM, SO YOU TRY TO DO YOUR BEST. AND I THINK WE TRY, WE TRY TO, YOU KNOW, LIMIT THOSE THINGS TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, BUT CERTAINLY NOT TO BE, UM, UH, AN AFFRONT TO OUR NEIGHBORS OR SOMETHING THAT'S ALSO GOING TO FRUSTRATE THE PURPOSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE. BUT I THINK IN TERMS OF THE DISCUSSION, LIKE WE'RE ALWAYS OPEN TO FURTHER DISCUSSION. I THINK THE PROGRAMMING FOR THE BUILDING HAS NOT YET BEEN, IS NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT, A HUNDRED PERCENT. BUT I DO THINK, UM, THAT'S THE SORT OF BEST SOLUTION WE HAVE AT THE MOMENT. THE FRONT OF THE SIDEWALK ALONG LIKE MCGRATH HIGHWAY, THAT'S A STATE ROAD. UH, AND THAT WHOLE SIDEWALK, IT'S ACTUALLY PART OF LIKE THE STATE, UH, UH, RIGHT AWAY. THANK YOU. UM, MARY, THANK YOU. UM, SO MY, MY QUESTION IS STAYING A BIT ON THE LINEHAN AND THE PRIVATE WAY ON, UM, THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING WHERE EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT THE ROUGHLY 25 FOOT. IS THERE A REASON YOU COULDN'T PLANT WITHIN THE PROPERTY LINE AREA, PULL OUT THE PLANTER AREA? UM, I'M JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANY REASON IT HAS TO BE PAVED VERSUS SOFTSCAPE. SO THE RIGHT OF WAY IS PAVED. I THINK THE, IS IN THE, THE ENTIRE LOT IS PAVED, I THINK, UM, IN TERMS OF WHY IT COULD NOT BE, UH, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE ASKING? I MEAN, ARE ARE YOU ASKING FOR US TO CREATE? I'M, I'M, I GUESS I'M ASKING, THERE'S THE 10 FOOT THAT'S ALREADY FUNCTIONING FOR THE DRIVEWAY AXIS AND THAT TURNS INTO A 10 FOOT ON THE PRIVATE WAY. MM-HMM . UH, ESPECIALLY HEARING FROM A BUTTERS RELATIVE TO VISIBILITY, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD GET, SAY AT LEAST A 10 FOOT, SAY, PLANTER AND STILL HAVE A 15 FOOT WIDE, YOU KNOW, PAVED THAT'S BROADER THAN WHAT IT IS TODAY AND GET TREES INTO THAT ZONE POTENTIALLY. SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, IS THERE A LOGISTICAL REASON WHY THAT COULDN'T BE? UM, I THINK THE PLANTED, WHEN WE LOOKED AT IT, CARLOS, YOU CAN SPEAK MORE TO THIS IN TERMS OF SHADOWING IT IS TO THAT GO, GO AHEAD. I, UM, IT'S A, IT'S A VERY, UM, IT'S VERY HARD FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE CARS OVER THERE. IF WE DIMINISH THAT DRIVEWAY, THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET INTO THEIR, INTO THEIR, THEIR, UH, HOUSES. UH, THEY, THEY NEED A LEASE LIKE THE WHIFF OF THE CAR TO MAKE THE, THE CURVE, BECAUSE THE FENCE IS LIKE RIGHT ON THE PROPERTY LINE. SO THEY NEED, LIKE, THEY NEED ALL THE LAND THAT THEY CAN HAVE IT TO MAKE THE TURNS OVER THERE. I THINK MAYBE I'M NOT BEING UNDERSTOOD. IT'S 25 FEET WIDE. YES. COULD IT BE 15? LET'S DO WHEEL, LIKE A ROADWAY, A YES. A TWO. YES. EXACTLY. A A TWO-WAY. I THINK. I THINK YOU'VE ANSWERED THE QUESTION. OKAY. UH, MR. JEFFREY, DID YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING? UH, YES MA'AM. [01:00:01] UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANTED TO SHARE WITH THE BOARD A COUPLE OF MY COMMENTS. UH, YOU KNOW, I HEARD ABOUT, UH, LILE HAND ROAD AND PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT ACCESS. AND I WANT TO JUST SHARE WITH YOU THAT, YOU KNOW, THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS, YOU KNOW, THIS BUILDING GOT HIS PERMIT, I'M LOOKING AT THE NOTES HERE, BACK IN OCTOBER, 2024, RIGHT. WE HAVE SHARED THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING, THE DRAWINGS WITH THE NEIGHBORS. AND AS YOU KNOW, PATRICK SAID THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT WE HAD MEETINGS AT ISD IN CAMBRIDGE WITH THE NEIGHBORS IN THE MEETINGS LOOKING AT THE PLANS. SO THE POINT THAT I'M MAKING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WERE VERY CLEAR THAT LILE HAND ROAD IS THE AREA WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE WILL BE, UH, DOING THE, THE LOADING AND THE DELIVERIES, UH, AND THE TRASH WILL GO. AND THE OTHER THING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, MARY, YOU ASKED, UH, YOU KNOW, ABOUT, UH, THE, THE WIDTH. YOU KNOW, YOU HEARD FROM CARLOS THAT WE WENT OUT OF OUR WAY TO GIVE UP THE FOOTPRINT SPACE SO THAT THERE CAN BE MORE SPACE ON LILE HAND ROAD. SO PEOPLE HAVE A WIDER ROAD AND THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE CROWDED. RIGHT? SO WE GAVE UP SOME FOOTPRINT SPACE THERE. RIGHT. SO MY POINT IS THIS, THAT, YOU KNOW, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT OUR, TODAY'S DISCUSSION ABOUT THE SPECIAL PERMIT, YOU KNOW, REALLY IS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT CHANGED WITH CAMP SIX. AND I HONESTLY FEEL THAT, YOU KNOW, AT THIS STAGE, UH, THE NEIGHBORS KNOWING AND HEARING ABOUT ALL THESE THINGS THAT WE ARE DOING FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, RIGHT? ALL OF A SUDDEN SAYING, OH, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? I DON'T WANT SOMEBODY DOING ANYTHING ON LILE HAND ROAD. RIGHT? AND THE LAST THING I WOULD SAY IS THIS, YOU KNOW, THE NEIGHBORS, RIGHT? THEY DON'T WANT US TO DO ANYTHING ON LILE HAND ROAD. AND THEY FORGOT TO MENTION THAT, YOU KNOW, I PAID, YOU KNOW, $9,000 THIS LAST WINTER TO JUST CLEAN UP THE SNOW ON LILE HAND ROAD, AND NO ONE ELSE IS CONTRIBUTING TO THAT. RIGHT? SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH THE, WITH THE BOARD THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BEEN HONEST AND TRANSPARENT. UM, AND NOW, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALMOST LIKE PEOPLE ARE DIGGING BACK AND TRYING TO CHANGE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED WITH THEM AND SHARED WITH THEM VERY OPENLY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. THANK YOU. YEAH. THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, YES, AND I WILL NOTE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS HEARING IS ON VERY SPECIFIC, UM, ITEMS RELATING TO THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST FLOOR HEIGHT, A COUPLE OF THE ITEMS THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU, YOU BROUGHT UP AND, AND WHEN AM ROAD WAS NOT, NOT AMONG, UM, UH, THE, THE TOPICS FOR CHANGE OR DISCUSSION. SO, SO JUST TO CLARIFY, UM, WHEN YOU LAST MET WITH, UH, ISD AND THE NEIGHBORS, THE PLAN THAT AS THAT WE'RE SEEING NOW FOR LINNEHAN ROAD WAS THE SAME, IS THE SAME AS WHAT WAS PRESENTED BACK THEN. THERE HAVEN'T BEEN ANY CHANGES. IS THAT CORRECT? YOU KNOW, IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME. AND CARLOS, I WILL LET YOU ALSO MAKE A COMMENT AS THE, THE ENGINEER. YEP. IT WAS THE SAME PLAN THAT WE PRESENTED. NOTHING CHANGED FROM ANY THE APPLICATION. THE ONLY THING THAT CHANGED WAS THE ZONING. OKAY. YES. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR CLARIFYING. ALL RIGHT. UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM BOARD MEMBERS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? NO. OKAY. UM, I JUST WANT TO, UH, TAKE A MINUTE, JEFF, AND, UM, SEE IF WE CAN GO BACK, UH, TO MR. CONE AND, UH, SEE IF WE CAN MAKE THAT CONNECTION BEFORE WE MOVE TO DELIBERATION. Y YES. I'LL JUST NOTE THIS IS, THIS IS SORT OF AN UNUSUAL STEP WE'RE TAKING JUST FOR THIS ONE SPEAKER. 'CAUSE NORMALLY WHEN WE CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT, WE DON'T GO BACK AND FORTH OR PUBLIC COMMENT, RIGHT? SO WE'LL TRY ONCE AGAIN WITH ELIO KUONI, IF YOU COULD UNMUTE YOURSELF AND, UM, BEGIN WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE ANY MORE SUCCESS, UM, THIS GO AROUND. UM, SO LET ME JUST, UH, REITERATE, UH, WHAT WAS SAID EARLIER IN THE EVENING, WHICH IS THAT WRITTEN COMMENTS WILL STILL BE ACCEPTED, UM, FOR THE RECORD. SO, UM, I WOULD ENCOURAGE MR. COONE TO, UM, TO SUBMIT ANY COMMENTS THAT HE HAS IN WRITING. UM, I'M SORRY THAT DID NOT WORK OUT. UH, BUT WE ARE GOING TO CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT AND, UH, MOVE ON TO BOARD DISCUSSION. UM, [01:05:01] SO, UH, WE'VE HAD QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND WHO WOULD LIKE TO, UM, BEGIN THIS EVENING'S DISCUSSION. VERY QUIET THIS EVENING, ASHLEY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NO PROBLEM, . UM, OVERALL, I THINK IT'S, UH, I ACTUALLY LOVE THE LOOK OF THE BUILDING. UM, I KNOW IT'S A UNIQUE SITE. IT'S ON A QUARTER, AND AS YOU KNOW, POINTED OUT EARLIER, THERE IS A BUFFER SPACE BETWEEN, UM, THE BUILDING AND THE SITE BETWEEN, AND THE HIGHWAY. THAT'S, I GUESS, OWNED BY DCR OR, UH, THE STATE. SO THAT HELPS IN NOT NEEDING THE FULL SETBACK THAT IS REQUIRED UNDER THE CAM SIX. SO I'M PERSONALLY FINE WITH, UM, THE RELIEF THAT THE APPLICANT IS SEEKING. UM, I LOVE THE BALCONIES, I LOVE THE DIFFERENT COLORS, UM, ON THE SIDE OF THE WALL THAT HAS FEWER WINDOWS. SO OVERALL, UH, IS SUPPORT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, ASHLEY. UM, ANYONE ELSE? CAROLYN? THANK YOU. UM, I, I'M, I'LL SAY I'M LESS IN LOVE WITH THE LOOK OF THE BUILDING. UM, IT FEELS A LITTLE BIT, UM, RETROGRADE SOMEHOW IN MY MIND. I THINK THE, UM, CDD MEMO HAD A LOT OF REALLY GOOD COMMENTS ON, UM, COLORATION AND FACADE AND DEALING WITH THE RE THE DIFFERENCES, BREAKING OUT THE RETAINING WALLS VERSUS THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE BUILDING. UM, SO I WOULD, I WOULD PAY ATTENTION TO, UM, TO THE DESIGN COMMENTS AND THE CDD MEMO. UM, BUT GENERALLY, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I, I AGREE THAT I'M NOT OVERLY CONCERNED WITH THE RELIEF THAT IS BEING REQUESTED. I ASSUME AN EASEMENT WILL BE CREATED FOR, UM, FOR THE ACCESS ROAD, UM, WITH THE NEIGHBORS, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH, UM, SED HIMSELF OR WITH A EVENTUAL CONDO ASSOCIATION. UM, AND THAT IT'LL BE IN EVERYONE'S INTEREST, INCLUDING THE NEW TENANTS, UM, TO REMOVE SNOW AND MANAGE TRASH. UM, AND THAT, THAT EASEMENT AGREEMENT WILL BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE A LOT OF THAT STUFF. UM, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE WILLING TO DO SO. UM, SO, UM, UH, WITH, WITH THE CAVEAT THAT, THAT THE CDD MEMO HAS A LOT OF REALLY GOOD INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN IT, I, I'M AN IN APPROVAL. THANK YOU, DIEGO. UM, YEAH, I JUST, UH, I, FIRST OFF, THANK YOU FOR THE, UH, I APPRECIATE THE DISCUSSION ON THE DRIVEWAY. I KNOW IT'S, UH, TALKED ABOUT A LOT, BUT IT'S JUST, UH, A LOT OF INTERESTING STUFF THAT CAME UP. BUT I APPRECIATE THE RESPONSES BY THE PROPONENTS. UM, I WOULD SAY TWO COMMENTS, UM, ON THE MEMO. ONE OF THEM IS THE PATTERN ON THE, UH, ON THE FA ON THE BUILDING. I'M NOT, NOT THE BIGGEST FAN, BUT I CAN SEE IT KIND OF TYING INTO, UH, SORT OF THE BUILDING THAT'S ACROSS THE STREET. UM, IF YOU'RE LOOKING THAT WAY, UM, TALLER BUILDING KIND OF HAS THE SAME, UH, LANGUAGE, YOU KNOW, THE WHITE, BLACK AND SORT OF RANDOM COLORS. AND, UM, I DON'T KNOW, I JUST THINK IT NEEDS A LITTLE BIT MORE WORK. AND I THINK THAT'S IN THE MEMO. UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS THE OUTSIDE. I FELT, I FEEL LIKE THERE, THERE NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSE OF, UH, PLACE AT THE ENTRANCE. AND I THINK THAT'S WHY I WAS ASKING ABOUT THAT LITTLE GREEN SPACE THAT'S ON, UH, THE HIGHWAY, BECAUSE THAT SEEMS LIKE A PERFECT SPOT FOR LIKE A BENCH OR SOMETHING, UM, IF YOU CAN'T FIT ONE ONTO YOUR SITE. UH, AND I THINK THAT'S ALSO IN THE MEMO. SO I WOULD JUST HIGHLIGHT THOSE TWO THINGS TO FOCUS ON AS YOU PROGRESS THE DESIGN. UH, THANK YOU, UH, TED. WELL, THANK YOU. UM, YEAH, I'M FINE WITH THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING. UH, YES, THERE'S A LOT IN THE STAFF MEMO, UH, THAT I HOPE THE DEVELOPERS WILL LOOK AT. UH, BUT IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY'RE SEEKING IN TERMS OF THE SPECIAL PERMITS AND THE CHANGES IN THE ZONING GOING BACK AND FORTH, UH, I, IT, IT SEEMS TO ME THIS SITUATION WHERE, UH, THEY SHOULDN'T BE PENALIZED BY EVERYTHING THAT HAS GONE FORWARD. AND, UH, FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, THE ADDITION OF THE TWO STORIES LOOKS LIKE IT WILL ADD ANOTHER EIGHT HOUSING UNITS. AND SO I'M ALL IN FAVOR OF THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT GOING FROM FOUR TO SIX STORIES, I, I, I THINK IS ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE PROPONENTS, YOU KNOW, BE IN TOUCH WITH CDD AGAIN WITH STAFF, AGAIN, ABOUT SOME OF THE DESIGN ISSUES. BUT I [01:10:01] THINK IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY'RE SEEKING, UH, FOR THE SPECIAL PERMIT, I'M FINE WITH THAT. GREAT. OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, MARY, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? THANK YOU. UM, SO I THINK RELATIVE TO EVERYONE ELSE HERE, I FEEL LIKE THE REASONS THIS HAS COME BACK HAVE BEEN WELL ARTICULATED, AND IT'S CLEARLY A REZONING ISSUE. SO I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE BUILDING, UH, ADDING THE EXTRA STORIES. IT'S NOT TO MY TASTE EXACTLY, BUT I, I TRULY JUST DON'T THINK IT'S AN APPROPRIATE FORUM TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS. THAT TIME HAS PASSED NOW, I THINK, UH, ECHOING THE STAFF MEMO, THE PUBLIC REALM AND THE LANDSCAPE IS NOT COMPLETE. AND SO MY COMMENTS RELATIVE TO SAY THE DRIVE ARE REALLY RELATIVE TO PIECES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN DESIGNED. AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE EVEN IF IT HAS GOTTEN A BUILDING PERMIT, AND THIS IS MAYBE AS MUCH TO CITY STAFF AND THE INTERNAL PROCESSES AS IT IS TO THE APPLICANT, UM, I'M QUITE SURPRISED THAT THIS IS A PROPOSED LANDSCAPE COOL FACTOR THAT, UH, ACHIEVES A, A BUILDING PERMIT. NOT TO SAY IT DOESN'T HIT THE MARKS, BUT YOU KNOW, OUR COLLEAGUES IN PLACES LIKE SOMERVILLE REQUIRE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT TO STAMP IT. UM, THERE'S NO INFORMATION ON, SAY, SOIL DEPTH DETAILING, ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO THIS IS NOT IT, TO ME, THIS IS EXTREMELY UNDERWHELMING ON THE CITY SIDE ABOUT ACCEPTING THIS AS THE, AS A, AS A PLACE FOR THIS. AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'S THE CONTEXT MONSON YOUR HIGHWAY, AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT'S WORTHY OR IT'S, IT'S, I DON'T THINK, EVEN IF WITH A HARSH CONTEXT AND, UH, IT WAS A DUNKIN DONUTS, I THINK IT'S A MISTAKE TO NOT REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THAT NOW. SO WHEN I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE, THE, THE ACCESS, A LOT OF THE PROPO, THE, THE COMMENTERS SAID THAT THEY WANNA MAKE SURE YOUR TRASH GOES OFF THE DRY, PRIVATE WAY. WHY ISN'T IT ONE WAY? WHY ISN'T IT ONE WAY IN, ONE WAY OUT? AND JUST ASKING THE QUESTION, FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN THIS. SO IT'S REALLY ASKING THE APPLICANT. AND MORE THAN THAT, THE CITY, A 24 FOOT DRIVEWAY CUT IS A ROAD. YOU'RE DOING A ROAD. SO TREAT IT AS SUCH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT THAT NESSEL VICA UP IN THAT CORNER THAT HAS A TREE OPENING, I MEAN, WHY ISN'T ALL OF THAT GREEN SPACE? NOW, THESE ARE QUESTIONS YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME, BUT I'M ALSO SAYING THE CITY CAN'T TELL WHAT YOU'RE DOING. AND SO, AGAIN, TO THE CITY, REALLY, YOU KNOW, I FEEL LIKE YOU WANNA TREAT A GROW THE MOST YOU COULD TELL THAT THEY'RE GETTING IS, IS, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE 25 SQUARE FEET OF SOIL. I FEEL LIKE THE, THERE'S, I WOULD EXPECT MORE FROM THAT. UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN PICKING ANISA, THIS IS A REALLY TOUGH PLACE EVERYONE'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT. THE SNOW NISA DOESN'T EVEN DO WELL WITH, WITH SALT. SO I, I JUST FEEL LIKE THERE'S A RIGOR TO THE LANDSCAPE THAT'S MISSING, AND IT'S A CHALLENGING SITE. YOU HAVE A LOT OF GRAY CHANGE AROUND THAT CORNER. IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE THE WALL FOLLOWS THE PROPERTY LINE, WHICH IS A VERY ODD THING. SO AGAIN, I WOULD JUST URGE AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE FINAL DESIGN FOR THE LANDSCAPE, I HAVE NO COMMENTS ON YOUR ELEVATOR CORE AND YOUR FLOOR PLATES. THOSE ARE GOING UP. UM, DIG INTO THAT. YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THE, THE COMMUNITY AROUND YOU HAS SAID THINGS THAT THERE'S STILL TIME TO GET RIGHT, IF NOT BY A DESIGNER, THEN BY A LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR TO WHO CAN HELP YOU MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THAT IT, IT'S WORTHY OF REDEVELOPMENT IN CAMBRIDGE. OKAY, THANK YOU. UM, SO I, UM, I'M ALONG THE LINE THINKING ALONG THE LINES OF MY, UH, COLLEAGUES AND THEN I DON'T HAVE ISSUES WITH THE, UM, THE RELIEF THAT'S BEING REQUESTED. UM, BUT AS OTHERS HAVE NOTED, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE, UM, THERE ARE ITEMS IN THE CDD STAFF THAT, UM, I THINK POINT TO AREAS WHERE FURTHER REVIEW IS NEEDED OR, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY SUGGESTIONS FOR THINGS THAT, THAT OVERALL WOULD IMPROVE THE PROJECT. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU'VE ALREADY ENGAGED THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, HAS SEEM TO HAVE A BALANCE, SORT OF A 50 50 BALANCE, AT LEAST BASED ON TONIGHT, OF PEOPLE WHO STILL HAVE ISSUES AND OTHERS WHO, WHO FEEL LIKE THERE'S BEEN ADEQUATE OUTREACH. YOU KNOW, AS MARY SAID, THERE IS STILL A CHANCE TO, TO WORK ON THAT, THAT DRIVEWAY EDGE. UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT, THAT YOU DON'T NEED RELIEF FROM US TO DO IT, BUT I THINK IT'S TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE TO WORK ON IT AND JUST BE SURE THAT, UM, IT'S AS ATTRACTIVE AS POSSIBLE AND THAT THERE IS AS LITTLE, [01:15:01] UM, IMPINGEMENT ON NEIGHBORS ACCESS, YOU KNOW, TO AND FROM. UM, I, I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. I KNOW WE LIVE IN A CITY, WE ALL ARE AFFECTED BY DELIVERIES, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. UM, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY AND, AND YOU'RE VERY CLOSE. AND YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE, UM, THE, UH, SUPPORT OF OF YOUR NEIGHBORS, I THINK THAT THAT'S I IMPORTANT. SO, UM, PLEASE WORK ON THE, THE ITEMS THAT, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED OUT. UM, SO WITH THAT, I THINK, UM, WHAT I'M HEARING FROM THE BOARD IS THAT WE ARE READY TO, UH, GRANT THE PERMIT, UM, UH, WITH CONDITIONS. UH, BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, UH, TO GRANT THE PERMIT, WE NEED TO FIND THAT THE PROPOSAL MEETS, UH, THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA. AND THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY OF THE DETAIL OF IT, IS IN THE CDD MEMO, UM, BASICALLY FOR THE CAMBRIDGE STREET BUILDING AND SITE PLAN MODIFICATION SPECIAL PERMIT, UH, WHICH IS SECTION 17.7053, UM, THE CRITERIA ARE THAT, UH, THE PLANNING BOARD MAY APPROVE MODIFICATIONS TO THE BUILDING AND SITE PLAN STANDARDS UPON FINDING THAT, FIRST, THE CRITERIA IN SECTION 17.70 7.2 ARE MET AND MODIFICATIONS RESPOND TO SITE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS, UH, THAT RESULT IN A DESIGN THAT IS EQUALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THE PURPOSE OF THE CAMBRIDGE STREET DISTRICTS. UM, AND I THINK IN GENERAL UNIT, THE HOUSING, UH, THAT'S BEING PROVIDED IS SOMETHING THAT DEFINITELY MEETS THE, UM, THE, UH, OBJECTIVES OF THE DISTRICT. UM, AND CERTAINLY THE, UM, THE, UH, BICYCLE PARKING AND THE, UH, THE SORT OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DESIGN AS IT WAS REFERRED TO, UM, IN THE PRESENTATION IS IN KEEPING WITH, UM, WITH THE CAMBRIDGE STREET DISTRICT. THEN THERE IS THE CAMBRIDGE STREET GENERAL SPECIAL PERMIT CRITERIA, WHICH IS SECTION 17.70 7.2, UM, IN GRANTING A SPECIAL PERMIT WITHIN THE CAMBRIDGE STREET DISTRICTS. THE PLANNING BOARD SHALL FIND THAT THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA ARE MET. UH, THE PROPOSAL SUPPORTS THE PURPOSE OF THE CAMBRIDGE STREET DISTRICT, AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 17.702. DEVELOPMENT PLANS ARE IN GENERAL CONFORMANCE WITH THE VISION AND GOALS OF THE ART CAMBRIDGE STREET PLANNING STUDY IN 2023. AND THE CITYWIDE URBAN DESIGN OBJECTIVES IN SECTION 19.30 OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE AND ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE CITYWIDE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHICH PUBLISHED IN 2025, AND THE DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR MULTIFAMILY HOUSING AS APPLICABLE. AND THOSE GUIDELINES WERE ALSO PUBLISHED IN 2025. AND THEN BEYOND THAT, WE HAVE THE, UH, GENERAL SPECIAL PERMIT CRITERIA IN SECTION 10.43, WHICH I'M NOT GOING TO READ BECAUSE WE'VE ALL SEEN THOSE OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND THEY ARE IN THE MEMO AND, AND THEREFORE PART OF THE RECORD. UM, SO, UM, IS THE BOARD WILLING TO MAKE ALL OF THOSE FINDINGS? AND YOU CAN JUST RAISE YOUR HAND OR JUST TO GIVE ME A HEADS UP THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH, SHAKE YOUR HEAD OR RAISE YOUR HAND. FINDINGS. FINDINGS. FINDINGS. OKAY, GOOD. ALRIGHT. UM, SO WITH THAT, UM, THE MEMO, THE STAFF MEMO, DOES CON, UM, CONTAIN SUGGESTED CONDITIONS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE SPECIAL PERMIT DECISIONS, AND THERE'S ALSO THE STANDARD CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUING REVIEW AND CERTIFICATION BY STAFF, UH, THAT THE CONDITIONS ARE MET. ARE THERE ANY OTHER CONDITIONS THAT THE BOARD WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE? NO, I THINK THE MEMO WAS PRETTY COMPREHENSIVE. UM, OKAY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS FROM STAFF AT THIS POINT? ALL RIGHT. HEARING NONE THEN, UM, IS THERE A MOTION TO GRANT THE REQUESTED SPECIAL PERMIT WITH THOSE CONDITIONS BASED ON THE BOARD'S FINDING THAT THE APPLICABLE SPECIAL PERMIT CRITERIA ARE MET? COULD I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE? THIS IS CAROLYN. SO MOVED. THANK YOU. CAROLYN. IS THERE A SECOND PLEASE? TED? SECOND. THANK YOU, TED. UM, AND JEFF, MAYBE WE HAVE A ROLL CALL THERE, PLEASE. ON THAT MOTION. TED COHEN? YES. MARY ECKER. YES. DIEGO MACIAS. YES. ASHLEY TAN? YES. CAROLYN ZERN. YES. MARY FLYNN. YES. IT'S ALL SIX MEMBERS PRESENT. VOTING IN FAVOR. [01:20:01] GREAT. THANK YOU. UH, WELL, GENTLEMEN, UH, FROM THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND YOUR PRESENTATION AND, UH, I APPRECIATE THE CONTINUING WORK THAT YOU'LL DO WITH CDD. THANK YOU EVERYBODY TONIGHT. AND I JUST WANNA SAY YOU GUYS SAVED THE ONLY PERMITTED IZ PROJECT IN THE CITY, SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. GOOD EVENING. UH, SO MOVING ON. UH, WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT HOUSING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOUSING. UH, THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS THE DISCUSSION OF THE FIVE YEAR PROGRESS REVIEW OF THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY. UM, THE BOARD WILL HEAR A PRESENTATION FROM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STAFF, AND AFTER THAT, THE BOARD WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS. UM, SO I THINK JEFF IS GOING TO BEGIN, AND THEN IT WILL BE FOLLOWED UP BY, UH, THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSING STAFF. JEFF? YES. THANK YOU. I WILL, UH, BE VERY BRIEF AND, AND TURN IT OVER TO THE HOUSING STAFF. SO, UH, THIS IS, UH, SIMPLY A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR THE PLANNING BOARD. I THOUGHT JUST TO, JUST TO SORT OF TEE IT UP, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS PROVIDED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AS NOTED, AND WE THOUGHT IT, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO, UH, BRING IT TO THE PLANNING BOARD AS WELL. THE PLANNING BOARD, OF COURSE, HAS BEEN IN VERY, UH, ACTIVELY INVOLVED, UH, BOTH IN THE, UM, CREATION OF THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY BACK IN, IN 2020, AS WELL AS IN THE ONGOING REVIEW AND, AND IMPLEMENTATION. UM, SO, UH, INTERESTED TO, AND, AND THE Z AND D STAFF AS, AS WELL AS, UM, AS WELL AS THE HOUSING STAFF AND, AND URBAN DESIGN STAFF WHO ARE, WHO ARE STILL WITH US ARE, YOU KNOW, HAPPY TO ENGAGE IN SOME DISCUSSION AS WELL. SO, WITH THAT, WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER. SO, UH, CHRIS COTTER, WHO'S THE, THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSING IS HERE, AND CASSIE ARNA WILL BE, UH, GIVING THE PRESENTATION. . THANK YOU, JEFF. CHRIS, ARE YOU ABLE TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN WITH OUR PRESENTATION? AND I WILL JUST, I THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GUESS WHEN IT'S TIME TO SWITCH TO THE NEXT PAGE. UM, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR, UM, ENTERTAINING THIS. WE WILL BE QUICK SO THAT WE CAN LEAVE TIME FOR DISCUSSION, BUT WE THOUGHT WE WOULD JUST GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT, UM, AS IT WAS ISSUED JUST A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AGO. AND AS JEFF SAID, WENT TO THE COUNCIL LAST WEEK, UM, WHEN THE OVERLAY WAS ADOPTED IN 2020, IT INCLUDED A PROVISION THAT WE CONDUCT AN ASSESSMENT OF THE OVERLAYS EFFECTIVENESS. UM, CHRIS, YOU CAN SWITCH THE NEXT PAGE. 'CAUSE I OUTLINED SOME OF THE, THE WAYS IT WAS A, OH, NOPE. ONE PAGE BACK. SORRY. UM, ALL RIGHT. I THINK, SORRY, YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT PRESENTATION. I, I WILL JUST SHARE WITH, UM, I CAN JUST SPEAK FROM THIS. SO, THE O THE OVERLAY, UM, JUST THE OVERLAY ZONING LANGUAGE DESCRIBED SEVERAL, UM, SPECIFIC COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVENESS THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AND, UM, DESCRIBE IN TERMS OF WHETHER IT INCREASED PRODUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WHETHER THE HOUSING THAT WAS CREATED WAS LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UM, AND WHETHER, UM, THE HOUSING CREATED SERVED RESIDENT NEEDS. THE SECOND HALF OF THE REPORT INCLUDED QUESTIONS REGARDING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND, UM, ADVISORY DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS. AND, UM, I THINK WE WOULD ALL AGREE THAT AT THE TIME IT WAS A REAL OPEN QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER THE OVERLAY WAS A, GOING TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY UNLOCK PRODUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WHICH HAD BEEN VERY CHALLENGED. THE REPORT DESCRIBES THE CHALLENGES OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS FACED, UM, IN PRODUCING HOUSING, AND THE WAYS THAT THE OVERLAY WAS, UM, DESIGNED TO ADDRESS THOSE CHALLENGES MOST IMPACTFULLY BY OFFERING AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS AND AS OF RIGHT PERMITTING PATH IN THIS ADVISORY DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS. UM, SO CHRIS, YOU CAN SWITCH TO THE NEXT PAGE. SO THIS, THIS CHART THAT, UM, SUMMARIZES SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS IN THE OVERLAY REPORT, UM, GIVES A REALLY GREAT SNAPSHOT OF TO, UM, ANSWER THOSE FIRST THREE QUESTIONS. AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, THERE'S 16 OVERLAY PROS PROJECTS LISTED, WHICH IS A SHARP INCREASE FROM THE AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION WE HAD BEEN SEEING PRIOR TO THE OVERLAY. UM, TWO OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE ACTUALLY COMPLETED AND OCCUPIED. I THINK FIVE ARE NOW IN CONSTRUCTION. ONE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION, AND THE, THE OTHERS ARE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF SEEKING FINANCING AND GOING THROUGH THE COMMUNITY PROCESS. [01:25:01] UM, WE ALSO HAVE ONE NEW PROJECT THAT HAS, UM, THAT HAS SURFACED THAT WILL BE BEGINNING, THAT HAS JUST BEGUN THE COMMUNITY REVIEW PROCESS, AS WELL AS, UM, OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS ARE SEEKING SITES AND ACTUALLY HAVE PURCHASED SEVERAL ADDITIONAL, UM, SITES THAT WE EXPECT TO SEE AFFORDABLE OVERLAY DEVELOPMENTS, UM, BEING ADVANCED IN COMING YEARS. UM, THIS RE THIS CHART ALSO SHOWS, UM, THE VARIETY OF TYPES OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT THE OVERLAY HAS ALLOWED DEVELOPERS TO CREATE. UM, WHILE THE MAJORITY OF THE HOUSING IS AFFORDABLE RENTAL, UM, THERE ARE TWO EXAMPLES OF HOME OWNERSHIP HOUSING, WHICH IS GREAT BECAUSE THAT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY CHALLENGING TO ADVANCE, GIVEN THE MORE LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP. UM, THERE'S ALSO, MOST OF THE AFFORDABLE OVERLAY PROJECTS ARE ALSO WHAT WE CALL FAMILY HOUSING, WHICH IS, UM, HOUSING THAT INCLUDES A MAJORITY OF FAMILY SIZED, UM, APARTMENTS THAT ARE DESIGNED FOR FAMILIES, INCLUDE FAMILY, UM, ORIENTED AMENITIES. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TWO DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE A SENIOR COMPONENT. ONE THAT IT, IT SERVES EXCLUSIVELY OLDER ADULTS, UM, THE, THE BLANCHARD ROAD PROJECT, BUT, UM, ADVANCED BY BENE BRITH THAT JUST, UM, BEGAN CONSTRUCTION SEVERAL WEEKS AGO. THAT WILL BRING, UM, 110 UNITS ONLINE FOR OLDER ADULTS IN CAMBRIDGE. UM, AND THEN HRI IS, UM, WORKING TO SECURE THE FINAL BITS OF FINANCING TO, UM, BEGIN CONSTRUCTION ON THEIR 28 TO 30 WENDELL DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS MOSTLY FAMILY, BUT ALSO INCLUDES A SENIOR COMPONENT. AND THEN, UM, FINALLY THE LAST, THE FIRST DEVELOPMENT TO GET, UM, UNDER CONSTRUCTION. THE SECOND ONE TO GET PERMITTED WAS THE CHA'S ONE 16 NORFOLK STREET PROJECT, AND IT WAS THE FIRST TO BE COMPLETED. IT'S NOW COMPLETED AND OCCUPIED. I THINK THERE'S A PHOTOGRAPH COMING UP BECAUSE WE GIVE A LITTLE HIGHLIGHT OF IT. UM, AND THAT IS, WAS DESIGNED AS PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING. AND I'LL EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT PROJECT AS ONE OF THE EXAMPLES THAT WERE IN, THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE REPORT, BUT IT, UM, OFFERS, UM, REALLY BEAUTIFUL HOUSING FOR FORMERLY HOMELESS, UM, CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS. AND THEN THE THIRD QUESTION THAT THE REPORT ADDRESSED, UM, WAS THE DISTRIBUTION, THE NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRIBUTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. UM, AND THIS MAP, IF YOU JUST GO BACK, CHRIS, ONE SLIDE, JUST SO I CAN REMEMBER ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS, YOU CAN SEE THIS LIST OF NEIGHBORHOODS IN THAT, THAT FINAL COLUMN. UM, THERE'S, THERE ARE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, OVERLAY DEVELOPMENTS IN EIGHT OF THE CITIES, UM, AND EIGHT OF THE CITIES, 13 NEIGHBORHOODS. I THINK THE ONLY ONE THAT DOESN'T, THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS HAVE LOOKED AT SITES IN ALL NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AREA TWO, WHICH IS WHERE MIT IS LOCATED. AND IN RECENT WEEKS AND MONTHS, UM, HC UH, THE CHA JUST BOUGHT A SITE IN WELLINGTON, HARRINGTON, WHERE THEY EXPECT TO BE ADVANCING AN OVERLAY PROJECT. AND HRI JUST, UM, PURCHASED, COMPLETED THE PURCHASE OF ANOTHER SITE IN CAMBRIDGE HIGHLANDS. SO PARTICULARLY THE, THE PROJECTS THAT ARE IN CAMBRIDGE HIGHLANDS, UM, BALDWIN NEIGHBORHOOD AND UM, STRAWBERRY HILL ARE VERY, UM, NOTABLE TO US BECAUSE THOSE ARE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE EXTREMELY CHALLENGING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, TO BE ABLE TO GET, UM, TO BE, BE FEASIBLE. AND THE OVERLAY IS, IS LIKELY RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THOSE DEVELOPMENTS, UM, FEASIBLE IN TERMS OF, UM, PERMITTING AND, AND FINANCING. AND THIS MAP IS A NICE MAP THAT OUR COLLEAGUE BRENDAN PUT TOGETHER THAT JUST SHOWS GRAPHICALLY THE DISTRIBUTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS AS OF OCTOBER 25, WHICH IS 2025, WHICH WAS THE, UM, THE, THE, THE FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY. SO CONTINUE ON. UM, SO THE OVERLAY, AS I SAID, UM, THE OVERLAY REPORT INCLUDED A REVIEW OF THE, UM, EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ADVISORY DESIGN REVIEW PRO PROCESS. UM, WE INCLUDED, UM, A, A, A NUMBER OF, UM, OF, OF EXAMPLES. WE INCLUDED THREE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES THAT I'LL GO THROUGH, BUT IT ALSO TALKED ABOUT HOW THE PROCESS WORKS, HOW THE PROCESS INITIALLY WAS DESIGNED, WHEN THE OVERLAY WAS ORIGINALLY ADOPTED, HOW THAT CHANGED THROUGH THE, THE TWO AMENDMENTS THAT OCCURRED, UM, IN 2023, AND THEN AGAIN IN 2025, AND HOW AFFORDABLE DEVELOPERS HAVE BEEN NAVIGATING THE THAT PROCESS. AND JUST BROADLY, WE CAN [01:30:01] SAY THAT WE HAVE OBSERVED IT WORKING VERY, VERY WELL AND WORKING AS WELL, OR, OR EVEN BETTER THAN I THINK WAS ANTICIPATED ALL AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS HAVE. UM, I THINK MAYBE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE FAR EXCEEDED THE NUMBER OF REQUIRED MANDATED, UM, COMMUNITY MEETINGS, UM, OFTENTIMES SUPPLEMENTING THE, THE FORMAL OVERLAY MEETINGS WITH OTHER INFORMAL OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY. UM, THEY ALSO HAVE, UM, UM, WORKED, WE'VE WORKED WITH, UM, UM, THE COM AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCESS. ALL AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS, UM, SO FAR HAVE REQUIRED LOCAL FUNDING FROM THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST. AND THE ZONING REQUIRES THAT THE PLANNING BOARD REPORT GOES TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST, UM, JUST TO KEEP THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST IN THE LOOP. WE HAVE COORDINATED THE TRUSTS, UM, FUNDING COMMITMENTS WITH THE OVERLAY PROCESS, AND IN CASES WHERE THE TRUST, UM, FOR FOR OTHER REASONS NEEDS TO MAKE A FUNDING COMMITMENT BEFORE THIS PROCESS IS COMPLETE. THE TRUST WILL, UM, MAKE THEIR FUNDING CONDITIONAL ON REVIEWING, UM, AND ACCEPTING THE PLANNING BOARD'S FINAL REPORT. AND, UM, AND I THINK THAT HAS BEEN, UM, HELPFUL FOR DEVELOPERS AND HELPFUL FOR STAFF. AND, UM, I AM, I'M CHRIS, YOU'RE, YOU'RE WORKING OFF AN OLDER VERSION OF OUR PRESENTATION, SO I'M, I'M, I'M JUMPING AROUND, I APOLOGIZE. BUT THE, THE, THE THREE EXAMPLES THAT WE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT BEGAN WITH ONE 16 NORFOLK, WHICH AS I SAID WAS A CHA DEVELOPMENT, WHERE THEY WERE TAKE, IT WAS AN EXISTING, UM, SRO PROPERTY THAT WAS OCCUPIED. SO THEY WERE WORKING IN INITIALLY TALKING TO THEIR INIT EXISTING RESIDENTS ON PLANS TO UPDATE THAT HOUSING BY CONVERTING THOSE SRO UNITS TO, UM, STUDIO APARTMENTS AND ADDING ON A REAR ADDITION TO EXPAND THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS THEY COULD SERVE. UM, BEFORE THE OVERLAY PROCESS FORMALLY STARTED WITH THE FIRST OVERLAY COMMUNITY MEETINGS, THEY, UM, SPENT A LONG TIME ENGAGED WITH THEIR OWN RESIDENTS AND WITH THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORS. UM, SO THAT AT THE FIRST OVERLAY MEETING WHEN I JOINED, THERE WAS A FAIR AMOUNT OF UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE CHA WAS TRYING TO ACHIEVE. AND, UM, A LOT OF CONVERSATION ABOUT, UM, WHERE THAT ADDITION SHOULD BE LOCATED ON THE REAR OPEN SPACE BACK BEHIND THE EXISTING BUILDING, HOW THE HISTORIC EXISTING BUILDING SHOULD BE TREATED, UM, HOW THE, THE, HOW THE CONNECTION FROM THE ADDITION. UM, THERE, THERE'S LIKE A LITTLE, UM, PATH WALKWAY SPACE, HOW THAT SHOULD BE ORIENTED AND DESIGNED, UM, AND, UM, HOW THE TREE MATURE TREES ON THE SITE, UM, SHOULD BE, WHICH, WHICH OF THE TREES SHOULD BE PRESERVED AS, UM, AS THE BUILDING GETS, UM, SITUATED AND TRYING TO DO THE MAXIMUM PRESERVATION OF, OF, OF THOSE TREES. UM, THE COMMUNITY PROCESS STARTED IN FEBRUARY, 2022. THE CHA HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS. AND DURING THAT PROCESS, UM, IT WAS IDENTIFIED THAT ONE OF THE IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS WAS PARTICULARLY UNHAPPY JUST BECAUSE THE, THEY WERE GONNA BE MOST IMPACTED BECAUSE THEY WERE CLOSEST TO THE BIG OPEN SPACE THAT WOULD NOW BE REPLACED WITH THE ADDITION. THE CHA DID WORK WITH THAT NEIGHBOR, UM, TO MAKE AS MANY CHANGES AS THEY COULD TO TRY TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT ON THAT NEIGHBOR. AND AS OTHER NEIGHBORS WERE POINTING OUT, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE NEW ADDITION AND THE, AND THE EXISTING HOUSE WAS VERY SIMILAR TO THE REST OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD THAT THIS WAS A BIG CHANGE FOR THAT PARTICULAR NEIGHBOR. UM, THAT DEVELOPMENT, UM, THEN MOVED ONTO THE PLANNING BOARD PROCESS, UM, AND WAS AT THE PLANNING BOARD IN JULY. IN SEPTEMBER. VERY GOOD COMMENTS CAME OUT OF THAT PROCESS, WHICH THE CHA INCORPORATED, AND YOU ARE SEEING A COMPLETED IMAGE OF NORFOLK, WHICH STARTED CONSTRUCTION IN 2023 AND, AND WAS, UM, COMPLETE IN 2025. SO CHRIS, IF YOU WANNA SWITCH TO THE NEXT SLIDE. SO WALDEN SQUARE, WE SEE THIS AS, UM, ONE OF THE EXAMPLES OF THE PROCESS WORKING REALLY WELL, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A BUMPY RIDE FOR EVERYONE. THIS WAS AN EARLY DEVELOPMENT. I THINK WE MAY HAVE APPROACHED THINGS DIFFERENTLY IF IT HAD STARTED THE PROCESS LATER INTO OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE OVERLAY, BUT AS MANY OF YOU MAY REMEMBER, THIS IS A [01:35:01] DEVELOPMENT, UM, OWNED BY WIN WHERE THEY HAVE AN EXISTING HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND THEY WANTED TO ADD ABOUT A HUNDRED NEW AFFORDABLE UNITS TO THEIR EXISTING DEVELOPMENT. AND THEY INITIALLY WERE ADVANCING A SCHEME THAT HAD TWO BUILDINGS. UM, SOME THOUGHT IT LOOKED OKAY AND WORKED. THERE WAS A LOT OF SKEPTICISM AMONG SOME OF THE NEIGHBORS. AND THEN, UM, IT, IT, IT INCREASED OVER A NUMBER OF MEETINGS WITH, UM, MORE SCRUTINY ON THEIR SCHEMES AND IDEAS FOR REVISITING PLANS WHEN WAS ON, WAS SCHEDULED TO PRESENT THE PLANS TO THE PLANNING BOARD IN NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR, UM, AND, UM, DECIDED THAT IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO CONTINUE TO PURSUE THAT PLAN GIVEN THE IMPACT OF THE, GIVEN THE, THE, THE INPUT THAT THEY WERE RECEIVING FROM SO MANY OF THEIR OWN RESIDENTS AS WELL AS NEIGHBORS. AND SO THEY PAUSED THEIR DESIGNS AND, UM, VOLUNTARILY PULLED THEIR, UM, SUBMISSION FROM THE, FROM THE PLANNING BOARD AND REVISITED THINGS AND SPENT THE NEXT NUMBER OF MONTHS REDESIGNING THE DEVELOPMENT AND CAME UP WITH A, UM, I'M SORRY, I, I MISSPOKE. THE FIRST PLAN WAS A ONE SINGLE BUILDING, AND THEY REDESIGNED THEIR SINGLE BUILDING INTO TWO SMALLER BUILDINGS, UM, ON OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE, OF THE SITE THAT WAS MUCH BETTER RECEIVED FROM, UM, MANY IN THE, THE COMMUNITY AS WELL AS THEIR EXISTING RESIDENTS. AND, UM, THE PLANNING BOARD RECEIVED THAT PLAN FAIRLY WELL, BUT DID RESULT DID END UP, UM, HAVING A NUMBER OF VERY, UM, SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOME CRITICISMS OF THE SITE PLAN AND CIRCULATION LAYOUT AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS. UM, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHERE THE TRUST ROLE WAS, WAS, WAS VERY USEFUL AND INTERESTING. THE TRUST HAD REVIEWED THE, UM, WALDEN SQUARE DEVELOPMENT, UM, FOR FUNDING AND WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE A HUNDRED NEW UNITS, BUT THE TRUST, UM, POSTPONED ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLANNING BOARD'S, UM, DESIGN MEMO PENDING, UM, WIN RESPONDING TO THE, THE, THE SUGGESTIONS THAT THE PLANNING BOARD HAD SHARED. UM, WYNN SPENT THE NEXT NUMBER OF MONTHS WORKING WITH CITY STAFF AND THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM, UM, AND MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS TO ADDRESS THE, THE, THE COMMENTS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD TO THE SATISFACTION OF STAFF. AND, UM, THE CIRCULATION PLAN IS, IS MUCH IMPROVED AND REFINED. THEY MADE CHANGES TO THE LANDSCAPING IN RESPONSE TO THE SPECIFIC, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOTH, UM, CITY STAFF AS WELL AS THE PLANNING BOARD, UM, AS WELL AS FACADE IMPROVEMENTS. AND SO THEY ARE NOW, UM, PREPARING TO, UM, BEGIN CONSTRUCTION, UM, LATER THIS YEAR, EARLY IN 2027, HAVING ASSEMBLED THEIR NEEDED FINANCING. UM, AND I HAVE ONE MORE EXAMPLE, I'LL ZOOM THROUGH BECAUSE I THINK I'VE SORT OF MADE THE POINT. BUT THE 28 TO 30 WENDELL IS AN HRI DEVELOPMENT. IT INITIALLY STARTED WITH ONLY ONE OF THE TWO SITES BEFORE THEY HAD BOUGHT THE SECOND SITE. THEY RESTARTED THE COMMUNITY PROCESS WHEN BOTH SITES WERE ACQUIRED. UM, THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPER THAT ELECTED TO SUPPLEMENT THE FORMAL OVERLAY PROCESS WITH OTHER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO, UM, TO HELP EXPLAIN AND, AND, UM, EXPLAIN WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT AS WELL AS GET INPUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS FROM THE NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITY. UM, THEY DID, THEY OFFERED A WALKING TOUR OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THEY, UM, HAD, HAD THEIR ARCHITECTS POINT OUT DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS INCLUDING, UM, SETBACKS AND LANDSCAPING AND SITE PLANNING AND FACADES AND HEIGHT. UM, THEN THEIR LAST OVERLAY MEETING WAS IN PERSON AND ALSO INCLUDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE, UM, THE PARTICIPANTS TO TALK ABOUT COLOR AND MATERIALS AND OTHER THINGS. UM, THIS WAS ALSO AN EXAMPLE THAT WE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT WHERE THEIR INITIAL PLANS CONTEMPLATED A BUILDING THAT WAS NINE STORIES. THIS WAS FALLING RIGHT IN BETWEEN SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT ALLOWED DIFFERENT DIMENSIONAL, UM, DIFFERENT HEIGHTS, UM, AT THE OVERLAY. UM, AND, UM, IT, IN LARGE PART DUE TO, UM, CONCERNS FROM NEIGHBORS, HRI AGREED TO DROP THE, THE PROPOSED HEIGHT FROM, UM, THE, THE CONTEMPLATED NINE STORIES TO EIGHT STORIES. AND THAT IS WHERE THEY WERE WHEN THEY CAME TO THE PLANNING BOARD. AND THEN, AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WERE PARTICIPATING IN THAT HEARING, UM, THE PLANNING BOARD HAD SOME EXCELLENT COMMENTS AT THE FIRST AND SECOND MEETINGS ON WAYS FOR HRI TO IMPROVE [01:40:01] THE FACADES, UM, IMPROVE THE, THE, UM, THE LAYOUT OF THE WINDOWS AND THE, THE, THE, THE, UM, THE, THE CORNICES AS WELL AS, UM, LANDSCAPING AND, AND SITE DESIGN AND THAT DEVELOPMENT. THEY'RE NOW HOPING TO GET THE FINANCING NEEDED TO BE AGAIN, CONSTRUCTION, UM, NEXT YEAR. SO THAT IS THE, THE QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE, WHAT IT WAS IN THEOR, THE OVERLAY REPORT, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO GET INTO ANY MORE DETAIL. UH, THANKS VERY MUCH CASSIE. UM, AND THANKS TO ALL OF THE HOUSING TEAM AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT WHO, UH, PUT THE REPORT TOGETHER, IT'S, UM, VERY INTERESTING. FIRST OF ALL, IT WAS AMAZING TO ME THAT IT HAD BEEN FIVE YEARS ALREADY. UM, AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, SECONDLY, JUST TO SEE THE NUMBER OF PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD WAS, UH, WAS VERY ILLUMINATING. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, BOARD MEMBERS QUESTIONS FOR CASSIE, GENERAL COMMENTS, ITEMS YOU'D LIKE TO DISCUSS? UH, TED, I, UH, THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. UH, I, I HAVE A QUESTION. SO I'M DELIGHTED AT THE, THE CONCEPT OF A THOUSAND UNITS BEING CREATED. UH, BUT I'M WONDERING THE, THERE'S A REFERENCE TO JEFFERSON PARK OF 278 UNITS, UM, BUT IS IT NOT TRUE THAT A AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF UNITS, EXISTING UNITS WERE DEMOLISHED IN ORDER TO MAKE WAY FOR THE, THIS NEW PROJECT? AND I'M JUST CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, UH, AT, AT LEAST WITH THAT PROPOSAL AND PERHAPS WITH SOME OF THE OTHERS, UH, UH, WAS, WAS THERE REALLY A, UH, A, A SUM TOTAL, UH, UM, UH, INCREASE IN UNITS, UH, IN JEFFERSON PARK, UH, OR WE ENDING UP AT, WITH THE NUMBER WE HAD, ALTHOUGH THERE THEY WILL BE FAR SUPERIOR AND NEWER AND, YOU KNOW, FUNCTION MUCH BETTER. UM, SO I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THE NUMBERS. THE, UM, JEFFERSON PARK INITIALLY, YOU'RE RIGHT, WAS 175 UNITS. I THINK, UM, AT THE TIME OF CONS, AT THE TIME OF THE, THE CONSTRUCTION, I THINK AS MANY AS 75 HAD BEEN TAKEN OFFLINE BECAUSE OF MOLD AND UN AND HABITABILITY ISSUES. SO YOU'RE RIGHT, THERE WERE, THESE WERE OCCUPIED UNITS. THEY HAD TO HAVE, UM, FOLKS RELOCATED. UM, AND SO THE NET NEW, THE, THE, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A THOUSAND UNITS, UM, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE NET NEW 'CAUSE SOME OF THOSE WERE REPLACEMENT UNITS. SAME THING AT NORFOLK STREET WHERE, UM, THERE WAS, THERE WAS, UM, I'M FORGETTING HOW MANY EXACTLY. THERE WAS SOME SRO STUDIO UNITS THAT THEN BECAME, UM, FULLY RECONFIGURED INTO, UM, IN, UM, STUDIO APARTMENTS. ALONG WITH THE ADDITION. I WOULD SAY THAT IN THE CASES OF THOSE REDEVELOPMENTS, THE CHA WOULD SAY THAT THOSE EXISTING UNITS HAD A LIMITED LIFE SPAN REMAINING. AND SO THIS OPPORTUNITY WAS THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE THOSE, UM, THAT THOSE HOUSING UNITS, UM, HABITABLE AND, AND GOOD HIGH QUALITY HOUSING FOR THE LONG TERM. IN ALL THE CASES, IF YOU REMEMBER, THEY HAD LOOKED AT PRESERVING THE HOUSING AND WHAT THAT WOULD INVOLVE, AND THE OVERLAY ALLOWED THEM TO ADD ADDITIONAL UNITS. THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING AT CORCORAN. AND ACTUALLY CORCORAN IS NOT THE PHASE ONE IS IN OUR NUMBERS, BUT PHASE TWO IS NOT IN THE, THE COUNT BECAUSE THEY HAD TO SPLIT UP THAT REDEVELOPMENT. BUT IN THE SECOND PHASE OF THE CORCORAN REDEVELOPMENT, THEY'RE HOPING TO ADD AT LEAST AN ADDITIONAL A HUNDRED UNITS AS PART OF THAT. SO THE OVERLAY IS OFFERING THE OPPORTUNITY BOTH TO ENSURE THAT THE EXISTING NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS ARE AVAILABLE OVER THE LONG, LONG TERM, BUT ALSO OPPORTUNITY TO ADD, UM, THE HOUSING. GREAT. THANK YOU. UM, ASHLEY, WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION OR COMMENT? UM, THANK YOU. FIRST OF ALL, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I HAVE A VERY ENCOURAGED TO HEAR THAT THE HOUSING TRUST DOES, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT OUR REPORTS AND TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. SO, UM, THAT'S GREAT TO HEAR. I HAD A QUICK QUESTION. SO, UM, AS YOU POINTED OUT, THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, FEW AND FAR IN BETWEEN OF O OWNERSHIP OR, UM, HOME OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES. AND SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT DEVELOPERS BRING UP WHEN THEY APPLY, UM, WITH THE HOUSING TRUST? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT LIKE, IS A CONDITION OR, I DON'T KNOW, I [01:45:01] WAS JUST CURIOUS HOW THAT, IF THAT, IS THAT ALL CONSIDERED? I'LL TRY TO ANSWER AND CHRIS MAY WANNA JUMP IN MORE ON THAT. SO WE, FOR THE MOST PART, DEVELOPERS WILL FIND A SITE AND DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT TO DO ON THAT SITE AND BRING IT TO US. THERE IS A REAL CHALLENGE IN CREATING AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP BECAUSE THE COST TO PURCHASE SITES AND THE COST TO BUILD THE HOUSING IS SO EXPENSIVE THAT IT NEEDS A LOT OF SUBSIDY. AND FOR BETTER OR WORSE, IN THE LAST, UM, DECADE OR MORE, THE SUBSIDIES AVAILABLE FOR AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED. SO THAT IT REALLY RELIES ON CITY FUNDING MOSTLY TO MAKE THAT POSSIBLE. UM, AND SO IT'S MUCH MORE FEASIBLE TO CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL. ALSO, THE SCALE OF THE HOUSING THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, FOR THESE BIGGER SITES, UM, CREATING A VERY LARGE HOME OWNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT THAT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE, WHICH WOULD BE REQUIRED UNDER THE OVERLAY MIGHT BE MORE CHALLENGING. ALTHOUGH THE OVERLAY DOES ALLOW A GREATER AMOUNT OF MIXED INCOME IN, IN HOME OWNERSHIP, YOU'RE ALWAYS ALLOWED TO HAVE A SMALL SEGMENT OF 80 TO 100 IN THE OVERLAY IN RENTAL. BUT FOR HOME OWNERSHIP, A DEVELOPMENT COULD BE HALF AND HALF. SO THERE WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT OF VARIATION TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A MIXED COMMUNITY. BUT, UM, YEAH, SO WE, WE ENCOURAGE THAT. AND, AND CERTAINLY SMALL INFILL SITES AND OTHER THINGS WOULD BE PERFECT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND WE'RE, WE'RE VERY MUCH OPEN TO TAKING PROPOSALS FROM DEVELOPERS FOR HOME OWNERSHIP. OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? UM, I HAVE, UM, ONE QUESTION, QUESTION AND A, AND A COMMENT. UM, I THINK I WAS IMPRESSED TO HEAR THAT, UH, A COUPLE OF MORE SITES HAD BEEN PURCHASED BY OUR, UH, NONPROFIT HOUSING DEVELOPER FRIENDS. UM, AND THAT KIND OF LEADS ME TO, TO THE QUESTION WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, MY CONCERN, UM, HAS BEEN WITH THE NEW MULTIFAMILY, UH, ORDINANCE CHANGES, WHICH, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WILL DO A LOT TO IN INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNITS, BUT IT SEEMED TO ME THAT IT SORT OF PUT THE A HO AT A DISADVANTAGE. UM, AND I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE SOME THINGS THAT, UM, TRIED TO OFFSET THAT DISADVANTAGE, LIKE THE EXTRA HEIGHT, BUT A LOT OF BENEFITS SEEM TO BE INCLUDED NOW FOR EVERYBODY. SO I'M JUST CURIOUS, LIKE WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK YOU'VE BEEN GETTING FROM THE NONPROFIT COMMUNITY AS TO, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY SEEING IT, YOU KNOW, PRICES ARE GOING UP, IT'S MAKING THEM HARDER TO FIND, IT'S MAKING IT HARDER FOR THEM TO FIND SITES, YOU KNOW, JUST WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN HEARING? IT'S A GOOD QUESTION. I WOULD SAY THAT WHEN THE O OVERLY WAS FIRST ADOPTED, I GOT CALLS FROM A LOT OF OWNERS OF SITES TRYING TO SELL, AND I DON'T GET AS MANY CALLS BECAUSE THEY PROBABLY HAVE OTHER PEOPLE TO CALL. I, I I, BUT IN MOST CASES, THOSE WEREN'T, YOU KNOW, OPPORTUNITIES THAT MADE, THAT MADE SENSE. UM, I THINK, I THINK WE'LL HAVE TO SEE IT'S, IT'S STILL EARLY DAYS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE VERY PLEASED THAT THIS, THAT THE CHA AND HRI WERE ABLE TO, UM, TO SECURE THESE SITES THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT. AND, YOU KNOW, THEY REALLY LOOK AT IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, UM, AND, AND TRY TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS ON THE SITE. SO A SITE THAT WORKS FOR, FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPER MAY BE A, HAVE DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS THAN WHAT WORKS FOR, UM, OTHERS. I SEE CHRIS HAS HIS HAND UP, SO I'LL LET HIM ADD TO THAT. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. I JUST, I JUST TO PICK UP ON WHAT CASSIE'S SAYING, I I THINK THAT, THAT WE'RE SEEING STILL A LOT OF COMPETITION FOR SITES. UM, YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE, A HO HAS REALLY BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN ALLOWING US TO, TO BUILD A DEEPER PIPELINE OF ALL AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAN WE'VE EVER HAD. AND SO IT'S REALLY TWO THINGS. IT'S THE A HO AND IT'S THE FUNDING THAT THE CITY HAS THROUGH THE TRUSTS, WHICH HAS ALLOWED, UM, AGENCIES TO, TO, TO PURSUE THESE, THESE SITES A LITTLE BIT MORE AGGRESSIVELY, TO, TO BRING THEM IN, KNOWING THEY CAN BUILD A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND WHEN THEY'VE GOT THE CERTAINTY TO MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS AND THE FUNDING THAT'S THERE, UM, THE MULTIFAMILY MM-HMM. YOU KNOW, IF PEOPLE MAKE IT TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THIS, IT'S STILL A LITTLE BIT TOO SOON TO, TO REALLY SAY WHAT THE IMPACT IS. YOU KNOW, IT'S STILL, UM, YOU KNOW, PROJECTS ARE STILL MOVING THROUGH THE, THE, THE PROCESS OF, YOU KNOW, PERMIT REVIEW AND, AND PROPOSAL. SO, UM, I THINK WE'VE SEEN MORE COMPETITION FOR SITES, BUT THESE TO SOME OF THE SMALLER SITES WHERE, AS CASSIE SAID, WE, WE MIGHT EXPECT TO SEE INFILL HOME OWNERSHIP WHERE THE, THE, THE FINANCING MODELS LEND THEMSELVES TO THAT. UM, BUT WE ARE STILL SEEING THE, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROVIDERS BE SUCCESSFUL IN COMPETING FOR SITES AS, UH, CASSIE MENTIONED A COUPLE OF RECENT PURCHASES. SO WHAT YOU SEE IN THE REPORT, I THINK IS A, YOU KNOW, A, A BIG PART OF OUR, OUR DEEP PIPELINE. BUT THERE'S ACTUALLY MORE COMING WHEN YOU GET INTO THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MEETINGS THAT JUST STARTS JUST BEGINNING TO TALK ABOUT THE, THE TWO PARKING LOTS IN PORTER SQUARE, OR THE SITE [01:50:01] THAT CHA PURCHASED IN WELLINGTON HARRINGTON. SO THERE'S EVEN MORE COMING THAN THE REPORT SHOWS 'CAUSE WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT THE FIVE-YEAR WINDOW. YEAH. GREAT. WELL, IT'S NICE TO KNOW THE PIPELINE IS, IS STILL THERE. AND, UH, YOU, IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS HOW THINGS PLAY OUT. UM, THE, UM, THE ONLY OTHER, THE COMMENT I HAD, UM, WAS JUST IN, IN REGARDS TO A PROJECT LIKE WALDEN SQUARE, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M REALLY HAPPY THAT, THAT THE TRUST HAS TAKEN, UH, THE BOARD'S ROLE IN THIS AS, AS SERIOUSLY AS YOU HAVE AND OR THEY HAVE. AND, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY TRY TO HOLD THE DEVELOPER'S FEET TO THE FIRE. THE ONE PIECE THAT'S SORT OF MISSING FOR ME IS THAT, IS THE, THE FEEDBACK TO THE BOARD, TO THE PLANNING BOARD AS TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. UM, AND I, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE BE BEST MECHANISM IS FOR THAT. YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK IT HAS TO BE A PUBLIC HEARING. MAYBE IT'S JUST A, A MEMO OR JUST SOME WAY TO INFORM US. BUT, YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, I DON'T DOUBT THAT IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE, TO WHAT WE SAW, BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THOSE IMPROVEMENTS ARE. UM, SO IT WOULD JUST BE KINDA HELPFUL TO CLOSE THE LOOP, UH, WITH US, PARTICULARLY ON PROJECTS THAT ARE MORE ON THE MORE CONTROVERSIAL SIDE. UM, BUT I KNOW IT'S, IT'S A LOT OF WORK THAT YOU GUYS HAVE TO DO IN TERMS OF REVIEW AND KEEPING THINGS MOVING. SO JUST A LITTLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR THE FUTURE, UM, IN TERMS OF HOW THE PROCESS MIGHT WORK. UH, MARY, THANK YOU. UM, SO THE FIRST COMMENT I THINK IS EVERYONE SAYS, THANK YOU FOR PUTTING TOGETHER SUCH A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AND OUTLINING IT SO CLEARLY. UM, AND IT DOES SEEM VERY POSITIVE. I FELT LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, UNAMBIGUOUS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WAS VERY NICE TO SEE. UM, I WAS ESPECIALLY HAPPY TO SEE THAT THE DISTRIBUTION, IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S HITTING LOTS OF DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS. IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT'S JUST ONE PLACE AND THAT IS SO MANY FAMILY UNITS. UH, AND MAYBE PICKING UP WHAT MARY FLYNN WAS JUST DESCRIBING IS, UM, SEEING SO MANY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. 'CAUSE I ALWAYS WONDER THAT TOO. IT'S, YOU KNOW, WELL, HAS IT STALLED OUT AT SOME POINT? RIGHT? SO THAT'S VERY EXCITING TO SEE. SO MANY OF THESE ARE, ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR TEEING UP FOR THAT. UM, AND MAYBE LAYERING FROM WHAT MARY YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT IS, UM, I WANTED TO REFLECT A LITTLE BIT ON HAVING GONE THROUGH THESE NOW AND DOING THE TWO PHASE REVIEW. I FEEL LIKE OVER MY OVERARCHING FEELING IS THAT THAT IS ACTUALLY GOING WELL. IT, IT FEELS LIKE WHEN WE GET TO THE SECOND ONE, THEY'VE OFTEN ADDRESSED COMMENTS. I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S OFTEN A COMMON IS IT FEELS LIKE SOMETIMES SOME OF THE EARLY MASSING OR BIG DECISIONS COME A LITTLE BIT LATE. SO I THINK SOMETIMES THERE'S NOT AN YES AS MUCH OF A GAP, RIGHT? AS WOULD BE HELPFUL BOTH FOR THE DEVELOP THE, THE TEAM REALLY AND, AND FOR PLANNING BOARD. UM, SO JUST CONTINUING TO MAYBE THINK ABOUT WHAT THE RIGHT MOMENT IS TO ENGAGE PLANNING BOARD, ESPECIALLY 'CAUSE IT'S PLANNING BOARD. IT'S LIKE, IT FEELS LIKE IT, WE SHOULD GET SOME CHANCE TO KIND OF BE PART OF THAT EARLIER ZONE. AND THEN MAYBE TO MARY'S POINT, I, I AGREE SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, I, THERE ARE COMMENTS, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S HEADING THE RIGHT, NOT, IT'S JUST GOING IN A DIRECTION THAT YOU, YOU IT'S LESS CONTROVERSIAL. THE CONTROVERSIAL ONES ARE THE TRICKY ONES BECAUSE OFTEN THOSE ARE WHERE WE ARE, UM, UH, AMBASSADORS FOR THE CITY IN SOME CASES, RIGHT? PEOPLE WILL ASK ME ABOUT SOMETHING. AND FOR THESE SOMETIMES I, I DON'T QUITE KNOW. SO MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING THAT PLANNING BOARD WE THINK ABOUT, UM, FLAGGING ONES THAT MAYBE WE WOULD WANT AN UPDATE IF THERE IS A CHANGE. AND IT'S VERY REASSURING TO HEAR THAT THE, THAT THE TRUST, UM, TOOK SOME OF THOSE COMMENTS AND THAT KIND OF SEQUENCING TO HEART. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU MARY. UH, LET'S SEE. ASHLEY, THANK YOU. SORRY. UM, I, I, SIMILAR TO MARY ER'S SECOND POINT, UM, I, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THE HOUSING STAFF HAD ANY FEEDBACK FROM LIKE THE DEVELOPERS THAT COME MORE FREQUENTLY. I KNOW WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THIS PROCESS, IT WAS A LITTLE MORE FREQUENT WHERE WE HAD SEEN PROPOSALS AND IT WAS ALREADY SET, NOT SET IN STONE, BUT IT WAS 70% THERE AND THERE WAS NOT MUCH WE COULD CHANGE. SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, YEAH. HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY FEEDBACK FROM DEVELOPERS ON HOW THIS PROCESS IS GOING FOR THEM? AND DO THEY HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS? THANK YOU, . I CAN PROVIDE A QUICK ANSWER AND THEN CHRIS AND ZONING COLLEAGUES MAY WANNA CHIME IN. I THINK THAT, UM, THIS HAS REALLY BEEN A GOOD, UM, AND, AND SATISFYING PROCESS. I HAVE TO SAY THAT I THINK AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS, THEY MAY, YOU KNOW, GROAN THAT THINGS STILL TAKE LONG. I THINK THEY REALLY APPRECIATE THE DIFFERENT, UM, OPPORTUNITIES FOR [01:55:01] INPUT. AND I THINK THAT THEY ALL AGREE THAT THE PROJECTS AT THE END ARE MUCH BETTER FOR THE INPUT THAT THEY RECEIVE AT THE DIFFERENT STAGES, PARTICULARLY FROM THE PLANNING BOARD. I THINK IT'S A QUESTION, YOU KNOW, THE, THE OVERLAY WAS DEVELOPED TO ADDRESS A LOT OF THE CHALLENGES, INCLUDING THE PREDICTABILITY AND THE TIMING AND THE SEQUENCING OF, OF AFFORDABLE DEVELOPMENTS AND THE WAY WE'VE SET THINGS UP. AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RECENT CHANGES, INCLUDING THE MULTIFAMILY CHANGES HAVE IMPACTED THE MANDATORY NUMBER OF PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS FOR SOME OF THESE. SO SOME PROJECTS YOU'LL START SEEING WILL FALL BELOW THE THRESHOLD OF NEEDING TO PLANNING BOARD OR EVEN ANY ADVISORY REVIEW BY THE PLANNING BOARD. UM, BUT I THINK, UH, IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT FOR THOSE THAT HAD TWO PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS, THE CHANGES THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE, EVEN WHEN THERE WERE MODEST RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE FIRST MEETING, IT REALLY WAS A, IT WAS REALLY A, A, A BENEFICIAL PRO PROCESS FOR THE DEVELOPMENTS. I THINK IT WOULD BE USEFUL FOR US TO CONSIDER, YOU KNOW, WHAT LEVEL OF PROJECT DESIGN MAKES BEST SENSE TO COME TO THE FIRST MEETING. BECAUSE IF THERE'S THAT, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THE PLANNING BOARD SEES A VERY EARLY DESIGN AND THEN THEY ONLY COME BACK TO ONE MORE MEETING, THAT MIGHT NOT BE VERY SATISFYING AND GETTING REALLY THE BEST INPUT FROM THE PLANNING BOARD ON THOSE REFINEMENTS THAT THE PLANNING BOARD HAS BEEN ABLE TO MAKE TO THE FINAL DESIGNS, UM, BEFORE THE, THE DEVELOPMENT IS ABLE TO SORT OF, UM, MAKE FINAL CHANGES TO GET THE BUILDING PERMIT VERSUS BEING ON THE EARLY PROCESS. AND IT SEEMS LIKE THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO THAT WOULD BE TO GO TO MULTIPLE PLANNING BOARD MEETINGS, WHICH IS GETTING A LITTLE BIT BACK TO WHERE WE WERE BEFORE THE OVERLAY. SO IT, IT'S A, IT'S AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE TO THINK OF HOW BEST TO USE THE PLANNING BOARD OPPORTUNITY TO GET THE DESIGN INPUT THAT, UM, THAT HELPS THESE PROJECTS. BUT CHRIS AND OTHERS SHOULD, SHOULD, SHOULD, SHOULD SHARE. AND I THINK IN TERMS OF FIGURING OUT A WAY TO SHARE BACK, I THINK THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING AND I WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO OUR ZONING COLLEAGUES AND, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY THINK ON THAT. THANK YOU CASSIE. COUPLE THOUGHTS, UH, FIRST ON THE, THE SHARING BACK. I THINK THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT AND, UM, I, I APOLOGIZE THAT WE'RE NOT SENDING BACK OVER SOME OF THE, UM, UPDATE MEMOS THAT WE DO BRING BACK TO THE TRUST THAT THAT OUTLINE SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE MADE. YOU KNOW, WHEN WE GET TO A POINT WHERE THE TRUST IS HOLDING OFF ACCEPTING THE REPORT AND WE COME BACK WITH AN UPDATE, THAT WOULD BE AN EASY THING TO SEND BACK TO YOU ALL. SO YOU SEE THOSE AND WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE A PRACTICE OF DOING THAT. UM, ON THE, UM, YOUR QUESTION, ASHLEY? I I, I THINK THE THING THAT CAME UP EARLY, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT IT'S STILL COMING UP, IT WAS KIND OF A, A, A GET ACCLIMATED TO THE PROCESS WAS TIME. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, UH, THE CONCERN THAT WE HEARD FROM SOME, SOME OF THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROVIDERS, THAT THE, THE PROCESS STILL TOOK A BUNCH OF TIME. UH, IT WAS JUST, JUST SPENT DIFFERENTLY AND KIND OF, YOU KNOW, A A LOT MORE GETTING PREPARED TO, TO, TO, TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION WITH THE PLANNING BOARD AND TO GO THROUGH THE, THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, MORE BACK LOADING IT. AND, UM, I THINK THAT WAS, IT WAS A BIT OF A, A LEARNING CURVE FOR FOLKS TO UNDERSTAND. IT'S NOT REALLY A TIME SAVINGS. IT'S MORE KIND OF CHANGING THE PROCESS TO, UH, FRONT LOAD IT AND ALLOW MORE CERTAINTY AND ALLOW, UH, MORE OF A, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS WOULD, WOULD MOVE FORWARD. AND SO I THINK WITH THAT KIND OF UNDERSTANDING, I THINK WE'VE SEEN THAT THE PROCESS MOVE MORE SMOOTHLY AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE THINK, WELL, THERE'S A BY RIDE PATH TO PERMITS, IT MUST BE QUICK. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, AND I THINK EVEN WHEN THINGS GET TO THE BOARD, THERE'S ALREADY A LOT OF WORK THAT THAT'S GONE INTO IT. AND SO THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE, UH, OF THE, I THINK THE, THE LEARNING CURVE THAT WE'VE HAD. I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN THE HOUSING, ON THE HOUSING TEAM, I THINK WITH THE ZONING TEAM AND SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED WITH SOME OF THE EARLY REVIEW. 'CAUSE WE, WE DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING ALL THE, THE PERSPECTIVES INTO, UH, A DEVELOPMENT AS, AS IT'S MOVING FORWARD. UM, BUT I'M TURN IT OVER TO JEFF AND FOLKS ON THE ZONING TEAM FOR ANYTHING TO ASK. 'CAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN THESE THINGS AS WE PREPARING THEM TO, TO COME TO THE BOARD. IF I COULD JUST INTERJECT MM-HMM . PIPES IN, I MADE THE HUGE OMISSION OF NOT RECOGNIZING THE MASSIVE CONTRIBUTION OUR URBAN DESIGN STAFF MAKE TO THESE PROJECTS. I, I GLOSSED OVER IT, AND AS YOU COULD GUESS, I HAD BEEN, I HAD PREPARED, I'M WORKING OFF A LITTLE HOME LAPTOP, SO I HAVE VERY LIMITED AND I, I WAS RELYING ON THE PRESENTATION AND NOT ANY NOTES, SO I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT, THAT WE DO HUGE AMOUNTS OF WORK WITH OUR LOCAL, UM, IN-HOUSE EXPERTS. UM, AND YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUCCESSES OF THE OVERLAY WAS THE DESIGN GUIDELINES THAT ERIC AND OTHERS DEVELOPED THAT HAVE NOW BEEN EXPANDED TO BE USED TO ALL MULTIFAMILY IN, IN CAMBRIDGE. AND WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, OTHER COMMUNITIES, OTHER ARCHITECTS, PEOPLE JUST CAN'T BELIEVE HOW EXCELLENT THOSE ARE. AND I THINK THOSE HAVE BEEN AN AMAZINGLY USEFUL TOOL AS THE EARLY DESIGNS TAKE SHAPE. SO, AS CHRIS SAID, THERE'S A [02:00:01] LOT OF WORK THAT GOES INTO THESE, UM, PROJECTS BEFORE THEY MAKE THEIR WAY TO YOU. AND I THINK THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS ALWAYS WANNA PUT THEIR BEST FOOT FORWARD FOR YOU AND DON'T WANT TO DISAPPOINT THE PLANNING BOARD AND WANT TO GET GOOD RESPONSE, BUT WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE PLANNING BOARD CAN ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE USEFUL INSIGHT INTO, UM, SOME OF THESE DECISIONS. AND SO IT'S A TUG POLL, BUT I JUST WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK THAT OUR URBAN DESIGNERS DO 'CAUSE THAT THAT IS MASSIVE MM-HMM. HUGE, UM, REASON WHY THESE ARE SUCCESSFUL. YEAH. AND I, I WOULD JUST ECHO WHAT WHAT EVERYONE'S SAYING AND, UM, AND YOU KNOW, SWATHI CAN WEIGH INTO, SHE'S, WHEN SHE'S NOT COORDINATING THESE MEETINGS, SHE'S LARGELY COORDINATING ALL THE MEETINGS WITH MULTIPLE, YOU KNOW, WITH URBAN DESIGN, WITH, UM, PUBLIC WORKS, OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE REVIEW PROCESS TO, TO MAKE SURE IT ALL, IT ALL GETS ORCHESTRATED AND IT, IT IS DIFFERENT I THINK FOR, FOR DEVELOPERS, YOU KNOW, GOING, YOU KNOW, FROM GOING THROUGH A PROCESS, IT WAS MOSTLY THE BZA TO A PROCESS THAT'S A PLANNING BOARD PROCESS AND ONE THAT'S ADVISORY. IT'S STILL, I THINK, CAUGHT SOME PEOPLE BY SURPRISE OF, YOU KNOW, HOW, UM, IN DEPTH THE PROCESS CAN BE AND HOW CLOSELY WE REALLY LOOK AT, AT THESE PROJECTS AND, UM, AND WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK THEY RECEIVE. SO IT, IT TOOK A BIT OF TIME, BUT I THINK DAVE, I THINK WE'VE ALL BEEN AS, AS CHRIS SAID, ON A BIT OF A LEARNING CURVE AND UNDERSTANDING HOW TO WORK THROUGH A ADVISORY REVIEW PROCESS, UM, WHICH IS NOT A NECESSARILY, YOU KNOW, AN EASY GLIDE FOR, YOU KNOW, FOR THE DEVELOPERS. IT'S, UM, AND CERTAINLY NOT FOR STAFF EITHER. IT, IT'S, UM, IT TAKES A LOT OF CARE AND ATTENTION TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE SORT OF ALL PLAY OUR ROLES EFFECTIVELY TO MAKE SURE THAT AS THE PLANNING BOARD IS SEEN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE SORT OF MAKING, MAKING GOOD PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT OF A DESIGN AND A PROJECT THROUGH A THROUGH, THROUGH A PERIOD OF TIME, WHICH, YOU KNOW, DOESN'T RESULT IN AN APPROVAL STEP. YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T REPRO, UH, RESULT IN A POINT WHERE SOMEONE SAYS, OKAY, THIS IS IT, IT'S DONE. IT'S, IT'S MORE OF AN, OF AN ONGOING PROCESS. UM, AND I THINK OVER TIME, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALL LEARNED HOW THAT PROCESS WORKS MOST, MOST EFFECTIVELY. AND AND I THINK THAT A LOT OF THAT IS, UM, IS TO THE, THE CREDIT OF, OF THE STAFF AND BEING ABLE TO KIND OF WORK WITH THIS PROCESS AND UNDERSTAND IT AND, UM, AND THE HOUSING TEAM REALLY HAVING AN ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP WITH DEVELOPERS, WHICH GOES BACK, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR A LONG WAY. UM, AND, AND REALLY THE CITY HAVING BEEN A PARTNER IN THESE PROJECTS FOR A LONG TIME, UM, MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE IN, IN HOW WE ENGAGE WITH THE DEVELOPERS. AND I THINK THAT'S EXTENDED EVEN. YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING WITH THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY THAT WE'RE SEEING, AS CASSIE MENTIONED, WE'RE SEEING DEVELOPERS THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS THAT WE HADN'T WORKED WITH BEFORE, UM, YOU KNOW, COMING, COMING INTO PLAY, UM, AND GETTING ENGAGED THROUGH THE ASIA WHERE THEY HADN'T NECESSARILY BEEN ENGAGED WITH, YOU KNOW, COMP PERMITS OR OTHER, OTHER PERMITTING WE'VE DONE. SO I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS, UH, SWATHI, BRIAN, WANT TO ADD ANYTHING? UH, SURE. I I COULD JUMP IN AS SWAT FOR YOU TOO AS WELL. UM, YEAH, NO, I, I, I THINK IT'S BEEN A REALLY PRODUCTIVE PROCESS. I THINK I REALLY ENJOY ACTUALLY WORKING ON THE DESIGN REVIEW FOR THE, UH, FOR THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS. I, THERE'S A REALLY GREAT, UH, MISSION ALIGNMENT, OBVIOUSLY, UH, HOUSING IS ONE OF THE CRITICAL ISSUES FOR THE CITY AND, AND PROVIDING HOUSING, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT BE, UH, THE MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS. AND SO THERE'S JUST THIS, THIS NATURAL ALIGNMENT THERE THAT I THINK CARRIES THROUGH IN TERMS OF THE CONVERSATIONS AND WHAT THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THE PROJECTS IS. UH, I FEEL THAT WE PROBABLY HAVE, UM, MAYBE MORE TOUCH POINTS WITH, WITH A LOT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPERS IN TERMS OF DESIGN THAN WE WOULD WITH SOME OF OUR OTHER DEVELOPERS. AND I, I THINK THAT JUST AS A CREDIT TO HOW INTIMATELY THEY'RE, THEY'RE SORT OF, UM, INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING, UH, HOW BEST TO ALIGN THEIR PROJECTS WITH, AS CASSIE MENTIONED, THE, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, UM, THAT WE HAVE, WHICH ARE REALLY MEANT TO BE SORT OF, UM, TO SET THE TABLE IN TERMS OF WHAT THE, THE CITY IS LOOKING FOR AS A COMMUNITY. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY THE PRIORITIES OF THE INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT. IT'S REALLY ABOUT SORT OF MANAGING THE TWO OF THOSE. SO, UM, WE'VE DEFINITELY HEARD YOUR COMMENTS ON TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO SORT OF MAYBE, UM, WHEN, WHEN IS BEST TO SORT OF INTERACT WITH THESE PROJECTS. AND I THINK WE'RE CONTINUING TO SORT OF EVALUATE, UH, AND REFINE THAT AS, AS CASSIE MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IF YOU CATCH IT TOO EARLY IN THE PROCESS, THINGS CAN SORT OF SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGE OR DETAILS THAT ARE SORT OF IMPORTANT MATERIALITY AND OTHER THINGS CAN BE SORT OF ILL-DEFINED. AND WHEN YOU WOULD GET TO A SECOND MEETING WHERE YOU CAN COMMENT ON THOSE, THERE'S, THERE'S NO OPPORTUNITIES AS YOU WERE SORT OF ALLUDING TO, IS TO SORT OF SEE WHAT, WHAT THE END RESULT OF THAT IS. SO I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, IN DIALOGUE WITH YOU, WE COULD CONTINUE TO JUST CONSIDER THAT. UM, BUT I THINK THAT SO FAR I'M, I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH THE, THE PROCESSES AND [02:05:01] THE BUILDINGS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH TO DATE. I THINK IT'S BEEN A, A REALLY INTERESTING CHALLENGE BECAUSE FUNDAMENTALLY THE IDEA BEHIND THE A HO IS TO ALLOW FOR LARGER DEVELOPMENTS TO PROVIDE THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO MAKE IT PENCIL OUT. AND SO IT, IT ASKS A DIFFERENT QUESTION OF WHAT CONTEXTUALISM IS. IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT MIMICKING MAYBE SIZE, BUT ABOUT PICKING UP ON PROPORTIONALITY MATERIALS AND OTHER THINGS. BUT I THINK IT'S BEEN A, A CONVERSATION THAT A LOT OF DEVELOPERS WE'VE WORKED WITH HAVE BEEN REALLY INTERESTED IN AS WELL AND, AND WILLING TO WORK WITH US ON. I THINK JEFF AND BRIAN HAS COVERED MOST FROM THE ZONING AND URBAN DESIGN SIDE. UM, ONE THING I WOULD ADD IS, UM, THIS, UM, EVOLUTION OF THE A HO PROJECT REVIEW HAS BEEN, UH, VERY INTERESTING AND VERY INFORMATIVE BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN REAL CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK AND COMMUNICATION FROM THE HO DEVELOPERS, UH, WHICH IS QUITE REFRESHING BECAUSE, UH, THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO, YOU KNOW, IN INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF HOUSING, WHICH IS A DIRE NEED IN THE CITY. SO WE, YOU KNOW, STAFF, EVEN THOUGH IF IT'S, UH, EVEN THOUGH IT CAN BE CONSIDERED ADVISORY, WE STILL PROVIDE A LOT OF GUIDANCE THROUGH THE BUILDING PERMIT AND THE OCCUPANCY PERMIT TO BE MINDFUL OF THE TIMELINE THEY'RE TRACKING AND ALSO THE BUILDING OCCUPANTS. UM, WE DEFINITELY WANT TO SUPPORT, UH, THE COMPLETION OF THESE PROJECTS. UM, YOU KNOW, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION ALL THE EFFORT AND TIME THAT HAS GONE INTO THESE PROJECTS. MM-HMM . WELL, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL LEARNING FROM THE PROCESS AS IT EVOLVES AND, AND WE'RE GONNA LEARN A LOT MORE. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK AGAIN, THAT THE UPFRONT TIMING OF, YOU KNOW, FOR THE PLANNING BOARD IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S COME UP QUITE A BIT AS I RECALL OVER THE VARIOUS HEARINGS. SO, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST THINKING LIKE, I KNOW A LOT OF THE DEVELOPERS HAVE WEBSITES THAT THEY PUT UP ONCE THEY, YOU KNOW, START THE COMMUNITY MEETING PROCESS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES YOU HEAR ABOUT THEM BECAUSE IT'S A, A PROJECT THAT MAKES IT INTO THE NEWSPAPER, BUT OTHER TIMES, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT THE PROJECT TILL IT'S ON THE PLANNING BOARD AGENDA. SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF MAYBE THERE'S A WAY OF, OF JUST KIND OF LETTING THE BOARD KNOW KIND OF WHAT IS IN THE PIPELINE MM-HMM . UM, SO WE COULD JUST START DIGGING AROUND ON SOME OF THESE SITES OURSELVES AND, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST GET A SENSE OF HOW IT'S FLOWING AND, AND WHAT THE, SOME OF THE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK MIGHT BE. UM, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY HOW YOU DO THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF OPEN MEETING LAW AND ALL THAT SORT OF THING IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, HOW WE STRUCTURE STUFF ON THE AGENDA. BUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE SEE THINGS THAT WAY, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SOME COMMENTS WITHOUT THE DEVELOPER EVEN COMING TO THE BOARD JUST BASED ON WHAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE, THEIR SITE OR WE'RE HEARING. UM, SO I DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER. IT'S JUST A THOUGHT, AND I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF ALL OF YOU WOULD MULL IT OVER A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND MAYBE WE CAN COLLECTIVELY COME UP WITH A WAY THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE THE DEVELOPER TO GO THROUGH EXTRA STEPS, BUT MAYBE THERE'S A WAY WE CAN, YOU KNOW, HELP TO FEED INTO OR LEARN FROM THE, THE STEPS THAT PROCEED. THEY'RE COMING TO US. UM, UH, CHAIR, IF I MAY JUST PROVIDE A QUICK RESPONSE TO THAT. UM, SURE. WE DO DENOTE, NOT REALLY, UM, JUST THIS PLANNING BOARD, SPECIAL PERMIT PROJECTS THAT REQUIRE EARLY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS. UM, YOU KNOW, THE MONTHLY EMAIL THAT I SHARE WITH YOU, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION. THESE PROJECTS ARE COMING UP. UM, ONE OF THE LINKS IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR, UM, SUCH A O PROJECTS. AND IF YOU, YOU KNOW, CLICK ON IF IT'S ADDITIONAL, IF IT'S ADDITIONALLY HELPFUL, WE CAN SHARE AS THESE COMMUNITY MEETINGS ARE GETTING, UM, ESTABLISHED OR SCHEDULED, UH, IF THE PROJECT HAS A WEBPAGE, WE CAN DEFINITELY SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH PLANNING BOARD. AND YOU RAISE THE POINT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW THE, YOU KNOW, HOW THE PLANNING BOARD CAN PROVIDE FEEDBACK. UM, WE, WE BASICALLY SAY YOU REACH BACK OUT TO THE STAFF DIRECTLY AND THEN WE CAN PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AND AS LONG AS WE ARE MINDFUL OF, YOU KNOW, THE OPEN MEETING LAW REQUIREMENTS, UH, WE CAN DEFINITELY BRING THOSE WEBSITES TO YOUR ATTENTION. TERRIFIC. YEAH, AND THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME ABOUT THOSE, THOSE LINKS, UM, , BECAUSE I OFTEN DON'T PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THEM, SO IT'S A GOOD REMINDER. UM, ALL RIGHT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS? NO. OKAY. WELL, AGAIN, THANK YOU, UM, NOT JUST FOR THE REPORT, BUT FOR ALL OF THE GREAT WORK YOU ALL ALL DO. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, COMING OUT WITH AN END RESULT, LIKE WE SEE IN THIS FIVE YEAR REPORT, IT'S REALLY, UH, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT SHOWS THAT YOU GUYS DO REALLY TERRIFIC WORK AND, AND WE APPRECIATE IT VERY, VERY MUCH. YOU'RE DOING A LOT FOR THE CITY. AND, UM, [02:10:01] IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S, AGAIN, ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT MAKES ME PROUD TO LIVE HERE IS THAT THE KIND OF WORK AND THE PRODUCT YOU GUYS THAT NEW FOLKS CAN COME UP WITH. SO WITH OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF INPUT FROM THAT DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, BUT WELL DONE. UM, WITH ALL OF THAT THEN, UM, IS THERE A MOTION TO CONCLUDE THE DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? IT'S TED . . THANK YOU TED. IS THERE A SECOND? ASHLEY SECOND. THANK YOU, ASHLEY. UH, AND JEFF, COULD WE HAVE A ROLL CALL? VOTE PLEASE IN THAT MOTION. TED COHEN. YES. MARY ECKER. YES. DIEGO MACIAS. YES. ASHLEY TAN. YES. CAROLYN ZERN. YES. MARY FLYNN. YES. ALL SIX MEMBERS PRESENT VOTING IN FAVOR. TERRIFIC. UM, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR, UH, FOR COMING THIS EVENING AND, AND FOR THE REPORT AND THE PRESENTATION. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MM-HMM . SO WITH THAT, UM, I THINK WE'VE CONCLUDED THE BUSINESS ON OUR AGENDA. UM, DOES STAFF HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FOR US? NOPE. WE SEE YOU AGAIN IN TWO WEEKS. TWO WEEKS, OKAY. VERY GOOD. UH, BOARD MEMBERS, ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD BEFORE WE ADJOURN? OKAY. SEE NO ONE, UH, WE ARE ADJOURNED THEN. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. UM, ENJOY THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AND WE'LL SEE YOU AGAIN. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.