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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-13 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesAl Town of Reading ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes of March 13, 2003 Members Present John Jarema Edmund Balboni Robert Redfern Susan Miller Donna Boggs tr CLERK jo VJ. s A meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts at 7:00 P.M. Also in attendance was Chris Reilly, Town Planner; Fran Fink, Conservation Commission; and Joan Langsam, Town Counsel. Case # 02-24 Continuance of a Public Hearing on the petition of Archstone-Smith who seeks a Comprehensive Permit under MGL Chapter 40B to place a 232 unit apartment community on the property located at 40-42 & 70 West Street. The Chairman stated that the purpose of this meeting was to go over what has been done so far and review the conditions that came out of the working sessions. The conditions were reviewed and discussed by the Board members and Town Counsel. The first part listed all the plans that the project will be built in accordance with and stated the number of units have been have amended down to 204. One of the most important conditions concerns the type of building, the height, number of bedrooms and affordable units. There is a statement at the request of the Applicant that they can increase the number of one bedroom units. The Applicant explained that they would not want more two or three bedroom units but may want more one bedroom units. These changes would be determined in the design development phase. The applicant stated they will do a market study and see what the appropriate plan is. If this condition is approved, the units stay the same. Conditions 3 and 4 have to do with affordability and the income is not to exceed 80% of the median Boston area income. There was a discussion as to who approved various parts of the project. The Chairman explained that 40B is an outline of a conceptional plan and it leaves it up to the people who are in the municipality with expertise to make those decisions on behalf of the Board as to how it is to be built. The Zoning Board does not deal with specifics. The Town Planner is the appropriate person to see that all involved get plans. The Town Planner explained that there is continuity within the town staff such as the Building Inspector and others. Town Counsel gets frequent emails from the Town Hall so the process is there and in the working sessions they have been trying to incorporate all the details. The Chairman stated that there is a procedure and process. There are two large projects going on at the same time. We put our faith in the people who work here during the day to handle this and we have the confidence that they will do it correctly. The Applicant stated there are no recognized problems at this time, perhaps some lead based paint. They will test for asbestos-wrapped materials. If they have knowledge of anything out there they will report it and have a proscribed amount of time in which to fix it. The landscaping and fencing must go before the Town Planner for review. Town Counsel suggested it might need to be tied in to the Certificate of Occupancy. Joanne Metzger said she was concerned about them bulldozing down all the trees and wanted to know what she would be looking at for the next five years. Virginia Adams asked if there is further review after this for more definite design review and does the CPDC take over and review these afterwards. She also wanted to know if there was going to be any more public input. The Chairman said they have to go back to the conceptual aspects of a 40B and that the Town is not going to have actual input into the color of the stone and that type of thing. That is why the three pages of designs was put in. It was suggested that these be put into the Comprehensive Permit so that it can be seen by anyone who reads the permit. The Town wanted the design as part of the permit so that it would warranty that what is in the discussion is what we are going to get. The Applicant stated they anticipated a Spring 2004 start date and expect the construction to take 15 - 21 months. There was a discussion about the trees at the location and on the abutter's property. There are certain trees that are to be tagged and not removed and this would be determined by the condition of the trees. The Applicant will have an arborist on the site and since trees are so expensive they may want to keep some others and move them if possible and said they will use their best efforts. Town Counsel said the affordable units have to be spread out throughout the development and stated that the Applicant has said they will use the same materials in the interior in the affordable units. They also agreed hat the affordable units should be going in at approximately the same rate as the marketable units. A discussion was had about the retaining walls and how close can they be to the vegetative wetlands as well as how close the footings can be. The Applicant had asked for 25 feet from the wetlands and the footings within 10 feet. Edmund Balboni: Please explain Number 8. Sandy Vance explained Number 8 and that it relates to the gradient of the road at the entrance. They needed the road to go up a little higher from West Street into the property and at 5 % it allowed them to get up higher and minimize the grading. The plan is showing 370 parking spaces with the possibility of adding 18 spaces under the four story building with the idea of keeping the roof line exactly where it is. Virginia Adams said she would like to submit a letter from the Historical Commission dated March 13, 2003. She said she did not know if there have been any efforts for a name for the project but the Historical Commission would be happy to assist in helping choose a historical reference. Brian Blaesser said they would like to close the hearing and have a working session. On a motion by Robert Redfern, seconded by Susan Miller, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted to close the public hearing on the project submitted by Archstone-Smith for a 40B Comprehensive Permit for the property located at 40-42 & 70 West Street. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Minutes On a motion made by Edmund Balboni, seconded by Robert Redfern, the minutes of February 13, 2003 were approved with changes. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. On a motion made by Robert Redfern, seconded by Susan Miller, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Maureen M. Knight