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WELCOME TO THE JULY 21ST, 2026 MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE PLANNING BOARD.MY NAME IS TOM VIC, AND I AM THE CHAIR 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 AT 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'S TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
I WILL GIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AT THAT TIME, AND 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'S ONLINE MEETING PORTAL AND ON CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL 22 WITHIN CAMBRIDGE.
THERE WILL ALSO BE A TRANSCRIPT MADE OF THE PROCEEDINGS.
I'LL START BY ASKING STAFF TO TAKE BOARD MEMBER ATTENDANCE AND VERIFY THAT ALL MEMBERS ARE AUDIBLE.
ARE YOU PRESENT MS. THE MEETINGS VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE.
MARY FLYNN, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? MARY IS ABSENT.
MARY ECKER, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE.
MARY DIEGO MACIAS, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE.
ASHLEY TAN, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE.
ZERN, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE? THANK YOU.
UH, GOING TO THE ASSOCIATE MEMBERS, UH, DAN ANDERSON, ARE YOU PRESENT? AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? GOOD EVENING, EVAN.
TOM SVI, ARE YOU PRESENT AND IS THE MEETING VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE TO YOU? PRESENT, VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE? THANK YOU, TOM.
THAT'S SIX REGULAR MEMBERS PRESENT AND ONE ASSOCIATE MEMBER PRESENT.
THE FIRST ITEM ON THE, UH, UH, TALK TONIGHT IS AN UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
SO PLEASE ALSO INTRODUCE ANY, UH, CITY STAFF THAT'S PRESENT AT THE MEETING.
UH, EVAN SPA, THE ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER.
UH, FACILITATING TONIGHT'S MEETING, UM, WITH ME FROM THE ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM.
UH, WE HAVE SWATHI JOSEPH AND MASON WELLS, ALSO FROM CDD ON THE URBAN DESIGN TEAM, BRIAN GREGORY, AND I BELIEVE WE SHOULD BE JOINED BY ADAM SCHULMAN FROM DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
I DON'T SEE HIM QUITE YET, BUT I THINK HE'LL, HE'LL BE ON LATER.
UM, AND I THINK THAT'S FOR ALL FOR CITY STAFF.
UM, TONIGHT WE HAVE ONE ITEM ON THE AGENDA.
IT'S A PUBLIC HEARING ON A SPECIAL PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT A SIX STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING.
UM, WE'LL GET RIGHT INTO THAT AFTER, UH, THIS INTRO.
LOOKING AHEAD, UH, THIS IS THE LAST MEETING IN JULY.
OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE IN TWO WEEKS ON AUGUST 4TH, UH, WHERE WE'LL HAVE A, A PUBLIC HEARING ON A ZONING PETITION, UH, REGARDING SHORT-TERM RENTALS.
UH, THE PLANNING BOARD HEARD, UH, UM, HAD A HEARING ON A SIMILAR ZONING PETITION ABOUT A YEAR AGO.
UM, THAT, THAT DIDN'T QUITE GET ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.
THE COUNCIL, UM, PASSED A POLICY ORDER TO, TO MAKE SOME CHANGES TO THE APPROACH.
UM, SO THAT HAS, UH, KIND OF GONE THROUGH THAT PROCESS AND WE'LL, WE'LL COME BACK AROUND AS A ANOTHER ZONING PETITION.
SO, SO THAT'S COMING UP AUGUST 4TH.
AND THEN AFTER THAT, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE SCHEDULED, UM, BUT WE DO EXPECT SOME MORE MEETINGS TO, TO BE PUT ON THE CALENDAR IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
UM, A COUPLE QUICK COUNCIL UPDATES.
THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE HAD THEIR PUBLIC HEARING ON THE, UH, DOUG BROWN ZONING PETITION THIS AFTERNOON.
THE PLANNING BOARD HEARD THAT LAST WEEK AND, AND, UH, MADE A, A NEGATIVE RECOMMENDATION ON THE PETITION.
THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, UH, FELT, UH, SIMILARLY, I THINK THERE WAS A, A PRETTY SIMILAR DISCUSSION AMONGST THE COUNCIL,
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UM, AS, AS THE PLANNING BOARD HAD AND ALSO, UM, MADE A, A NEGATIVE RECOMMENDATION ON THE PETITION.SO THAT WILL GO TO, UH, THE FULL COUNCIL, UM, ON THEIR, UH, AT THE SUMMER MEETING ON AUGUST 3RD.
AND, UM, AND ACTION MAYBE MAY BE TAKEN ON IT AT THAT POINT.
THE ACTIVE USE, UH, PETITIONS, MASS AND CAMBRIDGE STREET, THOSE, UM, CHANGES, UM, WILL ALSO GO TO COUNCIL ON THE, UH, AT THE SUMMER MEETING ON AUGUST 3RD.
UM, THEY WILL, AT THAT POINT, WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UM, PASS IT TO A SECOND READING AND HOPEFULLY, UH, ADOPT THE ZONING PETITION WHEN THEY, UM, ARE BACK IN REGULAR SESSION, UH, IN SEPTEMBER.
AND I WILL STOP THERE AND PASS IT BACK TO THE CHAIR.
AND I NOTICED THAT ADAM SCHULMAN HAS, HAS, UH, SHOWED UP HERE.
ADAM, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD FOR, FOR EVAN ON THE UPDATE? NO ONE, UH, INDICATES SUCH.
SO I WILL MOVE ON TO OUR, UM, AGENDA, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE.
THE NEXT ITEM IS A PUBLIC HEARING ON PLANNING BOARD CASE 4 1 2, A SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION BY BSR BIRCH LLC TO CONSTRUCT A SIX STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WITH 85 RESIDENTIAL UNITS.
WE'LL BEGIN WITH AN UPDATE FROM CDD STAFF, THEN WE'LL HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM THE DEVELOPER FOLLOWED BY A PUBLIC COMMENT.
THEN THE BOARD WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
AND FINALLY, WE WILL DELIBERATE AND DECIDE HOW WE WANT TO PROCEED ON THE CASE.
UH, SO THIS IS THE FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS APPLICATION.
THE PROJECT INVOLVES CONSTRUCTION OF A SIX STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WITH 85 RESIDENTIAL UNITS.
THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT MEMO SUMMARIZES THE PLANNING AND ZONING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPOSAL AND THE URBAN DESIGN.
COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSAL STAFF ARE PRESENT IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, THERE ARE ALSO SEPARATE MEMOS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AS WELL AS THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS.
THE BOARD'S ACTION IS TO GRANT OR DENY THE REQUESTED SPECIAL PERMITS.
UH, MY NOTES INDICATE THAT THE PRESENTER TONIGHT IS JOANNA SCHNEIDER.
UM, MS. SCHNEIDER, YOU'LL HAVE UP TO 30 MINUTES FOR YOUR PRESENTATION, THOUGH WE HOPE YOU CAN BE AS CONCISE AS POSSIBLE, AND PLEASE INTRO, INTRODUCE ANY OF YOUR PROJECT TEAM THAT WILL ALSO, UH, BE REPRESENTING YOU TONIGHT.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR, AND GOOD EVENING.
UH, TO YOU AND TO MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
I'M VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE TONIGHT WITH A PROJECT PROPOSED UNDER THE NEW MULTI-FAMILY ZONING THAT THE CITY ADOPTED RELATIVELY RECENTLY.
WE THINK THAT THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE MUCH NEEDED HOUSING IN AN APPROPRIATE LOCATION, WHICH OVER RECENT YEARS HAS REALLY EVOLVED TO BE MORE RESIDENTIAL IN NATURE.
WITH ME TONIGHT ARE SETH GRADY ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANT.
BSR BIRCH, LLC, HANS STR, AND MICHAEL DENNIS FROM HDS, THE PROJECT ARCHITECT NICK CAMPANELLI FROM MDLA, OUR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT SCOTT THORNTON FROM ASSE, OUR TRAFFIC CONSULTANT, OLEN RICHTER FROM HANCOCK ASSOCIATES, OUR CIVIL ENGINEER AND SAMIR AHMADI FROM NV ENERGY STUDIOS, OUR SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT.
UH, WE'LL GET INTO MORE DETAIL IN A MOMENT, BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD START WITH JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW.
THE PROJECT SITE, WHICH I'M ASSUMING THE BOARD IS ALL FAMILIAR WITH, IS A SOMEWHAT UNUSUALLY SHAPED THROUGH PARCEL WITH FRONTAGE ON EACH OF BIRCH STREET AND BAYSTATE ROAD.
AS WE GET INTO THE ARCHITECT'S PRESENTATION, YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT HOW WE HAVE DESIGNED THE BUILDING TO HAVE TWO TRUE FRONTS, EACH OF WHICH ARE UNIQUE AND INTENDED TO RESPECT AND REFLECT THE CHARACTER OF EACH OF BAYSTATE ROAD AND BIRCH STREET.
THE SITE IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPED WITH THREE SMALL COMMERCIAL STRUCTURES, AND MUCH OF THE SITE PRESENTLY IS A COMBINATION OF PAVED AND UNPAVED IMPERVIOUS AREA, CURRENTLY USED AS EMPLOYEE PARKING FOR BUSINESSES ON THE SITE.
WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE HIGHEST AND BEST USE OF THE SITE, PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE MIX OF RESIDENTIAL USES IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA AND THE TREMENDOUS WALKABILITY OF THE SITE, UH, TO NUMEROUS OPEN SPACES, RETAIL AND TRANSIT.
AS MASON, UH, DESCRIBED, WE ARE PROPOSING TO REPLACE THE EXISTING USES ON THE SITE WITH A SIX STORY BUILDING WITH 85 APARTMENT UNITS.
WE WILL PROVIDE 15 ONSITE PARKING SPACES AND 99 BIKE PARKING SPACES.
AS YOU'LL HEAR FROM THE PROJECT ARCHITECTS, THE BUILDING HAS BEEN PULLED BACK FROM THE PROPERTY LINES IN EXCESS OF ZONING SETBACKS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE IMPACT ON A BUDDING PROPERTIES.
THE DESIGN ALSO INCORPORATES SETBACKS AT THE UPPER LEVELS TO CREATE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN NEIGHBORING BUILDINGS.
AS YOU'LL HEAR FROM NICK CAMPANELLI, OUR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, WE ARE ALSO PROPOSING NUMEROUS SITE IMPROVEMENTS, INCLUDING SUBSTANTIAL
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NEW LANDSCAPING AND ENTRY CLAUSES ON EACH OF BIRCH STREET AND BAYSTATE ROAD.AND WE'RE ALSO REDUCING THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF THE EXISTING CURB CUTS.
THE BUILDING WILL BE HIGHLY SUSTAINABLE.
IT WILL BE ALL ELECTRIC, AND IT WILL BE PASSIVE HOUSE COMPLIANT.
WITH RESPECT TO ZONING RELIEF, THE PROJECT IS FULLY COMPLIANT WITH ALL USE AND DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE DUE TO ITS SIZE.
WE REQUIRE A PROJECT REVIEW, SPECIAL PERMIT UNDER SECTION 19 OF THE ORDINANCE.
AND IN AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, WE ARE PROSPECTIVELY SEEKING RELIEF FOR GREEN ROOF AREA UNDER SECTION 22 35 3.
AS YOU'LL SEE IN THE ARCHITECT'S REVIEW OF THE ROOF PLAN, WE CURRENTLY DO COMPLY WITH THE 80% GREEN ROOF AREA REQUIREMENT.
HOWEVER, THE PRACTICAL REALITY IS THAT THE ROOFTOP MECHANICAL DESIGN WILL BE REFINED AS PROJECT PLANS PROGRESS, AND THERE IS VERY LIMITED SPACE ON THAT ROOF TO PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL GREEN ROOF AREA.
WE ARE ABSOLUTELY HOPEFUL AND WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO CONTINUE TO COMPLY, BUT IN THE EVENT THAT WE CANNOT, WE ARE ASKING THAT THE BOARD TONIGHT GRANT AN EXEMPTION AND ALLOW US TO MAKE THE REQUIRED UNIT PRICE CONTRIBUTION TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST IN THE EVENT THAT WE ARE NOT ABLE TO GET TO THE FULL 80% ONCE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN FULLY DESIGNED.
WITH THAT HOPEFULLY BRIEF OVERVIEW, I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO HAN STR, OUR ARCHITECT, TO WALK THROUGH THE PROJECT IN MORE DETAIL, AND I WILL BE BACK TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THE BOARD MAY HAVE AFTER OUR PRESENTATION.
SO I AM HANS STR OF HDS ARCHITECTURE.
JOINING ME IN THE MEETING IS, UH, MICHAEL DENNIS, OUR, UH, DESIGN DIRECTOR.
AND, UH, WE ALSO HAVE MING WAY WHO'S OBSERVING, UH, OUT THERE IN CYBERSPACE.
THE, THE MEETING, UM, NOT A PANELIST, BUT HE IS A VERY MUCH A PART OF THE PROJECT.
UM, I WILL, OH, FIRST OF ALL, HAN STR, HDS ARCHITECTURE 6 25 MOUNT AUBURN STREET.
WE'RE LOCATED ACROSS FROM THE MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY, WHICH I CAN SEE OUT MY WINDOW HERE.
UM, AND, UH, WE'VE BEEN IN CAMBRIDGE FOR MANY YEARS.
SO I WILL START BY SHARING, UM, HERE WE ARE.
CAN EVERYBODY SEE THIS? IS THIS VIEWABLE? EVERYBODY? OKAY, GREAT.
UH, SO WE ALSO, UH, LISTED AT THE BOTTOM ARE OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM, VANESSA ASSOCIATES, AND VIA ENERGY FOR OUR, UM, GREEN, UH, GREEN POINTS AND, UH, GREEN ARCHITECTURE, HANCOCK ASSOCIATES, CIVIL ENGINEER AND MDLA AS LANDSCAPE.
UH, I HAVE TO SAY WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND, UH, IT'S BEEN A PROCESS AND I REALLY HAVE APPRECIATED THE, UH, OUR, OUR INTERACTION WITH THE, UM, UH, UH, CDD FOLKS, UH, HELPING US MAKE THIS EVEN A BETTER PROJECT.
UH, AS MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE LOCATION, UH, MOST NOTABLE IS THE FAMOUS SOO BUILDING HERE AT THE, UH, CIRCLE OF CONCORD AVENUE AS IT LEADS OUT TO FRESH POND.
UH, NESTLED BEHIND IT IS THE PROJECT SITE, AND, UH, WE LOVE THE SITE.
IT'S HALFWAY, IF YOU WILL, BETWEEN DENNY PARK AND, UH, BEAUTIFUL FRESH POND, UH, WONDERFUL AMENITIES FOR THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
AND WE FEEL WE A RESPECTFUL, UH, CONNECTION, UH, UH, BETWEEN THE TWO ON THE TWO STREETS THAT WE FRONT.
ALSO ON THE PRO, UH, NEAR THE PROPERTY IS A NEW DEVELOPMENT ON NEW STREET.
THE, UH, UH, UH, HOUSING PROJECT COMPLETED, UH, APPROXIMATELY A YEAR AGO, UH, FRONTING DEHE PARK.
ALSO, OF COURSE, ALL THE RETAIL THAT'S HAPPENING.
WE ARE IN A TRANSITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD, AS YOU ALL KNOW.
THERE'S RESIDENTIAL, UH, DEVELOPMENT THAT HAS OCCURRED TAKING OVER, UM, SOME INDUSTRIAL USES, UH, OVER IN THIS AREA.
NECK OF THE WOODS, UH, ACROSS FROM OUR PROPERTY IS A LARGE, UH, UH, ONE STORY BUILDING STORAGE FACILITY.
SO IN GREATER DETAIL, UH, THE, AS MENTIONED IN THE LITERATURE THAT YOU'VE RECEIVED, THESE ARE THREE PARCELS, BUT THEY'RE OWNED BY ONE, UH, OWNERSHIP GROUP.
AND, UH, WE ARE COMBINING THEM.
I CAN'T SAY THAT I'VE EVER WORKED ON ANYTHING OF THIS SHAPE BEFORE.
UH, SO WE HAVE FRONTAGE ON BAYSTATE ROAD AND WE HAVE FRONTAGE ON, UH, BIRCH STREET.
UH, THE MAJORITY OF THE PROPERTY IS PAVEMENT, UH, BOTH, UM, UH, PARKING PAVING AS WELL AS SORT OF, UM, SOILED AREAS HERE, WHICH ARE PART OF A LANDSCAPE FIRM'S, UM, STORAGE AREA.
TWO STORY, OR I'M SORRY, ONE STORY GARAGE BUILDING OVER HERE.
UH, ANOTHER ONE, STORY BUILDING AND BRICK,
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UH, OFFICE BUILDING.AND THEN A THREE STORY, UM, OFFICE BUILDING FRONTING, UH, BAY STATE ROAD.
THERE ARE CURB CUTS, UM, THREE CURB CUTS, ONE ON BAYSTATE ROAD, WHICH ESSENTIALLY WE ARE PRESERVING IN ITS ENTIRETY.
UH, AND THERE ARE TWO THAT, UH, DOWN HERE THAT WE ARE REMOVING AND CREATING A SMALL CURB CUT OVER HERE.
SO WE ARE REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF CURB CUTS ON, ON THE, UH, ON THE STREET.
UH, BIR STREET, UH, PRESENTLY HAS, AS I HAD MENTIONED, A ON ONE SIDE, A ONE STORY, UH, STORAGE FACILITY, UH, FA UH, UH, UH, FRONTING, UH, ONE END OF IT TOWARD CONCORD AVENUE.
AND THEN ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE, WHICH THIS IS OUR PROPERTY, WHICH HAS THAT, I'VE MENTIONED ONE STORY BUILDING, OFFICE BUILDING, AND THEN A GARAGE IN THE REAR OF THIS PORTION.
THERE ARE FOUR TOWN HOMES ALONG THE, THE, UH, ON THE LEFT OF US, UH, THAT, UH, ARE AT THE GO UP TO THE CORNER OF CONCORD AVENUE ON THE RIGHT, UH, AROUND SORT OF THE CORNER, ONE CAN BEGIN TO SEE THE, UH, THREE STORY, UH, CONDOMINIUM, UH, RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS, UH, MOVING ALONG TO, UH, BAY STATE ROAD.
UH, THIS IS THE PROPERTY, UH, DEFINED HERE.
UM, THERE IS A FOUR STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING TO OUR RIGHT CONDOMINIUM BUILDING, WHICH HAS A GARAGE UNDERNEATH IT.
RIGHT HERE IS THE ENTRY TO THE RAMP THAT TAKES YOU UNDERNEATH THAT BUILDING TO RIGHT ANOTHER RESIDENTIAL, TWO AND A HALF STORY BUILDING.
UM, OUR PROPERTY HAS AN EXISTING THREE STORY OFFICE BUILDING AND A TREE IN FRONT OF IT, WHICH WE ARE PRESERVING A LARGE TREE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, TWO OF THE LEFT, UH, TWO VERY NICE, UH, THREE STORY, UH, RESIDENTIAL CONDOMINIUM BUILDINGS.
UH, THEY TOO HAVE, UH, PARKING, UH, WHICH IS SCREENED HERE, UH, AT THEIR, ON, ON THE BOTTOM OF THEIR BUILDINGS.
SO THIS IS A, JUST A QUICK DIAGRAM THAT DISPLAYS, UH, THE ZONING, UM, AS IT EXISTS, UH, WITH BOTH THE SETBACKS AND THE HEIGHT, UH, RESTRICTION, UH, FOR THE SIX STORY MAXIMUM HEIGHT.
UM, WE JUST SIMPLY SHOW WHAT THE ZONING, UH, DEFINES.
WE KNOW THIS WOULD NOT BE A PRETTY PICTURE IF WE WERE TO EXTRUDE IT STRAIGHT UP.
OF COURSE, WE, UH, DID NOT, UH, CHOOSE TO EXTRUDE IT STRAIGHT UP.
UH, WE CHOSE TO, UH, IF YOU WILL, CHISEL AWAY AT IT, UH, BOTH, UH, AT THE GROUND LEVEL AND THEN AS WE GO UP WITH SETBACKS.
UM, BUT BASICALLY, UH, WHAT YOU SEE HERE IN THE DARKER TONE IS THE, UM, IS THE, UH, OVERALL FOOTPRINT OF THE, UH, PROPOSED BUILDING.
UH, IT'S BUILDING HEIGHT, UH, LESS THAN THE 75 FOOT HEIGHT MAX.
UM, AND THEN THE SETBACKS HERE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S 18 FEET, SIX INCHES, I BELIEVE.
UM, 14 FEET, 10 IN AREAS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN FIVE OR DEFINED BY ZONING FIVE FEET.
UM, WE HAVE 10 FEET SET BACK HERE, NOT JUST FIVE FEET.
AND WE ALSO BEGIN TO SET BACK HERE, WHICH YOU'LL SEE, UH, IN OUR DESIGN, A A MAIN ENTRANCE TO THIS SIDE OF THE PROPERTY.
AS, UH, JOHANNA MENTIONED, UM, WE'RE NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL THESE CALCULATIONS, BUT WE DO COMPLY, UH, WITH ALL THE, UM, REQUIREMENTS OF THE ZONING AS OUR UNDERSTANDING FOR THIS PROPERTY.
AND THEN A QUICK OVERVIEW AS WE ENTER INTO THE PROJECT SHOWING, UM, HOW WE'VE TRANSFORMED, UH, THE EDGES OF THE PROPERTY, MAKING IT FAR MORE, UM, UH, PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY, UH, EMBRACING THE SIDEWALKS AT BOTH SIDES OF THE PROPERTY.
WE HAVE A, UM, A USABLE PUBLIC SPACE HERE, ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING OFF BAYSTATE ROAD, UH, ON THE OTHER END BIRCH STREET AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE CREATED WHAT WE BELIEVE WILL BE A VERY ENTICING AND NICE, NOT ONLY FOR THE, UM, UH, TENANTS, BUT ALSO FOR, UH, FOLKS WALKING DOWN THE STREET, HEADING TOWARD, UM, THE FRESH POND AND ET CETERA.
UH, THIS IS AN ENLIVENED, UM, CHARACTER, UH, UH, STREET WITH LOTS OF LANDSCAPING AND ALSO BENCHES AND BICYCLES.
WE HAVE A PET AREA HERE WITH A SMALL SEATING AREA, UM, UH, FOR THE OCCUPANTS OF THE BUILDING, NOT SHOWN HERE, BUT YOU'LL SEE.
AND AS WE GO UP, WE DO HAVE A ROOF DECK.
SO THE GENERAL, UH, CIRCULATION OF THE BUILDING, THIS IS THE FIRST FLOOR, IS, UH, FROM A PEDESTRIAN PERSPECTIVE, AS I HAD MENTIONED, ENTRY OFF OF
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BIRCH STREET HERE INTO THE, UH, UH, INTO THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF OUR PROJECT.WE HAVE A LOBBY, LEASING MAIL, ET CETERA, AMENITIES, ENLIVENING, THE WHOLE FACADE ALONG THE STREET HERE.
UM, WE HAVE TO HAVE A WATER ROOM AND A TRANSFORMER.
WE, UH, THE TRANSFORMER WE ELECTED TO, UH, INTERNALIZE INTO THE BUILDING, UM, AND NOT HAVE IT AS A FREESTANDING ELEMENT OUTSIDE.
UH, WE HAVE A BICYCLE STORAGE AREA WITH ACCESS TO BOTH THOSE YOU FOLLOW HERE THROUGH THIS LITTLE ALLEY OUT TO BIRCH STREET.
AND THEN ALSO ON THIS SIDE, A A, UH, WAY TO GET OUT TO BAY STATE ROAD, THE, THE WAY THAT, UH, CARS COME THROUGH THE BUILDING FOR PARKING.
WE HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES, 15.
IT IS ONE WAY OFF OF BAYSTATE ROAD, THIS LOCATION YOU TUCK UNDER THE BUILDING, WHICH IS THIS GRAY TONE, A DARKER GRAY TONE.
AND IN THIS AREA, YOU ARE INSIDE THE BUILDING, UM, IN A, UH, PARKING GARAGE.
AND THEN OUT TO THIS EDGE HERE, WE RECOGNIZE THIS IS A HARD EDGE, AND WE HAVE A, UH, A SOLUTION TO THAT THAT WILL, I'LL SHOW YOU IN OUR ELEVATIONS.
UM, THE NOT SO EXCITING THINGS LIKE TRASH, BUT WE HAVE TO, WE HAD TO SOLVE IT HERE.
TRASH MANAGEMENT, TRASH WILL BE BR UH, BROUGHT DOWN TO THIS LOCATION, UH, UH, EITHER MANUALLY OR THROUGH TRASH SHOOT.
AND THEN ON SCHEDULED DAYS, BROUGHT OUT FOR TRASH PICKUP.
WE ARE THE ONLY, THERE ARE THE, THE ONLY, WE ARE THE ONLY OTHER THAN THE FOUR, UM, UH, FOUR TOWN HOMES, UH, FOLKS WHO WOULD BE ON THE STREET.
SO THERE, RIGHT NOW THERE'S ONLY FOUR FOLKS LIVING HERE ACROSS THE STREET.
SO AS WE GO UP THE, UH, UP THE BUILDING, UH, RESIDENTIAL UNITS ARE ORGANIZED WITH, UM, MUL AS MANY EXPOSURES AS WE CAN HAVE, UH, GET THEM FOR GLASS, THE BAY WINDOWS AND THE ELEVATIONS YOU'LL SEE HAVE GLASS ON THEIR EDGES.
WE TRY TO MAXIMIZE CORNER OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS HALLWAY, WE LOVE TO DO THIS, AND SIDE OF THESE BUILDINGS BRING IN SOME NATURAL LIGHT.
UH, FOR THE ARCHITECTS, WE, UH, JUST, JUST MENTION THIS, BUT WE NORMALLY HAVE A HOLD OPEN DOOR HERE SO WE CAN SEE LIGHT AT OVER HERE.
SO I CALL IT LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
LOBBY HERE FOR THE ELEVATOR WILL ALSO HAVE LIGHT.
SO, UH, AND THEN AS WE BEGIN TO GO UP, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE, UM, UH, UP THE BUILDING, UH, PARTICULARLY AT THE FOURTH FLOOR.
WE START TO SET BACK QUITE A BIT, UH, PARTICULARLY ON BAY STATE ROAD.
THESE ARE LOW SETBACK LOCATIONS, SETBACKS ALL ALONG HERE AS WELL.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY, UP TO THE ROOF WHERE WE HAVE A ROOF DECK.
UH, THE, UH, EQUIPMENT FOR THE, UM, AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING ARE ON THE ROOF, UM, SPLIT CALLED SPLIT SYSTEM, UH, VERY EFFICIENT.
THEY ARE SET FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM THE STREET.
THEIR NOISE IS MITIGATED FOR THAT.
VERY WELL FOR, WE HAVE EXEC DID DO A STUDY FOR US FOR ALL OF OUR, UM, MACHINERY ON THE ROOF AND, UM, THE MECHANICAL, UH, AND, UH, WE PASSED, UH, UH, UH, DECIBEL LEVEL PER ORDINANCE OF CAMBRIDGE.
SO THE ROOF DECK ISN'T A SPECIAL AMENITY FOR US.
UH, WE FELT GIVEN ITS LOCATION, PARTICULARLY WITH VIEWS OF, UM, OF, UH, FRESH POND UP TO THE UPPER LEFT, UM, UH, WOULD BE, UH, WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL.
BY THE WAY, I FAILED TO MENTION EARLIER, UH, WE DO HAVE A CALCULATION OF OF UNITS NUMBERS.
WE ARE 80% ONE BEDROOM AND STUDIOS, UH, FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, AND WE HAVE 16 AFFORDABLE UNITS, OF WHICH I BELIEVE AT THIS WE HAVE TWO.
YES, WE HAVE TWO, THREE BEDROOM UNITS.
UH, IT, AS PART OF THE AFFORDABLE, UM, WE, WE ARE CATERING THIS PROJECT TO, UH, A PARTICULAR, UH, USER, UH, THAT IS MORE INTERESTED IN, UH, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, UM, HOPEFULLY BICYCLING, UH, WITH, PARTICULARLY WITH THE, UH, THE, UH, 10 BEING 10, UH, UH, NEXT TO, UH, SUCH, UH, FRIENDLY, UH, BICYCLE O OPPORTUNITIES, UH, LIKE FRESH POND, UH, WALKING, BUT ALSO FOR PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE NOT SEEKING, UM, LARGE RESIDENTIAL, BUT MORE OF A AFFORDABLE SMALLER, UH, UH, APARTMENTS.
UM, I MENTIONED EARLIER THE, UH, THE, THIS WALL HERE.
THIS IS A, UH, A FACADE OF BIRCH STREET, UM, WHICH SHOWS A LOT OF ANIMATION ALONG THE
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STREET FOR, UM, THE WINDOWS OF THE PUBLIC, MORE PUBLIC.WHEN I SAY PUBLIC, I MEAN THE SPACES FOR THE, UH, UH, THE TENANTS.
UM, SO I SHOULD USE A DIFFERENT WORD.
BUT ANYWAY, TENANT AMENITY SPACES.
UM, BUT OUTSIDE IS ALL THIS, UH, GREEN SPACE AND BENCHING THE BENCHES THAT ARE OPEN FOR PUBLIC USE.
AND THIS AMENITY HERE IS SOMETHING WE HAVE DONE, UH, ART WALL.
UH, WE HAVE DONE THAT ON ANOTHER PROJECT IN THE BOSTON AREA.
OF COURSE, WE'LL, UH, COORDINATE WITH THE CAMBRIDGE DIRECTOR OF ARTS AND CULTURAL PLANNING FOR HOW TO ACCOMPLISH THIS.
THE, UH, WE TRIED TO MODULATE THE, UH, WE ARE MODULATING THE, UH, FACADE, UH, TO BE RESPECTFUL OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
IT IS A, WE, UH, THE ZONING ALLOWS AND WE'RE PROVIDING THE HOUSING THAT IS, UH, IS DESPERATELY NEEDED IN CAMBRIDGE.
UH, BUT WE ALSO WANTED TO DO A, A SCALED BUILDING THAT WAS, UH, IMMEDIATE, UH, AS, UH, UH, HUMANLY, UH, RESPECTABLE TO FOR THE, UH, UH, ARCHITECTURALLY RESPECTFUL FOR THE, UM, FOR THE, FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
ON THE, UM, BAYSTATE, UH, ROAD SIDE.
WE ARE PRESENTING A FOUR STORY FACADE.
THE UPPER LEVELS SET BACK CONSIDERABLY AT THIS LOCATION.
THE ENTRANCE TO THE GARAGE IS OFF TO THE RIGHT HERE, DISCREETLY WITH VERY MINIMAL, IF ANY, UH, WHEN YOU'RE AT PEDESTRIAN LEVEL VIEWS OF THE GR OF THE, UH, PARKING SPACES THAT ARE TUCKED UNDER.
SO, UH, THESE OF COURSE SHOW THAT EVERYTHING A LITTLE BIT MORE CLEARLY.
UM, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE PROJECT, ABOUT ITS MODULATION OF THE, UH, OF THE FACADE, UM, THE SETBACKS, THE STEP BACKS, UM, HOW, UH, HOW WE VARIED THE, UM, ELEMENTS TO MAKE IT, UH, MUCH MORE FRIENDLY INTO RATHER THAN A BIG BOX, CREATING A, UH, UH, AN INVITING PUBLIC ENTRY, UH, OR A PUBLIC SPACE AND ENTRY INTO THE BUILDING OFF OF, UH, BIRCH STREET.
ANOTHER VIEW SHOWING THAT, UH, WE SOLVED THE, UH, EVERSOURCE REQUIREMENT HEIGHTS AND, UH, FREE SPACE AREA FOR THE, UH, FOR THE ELECTRIC VAULT.
UH, THE TRANSFORMER, UH, WE'VE HAD PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS WITH EVERSOURCE FOR THIS AREA.
THIS IS A SCREEN WALL, UH, THAT LETS FILTERS LIGHT THROUGH, UH, I'M SORRY, AIR THROUGH ANOTHER VIEW OF THAT CORNER.
UM, WE HAVE CREATED THIS ALLEY HERE.
THERE IS IN FRONT OF THE, UH, RIGHT AT THE SIDEWALK LOCATION HERE, A DE MARKED AREA FOR FOLKS MOVING IN AND MOVING OUT.
WE EXPECT, UH, THAT WOULD HAPPEN RIGHT HERE AND INTO THE BUILDING.
AND THIS IS THE FACADE ALONG BAYSTATE ROAD.
I'D MENTIONED THE SETBACK OF THE UPPER LEVEL TO REALLY ENHANCE THE, UM, THE FOUR STORY BUILDING TO MAKE IT MORE IN SCALE, UH, WITH THE NEIGHBORS.
AND IT TOO HAS ITS PRONOUNCED, UM, ENTRY.
AND THEN, UH, TUCKED IN THE BACK.
AND I MENTIONED, UH, THE, THE PARKING.
AND THIS IS A, UH, SOLID WALL.
WE WILL HAVE LANDSCAPING STRIP HERE, UH, THAT OUR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WILL DESCRIBE.
AND WE, AGAIN, WE, WE CHOSE MATERIALS OF WARM, I'M SORRY, OF WARM COLORS, WARM FEEL, UH, THE, UH, METAL PANEL.
WE WANTED SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE HAVE LONGEVITY, UM, AND NOT, AND NEED HAD PRETTY MUCH NO MAINTENANCE, MINIMAL MAINTENANCE OVER THE YEARS, SO THAT IT WILL HAVE A NICE, FRESH FEEL, UH, FOR OR FOR THE, UH, FOR THE FUTURE.
UM, AND, UH, THE VARIATION AND TEXTURE OF MATERIALS GIVING IT, UM, A NICE, UH, SENSE OF SCALE.
SO AT THIS POINT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO, UM, BUT I'LL HAVE THE BROW, I'LL, I'LL POINT TO THINGS FOR OUR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, NICHOLAS.
UH, CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME CLEARLY? WE CAN, YES.
UH, FOR THE RECORD, AGAIN, MY NAME IS NICHOLAS CAMPANELLI.
I'M LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WITH MDLA, UH, 1 79 LINCOLN STREET IN BOSTON, UM, IS JOHANNA AND HANS MENTIONED.
UM, WE'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE, UH, PROVIDED SETBACKS WITH THIS PROPOSED BUILDING, UH, BY PROVIDING PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE OPEN SPACE.
WE'LL TOUCH ON THE WORK THAT'S INSIDE THE RIGHT OF WAY IN A FEW MINUTES.
BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THIS DIAGRAM, I WANNA FOCUS ON THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY ITSELF, UM, ALONG BIRCH STREET.
AND I'M HAPPY TO GET INTO THE DETAILS OF SPECIFIC TREES AS NEEDED WITH QUESTIONS LATER ON.
BUT WE'LL KEEP IT GENERAL FOR THE, UH, SHORT PRESENTATION HERE.
UM, WE HAVE FIVE EXISTING TREES ALONG BIRCH STREET.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING TO SUPPLEMENT AND ADD ONE ADDITIONAL
[00:30:01]
WHERE THERE'S A GAP BETWEEN THE RHYTHM OF TREES ALONG THAT STREET SCAPE.UM, DOWN ON THE GROUND PLANE, WE'RE LOOKING TO MAINTAIN THE EXISTING CONCRETE PATH, AS HAN HANS MENTIONED, REMOVING ONE CURB CUT AND MAINTAINING ONE FOR THE EXIT FROM THE GARAGE.
UM, AS YOU SWING OVER TO BASE STATE, UH, SIMILAR CONVERSATION, WE'RE LOOKING TO MAINTAIN THE LARGE CHESTNUT OAK THAT SITS ALONGSIDE THE CURB CUT THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO MAINTAIN.
UH, THERE'S ONE ADDITIONAL STREET TREE THAT'S JUST OFF OUR PROPERTY, BUT WE RECOGNIZE ITS LOCATION IF YOU JUST SOUTHEAST OF THAT.
UM, IN BETWEEN THOSE, WE'RE LOOKING TO SUPPLEMENT WITH ONE ADDITIONAL TREE AGAIN, TO PLAY OFF THE RHYTHM THAT MOVES SOUTHEAST ON THE PLAN.
UM, THE SCREENING, UM, IF WE START BOTTOM RIGHT, HANS, AND KIND OF MOVE COUNTERCLOCKWISE ALONG THE PLAN, WE HAVE A FENCE THAT LINES THE, THIS EDGE OF THE PROPERTY FACING THE BASE STATE, UM, NEIGHBORS.
UM, AS YOU MOVE AROUND THE PROPERTY, YOU'VE GOT A GROUND LEVEL PLANTING PALLET, VERTICAL TREES THAT SEPARATE THE FACADE FROM 42 BAYSTATE ROAD AND OUR PROPOSED FACADE.
UM, AND THAT FENCE MOVES ALL THE WAY DOWN, DOWN, DOWN AND STOPS ABOUT FIVE FEET SHORT OF THE RIGHT OF WAY, THE PROPERTY LINE FOR VISIBILITY FOR THOSE WALKING ALONG THE SIDEWALK AS YOU SWING AROUND TOWARDS 24 BAYSTATE ROAD.
AS HANS MENTIONED BEFORE, THE 3D RENDERING, THIS IS A VEGETATED EDGE AGAINST THE, THE ON RAMP OR THE, NOT THE ON RAMP, THE RAMP DOWN TO THE PARKING GARAGE AT THE ADJACENT PROPERTY, UH, BETWEEN OUR PARKING LOT AND THEIRS.
AND THEN IT, ONCE AGAIN, A FENCE STARTS UP AND MOVES AROUND THE PROPERTY ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE ALONG OUR DOG RUN, WHICH WE'LL DESCRIBE IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL LATER ON, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BIRCH STREET.
AND AGAIN, IT STOPS JUST SHORT OF THE SIDEWALK FOR VISIBILITY AND SECURITY.
UM, THE OPEN SPACE, UM, JUST AN OVERARCHING CON COMMENT HERE, 7,200 SQUARE FEET OF OPEN SPACE, WHICH IS 29% OF THE SITE, UH, WE'RE EXCEEDING THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT OF 50 15% FOR THIS PROJECT.
2,900 SQUARE FEET OF THAT 7,200 SQUARE FEET IS PRIVATE OPEN SPACE.
550 SQUARE FEET IS, UH, PUBLIC OPEN SPACE AS DEFINED BY THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
UH, ROUGHLY 6,000 SQUARE FEET IS PERMEABLE OPEN SPACE, WHICH IS 82% EXCEEDING THE 50% MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.
AGAIN, THAT'S JUST AN OVERARCHING COMMENT THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO EXCEED, NOT JUST MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OPEN SPACE FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE OFF THE SLIDE, ONE SIMPLE NOTE.
UM, THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY IN THE COMMENT RECEIVED REGARDING THE COOL SCORES FROM, FROM PREVIOUS ITERATIONS AND CURRENT, UH, THE CURRENT SET OF PLANS.
THAT DISCREPANCY WAS RELATED TO THE ADDITION OF THE GREEN ROOF.
SO THE CURRENT SCORE IS CURRENTLY 1.90, WHICH STILL EXCEEDS THE 1.00 REQUIREMENT FOR THE ZONE.
UM, HANS, IF YOU COULD FLIP TO THE NEXT PAGE.
UH, THE ONE THING I DIDN'T MENTION ON THE LAST SIDE, YOU CAN STAY HERE, HANS, IS, UH, RELATED TO THE BIKE RACKS.
UM, WE HAVE ALONG BIRCH STREET ALONG THIS FACADE, JUST OFF THE PLAN TO THE LEFT, WE HAVE THREE, THREE BIKE RACKS, UM, WHICH WOULD SERVICE SIX BIKES, UM, ALONG BIRCH STREET.
ON THE OTHER SIDE, WHICH YOU'LL SEE ON THE NEXT SIDE, WE HAVE TWO BIKE RACKS, WHICH WILL SERVICE FOUR.
SO IN TOTAL, THAT'S FIVE BIKE RACKS SERVICE SERVICING, 10 BIKES.
UM, THE THEME OF BOTH THESE ENTRIES, AND HANS, YOU CAN MOVE OVER TO THE NEXT ONE AS WELL, OR MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, IS THAT THE, WE'RE LOOKING TO PROVIDE, UM, DEFINED ENTRIES WITH PERMEABLE PAVERS, A BENCH THAT WOULD SERVE THE PUBLIC REALM.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO CREATE A SPACE THAT'S FOR THE PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A SPACE THAT BECOMES A PUB, PUBLIC, PUBLIC AMENITY, BOTH ON BAY STATE AND BIRCH STREET.
UH, PERMEABLE PAVERS, RAISED PLANTERS.
UM, THAT'S THE GENERAL THEME FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, RELATED TO PLANTING, THIS IS AN OVERARCHING THEME, AND THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE.
LOOKING AT THIS, UH, SLIDE ITSELF, WE'RE LOOKING TO EXTEND THE, THE TREE PITS THAT RUN ALONG BAYSTATE ROAD.
AGAIN, PLAYING OFF THE THEME ALONG THE STREET SCAPE.
UH, THE PLANTS THEMSELVES ARE GONNA BE A MIX OF GRASSES, ORNAMENTALS, OR ORNAMENTAL TREES PERENNIALS.
THE IDEA IS THAT USE NATIVE LOW MAINTENANCE MATERIALS HERE.
UM, WE, WE WANNA STICK WITH THAT NATIVE PALETTE.
IT'S A STANDARD PRACTICE FOR THIS POINT AND SOMETHING WE'LL BE LOOKING TO INCORPORATE WITH THIS PROJECT.
HANS, IF YOU COULD SLIDE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE EVALUATED A FEW DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FOR THE DOG RUN AND PRIVATE LITTLE AMENITY SPACE HERE.
UM, IT ALL CAME DOWN TO CIRCULATION OF PRIVACY AND SCREENING.
AND THIS, WE FELT THIS WAS THE BEST LOCATION ON THE PROJECT, UH, RELATED TO SCREENING ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE.
AS WE MENTIONED BEFORE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A SIX FOOT PRIVACY FENCE.
WE ALSO HAVE AN EVERGREEN VEGETATED SCREEN IN BOARD OF THAT TO PROVIDE, UM, AN EDGE, VERTICAL EDGE BEYOND JUST THE, THE SIX FOOT TALL FENCE.
I'M LOOKING TO MITIGATE SOME OF THE NOISE THAT, THAT THE SPACE MIGHT CREATE.
AGAIN, THE SPACE IS SURROUNDED BY, UH, EVERGREEN SHRUBS, LOW PERENNIALS.
WE'RE LOOKING TO MAINTAIN EXISTING TREES UP AT THE CORNER.
UH, ONE MORE, UH, ADDITIONAL ORNAMENTAL TREE THAT IS TUCKED IN AGAINST THE PROPOSED LITTLE AMENITY SPACE OR WAITING SPACE FOR THE DOG RUN.
AND THEN THESE, THE DOG RUN SPACE ITSELF IS PERMEABLE.
WE'RE LOOKING TO USE A PEE STONE WITHIN THIS SPACE.
AND THIS SPACE ITSELF WOULD BE DEFINED
[00:35:01]
BY A LOW FENCE ON BOTTOM AND TOP.UM, YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, HANS, WHICH I BELIEVE IS MY LAST SLIDE.
UM, THIS JUST GIVES A SENSE OF THE CHARACTER WITH THE PERMEABLE PAVERS ON THE BOTTOM, THE LOW BENCHES THAT ARE TUCKED IN A MORE OF AN INTIMATE PLANTING PALETTE.
THAT'S A GENERAL APPROACH FOR THE PROJECT.
UM, THE ONE THING WE HAVEN'T MENTIONED YET IS LIGHTING.
UM, THERE IS NO EXTERIOR, UM, STANDALONE LIGHTING FOR THIS PROJECT.
ALL PROPOSED EXTERIOR LIGHTING IS GONNA BE BUILDING MOUNTED.
UH, IT'S GONNA BE FULL CAUGHT OFF, DARK SKY COMPLIANT.
WE'RE HITTING ALL THE CHECKLISTS RELATED, RELATED TO THOSE ITEMS. AGAIN, THAT'S JUST STANDARD PRACTICE AT THIS POINT, BUT FELT THAT IT WAS WORTH MENTIONING.
UH, HAPPY TO FIELD ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS RELATED TO PLANT MATERIALS, TREES, UH, PAVING MATERIALS, ET CETERA.
BUT AT THIS TIME, I THINK I'M TURNING IT OVER TO SCOTT THORNTON.
UH, SCOTT THORNTON WITH VANESSA ASSOCIATES, UH, HAPPY TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH THE CITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM ON THIS PROJECT.
UH, WE PREPARED A TRANSPORTATION IMPACT STUDY CONSISTENT WITH THE SCOPE OF STUDY THAT WAS ISSUED BY THE CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, WHICH FOCUSED ON PARKING AND CURBSIDE CONDITIONS, PARKING DEMAND, AND REPORTING ON TRANSIT, BICYCLE, PEDESTRIAN ANALYSES, AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE ARTICLE 19 TRANSPORTATION ANALYSES.
UH, THE TIS WAS CERTIFIED BY DOT ON APRIL 16TH, 2026.
AS HANS INDICATED PREVIOUSLY, PROJECT IS, UH, 80% STUDIO AND ONE BEDROOM UNITS, WHICH WE FEEL IS LIKELY TO RESULT IN MORE INDIVIDUAL RENTERS WITH A LOWER PARKING DEMAND AND LESS RELIANCE ON CARS AND PERSONAL VEHICLES USING DATA FROM AREA PTDM REPORTS THAT WERE SUBMITTED TO THE CITY RESIDENTS COMMUTING BY VEHICLE IN THE CAME, IN THE ALEWIFE AND, UH, QUADRANGLE AREA WERE CONSTITUTED APPROXIMATELY 38% OF TRIPS WITH TRANSIT OF CLOSE SECOND.
THIS RESULTS IN A RELATIVELY LOW TRIP GENERATION OF 19 TO 22 VEHICLE TRIPS AND 16 TO 19 TRANSIT TRIPS DURING THE AM AND PM PEAK HOURS.
THE 74 SLASH 78 BUS TRAVELS ON CONCORD AVE WITH THE CLOSEST STOPS TO THE SITE, LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF BIRCH STREET AND FERN STREET WITH CONCOR AVE.
UH, WE CONDUCTED AN EXTENSIVE PARKING STUDY EVALUATING ON STREET PARKING UTILIZATION OVER A 15 BLOCK AREA, UH, AND COVERING 628 PARKING SPACES.
THIS IS SHOWN ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS SLIDE, UH, SHOWS THE THREE BASIC SUB AREAS THAT, UH, THAT WERE REVIEWED.
UH, WE DETERMINED THE PARKING DEMAND BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE ENVISION CAMBRIDGE AIR LIFE DISTRICT PLAN, AND OBSERVED PARKING RATES FROM THOSE ST PTDM STUDIES.
UH, PARKING AT THOSE PROJECTS WAS REVIEWED WITH DEMANDS RANGING BETWEEN 0.47 AND 0.58 SPACES PER UNIT.
BUT WE USED A MORE CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE OF 0.75 SPACES PER UNIT FROM THE ALEWIFE DISTRICT.
PLAN THIS ALONG WITH THE UNIT COUNT.
UH, LET, LET US GENERATE AN ESTIMATE OF 64 TOTAL SPACES FOR THE SITE.
SUBTRACTING OUT THE 15 ONSITE SPACES LEAVES A DEMAND, UH, OF 49 OFFSITE SPACES THAT WE NEEDED TO, TO FIND.
WE DID PARKING COUNTS IN OCTOBER OF 2025 OVER A TWO DAY PERIOD WHEN SCHOOLS WERE IN SESSION AND IN THE SUB AREA CLOSEST TO THE SITE.
WE OBSERVED BETWEEN 54 AND 63 ON STREET SPACES AVAILABLE DURING TIMES OF PEAK RESIDENTIAL USAGE, NOTED TO BE 4:00 AM UH, AND 10:00 PM AND WE ALSO DID COUNTS, UH, DURING THE 12 NOON TIME PERIOD.
AS A COMPARISON POINT FOR REFERENCE, THE FURTHEST POINT FROM OF SUB AREA ONE, WHICH IS THE AREA SHOWN IN GREEN ON THE LEFT IS 0.2 MILES OR ABOUT A FOUR MINUTE WALK FROM THE SITE.
AND THOSE ARE THE INTERSECTIONS OF FIELD STREET WITH ALPINE STREET AND ALPINE STREET WITH, UM, WITH CONCORD AVE.
PARKING COUNTS IN THE OTHER TWO SUB AREAS INDICATED BETWEEN 106 AND 120 AVAILABLE SPACES EACH FOR EACH, UH, SUB AREA.
SO THIS INDICATES THAT THE AREA STREETS HAVE SUFFICIENT CAPACITY AVAILABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THE EXPECTED PROJECT PARKING DEMAND OF 49 ALL STREET SPACES OR ALL SITE SPACES.
UH, THE NEXT SLIDE GETS INTO PROJECT
[00:40:01]
MITIGATION.AND WITH REGARD TO THE SPECIAL PERMIT INDICATORS OF IMPACT, THERE WERE 61 INDICATORS THAT WERE REVIEWED.
THE PROJECT DID NOT EXCEED ANY INDICATORS BY ITSELF.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE THREE INDICATORS THAT ARE EXCEEDED BY EXISTING CONDITIONS THAT ARE RELATED TO EXISTING PEDESTRIAN DELAY AND, UH, THE EXISTING LACK OF BICYCLE FACILITIES ON BIRCH STREET.
WE HAVE BEEN COORDINATING WITH DOT ON MITIGATION FOR THE PROJECT, AND I'VE, I, EXCUSE ME, HAVE IDENTIFIED ELEMENTS SHOWN ON THIS SLIDE, INCLUDING A CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS A SPEED HUMP INSTALLATION ON BAYSTATE ROAD TO POTENTIALLY REDUCED TRAFFIC VOLUMES AND SPEEDS ON THE STREET.
WE HAVE ALSO COORDINATED WITH DOT AND CDD AND DPW ON THE LOCATION OF A CURB EXTENSION TO PROVIDE A BLUE BIKE STATION IN THE AREA.
UH, THE PROPOSED LOCATION IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF BAYSTATE ROAD WITH NEW STREET, AND THAT WOULD PROVIDE A BLUE BIKE STATION WITHIN 250 FEET OF THE PROJECT, WHICH COULD ALSO BE UTILIZED BY THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND ALSO GOES TOWARDS THE, UH, THE CITIES AND BLUE BIKE'S GOAL OF, OF, OF SPACING, HAVING ADEQUATE SPACING BETWEEN, UH, THE BLUE BIKE STATIONS IN THE AREA.
OTHER MEASURES INCLUDE THE BICYCLE ROOM WITH E E-BIKE CHARGING AND A ROBUST TDM PLAN WITH STANDARD MEASURES FROM THE CITY THAT THE, THAT ARE ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN REDUCING PARKING AND VEHICLE USE AT OTHER MULTI-FAMILY BUILDINGS, UH, BOTH IN CAMBRIDGE AND THE GREATER BOSTON AREA.
OVERALL, OUR CONCLUSIONS THAT THE PROJECT HAS NO SUBSTANTIAL ADVERSE IMPACT ON CITY TRAFFIC WITHIN THE STUDY AREA.
SO OBVIOUSLY IT WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.
I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO HANS TO PRESENT THE SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT.
SO, AS I MENTIONED EARLY ON, THIS WILL BE A, UM, A PASSIVE, UH, DESIGNED, UH, BUILDING.
UH, WE HAVE THE EXPERTISE ON BOARD TO DO IT.
WE AS ARCHITECTS HAVE, ARE DOING IT, UH, ON OTHER PROJECTS PRESENTLY.
UM, AND SO THIS BUILDING, UH, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CAMBRIDGE, IT MEETS THE ARTICLE 22 GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS.
UH, AND WE, AS I SAID, ARE TAKING THE PASSIVE HOUSE PATHWAY.
UH, IT COMPLIES WITH THE REDUCTION OF HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.
UM, AND WE'RE NOT DOING THE EMBODIED CARBON, BUT WE'RE TAKING THE OTHER ROUTE FOR, UM, SUSTAINABILITY.
BUT WE WILL SELECT SUSTAINABLE AND LOW EMBODIED CARBON MATERIALS WHEN FEASIBLE.
AND, UH, THE PROJECT WILL BE ALL ELECTRIC AND USE HIGH EFFICIENCY HEAT PUMP SYSTEM AND ENERGY RECOVERY.
AND, UH, WE WILL BE FOLLOWING THE FS CORE 2024 APPROACH.
UH, WE DO HAVE A 3D MODEL OF THE BUILDING, UH, VIRTUALLY IF, UH, THE BOARD IS INTERESTED IN SEEING IT.
UH, BUT AT THIS POINT, UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU
AND, UH, WE APPRECIATE VERY MUCH, UH, ALL OF YOUR TIME AND SWAT'S ABILITY TO, UH, PUT THIS ALL TOGETHER,
AND I'LL TURN IT OVER NOW TO THE CHAIR.
WE'VE GOT, UM, A PUBLIC HEARING HERE TONIGHT, OBVIOUSLY.
SO, UM, IT'S TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO IF 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.
SO AS OF 5:00 PM YESTERDAY, THE BOARD HAD RECEIVED, UH, SOME REALLY THOROUGH, UH, WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THIS CASE FROM KERRY MOR WIDGE, MYRA LEVINE, BRANDON, BARBARA, THERESA WITKOWSKA, KELLY BOSS, MICHAEL KOWALSKI, AND TALIA BROWN.
SO WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE 5:00 PM UH, MOMENT LAST NIGHT, UH, WILL BE ENTERED, UH, INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD.
GOT WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE RAISE THEIR HANDS.
WE'LL ASK STAFF TO UNMUTE SPEAKERS ONE AT A TIME, AND YOU SHOULD BEGIN BY SAYING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND STAFF CAN CONFIRM THAT WE CAN HEAR YOU.
AFTER THAT, YOU'LL HAVE UP TO THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK BEFORE I WILL ASK YOU TO WRAP UP.
UM, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE FOUR HANDS RAISED SO FAR.
UM, SO PLEASE PUSH THE RAISED HAND BUTTON
[00:45:01]
TO GET IN THE QUEUE.UH, FIRST UP IS BRANDON BARBER, FOLLOWED BY CARRIE MOR WEDGE.
UH, BRANDON, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
YEAH, BRANDON BARBER, 4 63 CONCORD AVE.
UH, GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
UM, LIKE I SAID, MY NAME IS BRANDON BARBER.
I DO LIVE AT 4 63 CONCORD AVE, UH, IN THE CONDOMINIUM ON THE PROJECTS SOUTHWEST PROPERTY LINE.
UH, I WANT TO BE CLEAR UPFRONT.
I'M NOT HERE TO ARGUE AGAINST HOUSING ON THIS SITE, UM, BUT WHEN YOU SEE A PROPOSAL LIKE THIS, ONE WOULD HOPE THAT IT WOULD BE PLANNED MORE EFFECTIVELY.
I SENT THE BOARD DETAILED WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE TRANSPORTATION STUDY LAST WEEK.
UH, TONIGHT I AM ASKING FOR SOMETHING THAT THIS BOARD DOES WELL, WHICH IS CONDITIONS IN THREE AREAS.
THE STUDY'S THREE FAILING MEASUREMENTS ARE ALL PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE FACILITIES.
THE BAYSTATE ROAD CROSSING AND NEW STREET OPERATES AT LEVEL OF SERVICE E AND FALLS TO F BY 2030.
AND BIR STREET HAS NO BICYCLE ACCOMMODATION.
THE PROPOSED MITIGATION IS $10,000 TOWARDS ONE SPEED HUMP AND A BLUE BIKE STATION NEITHER TOUCHES THE FAILING CROSSING AND PB 4 0 7.
LAST YEAR, THIS BOARD CONDITIONED A PROJECT BY THE STAIN TRANSPORTATION CONSULTANT ON A REBUILD CROSSING NEW BUS STOPS AND 10 YEARS OF ANNUAL MONITORING.
I ASKED FOR THAT SAME STANDARD HERE, UH, CROSSING IMPROVEMENT AT BAYSTATE NEW STREET, THE RAISED CROSSWALK.
THE STUDY SUGGESTS AND MONITORING THAT IS MANDATORY RATHER THAN AS THE STUDY PUTS IT IF REQUIRED.
UH, SECOND THE LOT LINE WHERE I LIVE,
THE DOG RUN AND TRASH ROOMS SIT ON THE SAME LINE.
A GROUND LEVEL HEAT PUMP SITS ABOUT SIX FROM THE LINE AT 69 DECIBELS AGAINST A 50 DECIBEL NIGHTTIME LIMIT.
IN AN ASSESSMENT THAT NEVER MODELS A SECOND OR THIRD FLOOR WINDOW, I ASKED THE BOARD TO CONDITION A FINAL ACOUSTIC STUDY AT UPPER FLOOR RECEPTORS WITH POST OCCUPANCY TESTING, AN ENGINEERED ACOUSTIC BARRIER RATHER THAN A SIX FOOT SLAT FENCE AND SCREENING OR RELOCATION OF THE ROOF, DECK, EDGE AND DOG RUN.
AND THIRD, PLEASE CONVERT ALL OF THE STAFF MEMOS OWN OPEN ITEMS INTO CONDITIONS.
THE CD'S QUESTION ABOUT THE FENCE ALONG 20 TO 24 BAYSTATE ROAD.
THE MATERIALS MOCKUP BEFORE ORDERING AND DP W'S CAUTION ABOUT PROTECTING THE ABUTTERS TREES WITH ROOT ZONE PROTECTION DURING CONSTRUCTION, AND A CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM WITH A NAMED CONTACT FOR ALL OF THE NEIGHBORS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION.
UH, NEXT UP IS CARRIE, MORE WEDGE FOLLOWED BY KELLY BOSS.
CARRIE, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YES.
WE, I LIVE AT 49 BAYSTATE ROAD, UNIT THREE.
UM, MY, I SUBMITTED A SERIES OF QUESTIONS.
UM, I'M NOT SURE WHETHER OR NOT IT'S NECESSARY TO REPEAT THEM NOW OR IF YOU'LL DO THAT LATER.
ONE IS THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE BEEN NOTIFIED THE UNITS OF THE BAYSTATE ROAD, UM, AT 49 AND 47 ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF THIS PROJECT.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE PRETTY FAR ALONG IN THE PROCESS FOR THAT TO TAKE PLACE.
UM, THE FIRST CONCERN WAS THAT, UM, AS THIS UNIT AND AS 52 NEW STREET AND AS MANY OF THE OTHER NEW STREET UNITS HAVE GONE UP, THERE HAS BEEN NO EV LIKE, UM, PUSH TO YOU DO MIXED USE ZONING.
SO IF ALEWIFE AND THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS EXPECTED TO LIKE ABSORB A LOT OF PEOPLE, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO ALSO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESSES, LOCAL BUSINESSES TO EXIST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OTHER THAN LIKE A MCDONALD'S OR A PANERA OR OTHER KINDS OF PLACES AT THE MALL BEHIND US.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE, GIVEN THE FACT, LIKE WE'VE GOT BONNIE'S GARDEN CENTER, THERE'S OTHER KINDS OF, UM, UM, BUSINESSES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, I WAS SURPRISED TO NOT SEE ANY KIND
[00:50:01]
OF MIXED USE ZONING HERE.UM, AND THE OTHER BIG MAJOR ISSUE THAT I'LL GO ON IS THAT WHEN IT'S RUSH HOUR, THERE'S OFTEN TRAFFIC IS BACKED UP FROM THE ROTARY ALL THE WAY TO BIRCH STREET ON BAYSTATE ROAD.
AND SO ADDING A, A GARAGE THAT ENTERS ON THAT SPACE, UM, WILL CREATE, LIKE, CREATE A BIGGER PROBLEM WITH THE TRAFFIC IMPACT.
UM, THE, THE PARKING IS PRETTY TIGHT AROUND BAY STATE SINCE THERE'S NO PARKING ON NEW STREET.
UM, I'M A LITTLE SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE PARKING STUDY AND LIKE THE FEASIBILITY OF THAT.
AS A RESIDENT, I CAN ATTEST THAT IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO FIND SPACES, PARTICULARLY AS LIKE CONSTRUCTION CREWS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OFTEN USE BIRD STREET IN BAY STATE AS THEIR PARKING.
UM, THE OTHER ASPECT I'M CURIOUS ABOUT IS THAT THERE ARE NO CROSSWALKS ON BAYSTATE ROAD.
UM, AND IT WOULD BETWEEN NEW STREET AND BIRCH STREET.
SO IT'D BE GOOD TO ADD ONE OF THOSE, PARTICULARLY GIVEN THAT THERE'S A DAYCARE CENTER ACROSS THE STREET THAT CHILDREN MIGHT CROSS TOWARDS.
UM, THERE'S ALSO AN ISSUE ABOUT LIKE, THERE'S A GARDEN CENTER ACROSS THE STREET THAT HAS NOT BEEN MENTIONED AT ALL IN THIS MEETING.
UM, AND IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW HOW A SIX STORY BUILDING WILL AFFECT THE FEASIBILITY OF LIGHT AT BONNIE'S, UM, WHICH IS USED BY MANY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND, UM, THOSE ARE MY MAJOR POINTS.
UM, NEXT UP IS KELLY BOSS, FOLLOWED BY ASTOR LIU.
UM, KELLY, UH, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME, ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO JUST REITERATE CARRIE'S STATEMENTS ABOUT US FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS JUST LAST WEEK.
UM, I CAN ACTUALLY SEE MY UNIT IN THE PICTURES THAT HANS PRESENTED, AND THE FACT THAT I LIVE THIS CLOSE, AND NOW JUST HEARING ABOUT THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME IS VERY DISAPPOINTING, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE WERE TWO COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UM, EVENTS HELD IN JANUARY.
UM, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT CRITERIA IS USED TO DETERMINE WHO GETS INFORMED ABOUT THESE THINGS, BUT, UM, THIS, THIS ISN'T RIGHT.
YOU, UM, SOMETHING BETTER NEEDS TO BE DONE, ESPECIALLY ON A PROJECT OF THE SCOPE AND SIZE.
UM, I GUESS ANOTHER ASPECT I'D LIKE TO BRING UP IS, UM, IT WAS MENTIONED THAT THERE'D BE LOOKING AT PUT, INSTALLING A SPEED, UM, BUMP ON BASE EIGHT ROAD.
IS THAT JUST, UM, SOMETHING THAT THEY WANT TO DO OR IS SOMETHING THAT WILL BE MANDATED AND, AND ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THROUGH ON AS FAR AS THE PARKING STUDY? UM, I CAN'T FIND, UM, UH, APPENDIX NINE IN ANY OF THE PUBLIC STATEMENTS, AND I HOPE THAT THE TIS REPORT AND THE PARKING STUDY WILL BE MADE PUBLIC SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY, UH, LOOK AT THAT AND SCRUTINIZE IT.
ANOTHER ASPECT OF THIS IS IF THE PARKING STUDY WAS DONE IN OCTOBER OF 2025, UM, THE BUILDING ON NEW STREET, WHICH, UM, WOULD HAVE ABOUT 70 UNITS ALSO WITHOUT A PARKING SPOT AT THAT UNIT, UM, THE MOST LIKELY SPOT FOR THEM TO COME PARK WOULD BE ON BAYSTATE ROAD.
AND PEOPLE ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO MOVE IN THERE.
SO THE PARKING STUDY IS NOT UP TO DATE.
IT, UM, DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE RESIDENTS OF, OF THE 52 NEW STREET, UM, AREA AND WHAT OVERFLOW PARKING WILL FLOW WILL NOW FLOW INTO BAYSTATE ROAD AND BIRCH STREET.
UM, I THINK IT WAS NOTED THAT, UM, A CUTOUT WILL BE MADE ON, WILL BE REMOVED FROM BIRCH STREET, BUT ANOTHER ONE WILL BE ADDED.
SO WILL, WILL THERE BE ANY OTHER LOSSES OF PARKING SPOTS ON BIRCH STREET THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE? IS A QUESTION I HAVE.
UM, UM, ALSO, WHAT IS THE TIMEFRAME OF THIS PROJECT? WHEN IS THE EXPECTED START DATE? WHEN IS THE EXPECTED FINISH DATE? AND AS FAR AS THE ONE, UH, ONE STORY STORAGE FACILITY, UM, ON BIRCH STREET, I DON'T THINK IT IS PUBLICLY WELL KNOWN THAT THAT AREA HAS HAD, HAS HIGHLY ELEVATED LEVELS OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE IN THE GROUND SOIL AREA.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO THE RESIDENTS THERE.
UM, THERE IS CURRENTLY A, A DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STUDY BEING DONE ON THAT AREA TO, FOR MITIGATION, UH, TRICHLOROETHYLENE HAS SHOWN TO RAISE PARKINSON'S RATES BY FIVEFOLD IN BUILDINGS NEIGHBORING, UM, CONTAMINATION.
SO WILL THE CITY OR PE OR WILL RESPONSIBLE
[00:55:01]
AUTHORITIES BE INFORMING RESIDENTS OF THIS NEW BUILDING OF THIS CONTAMINATION? UM, THAT IS ALL I HAVE.UH, WE HAVE ONE MORE, UH, SPEAKER IN THE QUEUE.
IF YOU DO WISH TO SPEAK, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND NOW.
UM, LOOKS LIKE A COUPLE OTHER FOLKS HAVE, HAVE RAISED THEIR HAND.
SO, UH, NEXT UP IS ASER LIU, FOLLOWED BY JESSE ENGLISH.
AND AGAIN, IF YOU DO WANT SPEAK, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
UM, ASTOR, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
MY NAME IS ASTOR LIU AND I LIVE AT 42 BAYSTATE ROAD, UNIT ONE.
THAT IS THE BUILDING THAT IS ESSENTIALLY IN THE CORNER OF THE SUGGESTED BUILDING.
UM, SO A FEW THINGS I WANTED TO SPEAK ABOUT TODAY.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO ADD ONTO WHAT KELLY WAS TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF NOTIFYING THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE AROUND THE AREA.
UM, IT, I WAS AT BOTH OF THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENTS HELD EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND, UM, AT BOTH EVENTS I ASKED ABOUT HOW, UM, THE GROUP WAS PLANNING ON REACHING OUT AND, UM, KIND OF LETTING THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE AREA KNOW OF FUTURE UPDATES.
UM, THE FIRST TIME I MENTIONED THIS, I WAS TOLD I WOULD BE GIVEN AN ANSWER AT THE SECOND MEETING.
AND AT THE SECOND MEETING I WAS ESSENTIALLY TOLD, UH, LIKE, WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? AND THE ONLY REASON I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS CURRENT MEETING WAS BECAUSE I WALKED DOWN THE ROAD AT THE RIGHT TIME AND I HAPPENED TO SEE A SMALL POSTER ON THE DOOR.
UM, AND SO I WOULD LOVE FOR THERE TO BE MORE KIND OF INFORMATION IN THIS, UM, ASPECT OF JUST GETTING PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE PARKING RESEARCH, IT DOESN'T PERSONALLY MATCH UP WITH MY EXPERIENCES.
I HAVE HAD A LOT OF DIFFICULTY FINDING PARKING, ESPECIALLY ON BAYSTATE ROAD WHERE I LIVE, UM, ESPECIALLY LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH PEOPLE MOVING INTO THE NEW BUILDING ON NEW STREET.
UM, AND THE PARKING ON BIRCH STREET HAS BEEN GETTING MORE DIFFICULT AS WELL, ESPECIALLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
UM, AND IN TERMS OF THE KIND OF INCREASED PEDESTRIANS AND BIKERS THAT THIS NEW BUILDING WOULD BRING, I AM WORRIED ABOUT THEIR SAFETY AS, UM, THE SPEEDS OF CARS GOING DOWN, ESPECIALLY BAYSTATE ROAD, UM, THROUGHOUT THE DAY IS HONESTLY A LITTLE SCARY AT TIMES FOR SOMEONE WALKING IN THE AREA.
AND I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH THE SPEED BUMPS WOULD EVEN HELP AS, UM, IN THE AREA NEARBY, THERE ARE MANY SPEED HUMPS INSTALLED AND I DON'T REALLY SEE CARS SLOWING DOWN FOR THEM.
UM, LASTLY, AS KIND OF THE BUILDING THAT WOULD EFFECTIVELY BE IN THE CORNER AND KIND OF TOWERED OVER BY THIS NEW BUILDING, I WAS HOPING TO START A GARDEN AND IN KIND OF THE BACKYARD.
AND I JUST, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE CONSIDERING THE SIZE OF THE PROPOSED BUILDING AND THE AMOUNT OF SHADE THAT THE BUILDING I LIVE IN WOULD BE IN.
UH, NEXT UP IS JESSE ENGLISH, FOLLOWED BY SUSAN LESLIE.
JESSE, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
I LIVE AT 27 CORPORAL BURNS ROAD.
UM, AND I WANT TO ECHO, UM, THE COMMENTS FROM THE PREVIOUS, UH, PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY THE, UM, PARKING STUDY.
UM, I THINK THAT'S WILDLY OPTIMISTIC, UM, IS ALL I'LL SAY.
I WOULD JUST WANTED TO COMMENT ON THE BICYCLE PARKING.
UM, THERE'S RECENTLY QUITE A, UM, INCREASE IN, YOU KNOW, U UTILIZATION OF E-BIKES, AND THIS IS 99 PARKING SPACES FOR BIKES UNDER THE BUILDING OR, UM, BELOW BUILDING.
AND SO MY QUESTION AND REQUEST IS, UM, YOU KNOW, I IS HOW MANY OF THESE BIKES WILL BE E-BIKES AND WHAT WILL BE THE MITIGATION, UM, FOR FIRE? BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I THINK EVERYBODY HAS SEEN THE, THE HORRIBLE STORIES ABOUT FIRES FROM E-BIKES AND HOW DIFFICULT THEY ARE FOR, UM, TO PUT OUT.
SO I THINK THAT'S A CONCERN THAT WOULD BE A PROBLEM FOR THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY NOT GOOD FOR THE BUILDER, SO I WOULD HOPE THAT THERE WOULD
[01:00:01]
BE WAYS TO MITIGATE, UM, AND DECREASE THAT RISK.AND LASTLY, ON THE COMMENT ABOUT, UM, THE STORAGE FACILITY, WHICH IS OWNED BY LYMAN REAL ESTATE TRUST.
UM, THAT'S BEEN A DEP DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, UH, SITE SINCE 87, AND WE STILL DON'T KNOW THE BOUNDARIES OF CONTAMINATION.
UM, THEY HAVE A CONSENT ORDER IN PLACE, NOT BECAUSE THE DEP REVIVED INTEREST, BUT BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, HAS VIGOROUSLY PUSHED.
SO I THINK ONE OF THE, THE CONCERNS WAS STATED WAS, WOULD RESIDENTS KNOW? AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT, UM, THE DEP AND THE CITY DO NOT, UM, TRY TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE CONDITIONS, UM, OF SITES.
WE HAVE NOW MUCH BETTER COM UM, COMMUNICATION, BUT IT HAS TAKEN TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF WORK.
UM, AND WE HAD TO HAVE A WHOLE, UM, ANOTHER ENGINEER, UH, REPLACED, THE FIRST ONE REPLACED BECAUSE THE, UH, THE FIRST ONE, THE ONE THAT WE WERE DEALING WITH WAS SO UNPROFESSIONAL.
AND THE DEP DOES NOT PRO PROSECUTE THE ENGINEERS THAT RUN THESE SITES.
SO IT'S REALLY A DO IT YOURSELF OVERSIGHT.
I'M SAYING THIS TO THE RESIDENTS THAT BEWARE, AND I WOULD HOPE THAT THESE BUILDERS IN THE CITY WOULD WARN PEOPLE.
WE HAVE ONE MORE SPEAKER, UM, IN THE QUEUE.
IF ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO, TO SPEAK, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
UM, SO SUSAN LESLIE, UM, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF NOW.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
UM, THIS IS ACTUALLY BRUCE LESLIE PRITCHARD, AND I'M HERE WITH MY WIFE SUSAN LESLIE, AND THIS IS HER COMPUTER, THAT'S WHY IT SAYS SUSAN LESLIE.
UM, I'M, UH, VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFECT THAT THIS PROJECT WOULD HAVE ON THE, UH, TRAFFIC.
I LIVE OVER HERE AT, UH, 1 53 FAIRWEATHER STREET, FEW BLOCKS AWAY.
AND, UM, UH, I, UH, I'M VERY SKEPTICAL OF THE, UH, UH, ESTIMATED NUMBER OF, UH, CARS THAT ARE GOING TO BE, UH, UM, BROUGHT INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD BY, UH, BY, BY THIS PROJECT.
I REALIZE IT'S AN ESTIMATE AND ALL, BUT, UH, THE, UH, AND, AND IT ALSO IS, IS THE AMOUNT OF, UH, VEHICLE TRIPS THAT, UH, ARE, UH, BEING PREDICTED, UH, SEEMS, UH, SURPRISINGLY LOW TO ME.
UH, AND SOMEONE MENTIONED THAT DURING RUSH HOURS, TRAFFIC IS BACKED UP ON CONCORD AVE.
AS FAR AS BIRCH STREET, I'LL TELL YOU, IT'S BACKED UP AS FAR AS FAIRWEATHER STREET, SEVERAL BLOCKS FURTHER UP AND, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES JUST TO GET A ACROSS CONCORD AVE.
UM, IF WE'RE JUST GOING ACROSS, UH, WE NEED TO, UH, TAKE A RIGHT BECAUSE THE TRAFFIC GOING IN BOTH DIRECTIONS IS, UH, SO HEAVY AND CONGESTED.
AND, UM, IT'S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE.
UM, WITH A, A PROJECT OF THIS, OF THIS SIZE.
UM, THE, UH, SO, SO I'M VERY WORRIED ABOUT THAT.
I THINK IT'S GONNA MAKE LIFE WORSE AND I, I WISH THAT THE, UH, UM, THE, THE PROJECT WOULD INCLUDE MANY MORE PARKING SPACES FOR THE RESIDENTS, UH, TO, TO HAVE, I MEAN, THE, IT SOUNDS LIKE THE NEIGHBORING APARTMENT BUILDINGS HAVE, UH, DONE RIGHT BY FOLKS IN THAT REGARD.
AND IT WOULD BE NICE IF THIS PROJECT WOULD AS WELL, UM, BOTH TO, UH, BENEFIT THE, THE RESIDENTS AND TO BENEFIT THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT THE PROJECT IS COMING INTO.
UM, AND THAT THE LAST PERSON WHO MENTIONED THE THING ABOUT THE E-BIKES, UM, IF, IF THEY'RE, IF THE, THAT'S CURRENTLY MARKED AS 99 BIKE SPOTS, UM, I HAVE, THEY CONSIDERED THAT THESE E-BIKES, UM, UH, TAKE UP A LOT MORE ROOM AND A LOT OF THE BIKES THAT FOLKS ARE RIDING AROUND ON.
NOW, I KNOW THIS BECAUSE WHEN I GO, GO TO PARK MY BIKE, UM, AT THE GROCERY OR UM, SHOPPING CENTERS OR WHEREVER I GO, THESE, UH, THERE ARE BIKE SUVS OUT THERE NOW THAT, UH, ARE MUCH, MUCH BIGGER.
SO THAT MAY NOT TURN OUT TO BE 99 BIKE SPOTS DOWN THERE.
[01:05:01]
ANYHOW, UM, THANKS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.I HOPE THIS THING CAN BE KIND OF BROUGHT BACK TO SCALE, UM, AND BUILD MORE PARKING FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES.
IT, IT LOOKS LIKE WE DO HAVE ONE MORE SPEAKER.
UH, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
I'M AT 16 CORPORAL BURNS ROAD.
UM, AND CAN YOU HEAR ME? JUST WANNA MAKE SURE.
SO, I JUST WANNA JOIN THE, THE COURSE OF CONCERNS ABOUT THE TRAFFIC AND PARKING, JUST TO ADD A LITTLE BIT MORE TEXTURE TO THAT.
UM, I THINK THAT ONE OF THE ISSUES MAY BE THAT THE TIMING OF THE STUDIES, 4:00 AM 10:00 PM AND NOON, UM, DON'T CAPTURE HEAVY VOLUME OF, UM, PERIODS RELATED TO THE PLAYGROUND THAT'S BEEN PUT IN.
SO MANY YOUNG FAMILIES LIKE TO COME IN AND PARK IN THE AREA, SO I'M NOT SURE HOW A TRAFFIC STUDY WOULD, WOULD CAPTURE THAT, BUT PARKING.
BUT THERE ARE TIMES THAT I DON'T THINK ARE CAPTURED BY THE STUDY.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THE CONCERNS THAT IT, IT PREDATES THE OPENING OF THE NEW, NEW, UM, NEW HOUSING ON, UH, NEW STREET.
I THINK THAT IS A, A LEGITIMATE CONCERN AND MAY MEAN THAT THE NEW STUDY NEEDS TO BE DONE, WHICH I WOULD SUGGEST, UM, BE DONE.
THERE'S ALSO HEAVY TRAFFIC RELATED TO A BAKERY IN THE AREA, VERY POPULAR BAKERY, WHICH WE LOVE TO SEE.
UM, BUT WE ALREADY HAVE DOUBLE PARKING ON CORPORAL BURNS BECAUSE OF THAT.
SO AGAIN, THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN AT 4:00 AM OR, OR 10:00 PM 4:00 AM OR 10:00 PM BUT OTHER HOURS.
SO I THINK THE STUDY NEEDS TO ALSO CAPTURE THESE HIGH VOLUME PERIODS WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR PARKING, AND THIS WOULD DEFINITELY AFFECT THAT.
UM, SO THOSE, I THINK ARE THE, THE, THE MAIN ISSUES THAT I WOULD ADD ON.
SO THE GENERALLY AGREEING WITH, UH, THE NEIGHBORS ABOUT THE CONCERNS ABOUT TRAFFIC AND PARKING IN THE AREA.
EVAN, HOW, HOW'S OUR QUEUE? THAT LOOKS TO BE THE END OF THE QUEUE.
UM, WELL, A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED BY THE PUBLIC.
I WANT TO GIVE THE PETITIONER A CHANCE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE, UH, UH, QUESTIONS.
I KNOW THEY WERE, I SAW THEM TAKING NOTES HERE.
SO IF THERE'S A WAY THAT CERTAINLY THERE'S SIMILAR CONCERNS OVER A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS, MAYBE YOU COULD ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE CONCERNS GENERALLY, AND THEN SOME OF THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT WERE RAISED, CERTAINLY WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO DO SO.
AND THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.
UM, I'LL START WITH, UM, THE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS THAT WERE RECEIVED ABOUT, UM, NOTICE.
UM, WE DID IN, YOU KNOW, IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PLANNING BOARD'S RULES AND REGULATIONS AND IN COORDINATION AND, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATION.
THE CDD STAFF, UM, DID PROVIDE NOTICE OF THE TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS THAT WE HELD.
UM, BACK IN JANUARY ON DECEMBER 18TH, 2025, WE DID A CERTIFIED MAILING, UM, TO AN ENTIRE ABUTS LIST THAT WAS GENERATED FROM THE CITY'S GIS SYSTEM.
WE ALSO PROVIDED INVITATION FLYERS TO CDD FOR POSTING ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
AND THEN WITH RESPECT TO THIS MEETING, UM, THE CITY PROVIDED, AS FAR AS WE KNOW, ADEQUATE AND APPROPRIATE LEGAL NOTICE.
AND WE ALSO, UM, COMPLETED THE POSTING REQUIREMENTS WITH PLACARDS ON THE PROPERTY.
UM, SO I'M SORRY IF FOLKS DIDN'T KNOW, BUT IT WAS NOT FOR LACK OF EFFORT OR LACK OF, UM, COMPLIANCE WITH THE CITY'S, UH, RULES AND REGULATIONS.
WITH RESPECT TO, UM, THE QUESTION ABOUT CONTAMINATION AT THE PROPERTY, OBVIOUSLY WE ARE PLANNING A SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT ON THIS SITE.
WE DO HAVE MCFAIL, UM, ON THE PROJECT TEAM WHO IS CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, ANY CONDITIONS THAT ARE DETECTED IN SOIL OR GROUNDWATER OR OTHERWISE.
OBVIOUSLY WE'LL BE REPORTED TO DEP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MASS CONTINGENCY PLAN AND WILL BE CLEANED UP AS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT THIS IS A SAFE SITE FOR RESIDENTIAL USE.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO THE TRAFFIC STUDY, UM, SCOTT THORNTON IS PROBABLY BEST ABLE TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.
SCOTT, I WOULD ASK IF YOU COULD, UM, HIT ON IN YOUR RESPONSES A COUPLE OF SPECIFIC TOPICS.
UM, ONE, THE TIMING OF THE STUDY, UM, WHETHER IT INCLUDED THE NEW STREET PROJECT, WHICH I UNDERSTAND WAS NOT OPEN OR OCCUPIED AT THE TIME THAT YOU DID THE STUDY, BUT I BELIEVE WAS COUNTED IN CONDITIONS 'CAUSE IT HAD, UH, BEEN APPROVED AT THE TIME YOU DID YOUR STUDY.
UM, AND THEN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE MITIGATION THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING, UM, WITH THE DOT STAFF.
[01:10:02]
SO IN TERMS OF THE, UM, IN TERMS OF THE NEW STREET PROJECT, UM, THEY HAVE A, UM, THEY HAVE A SUPPLY RATE.THEY HAVE 43 ONSITE SPACES FOR 107 U EXCUSE ME, 107 UNITS, UH, WHICH GIVES THEM A RATIO OF ABOUT 0.4 SPACES PER UNIT.
UM, THAT'S NOT FAR OFF FROM WHAT WE OBSERVED IN THE CITY.
PTVM REPORTS OF ABOUT 0.47 SPACES PER UNIT.
SO, SO THERE'S PROBABLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE SOME SPILLOVER THAT EXTENDS DOWN TO, TO, UH, TO THE BAYSTATE ROAD AREA, TO THE BIR STREET AREA.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S A, THAT'S A PROBABLY A SMALL COMPONENT.
UM, I THINK THAT THERE'S, THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE SOME, UH, SOME TRAFFIC AND SOME PARKING DEMAND THAT'S, THAT KIND OF SPILLS OVER, WHETHER IT'S FROM, UH, FROM VISITORS OR, OR SOME OTHER USE THAT GOES ON TO THOSE STREETS, UM, JUST AS A NORMAL CONDITION.
IN TERMS OF, UM, IN TERMS OF THE USE OF BAYSTATE ROAD, YOU KNOW, THERE'S CURRENTLY ABOUT, UH, 71 EMPLOYEES IN THE EXISTING OFFICE BUILDING AND THE, UM, AND THE OTHER BUILDING THAT ARE, THAT ARE PART OF THE SITE THAT ARE CURRENTLY OCCUPIED, UH, THAT ARE CURRENTLY PARKING ON BAYSTATE ROAD AND ON BIR STREET.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, NOT COUNT WELL ACCOUNTING FOR THE 21 SPACES ARE ON SITE.
THAT'S ABOUT 50 50 OR SO, UH, UH, VEHICLES THAT WILL NO LONGER BE TRAVELING TO THE AREA, UH, ONCE THE SITE IS, IS DEVELOPED.
UM, IN TERMS OF, UM, IN TERMS OF THE MITIGATION THAT, UM, THAT WAS DISCUSSED, UM, THE, THE MITIGATION FOR THE SPEED UP IS A CONTRIBUTION TO WAR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CITY, FOR THE CITY TO ADD THE SPEED HUMP.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THE, IN TERMS OF THE SPEEDS THAT WE OBSERVED OUT THERE, THEY AVERAGED ABOUT 21 TO 22 MILES PER HOUR, UM, OVER THE TWO DAY PERIOD THAT WE DID THE COUNTS.
UM, THERE MAY BE, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE AVERAGE, THE, THE, THERE'S OTHER QUANTITIES OF SPEED MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE HIGHER, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, IT'S GIVEN THAT THAT STREET IS DESIGNATED BY THE CITY TO BE A BICYCLE PRIORITY STREET.
UM, THEY'RE INTERESTED IN REDUCING THE SPEEDS FURTHER, HENCE THE, THE, UM, THE DESIRE FOR THE SPEED HUMP.
UM, AND I DON'T BELIEVE THERE ARE, UH, ANY OTHER LOSSES OF PARKING ON BIRD STREET.
I THINK THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, A PROPOSED AREA OF, UH, OF RES STRIPING THAT WOULD BE USED FOR, UH, FOR, FOR SOME SERVICE ACTIVITIES.
UM, BUT I THINK IT'S, UH, I THINK IT'S PROBABLY, UM, A MINOR CHANGE, NOT LIKELY TO RESULT IN ANY LOSS OF PARKING.
AND THEN WITH THE, THE OTHER MITIGATION COMPONENT, UM, LOOKING AT THE, AT THE BAYSTATE CROSSWALK, YOU KNOW, THE, IT'S, THAT'S A, THAT'S A TRICKY LOCATION BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT AT, UH, IT'S RIGHT AT THE INTERSECTION OR VERY CLOSE TO THE INTERSECTION, UM, WITH THE, UH, WITH CONCORD AVE, WHERE CONCORD AVE INTERSECTS NEW STREET AND THEN WRAPS DIRECTLY INTO BAYSTATE ROAD, THAT THAT INTERSECTION, UM, I THINK YOU NEED THE WIDER AREA THERE, UH, THE WIDER MOUTH OF THE ROADWAY IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE TRUCKS THAT MAY BE TURNING ONTO BAYSTATE ROAD.
NOW, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING THERE IS TO ADD THE, UM, ADD THE CURB EXTENSION ALONG THE, UH, ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF BAYSTATE ROAD, UH, FOR A BLUE BIKE STATION.
UM, I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE AN APPROPRIATE AREA TO PUT IN A RAISED CROSSWALK, UH, BECAUSE AGAIN, OF THE, OF THE, UM, UM,
[01:15:01]
THE, THE VEHICLES THAT ARE, THAT ARE TURNING FROM, UH, FROM CONCORD AVE ONTO NEW STREET, ONTO BAYSTATE ROAD, I THINK THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF JOSTLING OF, OF, UM, OF, UH, VEHICLES AS THEY'RE MAKING THE, THOSE MANEUVERS.UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, I WILL SAY WITH REGARD TO THE PARKING STUDY, UM, THE, THE FEWEST NUMBER OF SPACES THAT WE OBSERVED WERE IN THAT SUB AREA.
ONE, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THEY HAPPENED TO BE CLOSE TO THE SITE, HAPPENS TO BE, UM, THE NUMBERS THAT WE OBSERVED HAPPENED TO BE, UH, ENOUGH TO COMPENSATE FOR THE, FOR THE PROJECT AND THE, UM, THE, THE DESIRE TO PROVIDE 49 OFFSITE SPACES.
BUT THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, AND WITH, WITH A, WITH A NUMBER OF LEFTOVER, UH, SPACES AVAILABLE, BUT THEN THOSE, THOSE TWO OTHER AREAS HAVE ROUGHLY DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF SPACES, YOU KNOW, OVER A HUNDRED SPACES DURING EACH OF THOSE TIME PERIODS.
AND, YOU KNOW, IN, IN TERMS OF, IN TERMS OF, UH, THE DISTANCES, UH, FROM THE SITE, THE, THE FURTHEST POINT FROM, UH, FROM THE SITE FOR THAT SUB AREA TWO, UH, IS ABOUT 0.4 MILES, ABOUT A NINE MINUTE WALK FROM THE SITE FOR SUB AREA THREE, THE FURTHEST LOCATION, UH, THE FURTHEST POINT FROM THE SITE IS OFF OF WALDEN STREET INTERSECTING WITH GARDEN STREET TO THE NORTH AND VASELINE TO THE SOUTH.
AND THAT'S HALF A MILE, WHICH IS ABOUT AN 11 MINUTE WALK FROM THE SITE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A NUMBER OF, OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES THAT HAVE, UM, THAT HAVE THEIR OWN DRIVEWAYS.
UH, SOMETHING LIKE 47 OUT OF THE 57 HOUSES THAT ARE IN THAT AREA, THAT SUB AREA ONE, UH, WHICH REDUCES THE, THE PARKING DEMAND FOR THE EXISTING, UH, THE EXISTING NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO I, I THINK THAT THERE, YOU KNOW, ALONG THE, ALONG THE EXPANSE OF THE STUDY AREA FOR THE PARKING ANALYSIS, THERE'S, THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF PARKING SPACES AVAILABLE.
AND THE ONLY OTHER COMMENT, UH, THAT I WANTED TO TOUCH ON, UH, HAD TO DO WITH THE, THE TIMES OF STUDY, NOT CAPTURING PEAK TIME PERIODS.
UM, SO WE LOOKED AT THE, AT THE PEAK TIMES FOR RESIDENTIAL PARKING DEMAND, WHICH IS USUALLY OVERNIGHT OR LATE AT NIGHT.
SO THAT'S THE 4:00 AM THE, AND THE, AND THE 10:00 PM UH, THE, THE, THE ANY USE, YOU KNOW, DURING THE DAY PEOPLE WOULD BE ASSUMED TO, TO LEAVE THE AREA, TO GO TO WORK, TO GO TO SCHOOL, TO GO TO APPOINTMENTS.
UH, AND SO THOSE SPACES WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR OTHER USERS, WHETHER IT'S FOR, YOU KNOW, THE UNIVERSAL PLAYGROUND OR, OR, YOU KNOW, CONSTRUCTION OR SOME OTHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND THEN THOSE SPACES WOULD, WOULD PRESUMABLY FREE UP AND BE AVAILABLE FOR, UH, FOR RESIDENTS TO COME BACK TO UTILIZE.
UM, SO THE, IN THE 12 NOON TIME PERIOD, YOU KNOW, WOULD PROVIDE A, UM, WOULD PROVIDE A MEASURE OF THE SPACES AVAILABLE FOR THOSE OTHER USES.
BUT AGAIN, WE WERE FOCUSED ON, ON THE 4:00 AM AND THE 10:00 PM TIME PERIODS IN THE STUDY.
AND WE, WE DO HAVE THE OTHER, THE OTHER DATA FOR, UH, FOR 12 NOON, UM, ACROSS THE THREE SUB AREAS.
IT'S ABOUT 350 PARKING SPACES THAT WE NOTED WERE AVAILABLE.
I KNOW THAT'S A LOT, BUT, UM, A LOT OF INFORMATION TO ABSORB QUICKLY.
UM, AT THIS POINT I'D LIKE TO, UH, STEER THE CONVERSATION NOW, UH, TO BOARD MEMBERS TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR CITY STAFF OR FOR THE PROPONENT AT THIS TIME BASED ON THE PRESENTATIONS, DIEGO.
I WAS, UH, WELL, ANOTHER PUBLIC COMMENT THING THAT CAME UP, I WAS WONDERING IF THE PETITIONERS CAN ANSWER, WHICH WOULD SEE, UH, IF MIXED USE WAS EVER LOOKED AT.
I KNOW THAT WAS A INTERESTING THING TO SEE WHENEVER WE SEE PROJECTS COME THROUGH TO HAVE LIKE A LITTLE CAFE OR SOMETHING.
HANS, CAN I ASK YOU TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION? SURE.
I WAS JUST GETTING RID OF MY MUTING.
UM, YEAH, SO IT WAS NOT PART OF THE, UM, PROJECT FROM THE START.
[01:20:01]
DID NOT LOOK INTO THAT.IT DOES CREATE, UH, ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES FOR TRASH, UH, TRASH, UH, TRAFFIC AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT, UM, ROLL INTO ANY SORT OF RETAIL THAT ONE HAS TO CONSIDER.
UM, BUT, UH, TO BE HONEST, IT WAS NOT SOMETHING WE CONSIDERED.
UM, IF YOU ASKED US COULD WE FIT IT IN, I WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT IT WOULD BE VERY, WE WILL CONSIDER ANY, ANYTHING YOU ASK US TO DO, BUT IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO INCORPORATE IT.
NOW I LOOKED DOWN AND THEN ALL OF THE HANDS WENT UP, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT ORDER THEY WENT IN, SO I'M JUST GONNA USE SOME, USE THE TILES, MARY.
UM, SO ONE MORE POINT OF CLARIFICATION THAT CAME UP IN COMMENTS AND JUST TO GIVE THE, UH, APPLICANT AN, AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WAS THE, THE SHADOW STUDY.
IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS IN THE APPENDIX, THE GRAPHIC APPENDIX.
SO IF YOU MIGHT TALK TO THAT A BIT.
AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION WAS, UM, IF YOU COULD MAYBE SPEAK A BIT OF HOW THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS FROM JANUARY INFORMED YOUR, THE DESIGN THAT WE'RE SEEING TODAY.
OKAY, NOW I'M GONNA GO TO APPENDIX SHADOW STUDY.
SO WE DID PREPARE A SHADOW STUDY, UM, AT ALL THE NORMAL REQUIRED TIMES OF THE YEAR.
UM, SO HERE IN JUNE FROM OUR BUILDING SHADOWS, DIFFERENT TIMES OF DAY, OBVIOUSLY 9:00 AM IS THE MOST ACUTE, SO THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY TENDS TO BE LESS.
SO, UM, IT'S CLEAR, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, ON IN DECEMBER, THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR, OR I'M SORRY, THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR, WHERE THE SUN IS THE MOST ACUTE, UH, THE GREATEST NUMBER OF SHADOWS.
SO IN GENERAL, UH, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, UM, YOU'LL SEE AT LEAST FOR THE, THE FOUR STORY, UH, BUILDING NEXT TO US ON THIS SIDE ARE HARDLY ANY SHADOWS ON THE ROOF.
BUT, UH, UH, LATE, UH, EARLY IN THE MORNING ON DECEMBER, THERE WOULD BE, UH, I, I HEARD THAT THE, IN, UH, THE INDIVIDUAL WHO LIVES, I BELIEVE RIGHT HERE, QUESTIONING, UH, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, UH, WITH, UM, A GARDEN.
UM, I THINK THAT, UH, ONE OF THE, CLEARLY IT IS A LARGE BUILDING.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT I THINK A FOUR STORY BUILDING WOULD, WOULD NECESS, WOULDN'T NECESSARILY THROW AS MUCH SHADOW INTO THIS CORNER, BUT IT WOULD THROW APPRECIABLY AMOUNT A CA, A CERTAIN AMOUNT.
SO, UM, WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE DID OUR, WE DID OUR BEST TO RE UH, WITHIN THE ZONING, UM, UH, TO, UH, DO BETTER THAN WHAT THE ZONING ALLOWS.
RECOGNIZING THERE'S RE REVIEW BY THIS GROUP.
UH, WE DID SET BACK THE BUILDING FURTHER FROM THE PROPERTY LINE.
WE SET THE BUILDING BACK ON SETBACKS ON THE BUILDING ITSELF, ON THE UPPER LEVEL.
SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, THIS IS PUBLIC INFORMATION IN OUR, IN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE, UH, SUBMITTED.
AND THE OTHER QUESTION WAS HOW WERE WE INFORMED? I THINK IN GENERAL, UH, FOLKS ARE, WERE WERE VERY CONCERNED, UH, ABOUT HOW, HOW THE STREET EDGE WOULD WORK.
I THINK A LOT OF THIS WORK WAS DONE BY OUR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, UM, MAKING THE STREET A FRIENDLY STREET.
I THINK THE, I MEAN, IN MANY TIMES PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT TRAFFIC.
UH, WE CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THAT.
I THINK SCOTT'S POINT ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE ARE QUITE A FEW OCCUPANTS IN THIS OFFICE BUILDING PRESENTLY, WHO WILL NO LONGER BE PARKING ON THE STREET.
UH, MANY OF THESE, UM, MANY OF THESE UNITS, UH, OR APARTMENT BUILDINGS ALL HAVE PARKING UNDERNEATH THEM ALREADY.
UH, AND IT MUST BE FOR ADDITIONAL PARKING, WHICH I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE FOR THE OCCUPANTS TO BE ABLE TO PARK ON THE STREET.
UM, WE ARE, UH, AND WE HAVE ADDED NOT AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PARKING ON BIRCH STREET, BUT BY TAKING TWO CURB, VERY LARGE CURB CUTS AWAY, AND JUST HAVING ONE HERE CERTAINLY HAS, UH, OFFERED GREATER, UH, PARKING OPPORTUNITIES.
I CAN'T SAY EXACTLY WHAT THE NUMBER IS, BUT THERE ARE MORE PARKING, UH, SPACE IS, UM, I CAN'T TOUCH ON ONE OTHER ITEM, IF YOU DON'T MIND, THAT, UH, THAT WAS ASKED ABOUT E-BIKES AND,
[01:25:01]
UM, HOW THAT WOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO, UH, INTO THE PROJECT.UM, WE, WE HAVE NOT YET DONE THAT, BUT I WOULD IMAGINE, AND WE WERE, WE ARE HAPPY TO COORDINATE THE CONTINUED, UH, DEVELOPMENT OF THIS, UH, BICYCLE PARKING AREA WITH THE, UH, PI BIKE PARKING CZAR OF, UH, CAMBRIDGE, WHICH WE WOULD ANYWAY HAVE TO REVIEW ALL THIS AGAIN WITH IN THE NEXT STAGES OF OUR DESIGN.
UM, WE DO, AS YOU CAN SEE, HAVE SOME LITTLE ADDITIONAL SPACE, BUT I WOULD ASSUME THAT IF SOMEBODY HAD AN I UH, E-BIKE, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE A NORMAL BIKE AS WELL.
I MEAN, WE ARE, UH, THOSE ARE THINGS TO CONSIDER.
WE DO HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL SPACE.
YES, WE HAVE A BIKE, UH, REPAIR STATION, WHICH WE'RE, WE'LL SHIFT OUT INTO A LOCATION THAT'S NOT SO CENTRAL FOR CIRCULATION, WHICH WAS A COMMENT BY, UH, BY THE STAFF.
WE HAVE A, UM, A BATTERY STORAGE CLOSET.
AND WITH RESPECT TO, UM, UH, CONCERNS ABOUT COMBUSTIBILITY OF THESE BIKES, THIS BUILDING WILL HAVE IS DESIGNED AS A, UH, IT'S CALLED, UH, WOOD FRAME OVER PODIUM.
THE FIRST FLOOR WILL BE ALL STEEL AND CONCRETE.
SO THE CEILING OVER THIS WHOLE FLOOR LEVEL WILL BE, UM, THREE HOUR RATED CONCRETE.
SO ANY FIRE BELOW THERE NOT ONLY WILL BE SUPPRESSED BY FIRE EXTINGUISHERS, UM, FIRE EXTINGUISHER SYSTEM, IT'LL ALSO BE HELD BACK BECAUSE WE HAVE CONCRETE THERE.
AND THAT SHOULD, UM, AND OF COURSE, ALL OF OUR, OUR WORK, UM, WITH, UM, BOTH ELECTRIC VEHICLES, WHICH WE WILL HAVE HERE AS WELL, UM, AS WELL AS E-BIKES.
AND THE ISSUE OF FLAMMABILITY WILL BE ADDRESSED IN THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS WILL BE REVIEWED, I'M SURE, BY THE, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT, UH, THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT, UH, TO CON TO, UH, TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE BUILT A, UH, A SAFE STRUCTURE.
UM, AND MR. CHAIR, IF I MAY ADD A FEW THINGS, UM, RESPONSIVE TO MARY'S QUESTION ABOUT HOW WE, UM, CHANGES TO THE PROJECT IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED AT THE PUBLIC, UH, MEETINGS.
UM, SO INCLUDED IN OUR SPECIAL PERMIT NARRATIVE THAT THE BOARD HAS IS A SUMMARY OF THE ISSUES RAISED AND QUESTIONS ASKED.
UM, AND I THINK THAT WHEN WE HAD OUR COMMUNITY PROCESS BACK IN JANUARY, UM, WE RECEIVED MANY MORE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS THAN THINGS THAT WE COULD NECESSARILY RESPOND TO.
THERE WERE A LOT OF COMMENTS CALLING INTO QUESTION, THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND THE TRAFFIC AND PARKING STUDY, SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU'VE HEARD THIS EVENING.
AND, YOU KNOW, ADAM SCHULMAN IS HERE FROM DOT AND CAN SPEAK TO THE PROCESS OF, YOU KNOW, REVIEWING OUR TIAS AND THE PARKING STUDY THAT WAS IN IT, ULTIMATELY, THAT WAS CERTIFIED.
AND ULTIMATELY YOU'VE SEEN DOT'S POSITION ON THOSE THINGS.
IN THE MEMO THAT ADAM SUBMITTED TO YOU.
SIMILARLY, WE RECEIVED A LOT OF COMMENTS, UM, CRITICIZING THE CITY'S RECENT DECISION TO UP ZONE THIS AREA AND THE CITY GENERALLY.
AND THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, CONCERN ABOUT TOO MANY UNITS, TOO MUCH HEIGHT, TOO MUCH DENSITY.
BUT AS WE NOTED AT THE OUTSET, THIS IS A ZONING COMPLIANT PROJECT.
UM, IN TERMS OF MORE SPECIFIC FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED AND DID RESPOND TO, WE RECEIVED A LOT OF QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT THE TYPES AND LOCATIONS OF THE PROPOSED GREEN SPACE AT THE PROJECT AT THAT TIME.
UM, WE WERE STILL WORKING ON THE SITE DESIGN AND THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN.
UH, THE PLANS THAT WE SHARED WITH YOU IN OUR FILING AND, UM, IN THE PRESENTATION TONIGHT DO REPRESENT AN EVOLUTION OF THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO, TO THE FRONTAGES ON BIRCH AND BAYSTATE ROAD.
UM, WE, UM, ALSO WERE ASKED, UM, ABOUT THE DOG RUN LOCATION, UM, WHICH YOU SAW DURING THE PROPOSAL.
I KNOW THAT THAT WAS A CONCERN, UM, FOR PRIVACY REASONS AND FOR SOUND REASONS.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID AFTER THE JANUARY MEETING WAS TO ADD SOME KILOMETER TREES TO THE SITE PLAN ALONG THE EDGE OF THE DOG RUN, IN ADDITION TO THE FENCE, IN ORDER TO CREATE ADDITIONAL, UM, BOTH VISUAL AND ACOUSTIC BUFFERING IN THAT LOCATION.
UM, TED, UH, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE 3D MODEL.
UM, THAT IS APPARENTLY IS AVAILABLE.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HEAR FROM EITHER MR. SCHULMAN OR SOMEONE ELSE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,
[01:30:01]
UH, THEIR COMMENTS WITH REGARD TO THE COMMENTS WERE MADE TODAY ABOUT TRAFFIC AND PARKING.UM, WITH REGARD TO THE PROPONENT, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE UNIT COUNT IS FOR THE APARTMENTS AND THE, UH, APPROXIMATE SIZE OF THE VARIOUS UNITS.
I MEAN, PERHAPS THAT WAS IN THE PLANS AND I MISSED IT, BUT I'D LIKE TO HEAR THAT AGAIN.
UH, THE ENTRY TO THE PARKING GARAGE FROM BAYSTATE ROAD DOES NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY DOOR, UH, IT SEEMS TO ME.
UH, AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHY NOT.
IT SEEMS TO ME JUST FROM AESTHETICS AND PRIVACY AND SECURITY ISSUES, IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL.
THERE APPEARS TO BE A DOOR EXITING THE GARAGE ON BRK STREET.
AND SO, UH, WHY NOT ONE AT THE ENTRY, UH, WITH REGARD TO THE DOORS TO THE TRANSFORMER ROOM, UH, DO THEY REALLY NEED TO BE THAT TALL? UH, THEY SORT OF ARE, UH, A A DIFFERENT SIZE FROM EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE FACADE.
AND IF THEY DO HAVE TO BE THAT TALL, WELL, THERE IS SOME WAY TO, UH, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE HAVE THEM TOO TONE OR SOMETHING TO OTHERWISE FIT WITHIN, INTO THE, THE APPEARANCE OF THE FACADE.
THOSE MY QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW, I, I CAN START WITH A BUNCH OF THEM SINCE WE'RE ON THE, ON THE, ON THE DRAWINGS.
AND JUST REMIND ME IF I FORGET ANYTHING.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO THE UNIT QUESTION, DOWN HERE AT THE LOWER RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE THE, UH, THE PERCENTAGES OF UNIT TYPES.
UM, AND AS I HAD MENTIONED, UH, ONE BEDROOM AND STUDIOS MAKE UP A VAST, UH, MAJORITY OF THE, UM, OF THE PROJECT.
UM, THE UNIT SIZES ARE NOTED ON OUR DRAWINGS, 880 SQUARE FEET FOR A ONE BEDROOM PLUS 10.
WE HAVE STUDIOS WHICH ARE JUST SHY OF 500.
A LOT OF THIS IS GONNA CONTINUE TO BE JUGGLED WITHIN THE OR, UH, FINE TUNED WITHIN THE SHELL.
UH, BUT, UM, HERE'S A TWO BED AT 1 0 8, OH 1088.
UM, SO THEY HAVE, WE HAVE A VARIED SIZE AS YOU GO UP THE SIZE, SIZE GO UP THE BUILDING.
UM, BUT THEY'RE NICE SIZE, UH, TWO BEDROOMS, ONE BEDROOMS OF VARIOUS SIZES, STUDIOS, UH, A BIT SMALLER.
UM, AND WE'VE DONE THESE KINDS OF UNITS BEFORE AND IT SUCCEEDED IN HAVING THEM, UH, LEASED.
UH, IT'S THE QUESTION ABOUT THE TRANSFORMER.
IT IS HUGE PRO, UH, CHALLENGE FOR US NOT TO BE, I MEAN, A HUGE BEING.
IT WAS A, A CHALLENGE TIME WISE TO FIGURE IT OUT.
UM, IT IS ACTUALLY A, UH, WE HAD TO CREATE A TWO STORY VOLUME HERE FOR IT.
UM, THE, UM, AND IN THE, LET'S SEE IF THE ELEVATIONS BACK HERE, YEAH, THE ELEVATIONS YOU CAN SEE HERE, BUT I'LL DO IT IN THE 3D IS MUCH EASIER FOR YOU TO SEE.
SO HERE'S ONE VIEW OF IT THAT IS LITERALLY THE HEIGHT MANDATED, UH, BY EVERSOURCE, UM, FOR THE, UM, THE FREE AREA SPACE AND HEIGHT FOR, UM, FOR, UH, AIR FLOW, IF THERE'S ON THE CORNER HERE AS WELL, IN OR, AND THIS, THIS CONCEPT, THESE ARE NOT, WELL, THERE WILL BE INSIDE HERE AN OPERABLE COMPONENT HERE.
IT WON'T HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY UP.
UM, BUT, UM, UH, I DID SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS REALLY WELL DONE, UM, IN BROOKLINE AT THE, UH, HILTON GARDEN HOTEL, WHICH IS, I FORGET WHAT SECTION THAT IS OF, UM, OF, UH, BROOKLINE NEAR ROUTE, UH, ROUTE NINE, I BELIEVE.
UH, JOHANNA WOULD KNOW BETTER THAN ME, BUT I LITERALLY WALKED BY IT ON THE GROUND LEVEL AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT.
AND I HAD TO DO A DOUBLE TAKE AS AN ARCHITECT.
I SENSED SOMETHING AND I SAW THIS SCREEN WITH THE, ALL THE MACHINERY, ALL THE, UH, THIS, UH, TRANSFORMER BEHIND IT THOUGHT, WELL, THAT WAS WELL DONE.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO, WE'RE TRYING TO JUST, UH, BLEND IT INTO THE BUILDING.
IT'S A HECK OF A LOT BETTER INSIDE THE BUILDING THAN A FREESTANDING, UM, MONSTROSITY OUT HERE, AT LEAST FROM OUR OPINION.
AND YOU ASKED, UH, ALSO ABOUT THE, UM, WHY DIDN'T, WELL, OKAY, I'LL DO A VIEW HERE.
WHY DIDN'T WE PUT A GARAGE DOOR HERE? SO THIS IS THE ENTRY, I SUPPOSE WE COULD,
[01:35:01]
UH, WE CERTAINLY WOULD LOOK INTO IT.PERHAPS WE COULD RECESS IT A BIT.
UM, HERE, WE DON'T OBJECT TO IT.
UM, UH, WE DEFINITELY COULD CONSIDER IT.
UM, DEF SO THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENT.
UH, NOW WITH RESPECT TO OTHER, WHAT WERE THE OTHER, I, I RAN OUT OF, UH, MY NOTES DON'T HAVE THE OTHER, WHAT, WHAT ELSE DID YOU ASK TED? OH, WELL, FOR YOU, ACTUALLY WE NEED BE THE 3D MODEL.
UM, SO WE'LL HAVE TO, UM, MIKE, DO I STOP SHARE OR DO I JUST, I I THINK I CAN JUST, UH, OKAY.
SO I'LL JUST SORT OF GO THROUGH THE FOUR MAJOR VANTAGE POINTS OF AERIAL VIEWS THAT, THAT OVERLOOK THE SITE AND GIVE A, GIVE A GOOD IDEA OF CONTEXT.
SO THIS IS A VIEW LOOKING NORTH.
YOU HAVE, UH, DEHE PARK IN THIS AREA HERE, THE FRESH POND MALL IN THE BACKGROUND HERE.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FRESH POND OFF TO THE LEFT EDGE OF THE, OF THE SCREEN HERE.
AND WE'LL MOVE LOOKING WEST, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE FRESH POND IN THE BACKGROUND THERE.
AND DEHE, PA DEHE PARK IN THE FOREGROUND HERE.
WALK FRESH POND MALL BEYOND ONE MORE VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH AGAIN, EE PARK ON THE LEFT EDGE AND FRESH POND ON THE RIGHT.
UH, FRESH POND MALL IS OFF SCREEN.
OFF THE BOTTOM, UH, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE NEW RESIDENTIAL BUILDING THAT WAS RECENTLY COMPLETED.
AND ANOTHER VIEW LOOKING EAST FRESH POND OFF THE, OFF THE PAGE ON THE BOTTOM IN EE PARK, UH, UP HERE.
AND I, I CAN, THIS IS A LIVE ACTIVE MODEL, SO IF THERE'S A, A PARTICULAR VIEW NORTHWEST, SOUTHEAST THAT YOU WANNA FOCUS ON, UH, JUST, JUST KIND OF LET ME KNOW.
OKAY? UH, I'M FINE, THANK YOU.
WE MAY, WE MAY COME BACK TO THAT.
UM, UH, BUT, UH, TED, YOU ASKED THAT, UH, MR. SCHULMAN MAYBE MAKE A COMMENT ON, UH, THE TRAFFIC? YES, PLEASE REPORT.
IT'S, UH, ADAM SCHULMAN, UH, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
MAYBE JUST, UM, REPEAT YOUR QUESTION SO I CAN, UM, MAKE SURE I GIVE YOU A GOOD ANSWER, OR, OR DID, I'M HEARING, I'VE HEARD A LOT OF COMMENTS ABOUT QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS, SO I WANNA MAKE SURE I, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOUR QUESTION IS.
WELL, I, I, I MEAN, I, I'VE READ THE, THE MEMO FROM THE, YOUR DEPARTMENT, UH, AND UNDERSTAND THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT PERFECT STUDY HAD BEEN CERTIFIED, BUT THERE, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LOT OF ISSUE COMMENTS TODAY, UH, BASICALLY ABOUT PARKING, UH, UH, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO WHETHER THE NEW PROJECT ON NEW STREET HAD BEEN INCLUDED OR NOT INCLUDED.
UH, AND ALSO WITH REGARD TO, UH, YOU KNOW, TRAFFIC IN THE AREA, I'M, I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA I'VE DRIVEN THERE MANY TIMES.
UM, SO I JUST WONDERED IF YOU HAD ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS TODAY AFTER HEARING THE, THE, THE COMMENTS FROM THE PROPONENT AND ALSO FROM THE PUBLIC.
SO FIRST, UM, I, I'LL SAY I, I, I THINK THE RESPONSES THAT SCOTT THORNTON PROVIDED, UM, WERE ALL ACCURATE AND TRUE.
UM, I THINK, UM, REGARDING THE PARKING STUDY, UM, PEOPLE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT PARKING'S NOT REQUIRED, UH, BY ZONING.
SO, UM, IT'S, IT APPRECIATE THAT THEY DID A VERY ROBUST PARKING STUDY, UM, IN THE, IN THEIR, AS PART OF THEIR TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY.
UM, DON'T FORGET, A PARKING STUDY IS A, A SNAPSHOT IN TIME, AND IT WAS O IT WAS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHAT THEY FOUND ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY OR DAYS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, EV EVERY DAY CAN BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, BUT I THINK IT SEEMED TO BE A PRETTY, IT SEEMED TO BE VERY PROFESSIONALLY DONE AND, AND WELL DONE.
AND IT, AND SEEMED TO BE ACCURATE IN TERMS OF WHERE, WHERE
[01:40:01]
THEY FOUND ON STREET PARKING THAT WAS, UH, FULL.AND WHEN IT WAS EMPTY, AND SCOTT TALKED ABOUT, UM, THEY FOUND, FRANKLY, I THINK MORE PARKING SPACES, FEW, FEW FURTHER AWAY THAN THIS PARTICULAR, THAN THE BLOCKS DIRECTLY SURROUNDING THIS PROJECT.
UM, UM, BUT, BUT PEOPLE, PEOPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ALWAYS WANNA PARK THEIR CARS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR, THEIR HOMES, UM, OR, OR AT LEAST RIGHT ON THEIR STREET.
UM, THAT'S PART OF LIVING IN THE CITY IF YOU HAVE TO UNFORTUNATELY PARK ON STREET AND DON'T HAVE YOUR OWN, UM, OFF STREET PARKING SPACE.
UM, BUT I THINK, UM, I THINK THE STUDY WAS SHOWED THAT THERE, THERE IS A, UH, A LOT OF ON STREETE PARKING THAT'S NOT BEING USED AT, AT VARIOUS TIMES.
AND, UM, AND IT CERTAINLY SEEMED TO BE A LOT MORE ON STREET PARKING THAN, THAN CERTAINLY OTHER, LOTS OF OTHER PLACES IN THE CITY, UM, THAT ARE, THAT ARE MORE COMPRESSED AND, AND BUILT UP.
I THINK, UM, IN TERMS OF THE NEW STREET, THE NEW 52 NEW STREET NEW HOUSING PROJECT, UM, LIKE I THINK SCOTT MENTIONED IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN BEEN FULLY OCCUPIED AT THE TIME THEY DID THE PARKING COUNTS.
UM, BUT THEY DID INCLUDE THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF VEHICLE TRIPS THAT THAT PROJECT WOULD GENERATE IN AS PART OF THE PARKING ANALYSIS AND AS PART OF THE TRIP GENERATION ANALYSIS.
SO SOMEONE MENTIONED THEY WERE CON SURPRISED ABOUT, UM, SEEING HOW MANY VEHICLE TRIPS THIS PROJECT WOULD GENERATE AT THE ESTIMATE COMPARED TO WHAT THEY THINK THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN.
THE, UM, SO THOSE, THE, THE TRIP GENERATION DID INCLUDE THE TRIPS FROM THE NEW STREET PROJECT.
UM, THEY SHOULD ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE TRAFFIC STUDY TOOK INTO ACCOUNT EXISTING TRIPS THAT'S GENERATED BY THE EXISTING BUILDING.
SO WHAT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS ABOUT IS NET NEW TRIPS.
SO WHEN WE SUB TRACKED OUT HOW MANY TRIPS WE THINK ARE CURRENTLY OCCURRING AT THE EXISTING SITE, AND THEN YOU ADD IN THE TRIPS THAT MIGHT BE GENERATING FROM THIS PROJECT, YOU LOOK AT THE NET NEW TRIPS.
AND THAT'S ALSO WHY THE NUMBERS IS, SEEMS LOWER THAN MAYBE PEOPLE MIGHT RECOGNIZE BECAUSE WE'RE, THIS WAS LOOKING AT NET NEW TRIPS, NOT, NOT NECESSARILY TOTAL TRIPS THAT WILL BE GENERATED, UM, ONCE THE PROJECT'S FULLY, FULLY OCCUPIED.
UM, BUT THE NET NEW TRIPS IS WHAT REALLY MATTERS.
PEOPLE TEND TO THINK, THERE'S OFTEN, PEOPLE TEND TO THINK THERE'S A LOT MORE VEHICLE TRIPS GENERATED BY PROJECTS THAN THERE ACTUALLY ARE.
SO, UM, WE GO OUT AND COUNT, UM, ACTUALLY COUNT, COUNT, COUNT CARS COMING IN AND OUTTA GARAGES AND THINGS.
AND SO, UM, WE FIND THAT IT'S, IT'S TENDS TO BE SOMEWHERE LIKE A 0.2 TO 0.4, UH, TRIPS PER UNIT.
UM, SO IT, IT TENDS TO END UP OFTEN BEING A LOT LESS THAN PEOPLE EXPECTED.
UM, BUT THAT'S JUST, JUST WHAT IT IS.
AND, UM, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE, THE STUDY WAS ACCURATE ABOUT THAT.
SO, LET'S SEE, THAT WAS PARKING TRAFFIC.
UM, UM, THERE WAS CONCERNS ABOUT SPEEDING, WHICH IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE THINK ADDING A SPEED HUMP, UM, BAYSTATE ROAD, UM, WOULD BE BENEFICIAL.
UM, THERE'S A COMMENT THAT THERE'S TOO MUCH TRAFFIC AND THERE SHOULD BE MORE PARKING.
THAT'S, WE HEAR THAT THAT'S OFTEN SORT OF, UM, A CONTRARY STATEMENT.
I MEAN, IF YOU, IF THERE'S TOO MUCH TRAFFIC, HAVING MORE PARKING SPACES ISN'T THE ANSWER THAT THAT SORT OF MORE PARKING SPACES WILL GENERATE MORE TRAFFIC.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, UM, A LOWER PARKING RATIO IS, IS DESIRABLE OVER A HIGHER PARKING RATIO, BECAUSE THAT ALSO ENCOURAGES MORE PEOPLE TO NOT NOT OWN A CAR, UM, IF POSSIBLE.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT KIND OF COVERED WHAT PEOPLE SAID.
UM, BUT FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY OTHER OTHER QUESTIONS.
I BELIEVE IT DID TED, YES, NO, GREAT.
UM, ONE QUESTION FOR THE PROPONENT, ONE QUESTION FOR CITY STAFF, UM, FOR THE PROPONENT.
SO I WAS GONNA ASK, UM, HOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WOULD ACCESS, IF YOUR SITE IS A PAC-MAN, HOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WOULD ACCESS THE UNITS IN THE MOUTH OF THE PAC-MAN.
BUT I THINK BASED ON HANS, WHAT YOU SAID, YOU HAVEN'T MET WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT YET, IS THAT RIGHT? OH, OH, I'M ON MUTE.
AM I ON MUTE? NO, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UM, NO, BUT WE HAVE A, I REVIEWED THIS WITH OUR, UH, CODE CONSULTANT CALLED CO NTINI ASSOCIATES.
AS I HAD THE SAME CONCERNS AS YOU, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WOULD BE COMPLIANT WITH, UM, WHAT'S CALLED NFPA, UM, AND, UH, ALSO ACCESS, UH, RE UH, REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
[01:45:01]
FACT, UH, I CAN'T GIVE YOU ALL THE SPECIFIC REASONS, BUT THEY DID DO A, UH, A QUICK, QUICK LOOK SEE FOR MY BENEFIT.'CAUSE THAT'S THE KIND OF THING.
I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SLEEP NOT KNOWING, UH, DON'T WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT AND NOT KNOW.
UM, SO YES, WE ARE, UH, COMPLIANT.
WE WILL BE REVIEWING THIS WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THAT WOULD, WOULD BE A NEXT STAGE THING.
WE KNOW THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR FIRE SAFETY, NOT ONLY FOR OUR BUILDING, BUT FOR THE NEIGHBOR BI NEIGHBORING BUILDINGS AS WELL.
YEAH, I HAVE A FEELING THEY MAY LOOK AT IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY THAN COSTANTINI, BUT, UH, I APPRECIATE THAT YOU'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THEM, UM, FOR CITY STAFF.
UM, SO EVAN MASON, I'M GONNA THROW THIS TO THE TWO OF YOU.
UM, BUT I WAS SURPRISED IS A GENTLE WAY OF SAYING IT TO SEE THAT, UM, FOR 105 NEW BEDROOMS, THERE'S NO INI MITIGATION.
UM, AND I, I, I, UM, I GUESS WHAT IS THE THRESHOLD FOR INI MITIGATION? DO YOU GUYS KNOW THAT OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD? AND HOW CAN A BUILDING OF THIS SIZE NOT TRIGGER THAT? UM, NOT BEING WITH DPW, I DON'T KNOW IT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I DO BELIEVE IT IS DOCUMENTED IN THE MEMO.
I BELIEVE IT'S SOMETHING LIKE 15,000.
UM, SO IT'S COMPARED TO WHAT'S ON SITE NOW.
SO THERE'S, THERE IS A, A USE ON SITE THAT'S GENERATING SOAR AND A STORMWATER RUNOFF.
AND SO THEY HAVE RUN THOSE NUMBERS AND THEY'VE DETERMINED THAT IT'S NOT TRIGGERING THE NEED, UM, PER THE CITY'S, UH, DETAILED STATUTES AND RULES FOR WHAT TRIGGERS AN I NINE.
YEAH, I FORGOT ABOUT THE MITIGATING OR THE SOLVING FOR WHAT'S ALREADY THERE.
DAN, UH, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
UM, I HAVE A FEW, UM, VERY DETAILED QUESTIONS, SO I HOPE YOU'LL BEAR WITH ME.
UM, UH, THE FIRST, UM, REALLY IS ON, UM, SITE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.
I'M ASSUMING THAT YOU GUYS HAVE DONE ENVIRONMENTAL, AND PROBABLY IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE A BASEMENT, I'M GUESSING ENCAPSULATION IS, IS, UH, BEST.
SOME OF OUR, UM, UH, CITIZENS WHO CALLED IN, UH, RAISED THE ISSUE.
UM, THERE'S A LONG HISTORY, UM, NOT ONLY WITH DANNY, HE, BUT, UH, THE, UH, THE, UM, FIELDS AND NEW SCHOOL, UM, ALL HAVE, UM, SIGNIFICANT MITIGATION PIECES.
UM, SO I'M GONNA TAKE THESE ONE AT A TIME AND JUST ASK THAT, UM, THAT YOU'VE HAD, HAVE DONE THOSE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS AND THAT, UH, THE PROJECT IS COMPLIANT.
SO I, UM, I CAN, DO YOU ALL HEAR ME STILL? UM, YEAH, UH, UH, JOHANNA TOUCHED ON THAT.
UH, WE ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING IT, BUT IT'S A VERY LOW GRADE SITUATION FOR US.
UH, AS IT RELATES TO THE, UH, INITIAL REVIEW BY, UM, OUR MCFAIL, UH, WHO IS WELL KNOWN IN THIS AREA.
THEIR OFFICES ARE IN CAMBRIDGE.
UM, WE, WE SAW THAT WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
OF COURSE, WE WILL DO WHATEVER, UH, REPORTS ARE NECESSARY AND DO WHATEVER MITIGATION IS REQUIRED.
BUT, UH, THE PRELIMINARILY, IT LOOKS VERY LOW GRADE FOR US.
AND YES, UM, THE IDEA OF BEING SLAB, IT'S CALLED SLAB ON GRADE, WE DON'T HAVE A BASEMENT 'CAUSE WE'RE, UH, FIRST OF ALL, WE DIDN'T WANNA DISPLACE, UH, WE WANTED MIS UH, TO MINIMIZE ANY DISPLACEMENT OF WATER IN A VERY HIGH WATER TABLE AREA.
AND, UM, AND, UH, BASICALLY, UH, IF YOU'RE A SLAB ON GRADE, YOU HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF, UH, DEALING WITH, UM, ANY OF THE UNDERGROUND ISSUES.
WE HAVE THIS PROBLEM NOT ONLY ON URBAN SITES WHERE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, WE HAVE THIS SITUATION, WHICH WE'VE MITIGATED ON A PROJECT IN BEDFORD, UH, WHICH IS A SIMILAR SLAB ON GRADE.
IT'S ALL SOLVABLE AND DONE WITH, UM, CARE AND, UH, WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY OF, UH, OCCUPANTS AS WELL AS NEIGHBORS.
SO, UH, SO A 21 E HAS BEEN PERFORMED AND, AND DOCUMENTED.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S BEEN FULLY, UH, FINISHED.
UM, BUT, UH, I WOULD, UH, HONESTLY, I, MCPHAIL HAS PREPARED REPORTS FOR US.
I HAVE NOT REVIEWED THEM YET TO, TO TELL YOU WHETHER A 21 E HAS BEEN COMPLETED AT THIS POINT.
UM, SO MY NEXT QUESTION YOU TOUCHED ON BRIEFLY, IN TERMS OF WATER CONDITIONS.
UM, THIS IS A FLOOD IMPACTED SITE.
UH, IN LOOKING AT, UM, UM, OUR FLOOD DATA.
WE HAVE, UM, NEW 2025 FLOOD DATA.
UM, THE STORM SURGE IN 1% FOR THIS SITE IS AT LISTED AT 23.3, BUT I SEE YOUR GRADE ELEVATIONS ARE AT 22.
CORRECT? FIRST, UH, AND FOREMOST, I SEE A 10 INCH RISE OF RAMPS TO YOUR, UH, MECHANICAL,
[01:50:01]
ELECTRICAL, AND TRANSFORMER LOCATIONS.UH, THAT STILL DOESN'T GET YOU OUT OF THE 1%.
SO, UM, I SAW THAT THERE WAS, UM, DOCUMENTATION, AT LEAST INITIALLY FOR DPW FOR A FLOOD, UM, CERTIFICATION DOCUMENT.
UH, I'M CURIOUS HOW YOU WOULD HAVE RECEIVED THAT WITH YOUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, NOT ELEVATED OUTSIDE OF THE 1%.
UH, AND THEN THE FOLLOW ON IS, I ASSUME THE REST OF IT IS ALL RE TERMED AS RECOVERABLE.
SO PERHAPS YOU COULD ADDRESS THOSE.
SO, UM, WITH RESPECT TO BEING OUT OF THE FLOODPLAIN AND THE, UH, ELEVATION 23 OR WITH IT'S 23.3, IF WE'RE NOT, UH, I, I BELIEVE OUR DRAWINGS MENTIONED SOMETHING, BUT WE HAVE CIVIL ENGINEERING, IT'S IN OUR APPENDIX, I CAN BRING IT UP NOW, BUT THEY DID THE, UH, FLOOD, UH, REVIEW FOR THE PROJECT AND ESTABLISHED FOR US THE ELEVATION WE NEEDED TO PER BRING ALL OF OUR, FOR EXAMPLE, THE TRANSFORMER MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT OUT OF THE FLOODPLAIN.
BUT THE OTHER ELEMENTS LIKE OUR, UM, LOBBY AND MAIN ENTRANCE AND PARKING AREAS, UH, AMENITY SPACES, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY LIVING SPACE ON THE, UH, ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING, WE CAN BE AT THE LOWER ELEVATION, WHICH I BELIEVE IS CLOSE TO, I THINK WE HAVE IT SET AT 22.
I DON'T WANNA, UH, WE'RE GONNA GET IT RIGHT.
UM, WE, WE, UH, WE BASED IT ON THE INFORMATION THAT WAS GIVEN TO US.
UH, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T THINK, UH, HANCOCK CAN TALK TO IT RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M, THEY'RE VERY PROFESSIONAL CIVIL ENGINEERING FIRM.
UH, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED THE CORRECT, UM, ELEVATIONS, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
I HAVE IT IN THE APPENDIX, IF YOU WANT ME TO BRING IT UP ON THE SCREEN.
UH, PER, PERHAPS YOU COULD TELL ME WHAT THE GREAT ELEVATION IS PROPOSED FOR, UM, LET'S JUST SAY FOR THE TRANSFORMER, SINCE THAT'S, I THINK WE SET IT AT, UM, ELEVATION 23, BUT I'D HAVE TO CONFIRM THAT WITH, UM, IF I WERE TO BRING UP OUR, AND IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE AT 23.3, UH, WE'LL SET IT AT, UH, 23.3 FOR SURE.
UM, SO THAT DE WE DO, WE DO, WE DO HAVE OUR CIVIL ENGINEER, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT, BUT OUR CIVIL ENGINEER, OLAND RICHTER, IS AN ATTENDEE.
AND OLIN, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME AND YOU WANNA RAISE YOUR HAND AND ASK TO SPEAK, PERHAPS YOU CAN, UM, RESPOND TO THIS BOARD MEMBER QUESTION.
SO IS THE CIVIL ENGINEER ABLE TO ANSWER THAT ELEVATION? I'VE JUST ASKED HIM TO.
CAN YOU, UH, HEAR ME ALL TO JOIN? CAN EVERYONE HEAR? CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME? YES.
I'M WITH THE CIVIL DESIGN TEAM AT HANCOCK.
SO ALL THE CRITICAL EQUIPMENT, THE TRANSFORMER, UM, IS LOCATED WITHIN THE BUILDING, AND IT'S GOING TO BE AT 23.3, UH, WHICH IS THE, AT THE 1% LTFE.
UM, EVERYTHING ON THE FIRST FLOOR, AS HAN SAID, IS NOT DEEMED LIVABLE SPACE.
IT'S, IT'S OCCUPIABLE SPACE, WHICH CAN BE AT THE 10% LTF FEE AT ELEVATION 22.0.
THERE IS ONE DOOR THAT'S BELOW THAT DUE TO GRADING IN THE MEET A DA STANDARDS.
UM, AND THAT'S AT 21.5, BUT IT'S, IT'S GOING TO BE OCCUPIABLE, UH, SORRY, IT'S GOING TO BE, UH, RECOVERABLE SPACE, UM, AS IT'S JUST GOING TO BE AN ENTRANCE WITH STAIRS GOING UP, SO ALL THE WATER CAN FLOW OUT OF THAT, AND IT WON'T, AND IT'S, UH, DEFINED AS RECOVERABLE.
UH, AND THEN ALL THE LIVING SPACES WILL BE ON THE SECOND FLOOR, WHICH IS, I FORGET, IT'S AT LIKE 30, 33 OR SOMETHING, 34.
UH, SO IT'LL BE ABOVE THAT 1% LTFE.
I THINK, UM, 23.3, IF THAT'S THE HIGH POINT IS WOULD BE THE, THE MINIMUM PROTECTION.
UM, TYPICALLY DPW IS ASKING FOR, UH, SOMETHING ABOVE THAT.
UM, SO I'D ASK YOU TO CAREFULLY REVIEW THAT.
UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
UM, JUST LOOKING AT THE PLANS, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU GET UP TO THAT ELEVATION.
A 10 INCH RAMP RISE IS, UM, FROM 22 FEET.
THIS GETS YOU TO 22 FEET, 10 INCHES.
UM, SO YOU'RE INDICATING, UH, TWO, THREE BEDROOM UNITS IN THIS.
WERE A 91 PLUS THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT BUILDING.
UM, COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU CALCULATED, UH, THE NUMBER OF THREE BEDROOM UNITS? SO MY UNDERSTANDING, IT IS A ONE, UH, ONE, AND AGAIN, THIS WILL ALL BE VETTED OUT AGAIN, UH, FOR FINAL DESIGN.
[01:55:01]
PER 5,000 SQUARE FEET OF, UM, OF THE, UH, AFFORDABLE.I, I DON'T HAVE THE EQUATION RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, BUT IT WAS DONE FROM THAT EQUATION RELATIVE TO THE WAY THE UNITS ARE MEASURED FOR GROSS AREA.
SO THE GROSS AREA OF LIVABLE SPACE SOMETIMES IS DIFFERENT, IS MANY TIMES DIFFERENT THAN THE ACTUAL GROSS SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE BUILDING.
UM, AND SO WE WERE BASING, WE WERE BASING IT ON THE WAY, UH, OR THE WAY IT WAS DESCRIBED, UH, BY THE, UM, CITY'S, UH, MANDATE FOR, UM, SQUARE FOOTAGE.
AND AGAIN, UH, THIS WILL ALL BE, UH, REVIEWED.
AGAIN, WE'RE NOT TRYING TO BE SNEAKY, WE'RE JUST SAYING THAT'S HOW WE DID IT.
UM, AND, UH, WE'RE HAPPY TO SIT DOWN WITH THE FOLKS AND GET IT WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE IF IT ENDS UP BEING MORE THAN THAT.
WE DID IT USING THE EQUATION, UH, PRESENTED TO US MATHEMATICS, WHATEVER.
AND IF I CAN JUST ADD TO THAT, THOSE THREE BEDROOM UNITS WERE INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT, UM, TO SATISFY THE CITY'S INCLUSIONARY ZONING REQUIREMENTS, UM, IN TERMS OF THREE BEDROOM UNITS BASED ON THE, THE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREA IN THE BUILDING.
THE PRODUCT TYPE THAT WE ARE SEEKING TO BRING TO MARKET REALLY IS AS ONSET AT THE OUTSET OF THE PRESENTATION, A SMALLER TYPOLOGY, UM, WHICH WE THINK IS AN UNDERSERVED MARKET IN THIS, IN CAMBRIDGE OVERALL, AND IN THIS PART OF CAMBRIDGE IN PARTICULAR.
SO THE FOCUS FOR THE MARKET RATE UNITS, AND, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF THE AFFORDABLE UNITS IS THOSE ONE BEDROOMS AND STUDIO UNITS, UM, WHICH ARE THE PREDOMINANT TYPOLOGY.
BUT WE DO HAVE THOSE TWO, THREE BEDROOM UNITS, UM, IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS.
I I ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK MORE CAREFULLY AT THAT.
UM, IT'S ONE, UM, THREE BEDROOM PER 6,000 SQUARE FEET OF NET.
SO, UM, MY CALCULATION SAYS THAT YOU'RE AT 10 REQUIRED.
SO, UM, THAT MAY CHANGE YOUR CALCULATION SOMEWHAT.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO, TO REFINE THE NUMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, AT THIS STAGE, UH, THE NUMBERS ARE PRELIMINARY 'CAUSE WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A FINAL SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE PROJECT, BUT OBVIOUSLY WE'LL HAVE TO REVIEW ALL OF THAT WITH, YOU KNOW, THE CITY'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOLKS AND WITH CDD AS WE GET CLOSER TO BUILDING PERMIT.
AND MY VERY LAST QUESTION, I HATE TO BE MONOPOLIZING THIS WITH VERY DETAILED QUESTIONS, BUT, UH, THIS IS A SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION.
UM, UM, WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT THE REQUEST FOR, UH, REDUCTION OF GREEN ROOF AREA.
UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW THOSE NUMBERS WERE CALCULATED.
DON'T NEED TO BE DETAILED ABOUT IT, BUT JUST AN OBSERVATION.
THERE ARE NO, UM, UH, MAINTENANCE AND, UH, CLEARANCE AREAS AROUND IT SHOWN AS GREEN ROOF RUNNING RIGHT UP TO THE PARAPET.
UM, THAT'S, UH, TYPICALLY NOT ALLOWABLE IN THE CITY FOR, FOR MAINTENANCE REASONS AND, AND SAFETY.
SO, UM, UM, IT DOES SEEM TO ME THAT THERE'S GONNA BE A REDUCTION, UH, UP THERE, ALTHOUGH THOSE PATHS TYPICALLY ARE EXCLUDED WHEN YOU'RE CALCULATING YOUR 80%.
UM, BUT, UM, UH, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION REALLY TO, TO WEIGH IN AND OPINE ON A, UM, UM, AN EARLY READ ON THAT.
UM, AND MY VERY LAST COMMENT, AND, AND THIS REALLY GOES TO KIND OF SPECIAL PERMIT HERE ON THE PLANNING BOARD, IS, UH, DID YOU CONSIDER AT ALL, UM, UM, BIKE, UM, STACKED BIKE PARKING? UM, THAT IS A SPECIAL PERMIT THAT'S AVAILABLE HERE FROM THE SPECIAL, UH, FROM, FROM THE PLANNING BOARD.
UM, OBVIOUSLY TAKES UP A LOT OF SQUARE FOOTAGE.
UM, JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, UM, GIVEN THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR OTHER SPECIAL PERMITS, UM, WHERE THERE, WHERE THERE IS A, A REASON, UM, THAT YOU DIDN'T LOOK AT BIKE STACKERS.
SO, AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE END OF MY COMMENTS.
THESE ARE GREAT DETAILED COMMENTS AND THANK YOU.
UM, I'LL START TO ANSWER THE, THE BIKE QUESTION.
AND HANS, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA PULL UP THE ROOF PLAN AND JUST TALK ABOUT THE METHODOLOGY THAT WE EMPLOYED TO GET TO THE CALCULATIONS.
I KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME CONSULTATION, I BELIEVE WITH DPW ABOUT HOW WE, WHAT WE WERE COUNTING AND WHAT WE WERE NOT COUNTING, BUT WITH RESPECT TO THE BIKES, UM, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO THE FACT THAT WE, UM, ARE AT LEAST AT THIS POINT PROGRAMMING THIS TO HAVE A MAJORITY OF ONE BEDROOM AND STUDIO UNITS, WE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS LIKELY THAT MOST TENANTS OF THIS BUILDING WOULD HAVE MORE THAN ONE BICYCLE.
SO WE ARE PROVIDING BIKE STORAGE IN A ONE-TO-ONE RATIO.
WE DIDN'T SEE THE NEED TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE UP ADDITIONAL, YOU KNOW, COMMON AREA OR LIVING AREA, UM, TO ADD ADDITIONAL BIKES WHEN WE'RE ASSUMING THAT, YOU KNOW, MANY OF THESE UNITS WILL HAVE ONE OCCUPANT, UH, IS THAT A A GOOD ENOUGH? WELL, RELATIVE TO THE GREEN ROOF, I THINK WE HAVE TO GET TO THAT LATER.
I THINK THERE'S SOME MISCONCEPTION THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR,
[02:00:01]
UM, RELIEF THERE.BUT I, I THINK WHAT WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT MAYBE IN THE NEXT PHASE IS WHAT, UH, PERCENTAGE OF FLEXIBILITY YOU WOULD NEED.
UM, 'CAUSE UH, YOU'VE EVEN ADMITTED THAT YOU'RE NOT SURE EXACTLY WHETHER YOU CAN COMPLY, BUT IF IT'S, IS IT 10%, 5% OF THE OVERALL REQUIREMENT? I THINK WE HAVE TO CUT, GET DOWN TO VERY SPECIFIC NUMBERED ON THAT IF WE CAN, BUT I WANNA GO TO ASHLEY.
UM, I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS TO TRAFFIC RELATED, UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HERE TRYING TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS SAFE TO GRANT THE SPECIAL PERMIT.
SO MY FIRST QUESTION IS PROBABLY MORE TOWARDS THE, FOR THE STAFF OF DOT.
UM, I NOTICED THAT THE TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY POINTED OUT THERE WERE, I THINK MULTIPLE PEDESTRIAN EXCEEDANCES, UM, I THINK IT WAS NEW STREET AND BAY STATE ROAD.
SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, I I, AND APOLOGIZE IF I MISSED THIS, BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THE STAFF HAD ANY RECOMMENDATION, UM, AS TO HOW TO MITIGATE THOSE, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE, MORE TOWARDS THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY.
'CAUSE I KNOW THERE WERE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT, UM, HOW TO DECREASE TRAFFIC, BUT, AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION IS FOR THE PROJECT TEAM, AND JUST GIVEN HOW BADLY IT'S RAINING AT TODAY, AND I FORCED, I GAVE UP ON MY BIKE, LEFT IT AT WORK, BUT, UM, UH, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT JUST ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UBER LYFT DROP OFFS AND YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU HAVE PLANNED FOR THAT? THANK YOU.
UH, FROM THE, UH, PARKING, THAT WOULD BE SCOTT, I CAN CERTAINLY TALK ABOUT UBERS AND PARK.
I MEAN, WE, WE ARE AT THE, UM, ENTRANCES BOTH, UH, SIDE SIDES OF THE BUILDING.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, OUR LOBBIES, UH, UH, NOTED ON THE PLANS.
UM, CLEARLY A, UH, UH, THERE'S SPACE INSIDE THE BUILDING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO WAIT FOR AN UBER TO PICK THEM UP.
UM, WE, UH, EXPECT THAT THERE MAY BE A LITTLE IN ORDER TO DO THAT, THERE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT OF A DOUBLE PARKING.
WE DIDN'T WANNA TAKE PARKING SPACES AWAY JUST FOR, UH, THAT KIND OF PURPOSE.
UM, UH, ONE COULD POTENTIALLY SNEAK IN FRONT OF THE, UH, PARKING GARAGE AREAS.
UH, PEOPLE DO IT ANYWAY,
SO, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE, UM, WE RECOGNIZE THAT THAT WILL BE PART OF THE, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE WAY OF PEOPLE MOVING AROUND.
UM, AND I'M SORRY, THE, THE, THE FIRST PART OF YOUR QUESTION WAS RELATED TO MY FIRST PART WAS MORE.
MY FIRST PART WAS MORE TOWARDS, UM, IF DOT IF STAFF CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MITIGATION METHODS FOR THE PEDESTRIAN EXCEEDANCES.
I'M ASSUMING THE PROJECT TEAM DOES NOT, NOT WANNA OFFER THAT, SO THROW IT TO THE STAFF.
I'M HAPPY TO JUST ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UM, SO THE PROJECT HAD, UM, WHAT'S CALLED A PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE EXCEEDANCE AT BAYSTATE ROAD AND NEW STREET, AND IT WAS BASICALLY CROSSING BAYSTATE ROAD.
UM, IT'S AN UNSIGNED INTERSECTION AND UM, THE RESULT OF THE CALCULATIONS WAS A PEDESTRIAN LEVEL SERVICE E UM, THE CITY AND THAT, AND THAT TRIGGERED THAT EXCEEDANCE.
SO IT'S AN EXISTING CONDITION.
THE, THE ANYTHING THAT, THAT IS E OR HIGHER, AN E OR AN F UH, PEDESTRIAN LEVEL SERVICE IS CONSIDERED AN EXCEEDANCE.
AND, AND IT, IT'S USED TO SORT OF HELP RED FLAG A LOCATION THAT NEEDS, THAT SHOULD BE LOOKED AT EXACTLY WHAT, LIKE YOU SAID, LIKE, OH, IS IS THIS A PLACE THAT WARRANTS SOME TYPE OF TREATMENT, UH, TO MAKE IT BETTER? UM, THE, THERE'S ALREADY A CURB EXTENSION RIGHT THERE AT THAT LOCATION WHERE THAT CROSSING IS, AND THAT MIGHT BE ONE OF THAT, THAT'S OFTEN ONE OF THE TYPE OF TREATMENTS THAT CAN BE DONE TO HELP IMPROVE CONDITIONS.
UM, IT'S, IT'S ALSO WHAT WHAT CALCULATES IS GAPS IN TRAFFIC, SINCE I'M SIGNALED AS A PEDESTRIAN.
UM, YOU BASICALLY HAVE TO WAIT, UM, UNTIL THERE'S A GAP TO THEN CROSS.
UM, BUT IT'S ALSO AT A STOPS AT A LOCATION WHERE CARS WILL HAVE TO STOP FOR A CROSSWALK.
SO, UM, SO THIS PARTICULAR CALCULATION
[02:05:01]
IS A LITTLE BIT SLIGHTLY MISLEADING BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S SORT OF GEARED MORE TOWARDS LIKE A MID-BLOCK TYPE OF SITUATION WHERE CARS ARE, YOU KNOW, GOING AND, AND THEY'RE WAITING FOR A GAP IN TRAFFIC TO, TO CROSS THIS.THIS IS MORE OF A, SO THAT IT CALCULATES THAT ASSUMING LIKE HOW LONG YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO WAIT TO GET TO CROSS FOR A PEDESTRIAN TO GET A BREAK IN TRAFFIC TO CROSS.
BUT ACTUALLY IN REALITY, CARS HAVE TO STOP, WILL STOP AND THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSES.
SO IT'S PROBABLY NOT AS BAD AS THE E INDICATES, UM, IN TERMS OF, IN TERMS OF DELAY FOR PEDESTRIAN TO CROSS CROSS IT.
UM, AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAVE EXCEEDANCES, WE DO CONSIDER LIKE, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE DONE TO MAKE THAT CROSSING, UM, BETTER? AND A CURB EXTENSION OFTEN IS SOMETHING THAT'S COULD BE USED AS A GOOD THING, BUT LIKE I SAID, IT ALREADY HAS ONE.
UM, RAISED CROSSINGS IS ANOTHER TREATMENT THAT SOMETIMES CONSIDERED, UM, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY AFFECT THE RESULT OF THE ANALYSIS DETERMINED THE PEDESTRIAN LEVEL SERVICE.
UM, AND, AND I THINK SCOTT ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT A GOOD POINTS, WHY RAISE CROSSING THERE MIGHT ACTUALLY NOT BE DESIRABLE? UM, SO WE THINK, WE THINK THAT, UM, IT IS, IT IS AN EXCEEDANCE, IT IS CORRECT AND CORRECTLY DONE, AND IT, UM, IT'S AN EXISTING CONDITION.
WE DON'T THINK THIS PROJECT ITSELF MAKES IT, UM, SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE OR DIFFERENT.
SO FOR THIS PROJECT TO SORT OF MITIGATE IT, IT'S, IT, IT DIDN'T RISE TO THAT, TO THAT LEVEL.
UM, AND, AND, AND HOW WE WOULD MITIGATE IT IS, UH, NOT, NOT CLEAR.
UM, OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, WE HAVING, HAVING A CURB EXTENSION AND ACTUALLY THE, THE PROPOSED ONE OF THE MITIGATION IS TO TAKE THAT EXISTING CURB EXTENSION AND MAKE IT EVEN LONGER AND PUTTING A BLUE BIKE STATION TO, FOR, FOR US TO PUT A BLUE BIKE STATION THAT COULD ALSO HELP SORT OF LIKE CALM THAT LOCATION DOWN.
BUT THAT'S A, YOU KNOW, IT'S A HEAVILY USED INTERSECTION.
IT'S A HEAVILY USED ROAD ROTARY AND THE INTERSECTION KIND OF COMBINED TO ONE.
UM, AND IT ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK BAYSTATE ROAD IS OFTEN AS LIKE SORT OF A CUT THROUGH FOR PEOPLE TO AVOID USING CONCORD AVENUE TRAFFIC TO AND STUFF.
SO THAT'S AGAIN, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'RE THINKING A, A RAISED A SPEED HUMP ON BAYSTATE ROAD, EVEN THOUGH WE PUT SOME ON CONCORD AVENUE ON, UM, FURTHER, FURTHER ON THE CURVE, PUTTING A RAISED DEVICE ON BAYSTATE ROAD COULD BE YET ANOTHER WAY TO DISCOURAGE PEOPLE FROM WHO DO USE BAYSTATE ROADS TO CUT THROUGH.
UM, MAYBE, MAYBE THAT'LL HELP DISCOURAGE PEOPLE, WHICH WOULD THEN AFFECT THE VI THE TRAFFIC AT THAT INTERSECTIONS, WHICH WOULD HENCE SORT OF COULD HELP THEIR PASTURE IN CROSSING A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO THAT'S, I GUESS THAT'S, THAT'S THE ANSWER, UM, TO, TO THAT THAT WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T REALLY COME UP WITH ANY PARTICULAR, UM, OTHER THING BESIDES EXTENDING THE CURB EXTENSION, PUTTING BLUE BIKE STATION THERE THAT WOULD SORT OF ADDRESS THAT, THAT EXCEEDANCE.
UM, AT THIS POINT MY QUESTIONS HAVE LARGELY BEEN COVERED.
I'VE GOT VERY THOUGHTFUL FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS HERE.
UM, AND I THINK AT THIS POINT WE'RE GOING TO MOVE TO A BOARD DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSAL AND WHERE WE STAND AND WHAT ACTIONS WE THINK WOULD BE APPROPRIATE, UH, TONIGHT RELATIVE TO THIS APPLICATION FOR A SPECIAL PERMIT.
SO, DOES SOMEBODY WANNA START WITH, UH, THIS DISCUSSION PHASE HERE, DIEGO? THANK YOU.
UM, YEAH, THANK, UH, FIRST THANK YOU TO THE PETITIONERS AND TO STAFF.
IT'S, UH, I THINK IT'S A REALLY INTERESTING PROJECT IN SO MANY WAYS AND FOR THE PUBLIC COMMENTERS, UM, I THINK IT MAKES MY JOB EASIER WHEN I HAVE, WHEN I HAVE PUBLIC COMMENTERS WHO ARE BRINGING UP TOPICS THAT THEY'RE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, I AM FAMILIAR WITH THIS LOCATION.
I, I, I REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT BASE BAY STATE ROAD AND NEW STREET INTERSECTION.
IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING THAT I BIKE THROUGH ALL THE TIME AND WITH MY KIDS IS ONE OF THE PARTS WHERE I REALLY HAVE TO STOP, MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE SEEING YOU.
UM, IT'S PROBABLY THE MOST DANGEROUS INTERSECTION THAT I HAVE TO, UH, UH, EXPERIENCE GETTING TO DHE FROM, YOU KNOW, THE WATERTOWN GREENWAY MM-HMM
UM, SO I, AND I UNDERSTAND IT'S A TRICKY INTERSECTION AND THIS PROJECT DOESN'T REALLY ELEVATE, YOU KNOW, THAT CONCERN.
UM, BUT IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THAT DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT INTERSECTION AND HOPEFULLY IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT WE KEEP THINKING ABOUT.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS KIND OF ALARMING TO HEAR WAS THE, UM, STORAGE CONTAMINATION SITE ACROSS THE
[02:10:01]
STREET AND, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN RISKS THAT ALIGN WITH THAT.UM, AGAIN, I, I GUESS THAT'S OUTSIDE OF THE PROJECT'S, UH, PURVIEW, BUT IT'S STILL ALARMING TO, TO HEAR, AND I'M GLAD SOMEONE BROUGHT THAT UP.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY IS THE, IS THE SHADING.
I THINK AS SOON AS I SAW THIS, UM, AS, UH, SOMEONE BROUGHT IT BEFORE IS THE, THE PACMAN, THAT THAT WAS A GREAT, UH, DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
UM, AS SOON AS I SAW THE BUILDING, I JUST KNEW THAT THE, THE DAYLIGHT FOR THAT FOUR TWO BASE STATE ROAD WAS GONNA BE IMPACTED.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME UP A LONG TIME AGO IN THE MULTIFAMILY ZONING CHANGE WAS JUST ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD TO SORT OF SACRIFICE TO GET MORE HOUSING.
AND I THINK WITH THAT, I'LL, I'LL SAY THE THINGS I DO LIKE ABOUT THIS BUILDING, UM, I DO LIKE THAT IT'S BRINGING SO MANY HOUSING UNITS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE EXCEEDING THE OPEN SPACE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HEAR ALL THE TIME.
UM, IT'S, IT'S GREAT TO HEAR THAT YOU'RE DOING THAT.
I THINK THE, THE DISTANCES THAT YOU SET FROM THE SETBACKS REALLY WORK FOR THE BUILDING AND THE SHAPE.
UM, AND, AND THE MASSING, I THINK IS REALLY ATTRACTIVE.
UM, I THINK, I THINK THE DESIGN, THE DESIGN OVERALL REALLY WORKS.
I THINK THE MATERIALS ARE GREAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE STEP BACKS AND THE WAY YOU HAVE, UM, A STREET SCAPE, THERE'S CHARACTER TO THE, THE BIRCH AND BAYSTATE I THINK WORKS REALLY WELL.
I, I, YOU KNOW, I THINK TOM BROUGHT THIS UP, BROUGHT THE, UH, THE ROOF.
I, I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE, THE ROOF.
I THINK IT WAS A GREEN, THE GREEN ROOF REQUIREMENT.
AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP, AND I THINK THAT PERCENTAGE WOULD BE NICE TO KEEP LOWER.
UM, BUT THAT'S A BOARD SORT OF DISCUSSION I THINK THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO TALK ABOUT.
BUT I, OVERALL, LIKE I, I THINK I PROVED BUILDING AND THE PROJECT, I THINK IT ANSWERS A LOT OF THE, UM, YOU KNOW, OBJECTIVES THAT WE HAVE.
UM, AND I'LL YEAH, START OUT BY MAYBE, UM, ECHOING DIEGO AND, AND APPRECIATING SEEING, UM, A MULTIFAMILY HOUSING PROJECT COME ALONG.
WE'VE DONE A LOT OF REVIEWS LATELY AND HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF SPECIAL PERMIT REVIEWS LIKE THIS, SO THAT'S EXCITING TO SEE.
UM, I APPRECIATE THE TEAM WORKING AND THE DEVELOPER WORKING WITH A VERY IRREGULAR LOT AND MAKING IT WORK.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S VERY UNUSUAL, THE KIND OF PACMAN ASPECT.
UM, I DO HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, UH, THE WAY IT RESOLVES MOSTLY ON THE NORTHEAST EDGE.
THE VIEW NUMBER TWO, I THINK IS THE MOST TELLING.
IT, IT'S THE ONE WHERE THE EXISTING BUILDINGS ON, ON, ON THE ROAD CREATE KIND OF A LITTLE L THAT, UH, FOR THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, I FEEL LIKE FIGURING OUT HOW THAT COULD BE MAINTAINED OR ACCESSED, I THINK THAT'S THE MOST CHALLENGING FOR ME.
UM, I ALSO MAYBE ECHOING SOME OF, YOU KNOW, BRINGING BACK SOME OF TED'S THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS ON THE VEHICULAR ACCESS AND DRIVEWAY.
I THINK BECAUSE THE, UM, THE ENTRY IS RIGHT NEXT TO THAT, UH, RAMP DOWN, HAVING A GARAGE DOOR ON THAT WOULD BE LIKELY A BENEFIT TO MAKE IT NOT FEEL SO RELENTLESS, RIGHT? UH, AS, AS A PARKING ENTRY.
SO I APPRECIATE YOUR WILLINGNESS TO, TO EXPLORE THAT.
UM, AND YOU LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY.
TRANSFORMER, I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COULD REALLY BE THAT LARGE, BUT I'M CERTAINLY HAPPY THAT IT IS INSIDE AND NOT OUTSIDE.
UM, WE DIDN'T TALK A LOT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TRULY THE MASSING, A LOT OF THE VIEWS.
I THINK THE WAY THAT YOU'VE DONE THE STEP BACKS AND STAYED A LITTLE FURTHER THAN REQUIRED IS I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I THINK THAT THAT WILL MATTER.
UM, CERTAINLY SOME OF THE VIEWS SHOW HOW THAT KIND OF CREATES A BREAKUP OF THE MASSING.
IN A MORE INTERESTING THOUGH WAY, SOMETIMES WE SEE A LOT OF SIMILAR KIND OF JENGA IN OUT RIGHT.
AND THIS DOES SOMETHING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, WHICH COULD BE REALLY INTERESTING.
I'M A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT ALL METAL PANEL, UM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE, AND YOU KNOW, IT WILL REALLY COME DOWN TO THE QUALITY OF WHAT THAT PRODUCT IS.
UM, CERTAINLY DENTING, BUT ALSO DETAILING.
SO POOR DETAILING CAN REALLY REVEAL THAT AS, YOU KNOW, NOT A A LONG TERM.
SO I THINK NOTHING IS LOW, NOTHING IS NO MAINTENANCE FOR SURE.
UM, VERY LITTLE IS EVEN LOW MAINTENANCE, BUT I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST MAYBE RECONSIDERING THE BASE, ESPECIALLY WHERE, UM, METAL PANELING GETS THE MOST RISK OF DAMAGE.
UM, I'D BE INTERESTED IN MAYBE SEEING AN EXPLORATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL FOR THAT.
BUT CERTAINLY I THINK WE WILL AS PART OF THE C MOCKUPS OF THE EXTERIOR, UM, FACADE, WHICH I THINK WILL BE IMPORTANT FOR, FOR THIS GROUP TO TAKE A, A LOOK AT.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE UNIT SIZES, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M, EVEN IF YOU'RE
[02:15:01]
HITTING THE REQUIREMENTS, I'D CERTAINLY LOVE TO SEE A FEW MORE FAMILY UNITS.YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT EVEN THOUGH THIS IS FILLING A NICHE, THAT IT IS DOING THIS GREAT THING THAT WE'RE ALL HOPING FOR, RIGHT? OF CREATING, UM, COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF, OF USERS, THE YOUNG WORKER, THE OLDER, YOU KNOW, THE OLDER RETIREE, THE, THE FAMILIES.
SO I THINK IF YOU CAN KEEP EXPLORING IF THERE ARE ANY WAYS TO GET A FEW MORE OF THOSE KIND OF FAMILY SIZED UNITS IN, THAT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT, ESPECIALLY WITH THAT PROXIMITY TO TOBIN AND DANEE AND, AND FRESH POND.
UM, I'M HOPING I'LL JUST SAY THIS, THAT THE BLUE BIKE IS A REQUIREMENT, NOT JUST A, UH, I WASN'T TOTALLY CLEAR ON THAT, BUT, UM, I, AND I COULDN'T QUITE FIGURE OUT WHERE IT WAS.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S A NEED TO SHOW ME, BUT I'M JUST HOPING THAT THAT CAN BE A REQUIREMENT, UM, THAT IS INCLUDED BECAUSE, UM, FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T HAVE THE BIKE, BUT ALSO PEOPLE WHO DO COMMUTE, IT'S SO USEFUL TO NOT HAVE TO DRAG YOUR BIKE IN AND OUT.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT GETS, GETS THROUGH THROUGH MOST OF IT.
UM, I THINK THE, THE ONLY COMMENT I WOULD HAVE AND, AND I APPRECIATE THE, UM, IT SOUNDED LIKE THE ENGAGEMENT WAS MAYBE MORE SHARING INFORMATION A LITTLE BACK AND FORTH.
SO I THINK CONTINUING, JUST SHARING INFORMATION WITH THE COMMUNITY WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED.
UM, OBVIOUSLY IF THEY MISSED THE JANUARY, IT IS NOT TOO LATE.
RIGHT? UM, SO, SO MAKING SURE THAT REMAINS A PART OF IT, ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE ANY ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS, JUST TO MAKE SURE THEY ALL FEEL COMFORTABLE AND, AND AWARE, UM, AS THAT'S MOVING FORWARD.
UM, I THINK I HAD ONE MORE THING, BUT IT'S, IT'S ESCAPING ME.
IT'S GETTING LATE, RIGHT? UM, SO YEAH, IT'S GETTING LATE
UH, DAN? YEAH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CHAIR.
SO, UM, I'M, UM, VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ADDITIONAL HOUSING.
UM, I THINK THAT, UH, THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE PLACE TO PUT IT.
UM, I THINK OBVIOUSLY WE NEED TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS TRAFFIC AND SUCH, BUT I THINK, AS ADAM SCHULMAN POINTED OUT THAT PARKING IS NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, AND THERE ARE, UM, MANY AREAS IN THE CITY WHERE, UH, PARKING'S ON STREET PARKING IS, IS MUCH TIGHTER.
UM, SO I'M, I'M SYMPATHETIC TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD ON, ON THE HAND.
IT'S COMPETING INTERESTS FOR US TO, UH, TO EVALUATE THAT.
UM, AND, UH, IN, IN GENERAL, UM, I DO HAVE A FEW COMMENTS, UH, ABOUT THE BUILDING.
I'D LOVE TO SEE THE ARTICULATION OF BAYSTATE ROAD ELEVATION, UM, TREATED, UM, NOT JUST WITH A STEP BACK, BUT A LITTLE BIT, UM, LOWER IN, UH, IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE, UH, THE CONDO BUILDINGS.
IT'D BE GREAT TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A THREE STORY FEEL THERE THAN A FOUR STORY.
AND I KNOW THAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH, UH, SOME CHANGES IN MATERIALS AS YOU'VE DONE VERY DELICATELY AND, AND, UH, UH, PROFESSIONALLY ALONG BIRCH STREET, UM, AND ALSO IN LONG BIRCH STREET.
UM, I'D PREFER IT IF, IF IT DIDN'T STEP UP TO THAT KIND OF FOUR STORY AS YOU MOVE CLOSER TO, TO CONCORD AVE, BUT STAYED, UM, BOTH AT A, UH, A KIND OF, UH, THREE STORY, UM, UH, SORRY, FOUR STORY HEIGHT RATHER THAN, UH, I THINK UP TO FIVE IF I'M READING THE ELEVATION CORRECTLY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I GUESS REALLY FOCUSING ON, ON THE ROOF PLAN, WE'VE REALLY HAD VERY LITTLE CONVERSATION ABOUT IT.
UM, I THINK THAT THERE'S SOME CREATIVE WAYS TO GET, UM, MORE ATTRACTIVE, UH, ROOF DECK SPACE.
I'M A LITTLE, UM, HESITANT ABOUT A 13 FOOT 10 KIND OF HAMMERHEAD, UM, DECK CONFIGURATION.
I'M SURE THAT, THAT YOU'LL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS.
UM, BUT, UM, I GUESS I'M, I'M, I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHERE THE, AT A POINT OF KIND OF DISCUSSING, UM, WHAT NEXT STEPS SHOULD BE, BUT CERTAINLY IN TERMS OF THE KINDS OF INFORMATION THAT YOU'VE PROVIDED AND THE KINDS, IF YOU COULD PROBABLY TELL FROM MY, MY QUESTIONS, UM, IT STILL FEELS A LITTLE EARLY, UM, FOR US TO BE SAYING YES TO THIS.
UM, AND I GUESS THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A CLARIFICATION, JOANNA, JUST TO, UH, UH, TO THE BIKE STACKERS, UH, THAT WOULD BE IN LIEU OF, UH, MEETING ALL OF THE REQUIREMENTS.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU DID A BIKE STACKER THAT ALLOWED TWO BIKES IN THE PLACE OF ONE, YOU COULD REDUCE YOUR SQUARE FOOTAGE BY HALF.
UM, SO JUST BE SOMETHING, UM, TO BE MINDFUL OF.
UM, WE HAVEN'T HEARD THAT, UH, REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PERMIT, UM, HERE AT THE PLANNING BOARD, BUT IT IS, UM, IT IS ALLOWABLE.
UM, I KNOW C UH, CDD STAFF HAVE ONE I BELIEVE AT, UH, UM, BROADWAY, UM, AND INMAN.
SO, UM, THERE'S PRECEDENT WITHIN THE CITY FOR THOSE.
UM, IT'S A LOT OF SQUARE FOOTAGE.
UM, SO, UM, YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER IT.
UH, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, LASTLY, JUST THAT THE, UH, I'M SUPPORTIVE OF SMALLER AND, AND BROAD RANGE OF UNIT COUNTS.
UM, BUT I, I AM CONCERNED THAT
[02:20:01]
THERE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE EARLY TIMES.UM, SO I GUESS MY, MY GENERAL FEEL HERE IS THAT I, I HAVEN'T HEARD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO FEEL LIKE I COULD, UM, REALLY WEIGH IN ON A SPECIAL PERMIT YET.
UM, BUT THAT'S, UM, I, I'M JUST SPEAKING FOR MYSELF.
UM, YEAH, SIMILARLY, UM, I, WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF SIMILARLY, BUT, UM, TO REFLECT ON WHAT SOME OF MY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS HAVE SAID, UM, YOU KNOW, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
I APPRECIATE, UM, THE, THE PUBLIC MEETINGS YOU GUYS HAVE HAD, I AND THE, UM, WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE WITH CITY STAFF.
AND, UM, I APPRECIATE EVERYONE THAT'S CALLED IN FROM THE PUBLIC.
UM, I ALSO WOULD'VE LOVED TO HAVE SEEN MORE FAMILY SIZED UNITS, AND I UNDERSTAND, UM, THAT WHAT, WHAT YOU'RE TARGETING AND WHERE YOU'RE GOING, BUT THIS IS ONE OF THE CITIES THAT, THAT WANTS MORE FAMILY SIZED UNITS.
UM, I KNOW THAT'S NOT THE NORM NECESSARILY.
UM, I DO CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE, UM, UM, LARGER PERCENTAGE OF OPEN SPACE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE LARGER PERCENTAGE OF PERMEABLE OPEN SPACE.
UM, PARTICULARLY FOR TALKING ABOUT GREEN ROOF, UM, COMING DOWN, UM, FROM 80%.
UM, I DO THINK OUR GREEN ROOF, I, I, I THINK THAT'S A VERY MANIPULATABLE GREEN ROOF POLICY, TO BE HONEST.
SO, UM, I'M NOT SURE IT HAS THE TEETH THAT IT SHOULD ANYWAY.
UM, UM, OH, AND THE, UM, THE TRANSFORMER SCREENER, I, I, I, WITHOUT HAVING SEEN THE ONE IN BROOKLINE IN PERSON, UM, IT FOR NOW JUST LOOKS, UM, A LITTLE BIT CLUNKY ON THE RENDERINGS.
AND SO I'M, I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANY WAY TO, UM, YEAH, I THINK SOMEONE HAD MENTIONED MAKING IT, ADDING SOME, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BY COLOR OR, UM, ADDING, I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA WORK WITH THE ARTS COUNCIL ON THE GARAGE DOOR, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, ADDING SOMETHING THERE TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE INTERESTING AND VISUALLY APPEALING.
UM, THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS FOR NOW.
UM, I THINK MY NOTES ARE A LITTLE SCATTERED, BUT NO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE, UM, PRESENTATION.
UM, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PROPONENT TRYING TO PLAY WITH, YOU KNOW, DEPTH TO MAKE THE PROJECT LOOK A LITTLE LESS MASSIVE OR TAKE UP AS MUCH SPACE.
UM, LIKE SEEING THOSE DETAILS.
UM, THERE STILL ARE, I WOULD SAY MAYBE IT'S ON, UM, BIRCH STREET.
THERE'S CERTAIN, YOU KNOW, THERE'S CERTAIN ANGLES WHERE IT IS STILL A VERY, VERY BIG AND LONG BUILDING, AND I WISH I MIGHT BE IN THE MINORITY, BUT I WISH THERE WAS A WAY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'S DIFFERENT COLORS FOR DIFFERENT WINGS OF THE BUILDING.
BUT TO BREAK IT UP A BIT, BECAUSE, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE SAW THIS IN THE, UM, IN THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DIAGRAM EARLIER, IS IT, THE BUILDING DOES TAKE UP A LOT OF SPACE.
SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN BE PLAYED WITH.
UM, AND THEN, UM, I, I THINK I'M ALSO IN THE CAMP OF, I DON'T LOVE ALL THE METAL CLADDING.
I THINK SOME IS GOOD, BUT PARTICULARLY, UM, FOR THE UPPER LEVELS, AND I THINK ALSO THE TRANSFORMER DOOR IS SOMEHOW THE COMBINATION OF IT MAKES THE BUILDING READ A LITTLE, UM, LAB BUILDING TO ME.
AND SO I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE COLOR ON THE RENDERING THAT'S CAUSING ME TO THINK THAT IT LOOKS MORE LIKE A LAB BUILDING, BUT ANYTHING TO SOFTEN THE, UM, LOOK OF THE BUILDING, I THINK WOULD BE HELPFUL.
AND IN TERMS OF THE TRANSFORMER DOOR, I ACTUALLY DON'T, I THINK THE REASON WHY IT LOOKS REALLY BIG TO US IS IT'S A LOT CLOSER TO STREET, UM, THAN THE REST OF THE BUILDING.
AND SO, UM, MAYBE THAT'S WHY IT LOOKS SO BIG TO US WHO ARE SEEING IT UNPLANNED.
BUT AGAIN, LIKE THE ONE MY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS HAVE SAID, UM, IF THERE IS ANY WAY TO JUST TO BREAK IT UP A LITTLE AND MAKE IT LESS IMPOSING 'CAUSE IT IS THE CLOSEST TO THE STREET, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, OTHERWISE, I'M ALSO IN THE SAME CAMP AS A LOT OF MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS.
I WISH THERE WERE MORE THREE BEDROOMS. I THINK THIS IS A GREAT LOCATION FOR IT.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THREE BEDROOMS ARE ALSO GREAT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WANT ROOMMATES, WHO WANT, UM, A LITTLE MORE COMMUNITY.
AND SO I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING TO EXPLORE AND ALLOW MORE FLEXIBILITY IN THE FUTURE.
BUT OTHERWISE, I, MY ONLY COMMENTS IS THAT, UM, I DO THINK WE SHOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS, I KNOW DOT SAID WE SHOULD, UM, OR PUT A CONDITION THAT THE PROPONENT, UM, CONTRIBUTE TO INSTALLING A NEW SPEED HOME.
[02:25:01]
YOU KNOW, SHOULD MAKE THAT A CONDITION.AND SIMILARLY WITH THE BLUE BIKES.
UH, I'M GONNA GO TO TED NEXT BEFORE I GIVE MARY A SECOND CHANCE AT THE PLATE.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.
WELL, MY COMMENTS ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS ALL MY COLLEAGUES.
UM, I, IN GENERAL, I THINK IT'S A HANDSOME BUILDING.
UM, AND I THINK ASHLEY'S COMMENT ABOUT PERHAPS DIFFERENT COLORS FOR THE DIFFERENT WINGS MIGHT BE AN INTERESTING THING TO EXPLORE.
UM, I, I CERTAINLY, UH, UH, A, A APPLAUD HOUSING AND THE NEED FOR MORE HOUSING.
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE, UH, FAMILY SIZED UNITS.
I UNDERSTAND, UH, NOW I UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC IS AND WHO YOU'RE LOOKING TO, TO RENT OR SELL TO, BUT IT IS SUCH A WONDERFUL LOCATION, UH, NEAR THE PARKS AND, UH, FRESH POND THAT IT WOULD BE A GREAT PLACE FOR FAMILIES.
UM, UH, I, I, I, YOU KNOW, I REALLY DO THINK THERE OUGHT TO BE A GARAGE DOOR ON BAYSTATE ROAD.
UH, AND DEALING WITH IT WITH THE ARTS COUNCIL IS A GOOD IDEA.
AND WHATEVER YOU COULD DO ABOUT THE, THE DOOR TO THE TRANSFORM ROOM, UH, WOULD ALSO BE HELPFUL.
UM, I AGREE THAT YES, HAVING THE TRANSFORMER INSIDE RATHER THAN SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE IS, IS BENEFICIAL TO EVERYBODY.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN, IN GOING TO THE ISSUES WE REALLY HAVE OR TO ADDRESS, UH, YOU KNOW, PARKING AND TRAFFIC, UH, YOU KNOW, PARKING IS NO LONGER REQUIRED.
UH, AND SO GETTING ANY IS GOOD.
UM, AND, UH, THE TRAFFIC ISSUES, I THINK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION'S COMMENTS IN THEIR MEMO AND FROM MR. SCHULMAN TODAY, UH, REALLY, UH, MAKE IT CLEAR THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THAT WE COULD MAKE THE FINDINGS NECESSARY, UH, WITH REGARDING TO TRAFFIC AND PARKING FOR THE PROJECT REVIEW, SPECIAL PERMIT.
UM, UH, AND FINALLY, WITH REGARD TO THE GREEN ROOF, UH, I THINK THE CHAIR'S COMMENTS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE SOME SORT OF PERCENTAGE THAT COULD BE REDUCED.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S GREAT TO HEAR THAT YOU'RE REALLY TRYING TO COMPLY WITH THE 80%, BUT I'D RATHER NOT GIVE A MASSIVE, UH, UH, UH, SPECIAL PERMIT ALLOWING YOU NOT TO MEET IT WITHOUT SOME RESTRICTIONS ON HOW SMALL IT COULD BECOME.
UM, NOW OTHER THAN THAT, I, I, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SAID ABOUT THE DESIGN ISSUES ARE ALL GOOD AND THINGS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER, UM,
AND, YOU KNOW, OVERALL, I THINK IT'S A GOOD PROJECT.
UM, SO I'M, I AM GLAD THAT DAN BROUGHT IT UP AND, AND IT'S COME UP THE, THE GREEN, THE ROOF DECK.
SO I THINK ONE QUESTION I HAD IS, I'M ALSO VERY UNDERWHELMED RIGHT NOW BY THE, THE, UM, THAT SPACE, UM, I, IT DOESN'T SEEM VERY WELCOMING OR, AND IT'S HARD TO, TO FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW IT'S SERVING, UM, THE USERS.
AND I WAS WONDERING, AND THIS HAS TO DO WITH SAY, SHADE.
WE'VE HAD SO MANY HOT DAYS AND, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SHADE WOULD BE IMPORTANT.
SO THE TRELLIS, IF THAT'S A SHADE STRUCTURE, DOESN'T SEEM LARGE ENOUGH.
I THINK THE HAMMERHEAD ASPECT SEEMS CHALLENGING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT WOULD FEEL LIKE.
AND CERTAINLY WE DIDN'T SEE ANY DRAWINGS THAT REALLY SHOW THE QUALITY OF THAT SPACE.
UM, COULD ALSO CONSIDER, EVEN IF IT'S A, UH, EXTENSIVE NON-INTENSIVE ROOF, MAYBE THERE ARE PLANTERS AROUND IT THAT HELP TO, UM, AMP UP THE FEELING OF A BIT OF ENCLOSURE.
UM, BUT THE MAIN QUESTION WAS, IAN, CONSIDERING REDUCING REQUIREMENT FOR THAT GREEN ROOF, I'M KIND OF ASKING MY, UM, MY COLLEAGUES HERE, WOULD WE WANT TO, IN SOME WAY TIE IT TO ALS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE QUALITY OF THAT DESIGN, OF THE TOP EXPERIENCE IN SPACE, RIGHT? IF WE'RE GONNA TAKE AWAY, YOU KNOW, REDUCE ONE THING, I WOULD WANT THAT ALSO TO BE OFFSET A BIT BY, UM, UH, A HIGHER QUALITY A, A MORE COMPELLING, UM, OUTDOOR SPACE FOR THE TENANTS.
OH, I, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF I NEED TO TO JUMP IN RIGHT NOW, BUT, BUT JUST ON, WELL, I MIGHT AS WELL.
[02:30:01]
YOU.UM, JUST ON THE, THE GREEN ROOF, UM, UH, REDUCTION, SPECIAL PERMIT, IDENTIFYING A, UH, A KIND OF MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE REDUCTION IN THAT REQUIRED GREEN ROOF IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'VE, WE'VE DONE BEFORE.
AND IT'S, I THINK, A LITTLE UNCLEAR IF THE ZONING REALLY ALLOWS FOR THAT LEVEL OF FLEXIBILITY.
SO I, I'D BE A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.
SO TYPICALLY, UM, IT'S, IT'S THE, THE WAY THAT THE ZONING SORT OF READS IS YOU GET A SPECIAL PERMIT AND YOU CAN REDUCE THE REQUIRED GREEN ROOF AREA BY PAYING, YOU KNOW, A, A FEE INTO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST PER SQUARE FOOT, THAT YOU REDUCE IT.
AND THAT'S SORT OF THE CRITERIA FOR GRANTING THE SPECIAL PERMIT.
IF THEY PAY THAT, UM, THAT FEE IN LIEU, THEN, THEN THEY SORT OF MEET THE CRITERIA FOR, FOR GRANTING THAT SPECIAL PERMIT, UM, ALONG WITH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NORMAL CRITERIA FOR, FOR GRANTING ANY SPECIAL PERMIT.
SO TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE WAY THAT IT'S, WE'VE DONE IT IN THE PAST IS THE SPECIAL PERMIT HAS BEEN GRANTED TO ALLOW FOR THAT REDUCTION AND THEN AT THE BUILDING PERMIT PHASE, UM, THAT, THAT NUMBER HAS BEEN CALCULATED, UM, BASED ON THE, THE NECESSARY REDUCTION.
SO I, I WOULD, I WOULD CAUTION GETTING TOO GRANULAR.
I I THINK IT'S, IT'S, IT WOULD BE UNCHARTED TERRITORY IF WE TRIED TO IDENTIFY A SORT OF PERCENTAGE AND, UM, AND HAVE THAT MAXIMUM AS A, AS A CONDITION.
I THINK, UH, SOME SAGE ADVICE.
AND I THINK TO THAT POINT, I WAS GOING TO SAY, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE ARE MAJOR CHANGES TO THE PLANS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT TECHNICALLY SHOULD NOT SIGN OFF ON IT, UM, IF THEY'RE TOO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE APPROVE.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S OF ANY ASSURANCE, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF THEY SUDDENLY DECREASE THE ROOF BY THE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT, IT WOULD BE FLAGGED.
UH, WELL, I HEAR WHAT EVAN IS SAYING.
UM, BUT SINCE WE CAN CONDITION SPECIAL PERMITS ALL THE TIME, I CANNOT IMAGINE WHY WE COULDN'T GIVE A CONDITION THAT WE WOULD WAIVE THE REQUIREMENT, BUT NO MORE THAN X PERCENTAGE.
UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT IS UNCHARTED TERRITORY UNDER THE CAMBRIDGE AND THE, AND THE ZONING ORDINANCE, WHICH I DON'T HAVE BEFORE ME RIGHT NOW, BUT I DON'T SEE HOW WE COULD NOT PUT A CONDITION ON IT, LIKE WE PUT CONDITIONS ON MANY OTHER SPECIAL PERMITS.
UM, MS. SCHNEIDER, DO YOU WANNA RESPOND TO THIS PARTICULAR POINT? JUST QUICK, BRIEFLY? 'CAUSE WE'RE IN BOARD DELIBERATIONS HERE.
AND I APOLOGIZE FOR INTERRUPTING, BUT I DID WANNA POINT OUT THAT IN JUNE OF 2025, THIS PLANNING BOARD WITH MANY OF THE SAME MEMBERS ON IT, GRANTED, UH, PROSPECTIVE RELIEF FROM THE GREEN ROOF REQUIREMENT WITHOUT ANY CONDITIONS TO PB 4 0 7, WHICH WAS A PROJECT AT 7 45 CONCORD AVENUE.
THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION OF CONDITIONS.
UM, AND IT WAS A VERY SIMILAR SITUATION WHERE WE PRESENTED A GREEN ROOF, UM, THAT WAS AT THAT TIME COMPLIANT, BUT WE WERE CONCERNED THAT, AS YOU KNOW, THE MECHANICALS WERE FURTHER DESIGNED, WE MIGHT DIP BELOW THAT.
AND AGAIN, THAT WAS NOT CONDITIONED IN ANY WAY.
BUT THE WORLD'S GOT HOTTER SINCE THEN.
UH, DANIEL, LEMME MAKE SURE I'M UNMUTED.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO WEIGH IN, IN, IN SUPPORT A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, OF MARY'S COMMENT THAT, UM, I GUESS, AND, AND I'M, I'M TRYING TO REC RECALL THE CONCORD D UM, REVIEW, BUT, UH, WHAT I'M, WHAT I'M STRUGGLING WITH IS, UM, A VERY DIAGRAMMATIC ROOF PLAN THAT DOESN'T REALLY RAISE IN MY MIND TO A FULL DESIGN PROPOSAL.
I JUST SEE GREEN AND SOME DI SOME DIAGRAMS. AND, UH, I THINK THAT A ROOFTOP AMENITY IS, UH, EXTRAORDINARILY BENEFICIAL.
UM, AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS DONE WELL.
UM, ALSO HAVING SOME EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF ROOFTOP DESIGN.
I'M, I'M QUITE SURE THAT HANS AND HIS TEAM WILL, WILL WORK THIS OUT.
[02:35:01]
A LOT OF ISSUES TO WORK THROUGH, BOTH FROM MECHANICAL SIDE, UM, FROM THE E RVS, UH, FROM ALL THE REQUIREMENTS, UM, THAT, UH, THE CITY HAS ON THIS, UH, FROM ARTICLES 19 AND 22.UM, I WOULD FEEL MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE, UH, SEEING THIS IN A MORE DEVELOPED PIECE, UH, RATHER THAN GRANTING THE SPECIAL PERMIT.
UM, BUT, UH, RATHER THAN PUTTING CONDITIONS ON IT, HYPOTHETICALLY, I, I, MY PREFERENCE WOULD REALLY BE TO SEE, UM, SOME DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN.
AND I, I THINK THE SAME IS TRUE FOR THE, UH, THE TRANSFORMER.
UM, I THINK THAT, UM, THE REQUIREMENTS OF EVERSOURCE AND THE COMPLEXITIES OF A FLOOD IMPACTED SITE AND THE WAY IN WHICH THAT THOSE THINGS ARE RESOLVED TECHNICALLY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE AESTHETICS OF THE BUILDING AND OUR ABILITY TO, TO REALLY WEIGH IN ON IT.
SO, UM, JUST I GUESS REITERATING WHAT I SAID BEFORE, WHICH IS, UM, I, UM, I WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME, UM, RULING FAVORABLY JUST ON THE STATE THAT THE PROJECT IS IN.
WE'RE GONNA GET TO THAT PARTICULAR POINT, UH, VERY SHORTLY.
'CAUSE THE, UH, HOUR IS GROWING LATE.
I MEAN, JUST A FEW COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR HERE HAS BEEN WA WAITING PATIENTLY.
IT'S HARD TO SAY SOMETHING SMART AFTER THE SMARTEST PEOPLE IN PLANNING HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN.
BUT, UM, I AGREED, UH, THE DOOR TO THE VAULT, IT SEEMS LIKE A FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD SOLUTION THAT DOOR READS, LIKE THE LARGEST ENTRY ON THE BUILDING.
YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPLIT THAT.
UH, SOME OF IT'S VENT, SOME OF IT'S ACTUALLY DOOR AND ACCESS.
MAYBE THERE'S A WAY TO CHANGE PLANES OR COLOR, UM, TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF THAT GARAGE DOOR.
UM, UH, WONDERFUL THAT THIS IS A PASSIVE HOUSE.
THIS IS A PASSIVE HOUSE PROJECT.
THE, THE LEVEL OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY THAT, THAT THIS PROPONENT IS STRIVING FOR IS LAUDABLE.
UM, UH, AND THAT, THAT WILL PLAY BACK INTO MY COMMENT ABOUT A GREEN ROOF.
UM, ALSO THE, THE, UH, EXTREMELY THOUGHTFUL CORRESPONDENCE THAT I RECEIVED FROM, UH, NEIGHBORS, UH, DID HAVE A CHANCE TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
UM, IT WAS VERY, VERY HELPFUL.
UM, WAS ABLE TO SATISFY MYSELF THAT, UH, BONNIE'S, UH, WILL NOT BE IN SHADOW AT THE TIME THAT IT WOULD BE SELLING PLANTS.
AND, UM, AND, UH, UH, CONDUCTING LARGELY ITS BUSINESS WITH EXCEPTION OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE SEASON WHEN MAYBE, UH, BEING IN SHADOW MEANS THAT THE LIGHTS ARE GONNA SHOW EVEN BETTER THEN.
SO, UM, THAT WAS ALL AS A RESULT OF THE CORRESPONDENCE THAT I WAS ABLE TO DIG INTO THAT IN ADVANCE OF THIS HEARING.
UM, I WOULD SAY, UH, UH, YES TO THE GARAGE DOOR.
I ALSO, UH, BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD LOOK AT MORE THREE BEDROOM UNITS IF WE CAN.
SO, UM, THAT'S A PRETTY RADICAL CHANGE, I THINK, POTENTIALLY HERE.
SO, UM, I DO BELIEVE, UH, THAT THE ROOF DESIGN IS NOT QUITE AT THE LEVEL, UM, OF THE REST OF THE BUILDING, THE MASSING, UM, UH, AND THE MATERIALS.
ASHLEY'S POINT IS WELL TAKEN, THE ALL METAL PANELS, IT'S ALSO BEEN STATED THAT THOSE ARE VULNERABLE TO DENTING AND TO WEAR.
UM, AND MAYBE WE WANT TO CONSIDER SOMETHING MORE DURABLE AT THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE BUILDING.
SO, UM, I CAN SEE IT'LL DEPEND ON, YOU KNOW, THE WISDOM OF THE GROUP HERE THAT, UH, POTENTIALLY WE WOULD WANNA SEE THIS AGAIN.
DAN IS ON THE RECORD ALREADY SAYING THAT THAT'S SOMETHING HE'D LIKE TO SEE IN LIGHT OF, UH, THE ROOF, UM, BEING, UH, UH, NOT UP TO THE SAME LEVEL AS THE REST OF THE BUILDING.
UH, HOW ARE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS FEELING AT THIS POINT? CONTINUE? DO YOU WANNA SEE IT AGAIN, TED? UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE IT AGAIN.
I MEAN, JUST AS, AND THE, YOU KNOW, THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAYS.
WE HAVE TWO MEETINGS TO DISCUSS DESIGN, AND THIS IS A BIG PROJECT AND I'M, I'M VERY COMFORTABLE WITH A LOT OF IT, BUT I THINK THERE ARE ISSUES THAT ARE OUTSTANDING AND, YOU KNOW, THE PROPONENT CAN GO AWAY WITH KNOWING THAT IN GENERAL, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY POSITIVE ABOUT IT, BUT THERE'S THINGS WE'D LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT.
YEAH, AND I THINK THE LARGELY, LARGELY THE EDITORIALIZING, LARGELY THE TRAFFIC ISSUES HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED AT LENGTH HERE TONIGHT, AND THEY'RE COMPLICATED AND THEY'RE RICH AND, UH, BUT I FEEL LIKE, UH, WE HAVE, UH, WE, WE WE'RE SATISFIED WITH WHERE WE ARE LANDING, AT LEAST AT THIS BOARD MEMBER'S VIEW.
ANYBODY ELSE ON FEELING WHETHER THEY WOULD LIKE A CONTINUANCE? ASHLEY? WE DON'T HAVE PARTICULAR STRONG FEELINGS, BUT I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, ONE THING I NOTICED IS, UM, THE FLOOR PLANS WE SAW, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN A LOT OF THE RESIDENTIAL FLOOR BANDS WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY, UM, DON'T HAVE, DON'T SHOW WHERE THE WINDOWS ARE GOING TO BE.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BE HELPFUL.
AND MAYBE, UM,
YEAH, ANOTHER LEVEL ON THOSE PLANS AT DIEGO.
[02:40:01]
YEAH, I'M ON KIND OF THE SAME BOAT AS ASHLEY.UM, I, MY, MY TROUBLE IS WHEN AT WHAT POINT DO WE ALLOW STAFF TO CONTINUE DESIGN REVIEW WITH THE PETITIONER AND WHAT POINT DO WE ASK FOR A NEW, ANOTHER DESIGN REVIEW? UM, I, I ALSO LIKED THE, THE PREVIOUS, YOU KNOW, TIMES WHEN WE HAD TWO DESIGN REVIEWS, AND I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S GONNA BECOME A STANDARD WHERE WE START TO HAVE TWO FOR THESE PROJECTS.
YOU KNOW, IT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S IT.
OKAY, MARY, UM, WELL, I WOULD'VE, UH, SAID THAT AT LEAST THE ROOFTOP NEEDS SHOULD COME BACK, RIGHT? LIKE, THAT SHOULD BE A CONDITION NO MATTER WHAT.
UM, BUT I THINK BECAUSE SO MUCH OF TODAY WAS REALLY FOCUSED AS IT SHOULD ON THE TRAFFIC AND PARKING, WHICH IS SUCH A NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERN, UM, THERE WERE ENOUGH UNRESOLVED, AND ASHLEY POINTED OUT A GREAT ONE, WHICH IS THOSE WINDOWS I WOULD LOVE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WHERE I WAS TALKING ABOUT THAT BUILDING THE GAPS BETWEEN THE EXISTING BUILDING AND THE NEW ONE THAT OUR HARD SOME VIEWS INTO THAT.
THE 3D MODEL YOU DID WAS GREAT.
SO, UM, SPENT, WE MIGHT SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME.
UM, I JUST ALSO WANNA CONVEY, I, I DO THINK I'D LIKE TO SEE IT AGAIN, BUT I ALSO WANNA REASSURE THE APPLICANT THAT IT'S NOT, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK IT'S A GOOD PROJECT AND HAS MERIT.
IT'S REALLY WORK CONTINUING TO WORK OUT OUT THOSE DETAILS.
JUST TO, TO MAKE SURE THEY FEEL AFFIRMED THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, REALLY HAPPY TO SEE A PROJECT LIKE THIS COMING THROUGH.
MY SENSE IS, UH, THE BOARD IS, UH, LOOKING AT A CONTINUANCE HERE ON THIS TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE ISSUES.
IT'S GENERALLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK HERE.
I THINK YOU'RE OVER SOME HURDLES, UH, UH, THAT WE'RE CHALLENGING, UH, AFTER, UH, NOW PUSHING TO THREE HOURS IN THE HEARING.
SO, UM, I THINK AT THIS POINT, UH, WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS, UH, ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO CONTINUE THE HEARING TO A FUTURE DATE, UH, WITH THE REQUEST THAT WE'VE OUTLINED FOR, UH, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
EVAN, YOU RAISING YOUR HAND? I, I JUST THANK YOU, UM, MR. CHAIR.
I, I JUST WANTED TO MAYBE TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY AND, AND ASK MASON ON, ON MY TEAM TO JUST CONFIRM, UM, WHAT WE UNDERSTAND TO BE THE, UM, THE REVISIONS OR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT WE, WE NEED FOR, FOR THIS CONTINUANCE.
THERE WAS A LOT OF GOOD CONVERSATION, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT, UM, WE'RE ASKING THE, THE APPLICANT TO PROVIDE.
MASON, DO YOU HAVE A GOOD SENSE? I THINK SO.
UM, I THINK A LOT MORE FOCUS ON THE, THE GREEN ROOF, UM, SOME OF THE SPECIFIC DESIGN ELEMENTS, SPECIFICALLY THE, THE TRANSFORMER RELATIONSHIP TO THIS STREET.
UM, I'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH SOME OF MY OTHER NOTES, BUT I, I THINK WITH THE RECORDING AND EVERYTHING, WE SHOULD BE FINE TO MEET WITH THE APPLICANT AFTER THIS AND OKAY.
COMMUNICATE WHAT WE'LL NEED GOING FORWARD.
I DO NEED TO ASK THE APP, UH, SWATHI.
UM, I JUST HAVE A PROCEDURE REMINDER.
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK, UH, MS. SCHNEIDER, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE NOW ENTERTAINING A CONTINUANCE.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE PETITIONER IS ABLE TO DO HERE? OF COURSE.
UH, I'M, I'M CONFIDENT WITH THE TRANSCRIPT AS WELL THAT YOU'RE GONNA GET MORE THAN YOU NEED TO, UH, UH, WORK WITH THE PETITIONER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY COME BACK, UH, AND ADDRESS SOME OF OUR CONCERNS.
SWATI, UH, JUST A REMINDER TO APPOINT, UH, THE ASSOCIATE MEMBER TO BE A VOTING MEMBER.
SO, UH, WE'RE ENTERTAINING A MOTION TO CONTINUE, UH, THE HEARING.
UH, SO I'M LOOKING FOR, UH, SOMEBODY TO MAKE THAT MOTION.
BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT, UH, JUST TO BE CLEAR, WE ARE APPOINTING DAN ANDERSON, UH, UH, AS A BOARD MEMBER TO VOTE ON, UH, THIS PARTICULAR MOTION TONIGHT, UH, IN LIGHT OF, UM, UH, SOMEBODY RECUSING THEMSELVES TONIGHT.
SO, UH, DAN, YOU'RE WILLING TO VOTE? I'M WILLING TO VOTE.
I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT BY VOTE, RIGHT? NO, THE BOARD HAS SOME, THE, THE BOARD CHAIR HAS SOME POWER.
THE CHAIR HAS SOME POWER, SOME POWER.
SO I'M LOOKING FOR A MOTION TO CONTINUE THIS TO, UH, UH, DATE CERTAIN IN THE FUTURE, UM, UH, FOR CONTINUED REVIEW OF, UH, ELEMENTS OF THE DESIGN THAT, UH, WE RAISED TONIGHT IN THE HEARING.
SO I'M LOOKING FOR THAT MOTION, TOM, SINCE I'VE BEEN ELEVATED, I'M HAPPY TO MAKE THAT MOTION.
[02:45:01]
STANDS AT THIS POINT.ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT MOTION? NOBODY INDICATES SUCH.
THAT'S ALL SEVEN MEMBERS VOTING IN FAVOR.
WE WILL SEE YOU, UH, IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TIME.
I KNOW IT WAS A VERY LONG NIGHT AND WE APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.
UH, ANY FURTHER COMMENTS, UH, OR QUESTIONS, UH, FROM STAFF OR THE BOARD? IF NOT, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
OF EVERY, EVERYBODY FOR YOUR PATIENCE TONIGHT, UM, AND YOUR HARD WORK.
THANK YOU TO THE PROPONENT AND TO THE COMMUNITY FOR COMING OUT WITH SUCH THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS.