2026-09-17 - Planning Board

00:04Okay, good evening everybody. This is

00:05the regularly scheduled meeting of the

00:07planning board. It is September 17th,

00:102026.

00:12Pursuant to chapter 2 of the acts of

00:132025, this meeting of the planning board

00:15will be conducted via remote

00:16participation. A video recording of the

00:19proceedings will be available on the

00:20city website's meetings and events page

00:22or by emailing planning boards ma.gov.

00:25This meeting is being recorded. I am

00:28Mike Capiono. I am the chairman of the

00:30planning board. Uh with me tonight is

00:33our vice chair Ameilia Abof, our clerk

00:36Jan Habib, and our members Michael

00:38McNeely, Cory Cooper, Luke Schustster,

00:41and Lynn Richards. We have a quorum. We

00:44have a number of items on our agenda

00:45tonight. Uh 222 Broadway, which has

00:49previously been um opened and continued.

00:53We have uh 8 Medford Street which has

00:56been opened, heard um and continued.

01:01And we have uh six Wheatland Street

01:03which has not yet been opened. So here's

01:06what I'm going to do. First, I'm going

01:08to take 222 Broadway

01:12um

01:14which has previously been read in. So,

01:15I'm going to invite the applicant and

01:17their team to be unmuted and to

01:21um

01:23share a present.

01:29This is Ala from the planning office. Uh

01:32I promoted Nicole Solomon who is one of

01:34the applicants. If anybody else from

01:35their team needs to be promoted, just

01:36raise your hand.

01:52Hello.

01:53>> Oh, hello. Just get my monitor down

01:56here.

01:57>> Sure.

02:03>> All right. Hi. Good evening. How are

02:05you?

02:06>> I'm I'm I'm doing I'm doing well. If you

02:08could introduce yourself for the record,

02:09please.

02:10>> Okay. Great. My name is Nicole Sullivan

02:12and I work for Mark and Megan Pa, the

02:15owners of this Duncan location.

02:18>> Great. And so what we have is is no

02:22recommendation

02:24on our staff memorandum for this

02:26application um on the grounds and and is

02:30uh is is Kit the planner on this one?

02:32>> Yes.

02:33>> Yep. Um, Kit, it's it's my understanding

02:35that this m this application um has not

02:39submitted all of the required materials

02:41that staff needs in order to make a

02:43recommendation and to assess the

02:45application fully.

02:47>> That's correct. I did receive a

02:49neighborhood meeting report this

02:51afternoon around 2:00 p.m. Um, but of

02:53course I didn't have time between then

02:55and now um to, you know, get you guys an

02:58updated staff memo. So, at this point, I

03:01have received everything, but it wasn't

03:03until today.

03:04>> Okay. And so, um, Nicole, just so you

03:08know, it's the policy.

03:09>> I did know that it had to be I had no

03:11idea that there was a deadline. That's

03:13my fault and my ignorance. Um,

03:16>> I'm sorry. So, what what what I'm going

03:17to suggest to you uh because usually

03:20it's the planning board's practice uh

03:22not to take applications uh to be heard

03:25that uh that have not yet either been

03:27complete uh or have not been fully

03:30reviewed by staff in order to weigh in

03:32because that may change the nature of

03:34your application and presentation to us.

03:36Um it's my suggestion to you that you um

03:41continue for another couple of weeks so

03:43that uh Kit and the and the relevant

03:45staff will be able to review that

03:47material and update our uh

03:49recommendation memo so that you can get

03:51a recommendation um one way or one way

03:54or the other.

03:56>> Okay, I I'm fine with that.

03:59>> Okay, our next meeting is October 1st.

04:01Will that be um a good enough duration

04:05of time for you to review Kit?

04:06>> Sure,

04:07>> Kit.

04:08>> It's fine.

04:08>> Yeah, that work that works for me. Thank

04:10you.

04:11>> Okay. Um so, the applicant has made a

04:14request to continue this agenda item uh

04:17to the 1st of October. So, the chair

04:20moves to continue that agenda item.

04:22Seconded by Amelia

04:24Alro, can we please have a roll call?

04:27>> Kabid.

04:29>> Lyn Richards. I

04:31>> Luke Schuster.

04:32>> Hi

04:33>> Carly Cooper.

04:35>> I

04:36>> Michael Magnelli.

04:37>> Hi

04:38>> Emmeilia Ael.

04:39>> I

04:40>> Michael Kaplan.

04:42>> Hi.

04:42>> This agenda item is continued uh so that

04:45staff will be able to review any of the

04:47missing materials and make uh a

04:49recommendation accordingly. Thank you.

04:51>> Okay. Thanks.

04:57>> Okay. Um

05:04and in a similar way, um it's my

05:06understanding that uh Six Wheatland

05:09Street

05:10um has not yet completely submitted all

05:15of the required materials in order to

05:17get the um

05:21appropriate staff to to weigh in. But

05:23what I'd like to do is invite the

05:25applicant for um Weatland Street to um

05:29come in and just um have a have a quick

05:31discussion on on that. And who is the

05:33case planner on 6 week? Is it is it

05:37>> Yep.

05:38>> Okay. So,

05:40>> hi. Sure. Hi, Adam Dash 48 Grove Street

05:42representing NPO Properties LLC. Um

05:45we've been going back and forth with

05:46mobility and the last bit of it, it has

05:49to do with the mostly the configuration

05:51of the bike parking. This is all going

05:53to comply by the end. None of this is

05:55gamechanging. Certainly has nothing to

05:57do with the special permit for

05:58residential living, which one of the

06:00things we're here for tonight. And on

06:01the site plan approval, we'll we will be

06:05compliant and sorted out. We did not get

06:07them the they want to revised tap, which

06:10our engineer is working on, but it's not

06:12going to change the basic plan here.

06:15We've already gotten our variances from

06:16the ZBA. I should just note we filed

06:19this in March. So, I mean, this has been

06:21going on for a very long time for was an

06:23abandoned derelic property in the

06:25neighborhood. And I know October 1st

06:27you're going to have a probably very

06:28lengthy joint meeting with the land use

06:30committee. U I see on the calendar

06:33I would request.

06:36>> Yeah. Well, I would suggest it's

06:38certainly your call, but I mean if we

06:39we're all here, if we could present

06:41tonight, if you wanted so we don't take

06:43up all that time on the first. Are you

06:45are you s So, so this technically hasn't

06:47been read into the record yet, but we're

06:48not actually discussing the case. Um, do

06:51you think that a review of the TAP uh

06:56Alvaro will change the nature of this

06:58application in any meaningful way?

07:01>> Uh, from the comments that I received

07:03from the mobility division and submitted

07:05on the supplemental staff memo, no,

07:08there seems to be no major changes that

07:10will be implemented on the tab. um they

07:12just have to make reference to the

07:14updated plans that were submitted on

07:15September 10.

07:16>> Okay. So, in some ways that's a

07:18formality as opposed to the previous

07:19case which was more substantive.

07:23Okay. Um then what I'd like to do now

07:25then is Jan, could you read into the

07:27record the notice of public hearing for

07:29six week because I don't think it's been

07:30done yet.

07:32>> Absolutely, Mr. Chair. Adam- Essquire on

07:35behalf of Nelson Group Construction Cor

07:38uh proposes to develop an apartment

07:41building in the Midrise 3 MR3 zoning

07:44district which requires site plan

07:45approval ZP25-000016

07:51Adam Esquire on behalf of Nelson Group

07:54Construction proposes to establish

07:56residential housing in the Midrise 3 MR3

08:00zoning district which requires a special

08:02permit ZP P25-0000117.

08:07Thank you, Mr. Chair.

08:09>> Um, Mr. Chair, just one note. Um, Jan,

08:13just there was a revised um agenda.

08:16There was a couple of typos on the

08:17permit numbers. So, just to clarify, the

08:19site plan approval for Sigland is

08:21CP26-000016

08:25and the special permit is CP26-000017.

08:30>> Thank you, Alro. And thank you, Mr.

08:32Chair.

08:33>> Thanks for the clarification, Alro. Um,

08:36it's good to obviously have that on on

08:37the record for uh going forward. Um,

08:40Adam, I don't know if you have members

08:42of team that need to be um shared or

08:45unmuted or whatever. Um, Evan Stelman

08:48has his hand up to be he's the

08:50architect. Um, I'm by the way, I'm

08:52representing NPO Properties as I said.

08:54Evan Stelman from KDI Architecture needs

08:56to be promoted. Jeremy Henry on behalf

08:59of NPO Properties needs to be promoted

09:02and likewise Mark Maserelli from Mark

09:04Maserelli Associates Associates

09:06landscape architect needs to be appro um

09:08promoted. So um I can also share my

09:11screen. We have some slides here to show

09:13you if you could grant me the permission

09:16to do so. Whoever is controlling the

09:19Zoom. Yeah.

09:20>> Adam, this is Albert and you should be

09:21good to present.

09:23>> I am indeed now. Thank you so much.

09:24over.

09:27Okay. So, there we go. So, all right.

09:31Now, we're good. So, we're here tonight

09:33for site plan approval and for special

09:35permit for the residential living use at

09:376 Wheatland Street. This matter went

09:40before the zoning board of appeals on

09:41July 15th. And the zoning board approved

09:44variances for the primary front facade

09:46buildout and the landscape buffer

09:48requirement regarding an abuing NR zone

09:51property. So those issues

09:52[clears throat] have been resolved. Um

09:54the six Wheatland Street is located in

09:56the MR3 zone and is not in a transit

10:00area and it has been a vacant and

10:02derelic property for quite some time.

10:05So I'm going to show you some existing

10:06conditions here. So uh this red box here

10:10is the property. As you can see here's

10:12Broadway, here's Wheatland Street. It

10:15and right here there's a commercial

10:16building here. I'll give you some more

10:17pictures. There's a commercial building

10:19here on Broadway. And this is the first

10:21house, if you will, in this in on

10:23Wheatland. This whole thing here is the

10:26old Star Market site, which thankfully

10:27no longer looks like what you're seeing

10:29in this image. Um, and over here is Foss

10:31Park. So, pretty decently well located

10:34here, and only one building in from

10:35Broadway, which is important for later.

10:38Um, so what we've got here, this is the

10:41the building we're talking about here on

10:43the left. Um, you can see the one on the

10:45right when this picture was taken

10:46underwent its own whole big project over

10:49here. But we're just talking about this

10:50little narrow lot here on the left. What

10:53I do want to show you, this is an

10:54important image. This building here on

10:56the left, the brick one, this is the

10:58building FA at 2733 Broadway, which is a

11:01commercial structure facing Broadway.

11:03And this building, this property

11:06basically just faces the blank wall

11:08here, as you can see. Um, and as you can

11:11see also on the property, this is a very

11:13narrow lot, but the building that we

11:15have here is pushed over to the right as

11:17far as it can go up against the

11:19residential neighbor here and far away

11:21from as far away as possible from the

11:23commercial blank wall for some reason.

11:25That's hard to understand. And you can

11:27also see here the little loading area

11:29for that commercial building, which is

11:30also right next door. Um, so this is

11:33this building over here is over in the

11:35NR zone and we're in the MR3

11:38to be clear here.

11:40So, um, right now this building is only

11:432.3 feet from the property line on the

11:46NR side.

11:48And here's another image. Gives you a

11:50view up Wheatland Street. You can see

11:51Broadway in the distance. Again, there's

11:53that commercial building with the blank

11:55wall. This is the neighbor which was

11:56undergoing renovation. This gray house

11:58here is the one we're talking about

12:00right now. So, the um,

12:05okay, go over here. All right. So again,

12:08you can see here the the zoning. Um you

12:10can see this dark purple over here is

12:12the star market site that's currently

12:14undergoing that big redevelopment. Um

12:16you can see here that we are part of

12:18this light purple MR3 and then the

12:21street goes into NR as it goes up

12:23because this is Broadway and that's why

12:25all this I guess is MR3. So the um

12:30so as you know the star market size can

12:32have two very large buildings, a new

12:34park, a new civic plaza, new retail

12:36storefronts and our main rear butter to

12:39this property over here is the Elizabeth

12:41Peody House. So really the only actual

12:45residential property we abut is just

12:46this one on the right here. Um, an

12:49applicant is seeking to demolish this

12:51existing structure and build a new

12:52three-story uh five unit residential

12:56apartment building. And that new

12:57building is conforming building type for

12:59the MR3 zone. This existing detached

13:02house that's there now is not a

13:04conforming building type. So the

13:10I would note the historic preservation

13:11commission has already looked at this

13:13and determined the existing structure

13:15not to be significant such that no

13:17demolition review has been proposed.

13:19This is just the summary as I was saying

13:21and MR3 three stories is compliant. Five

13:24residential units compliant uh one unit

13:28which is easy math to do the 20% will be

13:30affordable and you can see the size of

13:32the units here which are you know fairly

13:35decent not extravagant sized units. Um

13:39this is sort of a summary of where we've

13:41been. Um and um you can see here that

13:45we've been uh we've had the neighborhood

13:47meetings. We've been through the uh

13:49urban design commission which is

13:50recommending the design option we're

13:52going to show you tonight. Um and

13:55obviously we've already been to the

13:56zoning board of appeals and you are

13:58basically our last stop at this point.

14:00So the um

14:05so again here is the site plan. So you

14:08can see here on this existing site plan

14:10again the narrowness of the lot, how

14:12this existing building that we're taking

14:13down is shoved right up against the

14:15house here and as far away from this

14:17blank brick wall as possible. Um and uh

14:21we're looking to reverse that with our

14:24proposal.

14:28So this is the site plan here. Um and

14:31this is the zoning table and I will have

14:33uh the our experts go through this with

14:35you. this proposed three-story building

14:38um here with the five has five motor

14:40vehicle parking spaces. It will we have

14:43compliant bike parking. We will work out

14:45those details with mobility about how

14:47they're configured, but that's it's not

14:48going to change from being compliant

14:50bike parking. It will be compliant bike

14:51parking and we're sure we can get to a

14:53situation with mobility to sort that

14:55details out on that. Um, this is going

14:58to act as a good buffer between that

15:00commercial zone along Broadway and the

15:03rest of the street as it goes NR up uh

15:06along Wheatland. Um, the other two

15:08aspects for which the variances have

15:10been the other than the two aspects for

15:13which the variance has been obtained,

15:15the proposed structure is otherwise

15:16zoning compliant entirely. So, at this

15:19point, I'd like to have uh Evan Stman,

15:21the architect um and Mark Measerelli,

15:23the landscape architect, talk about the

15:25project. And do you want to go forward

15:28uh Evan and just let me know if you want

15:29me to change the slides?

15:31>> Okay. Yeah, I'll start with the site

15:33plan that we have here. Uh so the yellow

15:35shaded region is the footprint of the

15:38ground floor habitable space. Um the

15:41area behind that in gray is where we

15:43have our parking. So there's five units

15:46and five parking spaces. And towards the

15:49back left of uh the structure we have

15:51our required bike parking and trash. And

15:54then behind that we have a 10-ft setback

15:56where we're showing our condensers and

15:58some landscaping area. Uh access to the

16:02habitable space of the building occurs

16:03at the front left of the site. Uh so

16:06there's uh an entry at the ground floor,

16:08some steps up to the first floor, and

16:11then we have circulation up to the upper

16:12stories from there.

16:15Uh with regards to setbacks, uh the left

16:17side is basically on the lot line, give

16:19or take a few inches for

16:20constructibility. Uh the right side

16:22setback is about 10 ft. Well, it is 10

16:25ft. Um the front setback is 5'8, which

16:31leaves a 12T curb setback. And then as I

16:34mentioned, the rear setback there is 10

16:35ft.

16:37Uh next slide, please.

16:41And then we have the landscaping plan. I

16:44don't know if you want to jump in to

16:45discuss this, Mark.

16:48If so, yeah, there you go.

16:50>> Hey, Evan. Um Mark Mezerelli here. Good

16:53evening. I'm the landscape architect for

16:54Six Wheatland Street. I'm just going to

16:56give a very brief presentation.

16:58Um this plan responds to the constrained

17:02urban site by concentrating meaningful

17:04green infrastructure wherever feasible.

17:06And you can see it's really just in that

17:08rear area. And the design works around

17:11the existing mature Sycamore maples at

17:13the rear property line. These are these

17:15are large uh 28 in uh diameter breast

17:19height mature trees that we've been very

17:22careful to preserve um on our design.

17:27The um

17:29the design also provides 915 square ft

17:33of pvious paving and the planted area at

17:36the rear is populated with uh native

17:39ostrich ferns. uh it's not intended to

17:42be uh used as open space for this

17:45particular project. The roof adds

17:48approximately 970

17:51square ft of extensive sedum green roof

17:54uh which provides storm water retention,

17:56cooling and habitat value.

17:59We've also included on the plan specific

18:02uh tree protection and root pruning

18:04measures for the mature offsite trees

18:07along the rear property line which I

18:08mentioned are the sycamore maples. Uh

18:11together with these elements we achieve

18:13the required Somerville green score of

18:150.25

18:16while we hope creates a durable and

18:19lowmaintenance uh landscape that's

18:20appropriate to this um site. And I just

18:24would like to add in conclusion that the

18:26landscape plan has been reviewed and

18:28approved by Somerville's public space

18:30and urban forestry division. Thank you.

18:38>> Perfect. Um if you go could go on. Okay.

18:41So this is a a sheet showing the the

18:44zoning associated diagrams. Uh I'll

18:47point out the right two images are

18:49diagrams of the uh facade buildout that

18:52we were granted for the ZBA. Uh the top

18:55image shows uh the red hatched region on

18:58the right. Um which is what would be the

19:01required facade buildout and everything

19:03to the left of that is what we are

19:04proposing to build out. So uh we were

19:07off about by about 2 feet on that facade

19:09buildout and again we did receive the

19:11variance for that. Next slide.

19:16And this is just the ground floor again.

19:18So, uh, Wheatland would be on the right

19:20of this sheet. The proposed driveway

19:22runs from the right to the left, uh, to

19:25access those parking spaces and bike

19:26parking. Uh, this is showing the

19:30proposed lobby at the front bottom of

19:33the site. Uh, you can walk in there.

19:34There's a vestibule accessible entry to

19:39the top of the sheet, some mail spaces,

19:41and a sprinkler room. And then we have

19:43our first floor and basement unit there.

19:46And again, that's about

19:481,800 square feet and it's a

19:50threebedroom, three bathroom unit. And

19:53we we'll go up to the second floor.

19:57Oh, down to the basement. Sorry.

19:58>> Yeah. Wow.

19:59>> Yeah. So, this is just the lower level

20:01of that first floor unit showing um the

20:04two bedrooms down there and then some

20:05areaways and then we'll go up to the

20:08second floor.

20:10Okay. So on this level we have two

20:12units. The stairs are coming up towards

20:14the middle on the bottom of the sheet.

20:16Uh the unit at the front which is on the

20:19right side is about 1025 ft and it's a

20:22two-bedroom two-b unit. The unit at the

20:25rear is also a two-bedroom two-b unit at

20:28about 1,270

20:30ft.

20:32And then up to the third floor, it's a

20:34pretty similar layout except the stairs

20:37coming up are more to the left. Uh both

20:39units are two bedrooms, two bathrooms.

20:42Uh the one in the front is about 1285

20:45and the one in the rear is about 1125.

20:51Next slide.

20:54And these are the proposed elevations.

20:56So the top one is the front elevation

20:58which is facing Wheatland. We're

21:00proposing uh cementitious siding for a

21:04majority of the building. Uh so we broke

21:06the front elevation up to highlight the

21:08entry at the left side and brought that

21:10parapit up a few feet beyond the parapit

21:13for the remaining building and it's clad

21:15in a lighter color than the the

21:16remaining building. The right portion of

21:19the front facade is clad with a darker

21:21color with the lighter color uh higher

21:24exposure cladding between the windows

21:27and within the recessed balconies.

21:30The bottom elevation here is the right

21:32side elevation. So that's facing our

21:34driveway and the residential properties

21:36to the right of us. Um again it's clad

21:40with a smaller exposure darker siding

21:42and then the areas between the window

21:44head and window sills use that larger

21:46exposure uh lighter color siding. And at

21:49the bottom right of this elevation is

21:51where we can lever the or we extend the

21:54structure over the parking and by

21:55parking there. And then on the next

21:59sheet we have the other two elevations.

22:02So the top one here is the rearfacing

22:04elevation. Um it's takes the same uh

22:08aesthetic as the right side and wraps it

22:11around the rear of the structure. The

22:13ground floor is uh the wall at the rear

22:15of the parking. And then we have the

22:18upper story units on the second and

22:20third floor with the recess balconies at

22:22the right side there.

22:24And [clears throat] then the bottom

22:25elevation is the left side elevation.

22:28So, this is the one that faces Broadway

22:30and we masked out the adjacent building,

22:33uh, the singlestory building at the

22:35bottom of this elevation here. Uh, we

22:37carried the darker exposure siding

22:39across this side. And the right side is

22:42where we're highlighting the main entry

22:43at the front of the building where we

22:44pull that parapit wall up. And then

22:47towards the rear of the structure, we

22:49broke up the massing with alternate

22:50color siding.

22:52>> You can also see the short-term bike

22:54parking here on the front. Yeah.

22:59And these are the proposed elevation or

23:02uh sections going through the structure.

23:05Um the top right section is through uh

23:09the threetory portion of the structure

23:10where we have units one 101 2011 and

23:15301. Um and then the top left elevation

23:19is cutting through the parking area. So

23:21we just have living spaces at the upper

23:23two stories.

23:25And then the bottom elevation cuts uh

23:27from Wheatland towards the rear of the

23:29site. So on the right side you can see

23:31the living space uh and then it opens up

23:33to the parking and then we have the open

23:35space at the rear of the structure.

23:41And these are a few proposed 3D images.

23:44The top right one is looking from

23:46Wheatland towards Broadway. Uh the top

23:49left image is a view from Broadway

23:52looking towards Wheatland. Uh, and the

23:55bottom two images are really just shown

23:58for the massing and materials. There are

24:01some existing structures at the rear of

24:02the site. So, these aren't actually

24:04images that would be visible, but um, we

24:07wanted to present the materials and

24:09mass.

24:11Next slide.

24:14Onto the shadow studies. So, this is

24:16showing the existing shadows. Um, and

24:18then if you toggle to the next slide, it

24:20shows how they change for the proposed.

24:23Uh so new shadows are shown in blue. Um

24:26the summer solstice is the top row. So

24:29in the morning we're casting shadows uh

24:31kind of parallel to Broadway. Uh towards

24:34the afternoon they wrap around towards

24:36the rear of our site. Um and then into

24:39the evening they wrap around to

24:40Wheatland Street. Um so the most

24:44significant effects are um really during

24:48the winter solstice and I'm sorry it's

24:50mislabeled here but that's the bottom

24:51row. um where we're casting more shadow

24:55in the afternoon towards the rear of the

24:57site and then um into the evening

25:00towards the the right of the site.

25:03And I think we have some more uh

25:05extensive shadow studies showing each

25:08solar event. So, we have the summer

25:10solstice here from 8:00 a.m. to uh 8:00

25:14p.m. And the next slide, we have um the

25:19equinoxes from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

25:22And next slide, we have uh equinoxes

25:26again from 8:00 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Okay.

25:30Yeah. Then we go into the winter

25:31solstice from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

25:36And that's everything.

25:38>> Great. Thanks, Evan. So, um, creating

25:41more housing is a goal of the city. Uh,

25:43it will create density near this old

25:45Star Market site's new redevelopment and

25:48the main thoroughare of Broadway and Fos

25:50Park while providing a buffer between

25:52Broadway and the NR zone and pulling the

25:55building closer to the commercial blank

25:56wall and away from its NR residential

25:58neighbor. So, um, the it will comply

26:02with the green score and will have one

26:03affordable unit. As far as the site plan

26:06approval is concerned, the project

26:08complies with some vision and the intent

26:09of the MR3 zoning district by providing

26:12muchneeded housing, including that one

26:14affordable unit, removing a vacant

26:16eyesore from the neighborhood. Um,

26:18creating more space between the

26:20structure and its residential neighbor

26:21to the right and increasing the density

26:23as I described. Um, the project will

26:25have the on-site parking because it is

26:28not in a transit area. It will comply,

26:30as I said, with the green score and

26:32promote the goals of the Somerville

26:33Pollinator Action Plan as requested by

26:35the urban design commission. The project

26:38provides usable green space um there

26:41that we showed there and it does have or

26:43green space and does have a green roof.

26:45And as for the residential living use

26:47special permit, that residential use

26:50meets the standards of summer revision

26:51in the intent of the MR3 zoning district

26:53by created creating badly needed

26:55housing, including one affordable unit,

26:57revitalizing the long derelict site, and

26:59adding density near these new

27:01developments. And as um Evan stated,

27:03there's five long-term biking bike

27:05parking spaces in the back, and then

27:07those two uh bike parking spaces you can

27:09see for short-term on the street. So,

27:12uh, in short, it's a compliant

27:14three-story project, and the applicant

27:16would request that the board grant the

27:18site plan approval and the special

27:19permit. And I will take this off the

27:21screen.

27:24>> Thank you.

27:24>> Thanks very much, Adam. Um,

27:28so I I only have a few comments, but I'm

27:30going to reserve them until after public

27:32testimony, um, if there will be any. But

27:34does anybody on the planning board have

27:36any comments or questions that they'd

27:38like to ask of the applicant or of staff

27:40before I open up testimony.

27:46Okay.

27:48Uh with that, I'm going to open up this

27:51hearing to public testimony. For anybody

27:54that would like to speak in support of

27:55the application, please hit the raised

27:58hand button and I will go in.

28:05Going once.

28:07Going twice.

28:09Seeing none, I will close that portion

28:12of the public hearing and open it up to

28:14anybody that would like to speak in

28:16opposition to the application or

28:17otherwise express concern.

28:24Going once,

28:26going twice.

28:28Seeing none, I will close that portion

28:30of the public hearing and bring it back

28:33to any questions or discussions that

28:35members of my uh my colleagues might

28:38have.

28:39Is anybody having they would like to

28:44contribute at this time?

28:49Okay, we're all quiet tonight. Good. Um,

28:52and then I'll just say this project

28:54seems to be pretty pretty

28:55straightforward, pretty pretty decent.

28:57Um, I appreciate the um the bedroom

29:00counts on the on that unit mix. Um

29:03that's something that this board as as

29:05you know has been um advocates for for

29:08for a long time. Multiple different

29:10projects. Um other than that, it's it's

29:14a nice transition between, you know,

29:15Broadway and and a and a neighborhood

29:17residential zone. Seems pretty uh pretty

29:20straightforward to to me. Um, I know we

29:24have one piece that's maybe somewhat of

29:27a of a of a formality that just needs to

29:29be um inked out over the next two weeks,

29:32but um other than that, does anybody

29:35have anything they would like to add?

29:40Uh I see Michael first and then Luke

29:44quickest on the draw again. Um I just

29:46would like to echo your comments, Mr.

29:48Chair. Uh, and I have just a little bit

29:50of color for yourself and my colleagues

29:52based on some other projects that we've

29:53had that are similar. Um, this is very

29:56similar to the project that was near the

29:59Star Market in Porter Square. Um, and I

30:01know that one we had a lot more debate

30:03around the parking. Uh, I would just

30:05like to indicate to to you all and the

30:07public that I feel like because this is

30:09not in that transit zone. Um, I

30:12personally don't feel like I've got that

30:13same strong opinion about the parking at

30:15this site. Um, so just want to add that

30:17color. I guess I'd make one last plea to

30:19the applicant though to to give one last

30:22look over on the bike parking if you if

30:24you don't mind. Again, I really like the

30:26project as it is, but if there's any way

30:28to squeeze in an extra bike parking

30:30space, I think that would be

30:31appreciated. Just feels a little thin to

30:33only have one bike parking spot per

30:35unit. Um, so if there's any way you

30:37could squeeze that in. I know there's

30:39lots of great biking uh around there and

30:41and and bike uh bike lanes, so it'd be

30:45good to give that group access to it.

30:48Otherwise, again, love the project.

30:49Thank you.

30:53>> Thanks, Michael. The next person I saw

30:54was Luke, and I do see Lynn's hand after

30:57that.

30:59>> Thanks. Yeah, I I thought this is a

31:01great proposal. Um echo almost

31:04everything said. I guess the the one

31:06thing on my mind is about the

31:08possibility of actually voting on this

31:10today. Um and and one broader context on

31:14my mind is I know there's this broader

31:16conversation around shifting more

31:18responsibilities to the planning board,

31:20but the concern around our workload and

31:24you know some of that falls on us. If we

31:25can free up capacity by moving pro, you

31:28know, projects quicker and not across

31:30multiple meetings, that just helps

31:34meet the math on how much time we've

31:36got. So, I don't know if if other folks

31:38feel like we actually could move this

31:40today. I was frantically clicking around

31:43trying to make sure I was fully up to

31:46speed on it. It's it's just the tap,

31:48updated tap that we're waiting for. I I

31:50don't know. curious about other people's

31:51reactions, but I'd be comfortable

31:54if we could find a way to move it today.

31:56>> Yeah. So, look, I I'll respond to that.

31:59It's been the practice of the board to

32:02require a complete application, complete

32:04review. That's that's kind of the

32:05standard that we've got um in order to

32:08write a a a decision that complies with

32:13um the ordinance and and state law to

32:15make sure that we have in fact

32:16considered everything that we need to

32:18consider. Um we have held other projects

32:22for um for taps both both ministerial

32:26and substantive and I would be

32:31you know reticent to to speed this one

32:33along when it's not quite there yet. I

32:35think by the I'm expecting that when we

32:38reconvene on this um it will be a a

32:4130-se secondond discussion. Um that's my

32:44guess. But for the purpose of

32:46consistency and making sure that we have

32:47what we need and what staff has what

32:49they need, um I'm I'm a little hesitant

32:52to to do that.

32:54But well, I appreciate that. The one

32:57thing I'll say is is

32:59maybe there's a way we can tweak our

33:01practice so that we just shift it and

33:03are consistent with ourselves moving

33:05forward. I know this isn't would

33:06probably have to be in some sort of gray

33:08area that you know we'd want to be

33:10comfortable with beyond just myself, but

33:13um

33:14anyhow, I'll leave it at that for now. I

33:16see Alvaro's hand and others. So,

33:17>> yeah, I'd like to get Alvo's view on

33:19that.

33:22>> Um just one more answer to that, Luke.

33:25Um often if mobility feels like the tap

33:28is at a point that they can just submit

33:30a condition and it could be voted

33:32tonight, they will um submit that to the

33:34staff planner and then we would add that

33:36in a recommendation. So in that case my

33:38memo would say approved with conditions

33:41and then we'll submit that additional

33:42condition. In this case, I guess the

33:44mobility planner did not feel that that

33:46con that the tab was ready to provide

33:49that condition and that's why the um the

33:53suggestion currently was to continue.

33:56>> Helpful. You know what? Sorry, if I can

33:58ask just one other question. I don't

34:00want to belabor this as one case study,

34:02but I think it might actually help my

34:04thinking about this project and the

34:06broader question of of when we really

34:09need to push something to a second

34:10meeting.

34:13What is the tic-tac on this the tick

34:15tock on this tap and why it's not

34:19complete or like I'm just curious for I

34:22guess both sides perspective on

34:25why this process just wasn't complete

34:27before today.

34:29>> Uh Adam Dash I I mean I could say the

34:32the comments um we've worked through

34:34most of the comments with mobility over

34:36the last few months. Um they want um

34:41just sort of abbreviating here. Uh it's

34:44got to do with the access aisle through

34:46the parking area for the bikes they want

34:49reconfigured

34:51um to provide un so it's not obstructed.

34:54They want the bikes parking space racks

34:59um longer. They're a little too short, I

35:02guess. They want the bike racks at least

35:04one foot from the wall. one bike rack is

35:07too close to the wall. Uh the angled

35:10parking space length and they want us to

35:14show vehicle movement. Um so I mean we

35:18just know we we did file a tap just to

35:20be clear. This is a revision to it. It's

35:22not like there's no tap at all.

35:24>> No, no. And that

35:26>> those specifics are helpful for the

35:28flavor of it. So, um, what's the timing

35:31on why the revisions couldn't have been

35:34made in time for this meeting?

35:37>> I will leave that to Evans Stallman

35:38because I don't know the answer to that.

35:40We don't have

35:40>> We had made the revisions on the on the

35:42architectural documents and uh that was

35:44submitted to you guys, but we uh sent

35:47the the plans over to our engineer. I

35:50was hoping they'd be done to submit to

35:52you guys by this meeting, but they they

35:54just need a little more time to wrap it

35:56up, which they're currently working on.

36:00And and I would I would note mobility

36:01has been great. We have no complaints

36:02with mobility. They've been very

36:03responsive. They have offered to meet

36:05with us whenever to make it happen for

36:07tonight. We just it was on on our on our

36:09traffic engineer guy's end. It just

36:11didn't happen. That's all.

36:13>> No, I appreciate that. And and my

36:14questions sound like I'm really trying

36:16to pin blame on one side or the other

36:17and I'm really just trying to track if

36:19there's some systemic bottleneck in

36:21these things. you know, it just helps us

36:22to

36:24>> No, it's it's it's mostly ticky tac

36:27stuff and then expl and show more how

36:29this works. It's not like it doesn't

36:30work. It's just show me how it works.

36:32So, the it's show me and move the rack a

36:35foot over. I mean, none of this stuff's

36:36going to change anything to your point,

36:38but I I get it. And like I said,

36:40mobility has been very, you know, very

36:42responsive and been very available. It's

36:45the fact we didn't get it in time, it's

36:46on us. I I don't know what else to say.

36:48The engineer just couldn't pull it

36:49together. We filed the revised plans on

36:51the 10th like last week and I know with

36:53the holiday and stuff I whatever

36:55happened happened but we'll I think

36:57October 1st you know hopefully you can

36:59take us before you go into that land use

37:01committee meeting if it's only literally

37:02going to be 30 seconds that would be

37:03awesome but

37:09you good.

37:11>> Okay next person I saw was Lynn and then

37:14Corali and then Amelia.

37:17>> Um uh Thank you. Thank you, Michael. And

37:21uh it seems like a great project. I

37:23would just uh echo uh Councilman um

37:27Michael, the other Michael's comment

37:28about thinking, can you squeeze in one

37:31more long-term bike rack? I I think

37:35about biking visav bedrooms um versus

37:38units. But the question that I have is

37:42the affordable unit um of the five units

37:46there, which one will be the affordable

37:47one?

37:49Yeah, Adam Dash, again, that's a

37:51discussion with the housing division.

37:53We've submitted, we filed the, you know,

37:55signed the form that we will provide

37:57one, but as far as which unit it is,

37:59that's usually a discussion that comes.

38:01Um, they traditionally we we say, well,

38:04we would propose this one, and housing

38:06says we would want that one, and

38:07whatever ends up getting happens. But,

38:11>> okay. So, you don't want to tell us

38:13which one you propose?

38:14>> I I don't think we know because housing

38:15is going to basically tell us which one

38:16is going to be. They usually ask a

38:18suggestion, but they often will say,

38:20"No, I want that unit or whatever it

38:21is." And so, whatever unit it is,

38:24historically, when they want the unit,

38:25it's kind of not much of a discussion

38:27after that. So, it's not really up to

38:28us. They ask our opinion. They don't

38:30necessarily do what we ask.

38:32>> All right. Thank you very much.

38:34>> No problem.

38:41>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I also

38:43want to say that I like this project

38:44very much. Um Lynn essentially asked my

38:46question, but I just wanted to add a

38:48little flavor to it and um and that is

38:50that the board has discussed often the

38:52need to make it easier for families to

38:55stay in Somerville. So to the extent

38:57that you might recommend the

38:58three-bedroom being the affordable unit,

39:01um I think we would I would certainly

39:04encourage that. Thank you.

39:10>> Then Amelia had her hand up. I don't

39:14>> Thank you.

39:15>> I I just wanted to follow up on Luke's

39:17comment. Um, as one member personally, I

39:21feel like if a tap is what's holding

39:23something up and it only has to do with

39:27bicycles,

39:28I would I personally would feel fine

39:30about advancing it anyway because I I

39:32think that like bike parking is

39:34something that is

39:36uh nimble and low stakes. and when we're

39:39talking about things that have to do

39:41with the vehicles and turns and safety

39:44that to me that is in like a different

39:46ballpark. And so I just wanted to

39:49respond to Luke's like I I know I've

39:51been the hold up on some taps before and

39:53like I always have a great deal of

39:55concern about how um moving things are

39:58interacting with one another. But like

40:00if we were talking only about the

40:02location of bike parking as the

40:05remaining piece, I would find that

40:07something that was sort of a different

40:10category. So I just wanted to offer that

40:12perspective. Thank you to the applicant.

40:13I don't have any comments on the

40:15application. and I think that it's a

40:16really solid project and I appreciate

40:18you putting it forward.

40:19>> Um, so Luke and Amelia, I I would I

40:22would

40:24kind of follow where you're going on

40:25this. The only hangup I have is what um

40:30Alvaro said a few minutes ago, were

40:32there something that could be fit into a

40:34condition, mobility would have told us

40:35that as they have done in the past and

40:38they didn't do that in this

40:39circumstance, which means there's

40:41something um that's not quite right. Oh,

40:44I absolutely defer to Alro and and

40:47mobility through him. I just wanted to

40:49offer to the extent Luke was proposing

40:51sort of an alternative framework for

40:52moving forward, I wanted to offer a

40:55layer to consider in that.

40:57>> Thank you.

40:59>> Um,

41:01all right. So, good discussion,

41:04good application. Thank you. Uh, our

41:07next meeting is October the 1st. I'm

41:10going to leave written comment open

41:11until um Friday the 25th at um at 9:00

41:16a.m.

41:18Planning Board at some ma.gov is where

41:21they can be directed. Um the chair moves

41:23to continue this agenda item to October

41:261st. Seconded by Amelia. Roll call,

41:28please.

41:29>> Jan Khabib,

41:30>> I.

41:31>> Lynn Richards

41:33>> I.

41:34>> Luke Schuster.

41:35>> Hi.

41:36>> Carly Cooper.

41:37>> Hi. Michael Mi.

41:40>> Hi.

41:41>> Ailia.

41:42>> Hi.

41:43>> Michael Capuano. Great.

41:45>> Thank you. See you in a couple weeks.

41:47>> Thank you for letting us present tonight

41:48as well. I appreciate it.

41:49>> Yeah, of course.

41:51Um, last item on our agenda is 8 Medford

41:54Street, which has previously been

41:55opened. Uh, it has been heard. Testimony

41:58has been taken. The board had

42:02um asked a few questions, raised a

42:04raised a few points. Um, it's been a few

42:07weeks since the last time we all met. I

42:10believe the applicant has submitted some

42:12responses to um some of the board's

42:15questions and concerns. And I think we

42:18are, you know, probably ready to to

42:20proceed tonight. But just wanted to

42:22welcome the applicant and uh, attorney

42:24Vito. Anybody else in your team that you

42:26need to bring up?

42:28>> Yes. Thank you, uh, Chairman Capoano.

42:31Attorney Vigorito, 424 Broadway,

42:33Somerville. if we could have [sighs]

42:35uh Steve [clears throat] Sraagusa

42:37promoted. Uh Evan Stalman, he's the

42:40architect standing in this evening. And

42:43we also have Katya Pada from Verdant.

42:45She is our landscape architect. Uh so

42:48[clears throat] that would be great.

42:56>> [clears throat]

42:59>> So, so just to kind of dive right in, if

43:03is there any part of the presentation

43:04you would like us to uh you know revisit

43:08or discuss? Uh I know Evan can run the

43:10slideshow. I I mean the specific

43:12question was about some parking in the

43:15area. So Steve Suruser and I worked on

43:18that. I also went out and walked the

43:20site with the [clears throat] developer

43:23and we were able to zero in on a

43:25neighbor at 11 Ward Street that had some

43:28parking that if you know a resident of

43:31the building or you know a commercial

43:35person or commercial store owner or

43:37whatever the business may be, I don't

43:39know at this time needed parking, he

43:41would be available. But I did submit a

43:43memo uh and I actually had a

43:46conversation with Kit about it. Well, I

43:48happen to be in the planning department

43:49one day and we have, you know, she I

43:51think she liked it. I don't want to

43:53misspeak for Kit, but there is uh three

43:58parking garages with a within a

43:5915-minute walk of the site and then

44:02there's also 481 Columbia Street. The

44:05parking garage there is an 8minute walk.

44:07So there are, you know, very close

44:09parking facilities for residents of the

44:12building to, you know, if they, you

44:14know, if they have vehicles and they

44:16need parking, it will be accessible to

44:18them.

44:19>> Um, so I will say this, as as I'm sure

44:22you know, we have I haven't seen it in a

44:24while. Um, but every so often we do get

44:27an application that um

44:30has some sort of a either an explicit or

44:33an implicit agreement with some sort of

44:35a neighboring property that has some uh

44:38you know some parking that's you know

44:39utilized after business hours, whatever

44:41it is. Um so I'm glad you were able to

44:43explore kind of that as well as

44:46kind of an identification of other um

44:49other options. So I I that's a great

44:51idea.

44:52>> Absolutely. And you know,

44:54[clears throat] and it's just as the

44:55saying goes, you can't put that cart

44:57before the horse. You know, until you

44:59know, the developer builds and, you

45:01know, has residents in there and, you

45:04know, can explore what their needs are,

45:06you know, he has these relationships

45:07now. So, uh, [clears throat] you know,

45:10if you know, there are specific parking

45:12needs of any of the residents, you know,

45:14they can be addressed and and that's the

45:16goal here. You know, we want to they

45:18Nelson Olive has been a developer a long

45:20time in the city. you know, he has

45:23[clears throat] his uh whether he's

45:25renting or if he's doing, you know,

45:28condos, you know, his uh his tenants

45:30especially always appreciate what he

45:32does for him or does for them. Excuse

45:34me.

45:38>> Okay. I those those were kind of my

45:40questions uh from the last time we got

45:43to got together. Does anybody have

45:45anything that they would like to add for

45:47the good of this meeting? Um, based on

45:50kind of the new information that was

45:52presented this evening, Corali.

45:57>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I I just

45:58wanted to add that I did I was in the

46:00neighborhood a couple weeks ago and I

46:02walked around and I counted at least 50

46:05um Somerville resident parking spots on

46:09um I know the applicant mentioned a

46:11couple of streets like Horus, but there

46:12was also Wards, South Porter, Harding,

46:14Hunter. So, it seemed like there was

46:16quite a bit of um Somerville resident

46:19parking close by. So, um I just wanted

46:22to mention that. And then I did if I

46:24could I have a question about the the

46:26loading dock or the loading space. Um

46:31and I I just wanted to ask is is the

46:33loading space on Warren is that

46:37um created from the larger setback that

46:40the building has compared to the current

46:42building or is the loading space going

46:46to actually be in or on Warren Street?

46:51Evan, do you can you pull up that slide?

46:53That might be I want to answer your

46:56question correctly and I think sometimes

46:58a photo, you know, a picture's worth a

47:00thousand words and I think helpful.

47:07[clears throat]

47:10Okay, I'll just go to the site plan. Um,

47:13let me find it.

47:15I'll zoom in here. Uh so it would be

47:19entirely on the street. Um the curb

47:22setback is is just to the existing curb

47:26and then we have the bike parking and

47:28trees and then the sidewalk.

47:36>> Okay. Thank you. I was just trying to

47:38understand from the design where where

47:40that would be. Thank you. Sure.

47:48Um yeah uh yeah is is here we

47:54>> hi I just um want to point everyone's

47:57attention to the condition that I had

47:59left in the supplemental staff memo just

48:01so it doesn't get uh lost in the shuffle

48:04of any motions or vote but I think our

48:07inspectional services department felt

48:10you know kind of contrary to the last

48:11application felt comfortable moving this

48:13application forward forward with the

48:14condition um that the commercial

48:18entrances uh be

48:22be updated post um post approval if

48:25that's the way you vote. Um so I just

48:28wanted to point everyone's attention to

48:29that condition as well.

48:31>> I appreciate that. Okay. Thank you.

48:35>> Um anybody else before we move this

48:37application along?

48:40Okay.

48:43Following public testimony, review of

48:45the submitted materials, and

48:46deliberation of the required

48:47considerations outlined by the

48:49ordinance, I move to approve with uh

48:52conditions as outlined by the staff memo

48:54and the supplemental staff memo the

48:57residential special permit in the

48:58midrise Ford district, seconded by

49:01Amelia. We got a roll call, please.

49:04>> Jan Habib,

49:05>> I.

49:06>> L Richards,

49:08>> I.

49:09>> Luke Schuster,

49:10>> hi. Carly Cooper.

49:12>> Hi.

49:13>> Michael Mcnilli.

49:15>> Hi.

49:16>> Emilia.

49:17>> Hi.

49:18>> Michael Capon.

49:19>> Hi.

49:22>> Following public testimony, review of

49:23the submitted materials and deliberation

49:25of the required considerations outlined

49:27by the ordinance. I move to approve with

49:29the conditions outlined in the staff

49:31memo and the supplemental staff memo the

49:34residential site plan approval in the

49:36Midrise Ford district. Seconded by

49:39Amelia. We have a vote.

49:42>> Jan Khabib.

49:43>> Hi.

49:44>> Lyn Richards.

49:45>> Hi.

49:47>> Luke Schustster.

49:48>> Hi.

49:49>> Carly Cooper.

49:50>> Hi.

49:51>> Michael McN.

49:52>> Hi.

49:53>> A familia.

49:54>> Hi.

49:56>> Michael Capon.

49:57>> Hi.

49:58>> Congratulations. Good luck.

50:00>> Thank you so much everyone. Have a great

50:02evening.

50:02>> Thank you. You too. Okay. planning board

50:06has nothing else on its agenda um prior

50:09to a joint hearing between the land use

50:13committee and this body on October 1st.

50:17So with no further business before the

50:19planning board at 7:52

50:216:52 p.m. the chair moves to ajourn

50:26seconded by Amelia.

50:29>> Jan Khabib

50:30>> I

50:31>> Lyn Richards

50:32>> I

50:33>> Luke Schuster.

50:34>> Hi

50:35>> Carly Cooper.

50:36>> Hi

50:37>> Michael McN.

50:38>> Hi

50:39>> Amelia Evov.

50:40>> Hi

50:41>> Michael Kaplan.

50:42>> Hi.

50:43>> Thank you everybody. Have a nice night.

50:46Thank you.