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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-09 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesTown of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867-2683 Phone: 781-942-6612 Fax: 781-942-9071 Email ckowalski@ci.reading.ma.us RECEIVED TON CLERK READING, MASS. 2010 JAN 2 1 A 9: 0 5 Community Planning and Development Commission CPDC MINUTES Meeting Dated: March 9, 2009 Location: Great Room, Senior Center p~.. Times 7:30 PM Members Present: David Tutt e (DT) - hairman;°Nicholas Safina (NS); Secretary John Weston (JW), and Joseph Associate Members Present: George Katsoufis (GK) Also Present: Carol Kowalski (CK), Town Planner; Abigail McCabe (AM), Staff Planner; and Michael Schloth, Recording Secretary. Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Manager Eleanor White, Housing Partners, Inc. Chuck Eisenberg, Housing Partners, Inc David Eisen, Abacus Jason Schrieber, Nelson\Nygaard Angela Binda, 10 Orchard Park Drive Jim Queeney, 28 Mt. Vernon Street There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Public Comment There were no comments Approval Not Required (ANR): 13 Buckingham Drive NS moved the Board endorse the plans. JP seconded and the motion was carried 4:0:0. The Board signed two copies of the mylar plans. One copy was give to the applicant. Presentation & Discussion: Downtown SmartGrowth (40R) District The Town Planner opened with a brief presentation on the rationale behind establishing a 40R district in the downtown: developing a more vibrant downtown, increasing housing stock, and maintaining the character and identity of Reading are shared goals of the 2005 Master Plan, 2006 Housing Plan, and of the participants of the 2008 World Cafe. Increasing housing stock in the downtown cannot be done under the base, Business-B, zoning. The Mixed-Use overlay allows construction of residential units but only through a Special Permit and no developer has yet taken advantage of this zoning option. A 40R overlay district would allow construction of residential units by right and, through Page 1 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 3/9/2009 Design Guidelines established by the town, give the town some control over the design of structures built in the district. Also, the CPDC would still review all construction proposed for the district. An additional benefit of establishing a 40R district is the money it would bring from the State in the form of financial incentives. A member of the audience asked if the incentive funding was guaranteed by the State. Ms. Eleanor White answered the 40R is not funded through a typical appropriation but instead was established as a trust fund. The monies for the trust fund come from the sale of State-owned lands. Ms. White added there is enough money in the trust fund to make incentive payment to all 40R applications approved to date. Next, GK presented a brief slideshow of how various properties might develop within the proposed 40R district. The Town Planner noted there are two projects ready to start if the zoning passes: the redevelopment of both the Atlantic Supermarket site and the M.F. Charles Building. GK said there is still much to be determined regarding design standards and he solicited feedback from the public. He outlined the issues of developing the downtown: • No one is using the Mixed-Use zoning Many parcels in the downtown are non-conforming (residential) • Some parcels are beyond the control of the town (e.g. Post Office) • Land is not being optimally utilized. • Need to maintain Reading's character and identity. He noted the concerns of using the existing Mixed-Use and proposed 40R zoning: • Building height • Increased traffic and parking • Maintaining historic buildings Next, the Town Planner introduced Ms. Eleanor White and Mr. Chuck Eisenberg of Housing Partners, Inc. the consulting firm hired by the town to help develop the bylaw language for the downtown 40R. Mr. Eisenberg noted the key difference between the recently established Gateway 40R district (Addison-Wesley site) and the proposed Downtown 40R is that the former was driven by a developer and the latter is being driven by the town. He then described the process and timeline for approval of the Downtown 40R: • Language of 40R Bylaw is drafted • Public Hearing is scheduled to review draft language • Submit draft and application to Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The DHCD reviews the bylaw language to see if it conforms to the law. • If the DHCD does not approve the bylaw's language, it comes back to the town for changes. • If the DHCD approves the bylaw's language, then Town Meeting votes on it. • If Town Meeting approves the bylaw, it goes back to the DHCD for final approval. Next, Mr. Jason Schrieber of Nelson\Nygaard, the consulting firm hired by the town to review traffic and parking, discussed parking issues. Mr. Scheieber said many parking spaces are underutilized and overall the town does not have a parking problem. At peak, only 60% of parking spaces are being used. Most of the time most people find parking easily. He said there is an issue with employee and noted some employees are using two-hour zones to park for eight hours. Page 2 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 3/9/2009 Mr. Schrieber offered the following recommendations. • Establish employee-parking permits/zones • Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): Higher density reduces vehicle trips. Share parking spaces. Park once and walk to destinations. • Do not build a parking garage. Mr.Schrieber said building more parking is not the answer and noted garages are an incredible expense versus other uses. He gave the example of a parking garage of 900 spaces in Lowell, MA which cost $24,000/space and requires $7.00/space/day just to cover costs. A question was asked regarding requiring dedicated parking spaces for residential units (e.g. require a single parking space per residential unit) which led to a brief discussion of "unbundling" which removes the cost of parking from the cost of the unit and offers tenants/owners parking options: no parking space, offsite parking, additional parking spaces... A Gould Street resident asked if it was the town's intention to give public parking spaces to units built under the 40R. The Town Planner said it was not. Mr. Jim Queeney of 28 Mt. Vernon Street expressed concern over construction of multi-story buildings in Reading. The Town Planner noted the 40R would not allow buildings higher than what is already allowed under existing zoning. She added it was unlikely a wall of towers would be constructred. The Gould Street resident replied that Oaktree proposes to replace the now one-story Atlantic with a multi-story (four-story?) building and added Reading residents are looking for less density not more. Mr. Eisen pointed out that in the past Reading had many more multi-story buildings than exist today. A member of the audience, Ms. Joyce Gould, agreed but noted that back then there Reading also had trolleys. Ms. Gina Snyder of I 1 Jadem Terrace asked expressed concern over historical properties in the district. The Town Planner said there were a total of seven historical properties in the district and all are subject to the Demolition Delay bylaw which gives the Historical Commission time record details of the structure if it cannot be saved. The Town Manager noted neither the renovation of historical properties nor the Demolition Delay is specific to the 40R district. A man in the audience - a Town Meeting member asked how the boundary of the proposed 40R district was determined and why some parts of the downtown were excluded. He also asked how shared parking would be enforced. The Town Planner sand the district originally included more of the downtown but was reduced because it was thought to be too big of a change to propose all at once. If successful, the district could be extended. The Town Manager added it was thought best to keep the district as close to the main business streets - Main and Haven - as possible. As for how shared parking would be enforced, the Town Manager said it would take the cooperation of both the business and residential community. A woman in the audience asked if the 40R Smartgrowth district was not approved, could affordable housing still be built. The Town Planner said that could be done through a Special Permit under the Mixed-use zoning but no one has done it yet. She added that Oaktree's current proposal depends on Page 3 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 3/9/2009 the approval of the Downtown 40R district and bylaw. The same woman said she was for the establishment of the district but she would like to see affordable retail units too. The Town Manager said if the 40R zoning is not approved the next step could be to go back to the Mixed-Use bylaw and try to make it work. The net result would be the same except the town would neither receive incentive payments from the State nor have the authority to dictate design criteria (Design Guidelines). Ms. Eleanor White of Housing Partners, Inc. added that an additional benefit of establishing a 40R district is the State has committed to give priority in discretionary funding to cities and towns which do so. Ms. Gwen of Oaktree Development spoke briefly on Oaktree's plans for the Atlantic Supermarket site. Liveliness in the downtown is key and to that end Oaktree wants to include retail: perhaps a small market and a cafe. They want to encourage walking from the surrounding area or using the train to the get to the shops. They are open to suggestions and rather work with local businesses that franchises. They may add a small bump-out onto Haven Street for outdoor seating. Regarding parking, they would provide spaces beneath the site. Mr. James Mawn of Northern Bank & Trust Company spoke briefly on his company's plans for the M. F. Charles building. The height would be left alone but the footprint would be reduces to provide parking space. An historical architect has been hired so that changes will be consistent with the historic character of the building. He agrees with Oaktree that people like to shop on busy streets. Exiting tenants will remain. Ms. Angela Binda, Town Meeting member, said she was not opposed to four-story buildings but she has concerns regarding scale and does not want to see everything become a four-story building. She asked if a length-maximum could be imposed so a developer could not buy up - for example - five consecutive buildings, tear them down, and construct one long, tall building. GK said a length- maximum could be put in the design guidelines and was done so in the design guidelines of the Gateway 40R. He said the guidelines state no fagade shall be longer than 40 feet. Ms. Binda asked if the three-year deadline for construction to break-ground so the town can keep its incentive payments applied to each individual construction. Ms. White said the deadline applies to the first construction but there is pending legislation to repeal the three-year limit. Ms. Binda asked if the town could place a cap on the number of units constructed. Mr. Eisenberg said it could not but the boundary of the district was drawn to allow for the possibility of a build-out of about 200 units. The Town Manager noted that Oaktree's development would create approx. 64 units and the M.F. Charles redevelopment would create another 14 units. More units may or may not be created in the district later. The Town Planner said she would have a map created showing which parcels in the district are more likely to be developed. JW noted that parking capacity is a limiting factor and in the district as proposed not many more than 200 units could be built based on existing capacity. A member of the audience asked: if there were so many unused parking spaces, then why are so many commuters parking on neighboring residential streets like Woburn and Prescott? What does the town propose to do about commuter parking? The Town Manager said he did not foresee soon Page 4 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 3/9/2009 getting rid of parking on residential streets near the depot. He suggested decking (tiered parking or a garage) might work but there was no space for one near the depot. The Town Planner brought the meeting to a close saying there would be more discussions of parking and design guidelines in the future. Also, the Board would prepare a map showing the most likely locations for four-story buildings in the district. JW moved to adjourn. NS seconded. The motion was carried and the Board adjourned at 9:45 PM. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on November 23, 2009; these minutes were approved as amended by the CPDC on November 23, 2009. Signed as approved, Jolt Weston, Secretary Page 5 of 5