 This program is brought to you by Cable Franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you The appointed hour is six o'clock being reached. I want to welcome everybody to this meeting of the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12th, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law general laws chapter 30a section 18 and the governor's March 15th, 2020 order Imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather at one place This public hearing of the town of Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals is being conducted via remote participation No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted But the public can listen to the proceedings by clicking on a link on the town's web page in accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts general laws chapter 40a and article 10 Special permitting granting authority of the Amherst Zoning By-law This public meeting has been duly advertised and notice thereof has been posted and mailed to parties at interest My name is Steve Judge as chair of the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals. I call this meeting to order We will begin with a roll call of the regular members of the ZVA who will be in panel for the consideration of the comprehensive permit I'm Steve Judge Mr. Langsdale here Ms. O'Meara here Ms. Parks here Mr. Maxfield hear me, okay Yep, is that mr. Maxfield? In fact, I've arrived. All right and the associate ZVA members miss Sharon Wellman I'm here Mr.. Barrack here mr. Greenie Mr. Meadows here Also in attendance is Marine Pollock planner Christine Brestrup planning director Dave Zomek assistant town manager and Nate Malloy planning Planner in the Department of Planning and John Whitten of the KP law firm who's assisting the board in this matter The Zoning Board of Appeals is a quasi judicial body that operates under the authority of chapter 40a of the general laws of the Commonwealth for the purpose of promoting the health convenience safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the town of Amherst All hearings and meetings are open to the public and are recorded by town staff Each petition is heard by the board is distinct and evaluated on its own merits and the board is not ruled by precedent The subject of tonight's public hearing is ZBA 2020-39 a Request by Valley Community Development Corporation For a comprehensive permit to construct a multifamily building containing 28 units located at 132 North Hampton Road Amherst Tonight's agenda. This is the first of several public hearings and the public meeting that will be held in request and On this request for a comprehensive permit Tonight's agenda is as follows We're going to note the submittals received by the board from the applicant town boards committees As well as the applicants themselves will give a full presentation Of all up to the public We'll review the June 23rd site visit There will be an overview of the 40b comprehensive permit process Which is a little different than the process we use for special permits We will discuss and consider the town's subsidized housing inventory and a motion to invoke a safe harbor The assistant town manager daves iMac will give a presentation on how we got here The applicant will give a full presentation of the request for a comprehensive permit And the impaneled members of the zba will ask questions We will also set a deadline for responses to questions that could not After discussion with the applicant and questions from the board members We will schedule subsequent public hearings and meetings to consider this application The board will conclude its meeting by nine o'clock tonight It is possible that there will not be enough time for public testimony tonight There is already a public hearing scheduled for july 2nd at which the public comments will public comments will be heard And we will have other hearings at which public testimony will be taken I want to review the ways in which the public can be informed about and comment on this application In addition to these public meetings Residents can be notified of any additional information recorded by the town concerning this application Through the notify me feature on the 132 north hampton page of the town website Also, all copies of all submissions can be found on the town website Public comment can be submitted on the town website or through an email to marine pollock planner at llock m at amherst dot m amherst m a dot gov This meeting will be broadcast by amherst media on channel 17 And of course there will be public public comment tonight of time permits And certainly at future public hearings Tonight the board is holding the public hearing on zba f y 20 29 valley community development corporation 132 north hampton road requesting a comprehensive permit under m massachusetts general laws chapter 40 b To construct a new two and a half story residential multifamily building containing 28 small studio apartments and related common areas on an approximate 0.88 acre property located at 132 north hampton road map 14c parcel eight General residents and educational zoning districts Before we begin are there any disclosures by any members of the zba? If not, I want to remind the applicant board members and others to seek recognition from the chair if they wish to speak You can do that by using the raise your hand feature in zoom When recognized unmute yourself and when you have finished, please place yourself back on mute We have received the following submissions from the applicant comprehensive permit applications check for applications fees project summary Development team biographies a butter list request form Locust maps zoning maps the table of community concerns and responses And a table of zoning waiver requests In addition, we've received a plan set of approximately 30 different plans Um, which i'm not going to run through all of those different But they're all done by austin design teague and bond and berkshire design group and stevens and associates And dated may 8th 2020 We've received a storm water storm water management report a managed management plan form and narrative a sample lease The sample residential tenant handbook housing management resources book household member resident policy bed bug policy tenant charge list parking study A traffic study site control including the deed site approval letter Um, and finding of no adverse impact by the massachusetts historical commission dated january 2nd 2020 In addition, we've received from um submittals from Municipal boards and the staff a letter from the town council president Lynn grissmeyer on behalf of the amherstown council dated february 24th 2020 A letter from amherstown manager paul bachelman dated february 24th 2020 Letter from christine breast up on behalf of the amherst planning board dated february 21st 2020 Letter from chair john hornick on behalf of the amherst municipal affordable housing trust dated january 23rd 2019 A letter from the chairman michael berkhardt on behalf of the amherst housing authority board of commissioners dated february 27th 2020 And another letter from the amherstown council dated june 15th 2020 In addition town staff has submitted the following A project application report dated june 23rd 2020 Comments from the amherst fire department dated june 9th 2020 Commerce additional commerce comments from the amherst fire department dated june 18th 2020 Letter from christine breast up on behalf of the amherst planning board dated june 18th 2020 Comments from the amherst municipal affordable housing trust dated june 17th 2020 Commerce comments from the amherstown council dated june 15th 2020 And comments from the massachusetts department of housing and community development Chapter 40 b subsidized inventory for massager for amherst massachusetts dated june 2nd 2020 As of 3 p.m. Tuesday june 23rd we have received 31 public comments morina are there additional comments since then that we have received? Yes, um, so The amherst health director submitted comments today june 25th 2020 And additional public comments were submitted as of Uh this afternoon, um I don't have the total list of submissions of those public comments If you give me a moment As it all be available on the website They are they're all available on the website and those are there's 20 public comments that have been submitted between june 23rd And uh four o'clock today june 25th, so we have a total of 51 public comments Um that we received as of this afternoon 20 plus 31. Okay. Good. Thank you um We also we conducted a site visit on june 23rd at the site In attendance were most members of the zba town staff and representatives of the applicant We visited the site. We um saw the existing property the existing um building And we um walked the property and saw the outlines of the where the new building would were proposed to be cited I'm going to because we um need to um Each question that was asked at the site visit I'm going to go through those briefly and we will also have to ask those questions During the pop during the questioning period So we asked questions about which trees would be removed We asked questions about the grass paver There was interest in uh knowing um what planting The the plans for tree removal along the Property with the abutting house and what plantings were going to be uh put in their place There's questions about the placement of the fence and to the bike path to the bike shed We also saw the bike shed the placement for the bike shed there was a uh we talked about the car parking situation and Walked through the um The layout of the parking and the site We were at we asked about alternatives to add fault asphalt pavings um We reviewed where the ad a rumble compliant rumble strip would be on route nine We also had questions about the timing of the sidewalk um construction on route nine Questions about the mall the demolishing the existing building The cost of the building per unit um landscaping potentials for shelter to to a shelter noise from route nine to the new structure We saw the location Of the smoking pavilion We looked at we asked a question about whether the apple tree at the back of the property near the fence with The amherst college football field would be removed We had questions about the height of the new building And we measured Eight of the eighth foot how how much an eight foot fence would shield the abutting property from the new newly constructed property in addition There was questions about whether some trees would be Would be left and if there's any consideration given to planting between the trees On the border of the property and the abutting property rather than removal and planting them new trees um We asked about the cost per unit total budget for the property and We looked at the locations of the proposed buildings Those are the questions asked at the um that I remember that were asked at the Site visit to any members of the board have additional questions that were asked at the site visit Which should be noted at this time. All right The statutorily mandated process and procedures for consideration of a comprehensive permit is significantly different from the process We use for special permits and variances Because this is the unique process I have asked john witton of the kp law firm to provide a brief overview of the Comprehensive permit process required by massachusetts general laws 40 b and chapters 44 and 53 g John can you please give us a brief overview of the comprehensive permit process? Sure. Thank you, mr Chairman good evening members of the board and members of the the public So as the chair stated A application or an application under chapter 40 b is very different than what the board typically does as A reviewing body for special permits or variances or appeals from the building commissioner So here we're operating under a different body of law than chapter 40a and it's chapter 40b The sections in chapter 40b that are relevant are sections 20 21 22 and 23 And then we are operating under a set of regulations promulgated by the department of housing and community development And those regulations are found at 7 60 cmr 56. These are all available online The regulations and the statute work together There is or there are some conflicts that we don't need to discuss at this point in time But they do work together and the board will be working with both set of statute and regulations during the entirety of this process One of the most important things which i know the board is going to take up in just a moment Is the town of amherst status Being consistent with local needs and the phrase consistent with local needs Is a phrase found in the statute and in the regulations And in a nutshell it allows a municipality that has achieved certain standards certain production standards To protect itself from an appeal of its decision Amherst has achieved one of those standards and the board has the right to protect itself From an appeal of your decision from or by the applicant We'll talk about that in a moment The other big difference though between chapter 40 b projects comprehensive permits and the garden variety special permit or variance is that the rules governing comprehensive permits Really are elastic The board can grant waivers from local regulations The board can grant waivers from local bylaws the board can grant waivers from any local permitting process The board is guided in those waivers by two really important functions One is But for the waiver Would the project be rendered uneconomic another phrase found in the statute And or but for the waiver would the project not be buildable When an applicant is a non-profit such as the applicant before you this evening The standard really is not uneconomic, but will the project fail Will the conditions imposed by the board or the failure to grant waivers render the project a failure We can talk more about that as as the board goes through the process The other important thing to remember Is that the elasticity that the board can apply to a comprehensive permit project Is guided by health and safety standards The statute chapter 40 b specifically calls out health and safety of the residents of the proposed development health and safety of the abutters to the proposed development as a general theme And provisions for open space Is explicitly called out for in the statute So the board is operating really under two principles one is We don't want to make the project uneconomic Or render too many conditions such that it fails if the board wants to approve it And the board is balancing all this By the need to protect the health and safety of the occupants and the general community at large All of that is diminished by the fact that amhurst is consistent with local needs So a crude way of Phrasing it would be the board of appeals could really do As it saw fit with an application under the comprehensive permit statute because the board has achieved this consistency with local needs But of course, it's much more complicated than that the board needs to entertain this application And the board needs to review it and decide ultimately whether it should be approved with conditions or denied But being consistent with local needs means that the applicant cannot appeal your decision And we will get to that piece in in just a moment. So mr. Chairman. I'm happy to talk further But but if if that's sufficient, let me let me stop there I think that's that's good. Good. It's a good overview Massachusetts cities and towns are in a safe harbor from the statute and regulations governing Comprehensive permit applications such as the ones we are hearing this evening They are entitled to render a decision on the application without the applicant being able to appeal An unfavorable decision by the board These safe harbors referred to in both the statute and regulation as being consistent with local needs Includes a city or town Containing at least 10% of its year-round housing stock being defined as low or moderate income housing Amherst has well over 10 percent of its of its year-round housing stock Qualifying as low or moderate income housing Therefore Amherst is consistent with local needs and is entitled to the benefits of this safe harbor In order to take advantage of the safe harbor within 15 days of the opening of the public hearing In a comprehensive permit application The board of appeals must vote to assert the town's status as being in safe harbor And therefore notify the applicant and the department of housing and community development of the board's vote together with supporting documentation The applicant has the right to challenge such assertion And if it does the board's requirement to close this public hearing within 180 days from tonight Will be told while the parties await a decision from the department of housing and community development Given Amherst status as consistent with local needs It is presumed that the applicant will not challenge the board's assertion should the should the board vote to do so It is important to note That Amherst status as consistent with local needs or being in a so-called safe harbor Does not require that the board deny this application Rather being consistent with local needs Means that the comprehensive permit applicant has no legal right to challenge a decision of the board of appeals Whether that decision is a denial or an approval with conditions Finally due to revisions to the regulations that govern this process Although in conflict with the statute The board must assert the town's status now In order to obtain the benefits of being in a safe harbor Put it other putting it otherwise If the board does not assert safe harbor tonight Or within 14 days from tonight The board will not be able to assert it later And any decision on this matter would be appealable to the state housing appeals committee The town of Amherst currently has 12.5 9 percent of its housing stock qualified as low or moderate income housing As such, I think the health and such it's evident that the town exceeds the 10 threshold for safe harbor I move that the board of zoning appeals declare the town of Amherst is consistent with local needs as the phrase is contained in general laws section 40 b chapter 40 b section 20 and 7 60 cm r 56 As the town of Amherst has over 10 percent of its year-round housing stock deemed as qualified or moderate income housing Is there a second second Is there any discussion No Hearing no further discussion the vote is on the motion all votes must be by roll call I vote aye Mr. Langsdale. All right Ms. O'Meara. Aye Ms. Parks. Aye Mr. Maxfield. Aye The vote is five nothing the motion is approved next order of business is um A presentation by assistant town manager dames thymic who will do who will talk about the progress and the history of this applicant And the town's involvement in providing for the affordable housing in Amherst Good evening and thank you for having me. I just want to make sure everybody can hear me Yes, yep, it's good great. Thank you very much for allowing me some time tonight. I'll try to be brief um, I will be happy to share my remarks With the staff and they can be um Put in put in as part of the record. My name is Dave Zomek I'm the assistant town manager and I oversee the department of conservation and development for the town Um, that department covers a range of projects. Uh, as the title indicates from conservation A village center development and also affordable housing Um, and I'd like to give a little background on this project from the town's perspective this evening Um, as you know, there's a long-standing recognized need for housing for low income and homeless people in Amherst This need has been well documented by several studies including including the housing production plan from 2013 and the housing market study from 2015 Craig's doors at the first baptist church was opened in 2011 as a seasonal shelter for homeless people In 2019 it housed well over 100 people throughout the season In july of 2016 the town held a public forum on homelessness That was attended by over 100 people Representatives of several service providers spoke about the region-wide need for shelter and housing for low income people Presidents came together to address issues related to housing for low income and homeless people The town has been successful through the years partnering with many organizations both public and private To provide affordable housing opportunities for individuals and families some examples through the years If I could just go through a few olympia oaks 42 units butternut farm 28 units sand whale and apartments 88 units chestnut court 48 units north square in the mill district 26 units presidential apartments six units university drive mixed use building four units Aspen heights on route nine recently 11 units in their under construction right now My staff and I continue to work look for ways to build or incorporate affordable housing units into current and future projects Our master plan in amherst contains a chapter on demographics and housing Among the statements contained in the master plan are Encourage the development of a economically diverse neighborhoods partner with local community development corporations non-profit organizations and other groups to expand affordable housing The master plan also states to improve housing and services for people in areas in the area who are homeless And many other statements supportive of of developing affordable housing throughout town This project I just want to talk specifically about this project and and how Staff and I have looked at it. The location of the project is a good one It's on a busy connector road within walking distance of bus stops The project is within walking distance of downtown amherst and shopping areas along university drive An estuarine and bicycle improvements are planned for this stretch of route nine Which will make walking and biking on northampton road safe for an easier The project makes sense in terms of infill. It is a property that has already developed in the neighborhood and has already um, uh been developed for many years specifically the history of of working with the town Valley cdc has been talking to amherst about this type of project for several years The valley cdc went through an extensive process of looking at other properties in town and dismissed many of them because of cost Location or unsuitability a few years ago valley discussed a possible northampton road location with With the amherst homeless systems group and the amherst municipal affordable housing trust Support from amherst for this project has been consistent and strong Valley has already received funding from our cdbg program for site assessments and feasibility studies to identify the site In january 2017 valley discussed the supportive housing model with the zoning subcommittee of the planning board And discussed a change in the zoning by-law to allow same size apartment units In an apartment building if all were affordable in the spring of 2017 amherst town meeting voted overwhelmingly to approve a zoning amendment that would would allow apartment building to have a One size units if all units were affordable In 2019 the town included 200,000 for valley cdc in its cdbg application For architectural fees and energy consulting for this project And in 2019 the town council voted to approve a seatback request for $500,000 in support of the project So in summary This project meets many of the goals and objectives of the town for sheltering and housing people of low Income and people who are homeless the town has been talking to valley cdc about a similar type of project since 2017 This is a good project that meets many of our goals and objectives And we encourage the zba to carefully consider it. Thank you for your time this evening And I would be happy to submit my my comments for the record. Thank you Thank you The next order of business is the presentation by the applicant So the applicant is now recognized for a presentation on the requested comprehensive permit including the plans for the building The perceived needs for affordable housing and other matters that the applicant believes will aid the board in its consideration of the comprehensive permit request I want to represent to remind the representative of the applicant and any consultants To state their name and address before they begin to speak for the record Also, please note that should you seek that they also, please note that you should seek recognition from the chair before you speak I also want to encourage my fellow board members to limit any questions during the presentation They may have to clarifying questions If you think of a substantive question During the applicant's presentation, please make note of it so you can ask that after the applicant has completed its presentation I will assure you that there will be ample opportunity to raise any questions you may have After the presentation, but I think it works best to allow the flow of the presentation to go forward So, um Who is going to Begin the presentation for the applicant I'm laura baker the real estate Project manager hi from valley community development And I will begin it and I will be the one trying to manage our power point presentation Although we will have several speakers during the course of the presentation Is this a good time? What's a good. Yeah, it's a good time to introduce the theme You and everybody should name and give us your name and address for the record Business address or home address business address is fine in this case. Okay, uh, I'm from valley community development corporation We're located at 256 pleasant street sweet a in north hampton, massachusetts And i'll turn to rachel rachel leffler with virtual design group at four island place in north hampton, and i'm a resident from amherst Tom you're muted. You're muted. Right. Thank you Tom chalmers at austin design Located two mead street in greenfield And felicity who we have by phone Felicity you're muted. Ms. Hardy. I you're muted Felicity you should be able to speak now Some reason my computer audio is not working. Can you hear me now? Yes Can't hear her Ms. Hardy, is there any way you can speak louder or turn up the volume on your phone? Not much I'll try to project. How about that? No Um Well, it's it's very faint, but um do your best And project as much as possible For some reason the computer So I will introduce felicity uh felicity hardy from felicity hardy law practice. Uh her law practice is based in springfield Okay So I am going to share screen now and see if we can get our presentation to come up Any luck? Are we seeing uh Yep Yeah Awesome Um We're here with you. Uh the amazon board of appeals june 25th Presenting the amherstudio apartments project, uh, which is a single person studios with supportive services Uh, we will note as uh, the chair has that the full zoning permit application and the full plan set are available for review on the town's website Uh, web page is given there below Uh, I'm going to move pretty quickly because I feel like I'm I'm following what uh, they've already presented Which is namely that the town has identified, uh, the needs that led to the development of this project in a number of town documents Including the town's uh community development strategy Which uh, its first priority is to create affordable and fair housing options for the chronically homeless and extremely low income Low and modern income families individuals seniors, etc Uh, the housing trust strategic plan sites that smaller affordable units for individuals Including persons now accommodated in the shelter is one of their high priorities The town's housing production plan uh names production of housing for at risk and special needs populations As well as people at risk of homelessness or who have special needs that require supportive services Again, I'm going to move pretty fast this presentation. I can make available to people. Um It takes us through some of the history that that dave mentioned Valley actually partnered with the town beginning in 2008 On trying to respond to the need for housing homeless individuals So the town issued an rfp to study creating enhanced single room occupancy units with social services to house homeless individuals Valley responded and was selected. Uh, we completed a feasibility study in 2009 and made an offer on a property Uh, the property owner refused the offer that we made Uh Dave mentioned the town form on homelessness which had allowed the large crowd in 2016 Uh in 2016 also the town planning department organized and conducted a tour for several affordable housing developers including valley And public funders to try to spur interest in the creation of supportive housing for homeless individuals and amorst 2017 the initial uh planning grant cdbg planning grant was awarded to valley for just over 50 000 to conduct site search and site feasibility analysis to create six between 16 and 40 Units of supportive housing including units for homeless individuals Uh Town groups have held a series actually forms on affordable housing that highlight the topic of housing needed for homeless individuals Zoning subcommittee and planning board have held hearings as dave mentioned to change the zoning to allow for one type of size of unit in an affordable housing development Uh in 2018, uh, we valley me looked at perhaps two dozen potential sites Using the cdbg planning funds and ended up selecting 132 north hampton road, which was then acquired in january of 2019 Also in 2018 the cdbg advisory committee held a public hearing Including information about our site search and this location 2019 the cdbg advisory committee following public hearings recommended Another 200 000 grant for planning and pre development for this particular site at 132 north hampton road In 2019 as we heard the the cpa recommended 500 000 for project implementation The town hosted an open town meeting with over 80 attendees to discuss the development And there were many letters and newspaper articles written about the project around that time And following this kind of flow of of public input the town council approved the cpa recommendation for 500 000 And the town's council provided letters of support, which you've seen as attachments We have met specifically on this project with quite a few town boards including the planning board Advised cdbg advisory committee cpa committee disabilities access advisory committee the housing trust finance committee and the town council We have met with uh quite a few other non-municipal groups And members including property butters and neighbors The amherst affordable housing coalition the interfaith housing corporation amherst college administration and campus police Amherst housing authority board of directors the local amherst homeless systems group Amherst community connections and the craig stores board of directors In putting in this particular application, we've consulted with the planning and zoning department The tree warden the public work superintendent the building inspector the fire department the town engineer mass do t and mass historic Um, we've used a variety of methods of keeping the community informed about the project The main one I would say is the town's web page, which is a large repository of information The town forums and meetings. There are over 30 articles opinions and letters published in local newspapers, and we also did some radio interviews Community input, uh, it sounded like you had 51 Uh letters just for this opening hearing So in addition to that more than 60 letters were written in the past and and written comments were provided We've had dozens of speakers both pro and con who've participated in public meetings And there were some powerpoint presentations, uh prepared by neighbors and butters that were shown at the open meeting of residents The housing program that's being proposed is uh, 28 small studio apartments Each apartment would contain its own bathroom and a kitchenette Uh common areas including a lobby a multi-purpose common room a shared laundry Two onsite staff offices one for property management and one for resident services coordinator Some of the site features that will show you visuals of in a little while are 16 parking spaces screen dumpsters and outdoor shed Covered bike storage gardening areas a designated smoking area and robust new landscaping An overview of the building is as follows. It's one single building It is two and a half stories It is three full floors. The half story is a below partially below grade, uh story Is 28 units, uh, they're all studios two of these 28 are handicapped accessible The average gross square foot for the units is 235 square feet some are a little bit smaller and some are bigger Um, and the average for the accessible units is quite a bit bigger at 393 gross square feet And the total square footage of the building is just under 12,000 gross square feet In terms of the kind of technical aspects of who qualifies, uh to live in the proposed housing Uh, we are proposing 10 studios with a homeless preference For very extremely low income people earning below 30 of the area median income at a proposed rent, which is actually the current fair market rent With a subsidy an in-house subsidy so that these folks would be paying one third Approximately one third of their income for their housing costs two studios again, uh with a referral from department of mental health for their clients Also extremely low income individuals again having their own, uh project-based subsidy Eight studios for low income, uh residents Earning below 50 of the area median income with a fixed proposed rent of 740 dollars and eight studios Oh, sorry. I have a bad typo. This should be 80 percent AMI who are moderate income And the proposed rent is 795 dollars Rents tend to Go up and down a little bit with the median income and the standards that are set by the state and the federal government Currently these are the income restrictions at these different income tiers just to give you a sense of what the maximum income for this One person household would be Um if they that one person household was paying 32 of their income for rent This is what they could afford to pay for both rent and And so this is the range of people income range of people who Could afford the particular units that are being proposed Who will live here? The majority of studio apartments will house low and modern income employed persons Who are equally likely to be male or female? We continue to have some misinformation circulating that This property will be only for men That has never been something that we've proposed It's it's based on application. We're not allowed to discriminate based on sex So it will be a mix of men and women A few quick statistics about amherst housing And income in general An individual working 40 hours a week For minimum wage would earn just under 25 000 a year The median per person income in amherst is lower than that. It's about 20 000 The median single person household income is 28 000 The median rental household income for all size households Singles doubles triples squads is 20 only 28 290 dollars 42 percent of amherst renter households are severely cost burdened Which means they pay more than 50 of their income for their housing costs So within this proposed housing Eight studios would have an income cap of just under 30 000 which is 50 of the area median income And as you can see from the numbers above a large proportion of amherst renters would be income eligible Including service workers, laborers, maintenance staff, health care aides and teaching assistants Eight would have an income cap of 40 just under 48 000 Income eligible persons might include Associate level administrative staff, paraprofessional, social workers and adjunct faculty Two studios for tenants referred from the department of mental health with this lower income cap Who may be employed full-time, part-time or unemployed They will receive regular and ongoing clinical and support services from the department of mental health And then 10 studios with a homeless preference and again a very low income threshold so For our definition for this property homeless persons are those who lack adequate permanent affordable housing And in addition to people who might be in a shelter or living outdoors unsheltered Homeless persons can be defined as those who might be fleeing domestic violence Living doubled up somewhere with family or friends Living in a building that doesn't meet code Paying more than 30 of their income for rent, which as we saw applies to 42 of the renter households in amherst Sorry, no, it's it's an even higher number than that In housing that was damaged by fire and natural disaster Are needing to move due to a disability or are separating separated or divorced and cannot remain in the family home and cannot afford a second home The development is not limited to chronically homeless persons Which is defined as those who have a long-term or repeated homelessness coupled with serious mental illness substance use disorder or disability And nationally about 24 of homeless individuals meet the definition of being chronically homeless Um, I'm going to talk for a minute about the subsidized housing inventory. This is in no way to Disagree with what attorney witton told you in fact Amherst does have more than 10 percent of units listed as eligible on the state's Subsidized housing inventory So according to the town it has 1211 units that are eligible for listing Um, I updated the total housing units uh from the most recent census data available, which is 10,294 Putting the town just under 12 of affordable units What a lot of people may not realize is of these 12 1211 units about 356 are market rate units So for example only 26 of the units at of the 130 units at north square are actually restricted as affordable The rest are market rate. Yet all 130 are counted on the subsidized housing inventory Of the 204 units at rolling green only 41 are restricted as affordable the balance are market But all of the 204 are counted on the subsidized housing inventory The ratio of these truly preserved affordable units to the total units in amherst is 8.3 percent The massachusetts department of housing community development currently has a funding priority For communities with fewer than 12 of the housing stock listed on the subsidized housing inventory local preference within massachusetts Cities and towns may request local preference from the department of housing community development for up to But not exceeding 70 of affordable units within the initial lease up lottery The state defines local preference current residents of the town People employed for business in town or working for the municipality and people having children enrolled in the local school system There are pros and cons to local preference Since housing is both a regional need and a regional resource And there may be people who feel local for example someone who grew up in amherst who do not meet the state's definition for local preference And just a note during the lottery process The local preference pool must be balanced with minority applicants from other areas To match the percent of minority residents within the statistical area This is so that a local preference doesn't become a de facto racial barrier If there are not enough local preference applicants units can be filled from the open lottery pool We've had a lot of comments about you know, why why build housing at this location for individuals and Why not build a mix or why not build housing for families? So I just wanted to address that briefly In massachusetts, there's a legislative mandate to shelter homeless families There is no similar mandate for homeless individuals creating dire need for individuals Amherst has made strides to create family affordable housing Both of valleys my agency's prior developments and amherst benefit families. They're located on charles lane and main street Other 40 b projects approved by amherst contain affordable family units For example butternut farm olympia oaks north square as does rolling green presidential apartments mill valley estates village park and several habitat for humanity properties In contrast, there has been no single person supportive housing created in amherst Nor any housing built that is dedicated to homeless individuals The site at 132 north hampton road was selected in response to an extensive site search Specifically to meet the need for single person supportive housing including homeless individuals It is proximate to downtown and to services The power of the single person occupancy model is that it provides a home for persons who may lack social or familial supports The proposed building has the potential to stitch together an extended family fabric for individual individuals who might otherwise be isolated As i've mentioned this is a project Development that is intended to provide on-site supportive services for residents These are voluntary services and some people will use them and some people won't some people will need them and some people won't The elements the key elements of this service plan are an on-site dedicated resident services coordinator Approximately 27 to 30 hours a week The functions of this position include Connecting tenants and residents with community-based services Helping with any kind of daily logistics coordinating on-site group functions Helping to resolve tenant conflicts Coordinating and providing transportation and serving as a community liaison Other aspects of the supportive services plan includes signed Memorandums of understanding with other community agencies For example elliott programs amherst community connections and the veterans agent to support tenants on an individual basis at the site The department of mental health referred clients will have ongoing regular clinical and service supports kind of wraparound supports through the department of mental health The selection process for homeless tenants will include a referral from a local agency And that agency will commit to provide support for at least the first nine to 12 months of occupancy Potentially longer as needed by individual tenants as these agencies exit After that kind of critical first stabilization year They will link tenants as needed with ongoing support services available through community-based agencies The management staffing plan Includes property management by a company named housing management resources They are estimated to be on site of approximately 20 hours per week Their functions include rent collections compliance maintenance upkeep of the property enforcing terms of the lease Asset management will continue to be provided throughout the duration by valley community development We'll oversee the property management will manage capital and operating reserves and major capital repairs And we'll contract for the resident services coordinator position A little bit more about the characteristics of the particular site It is a central walkable location 4 tenths of a mile from town center and then closest bus stop 6 tenths of a mile from major shopping centers And walking distance to multiple service and health care providers including the museum to health center at the bank center It's on a main road on a state highway route nine and it's connected to public water and sewer It's a large buildable lot. It's cleared and fairly level for its location It's in a mixed residential area. The butters include single and multifamily residential and institutional uses It's cited at the junction of three different zoning districts the ed rg and rn districts The other types of dense housing uses that are nearby include a six-unit condo, which is all rented. It's across the street Three residence halls that are on northampton road and a 78 unit assisted senior housing development Um, this is a map showing the property location Uh, it is here In this light green color It's approximately halfway between the town center and town common And university drive down in this direction um, as you can see it is adjacent to the uh athletic field the track and the Conway field house that's owned by amherst college The property almost surrounding it all the way to over here is owned by amherst college This is a two-family rental owned by amherst college and this is a single family owner occupied house um in terms of proximity Uh, we're trying to highlight here the various things that are close to this property site Um of note is the rail trail is is very close by There's an urgent care center that's here This is a senior housing development here. There's a church here You know, there's there's a lot of things that are close to where this project is cited As you move toward the center of town You can see from the project site The number of bus stops that are within walking distance and then I'm not going to review it because I think you all probably know all the things that are in town center Here's a blow-up of the town center craig's doors amherst community connections The pharmacy fire department the library is close by bus stops bank. There's a bike share location town hall news anti-community health center the bank center post office Etc Um, if you're moving toward the west down toward university drive Again, there are bus stops. There's another bike share location. There's two large grocery stores Uh, post office some other pharmacy Etc Here we're illustrating that this is the section of north hampton road that's intended for improvement by mass dot And that would include improving and adding five foot wide sidewalks multi-use paths on either side both sides of north hampton road that would be handicapped accessible Um, it includes adding two crossings across north hampton road that would have blinking lights One is at hazel street and one is at orchard street. So from our project site Either walking toward town or away from town there will be much safer opportunities to cross north hampton road So, uh, the planning board was interested in seeing how the scale of the property related to other properties nearby So if you imagine this is north hampton road, this is toward hadley and this is toward north hampton This is 132 the property in question If you were standing across north hampton road looking at it. This is how it would appear Partly because it's set about a hundred feet back from the edge of the site This is the neighboring property at 126 And then this is how these properties appear if you are kind of right in front of them Same treatment here with the fields house and then with other houses as you head up toward the town center And then properties on the opposite side of the road as well Okay, i'm going to turn it over to rachel to talk about site plans Rachel you're you're muted Can you hear me now? Yes, yes As laura mentioned, this is the location of the property north hampton road next slide Um, and this is what the proposed project would look at like One of the Nice aspects of this design is that the massing of the building relates really well to a lot of the other Buildings and neighborhood which you can see from the air and all The footprint is really similar Okay, next slide So this view has rotated a little bit from those previous views So north hampton road is on the right hand of the page Um, and amherst college is to the left so This is the the view and orientation that i'll be talking here for the next slides. Okay, fine Oops, sorry, okay um, this This is a survey of the site with a little bit of color to help It be a little bit more legible the existing house has really set back far into the back portion of the property It's within the setback It is it is Also the parcel which we found out later in the process has two zones Within it partially the edy zone and our g zone. So the green area shown there shows a little over 1500 square feet of the edy zone. That's in the parcel Um utilities coming into the site as laura mentioned Fully served by the city The water line which is shown in blue on this plan Actually goes through and easing it through the neighbor's parcel It is not sufficient to support the future building. Um, but we'll talk about that later overhead electric also comes through the neighbor's parcel as does sewer at a sewer line that the that the project connects to Um, and then on the left are pictures of the existing site today The view at the top is a view of the driveway looking back towards more camp and road um, the view in the middle is looking at the west side of the of the existing house between the house and the field And the bottom picture shows a view, uh, looking towards the back of the property Okay, next slide. Um, so In the process of the construction We will take great measures to make sure that we are managing the site and construction Um, and this is an example of the demo and erosion control plan that we would typically provide um, we call for silt sacks and silt fencing around the perimeter down slope areas construction fencing That tracking pad, um, and we itemize everything that's being removed Up there Next slide And then on site, uh, we are using a variety of different materials Mostly for for durability and then also with the final experience might be um, so the driveway today is gravel It would be make it more stable and firm Paving a majority of the driveway which is shown as Laura's pointing out in the lighter gray color It's a 22 foot wide access drive We have Eight spaces that are paved with asphalt to which our ada is accessible with an access aisle Bringing you into the Main entry of the building. Um, we also would be Using the grass pavers which are shown there on the right Um, the idea there is that we really want to kind of preserve the open feel of more function of this property And minimize the the view of paving into the site So grass pavers are something that we're going to use. Um, and we also suspect that this This community may not need the whole 16 spaces Um, we're also looking at using really durable sidewalk materials So there's a pedestrian sidewalk five feet wide connecting the building to a northampton road shown there in the light light beige color And also a concrete walk connecting to the to the parking area In the back, we have a dedicated patio area, which we're using unitized pavers To really make it feel more more home and then to reduce the amount of paving forest paving We're using kbi Or something called flexi pave, which has gained a lot of popularity with trail designs It's a porous material. It's more like it feels like Spongy like walking on a track and it allows water to go through but it has a nice softer feeling on site So we'll use that to connect the patio to other parts of the site I think we're maybe in a slide before that one But yeah Slide showing the different examples of grass pavers and paving strategies There is there is quite quite an abundance of options of colors and textures and prizes that we are thinking of so The placement of the building on the site is something that we've thought a lot Quite a bit and it's moved around quite a bit through the process of design um But we So we're the back corner of the building is a little over 27.6 feet from the back property line So we're expanding that three foot setback that was there before to a little bit more more comfortable space behind the building Which as Laura mentioned before gives us about 100 feet from Setback from the front in the Northampton road again for serving that open feeling That's characteristic of the neighborhood Um, and then to the neighbor to the east We have a little over 66 feet between the building and the neighbor And then I should also mention that In in Amherst in addition to the rg zone setbacks of 10 feet First side and rear There's a clause for this type of development that we have to add Two feet for every story to that side and rear setback. So We have a 2.5 story. So that's adding additional five feet. So we're we're still within the 15 foot Side setback and 15 foot rear setback for that requirement next slide Um, this is a chart just breaking down what some of those requirements are and how we fit within those The total lot size is over 38,000 square feet The area of the lot that's in the eb zone is a little over 1600 square feet The minimum lot size in rg zone as you can see is 12 12,000 square feet. We're well over that even after we subtract the eb zone area We meet the minimum frontage and as I talked you through those are the rear and side setbacks Um, building coverage, you know in in amherst There's there's a couple points behind here at the bottom of the page that I pulled from the zoning specifically for Building coverage and lot coverage in max height Building coverage is the area by the main building and any structures that are enclosed by three sides So, um, we're well with underneath the max building coverage at 12.8 percent Um, and the max lot coverage we're seeking a waiver for we're a little bit over for 45.29 percent I will say that if if this is conservative in the sense that we we included the pavers as A impervious surface if we were to consider the paver permit the grass pavers as Forest surface, um, we would be underneath that max lot coverage um, and we have 2.5 stories, which is less than three stories and um And tom will talk us through more of the height things later in the presentation slide So screening and fencing on site in terms of fencing There's already an existing ornamental rail fence between amherst property and this property, which will remain for the project um, and then on the neighbor to the east um They had currently there is not a fence and there's a stand of evergreen trees spruce trees um The neighbor had requested that we provide a 12 foot high fence between their property and and this project but we You're proposing an 8 foot tall sear fence for screening an additional Lots of plantings on both sides, which we'll talk about later Also, I'll mention that the there's a dumpster enclosure at the back of the property Hidden from view by the by a sear enclosure fence six feet high Next slide Um, and then I'm going to take you through in great detail all of the planting that we're proposing on this project next slide So we're using a range of evergreen And deciduous trees and flowering shrubs one thing that we we've been trying to take in the consideration a lot now As things are changing with climate um, is to really think about Plants that will do well in the future as it gets hotter and drier Um, and also a lot of attention has been given towards pollinators and the need to support them um, so Example of the the swamp white oak may support up to 300 or more pollinators and insects With it That they may over time and species like the black tubula will do really really well as things can change Um, so those kind of provide the structure for the site Um, also trying to for the evergreen trees and evergreen shrubs really trying to have a variety of texture and color Um, so that we're not just putting down arbor body everywhere Next slide And similar to the to the shrubs We're looking at using some natives some flowering It's lots of seasonal interests some color um lots of texture and habitat Next slide So now walk you through the different zones of of the project. So this is the eastern border The plantings there are going to span both sides of the fence the seat eight foot high cedar fence that I mentioned before um here we're using Different types different spruces and different both cypresses that will stay evergreen throughout the year And we're mixing in a couple more natives like the red twig dogwood and sweet fern Which are deciduous but provide a lot of love seasonal interests next slide Moving towards the south towards the Amherst College Amherst College border We're keeping some of the same plants for continuity but introducing some new ones so more more of the Eastern second war and the small white oak slide And then on the western border similar there using evergreens all throughout the property really of different heights so that We won't have really tall evergreen trees with that open juice underneath the planting smaller evergreen shrubs underneath those also with a mix of shade trees also and flowering Next slide and the front area still kind of that open pastoral feel but with the Black tupelo along the front of the road street state there providing more shade um, and then additionally in our stormwater area more wet-loving species like the white oak um, and then Dapplings the site with some understory trees like the japanese tree lilac and the red bud and then mixing in just a range of different uh colors and textures like north falurgilia and calmia and very With some sedges Okay, next slide Um programming on the site out, you know programming is a fancy word for activities that are planned outside Um outside we as I mentioned before we have an outdoor seating area which provides a space for For folks to get outside and take a breath Of air and be outside amongst the vegetation or talk to other people living in the building We're providing on our plans. We're showing five tables with up to 20 chairs. They're all movable and arrangeable So whether it's pre-covid or post-covid social distancing We're providing spaces for gardening. You're currently showing four by four plots 16 of those both on the southern side and the Western side of the project for a variety of growing areas We're providing a covered bike shed structure It can hold up to 16 bikes and Right when we're thinking it'll be in the range of eight to ten feet tall with a slope roof And we are proposing lighting underneath it. I'll talk about the lighting a little bit And then we have an outdoor pavilion seating area prefab That's a little bit over eight feet tall. It's made of cedar and aluminum Next slide in terms of managing waste on site and trash we've accommodated space for two dumpsters an eight yard dumpster and a six yard dumpster that can handle trash recycling And we've tested out A dumpster truck to make sure that it can turn around on the site. We're using grass paved areas to increase the paving paper and for this area to accommodate those turns Next slide Also managing the site though we worked a little bit at snow removal The vali cdc Sorry, the project will have Sidewalks will be removed either with by shovel or with a snow blower And then parking areas will be removed by file company Either stockpiled on on the site if it turns out that the parking areas are not needed or into the periphery And then on really big heavy snow falls. They may take some of the snow away Next slide And as mentioned before we have 16 spaces eight of which are grass paved spaces Um, and then 280a and six regular spaces Thanks for Um Accompanying this as I is a traffic study and a and a parking study Um Looking at this type of use according to the ite report um, and the number of units We anticipate that the weekly ad t max ad t would be 188 for this total development But sorry but we excuse me 188 total for this development. Um, but it looking at it in terms of what's happening adjacent on route nine Route nine has a much larger volume And mass do t did a recent study accompanying their proposed work And their max ad t is over 14,000 vehicles per day Once we take an account that we're removing the single family unit from the site when we're at And we're adding the 28 units. We have 178 total ad t that would be contributing to the route nine traffic So it is a much it's a very small number added to the traffic on route nine Additionally peak hours and peak trips mass do t Says that route nine peak hour use is a little over 1300 vehicles an hour Um and from our project similarly the max this is again very conservative the max number of trips from our site according to the ite generator trip generator would be 27 contribution so that's one vehicle every two minutes Next slide So the proposed site utilities are cleaning up some of those relationships that the what the property has with the municipal Services so now instead of going through the neighbor's yard for sewer For water and electric we're connecting to northampton roads as much as possible So we're proposing an eight inch ductile iron new water main to connect to the northampton road service And that would split off into a two and a half inch water line For potable drinking water and a six inch fire service line for fire suppression. So this this apartments will be sprinkled We also are providing a new fire hydrant to help with fire control if that need ever rise and there's an FDC connection At the front of the building which i'll show you on another slide We're putting the electric utilities underground hopefully connecting to northampton road And providing a transformer to the rear of the site That's quite often that transformers would be required So we want to move that out of the public realm out of the public view and the back of the site Which provides service into the building And then the sewer line we would have a six inch gravity sewer pipe That connects to the existing system to the south of the project site Next slide And telecom also providing a underground telecom line into the site I mentioned a little bit about the fire suppression system and the FDC connection and the hydrant which are all supporting Supporting our service folks protecting this house fire In conversations with with the fire department It was requested that we provide a 20 foot 5 25 foot turning radius for vehicles And this is showing where or that area would be located Okay, next slide We also did a cut and fill analysis of the proposed work on the site and um In amherst anything over filling over Going over to the five thousand square feet more than two feet a fill requires a special permit Um, and we are filling more than that. Yeah, we are In the eight thousand range and this graphic is showing you what areas are over two feet of fill um And we had we wrote we raised the site up a little bit to promote accessibility and the connection to the parking area And also accessibility to the lower levels of the building as we walk out Um, also the site has high groundwater And raising those portions of the site helped us meet all the stormwater challenges of the site Next slide And then this is the cut fill analysis of the entire site not just what two feet of fill looks like So we are cutting in places and filling in other places the majority of the site. We're actually Making subtle shifts of anywhere from zero to one foot next slide so lighting uh, this is a An illustrative version of a lighting plan Lighting designers often will like grid out the site to show What and they measure the foot candles in a model On a grid how many foot candles are at any given point? And this is what we use to check to see and make sure that we don't have light trespass Beyond the property line What that usually looks like is a black and white mess of Little dots and little numbers. So what I've done here Is I've drawn shapes of yellow around Any area that has more than zero foot candles. So the lightest shading Is point one to one foot candle And then the next darkest shading is one to two foot candles And there's only a one or two areas that are above Two foot candles and that's right underneath the canopy at the entryway Also lighting can really really change the way that a project fits within the neighborhood and also change the way it feels to live there One thing that I think many of us Don't enjoy is feeling like you're under a spotlight are The cool the more cool lighting and the way we talk about Color and lighting is through kelvin and temperature. So Up 5,000 is very bright white white blinding white light And then the warmer tone lights are in the 2700 to 3000 range So we've worked with the designer to make sure that every fixture is in the 3000 range. So the site will have a really soft warm light We've also tried to keep the numbers down And keeping in mind that smore has a more residential feel. So We did have to use some full mountain lights and those are shown here on the left what those fixtures look like Uh with the shepherds hook and a little softer feel Those were needed to provide Safe fee for the parking areas, but the packed waves we chose to use really low hollard lighting That are there's in the back. We're using more of the 20 inch tall variety And along the front there are 36 inch high all the fixtures are fully shielded And anything on the building is full cut off And they're And we're trying it's everything in dark sky, I should say And then the lights will be dimmed at night on a timer And as I mentioned before the lights on the pathways or motion center So again trying to minimize the amount of light on the site Next slide I'm just going to add that these pathway lights are all solar powered lights We tried to get everything solar powered, but we needed a little bit more oomph over here But as much as possible we're using solar powered lights and it's all led lighting as well All right, we're going to turn it over to tom was going to talk us through the architectural plans You there tom The sheet shows uh the views from the model that we did of the building When when we first started considering this project we we thought of We were thinking of a building that was more modern and contemporary massing similar to some of the newer Buildings and embers and that quickly became obvious that that was inappropriate for the site So we worked towards trying to break the massing down make it more Victorian and sort of massing in roof and in details The plan has floor plan has It's broken up It breaks the box out with a number of bays and recesses and those carry through to the roof Which ends up having so you have rather than having one mass of the gable you have a lot of dormers So each of those bays carries up and you have a gable over them There's some hip areas And that gives it a sort of a more Victorian massing Um We also have a stone base. We're trying to stratify the building a little bit. So horizontally, you have a stone base that is um similar to the to the To the field house next door and the Signing will be Will be clavards. It'll be all hearty plank. It'll be a mixture of clavards and possibly some shingles in the upper levels and fairly fairly wide cornerboards freeze water table and things like that And then also there's porches a couple of porches as a porch that faces the street And then there's obviously a porch that over the main entrance And some of the other egress to have little ponds over them So it just to orient you the upper right image is looking across the driveway Um to the left is the main entrance of the building where you interact grade And then down on the right side is the porch that faces uh the street and the Lower left. I mean sorry the upper left image is sort of back to the other side of the driveway The the that's the main car parking The facade on the left side there is the one that faces the back Um And I guess I can say also right here. It's a little bit clear the the graves are not completely accurate in this but um In this model, but the part facing the the driveway is is really nor like two stories in the Levels facing the back and The west there are three stores And the front is somewhere in between Uh next slide Here's a series of elevations. This is the front elevation Um The entrance is in the center the porch facing the street And that little box on the top is the is the is for the elevator Next That's the Northampton road view straight on With the entrance on the left and the porch on the center next This is Uh The west elevation and on the lower right. There's a pair of doors that it opens out a grade to the panio And beyond that is it on the right is a retaining wall that helps with the transition to the higher level and next And finally this is um facing the south the Amherst property On the right. There's a little egress door And on the bay to the left there's a little dark overhang. Also, that's another exit at grade as well from the side Okay, next This uh, this slide is so we're trying to compare Uh, the height and massing of the existing building with the new The existing building has a walkout basement and a first floor and a second floor What we are doing the difference really is that a couple things The second floor in their case is tucked under the roof Which we can't do And then basically the floor to floor heights have to be significantly higher to accommodate Mechanical systems and the the ceilings in that in that house. They're quite low. They're more like seven feet seven and a half feet Fine words. So the top shows you back to back That's so that mean that's the west elevation and that's the west elevation of the building and then I had just a comparison with the front as well next So actually Laura, can you scroll down a couple of slides to get to the section of this? Just to get this so, um Just continuing on the building height The so the image on the right shows that the the has floor to floor heights um basic building section and it shows the the median Building height as taken from the lowest level of the grade Is uh below the the 40 foot The section on the left, um Explains sort of how the how the whole structure of the building works with the grade So that where the cursor is now that is the that's the outside entrance and then you come into the lobby That's at grade to the parking lot And once you're in the lobby That's a mid that's a sort of half level and you either go down to the ground floor Which opens out at the lower level Or you can walk up to this to the first what we're calling the first floor That stairway right in the lobby is an open stairway. It connects the lobby and the two other floors The third floor is accessed either by the elevator or or by stair towers at either end So if we go back To the plans, let's stop at the first go one more down one more time down So here you see again you enter you enter in that entryway and there's the lobby And there's an elevator that can take you either down or up down to the ground floor or up two floors And then there's an open stair that takes you either down to the ground floor Or up to the first floor If you were going if you wanted to walk and you were going to the To the second floor you would go you could walk up those open stairs And then you would wind down the hallway either way to get into the e-miss stairs and go up So you can go down and up that where you can go down And alternatively you could enter from the path at the at the um North at the street side the north end and and come in and go right up the stairs if you're using this right there So now let's go back down to the ground level. Sorry Uh, so this is the ground floor You come down the you come down from the lobby downstairs And there's a there's a sort of open hall on the left is the common room Which opens out to the patio at green The there's a common restroom For people to use and there's a resident service coordinator office is here as well and then There is the laundry common laundry services And um, that's an electrical room there Utility room and then there's also a stair next to the elevator You go back up to the elevator on the left of the elevator. There's a stair that runs down to a subbasement And that subbasement is under the Under the lobby and that's going to be more mechanical space and an elevator bit And then the rest of the floor has Basic units there are a number of different types, which you will look at quickly, but This floor does not have the accessible units. The accessible units is upstairs So if you want one we have in that corner above the common room, we have one of the accessible units and then we have The property manager's office, which is over here and that actually looks out Um Over the lobby. So there's a window down to the lobby so they can you can see what's going on there. Um And then similar units and if you go Upstairs, let's go upstairs again Um, there's a there's another accessible unit stacked And then uh Other units So maybe I can talk quickly about The construction Well, actually talking about some of the safety features first I think we have a we have a slide for that so We have the building is fully sprinkled The fire hydrant is hard-wired smoke and CO detectors And there are multiple fire Extinguisher egress and extinguishers. There's two main stairs Take you once you get into those stairs It's a fire rated enclosure and they both empty directly out into the exterior The construction of the building Or the security the building is locked with an intercom to each unit And this is a security camera coverage Of the entries in the egress and common spaces And peep holes in the unit doors So the doors are normally locked And you will come to the entrance and buzz the unit to be let in The main entrance also has A automatic power door opener for accessibility I don't have let's see. Um In terms of construction, what's the next sign? Um, I'm gonna go back a little Let's go let's go look at the units now. Sorry. I'm making you jump around um There's a number of like every building we try to Standardize things and then what happens because of all different kinds of requirements. There's a lot of different Solutions, but there's basically there's like three or four different unit types. Um, they're all Basically the same in that date you come in the door. You have a kitchen Kitchenette a little bit of storage. There's an area for a dining table An area for sitting and a bed and then and then the bathroom um The big exception to that is it's the accessible units, which are just basically have much more space around those features They have a roll-in shower and room to turn And more space access at the bend And those are a few more units. They're basically different just because they're found in different locations But they all have the same similar features Do you want to look at the roof at all? I mean the roof is in order to in order to Bring out the victorian masking and character. We have Uh, a lot of dormers. So basically there's there's a two the construction mainly two intersecting Gables and then gable dormers everywhere that breaks up the massing very nicely It makes it a little bit, uh, difficult If we're since we're looking to put solar on it, but Um and the And the construction is a little more difficult, although it's built out of uh, trusses There's no occupied space in the attic. So it's just trusses and over the edge. We talked about this How about this one? so we have a our goal really is to insulate and Bring a level of air tightness to the building that reduces our energy loss to the point that Um, we can get a passive house certification and require very, uh, low Uh, energy expenditures to heat and cool the villain So we have a we'll have an envelope that is is has pays great great attention to our air reducing eliminating air infiltration And adding is high levels of insulation um Because we're reducing the air infiltration to such an extent we're spending a lot of time having uh, bringing in fresh air and that's going to be done by, um ERB's energy recovery ventilators which will So provide fresh air to each apartment And ventilate air from each apartment and they they're energy efficient because they recover energy The as the as the air is exhausted it transfers energy from the exhaust air into the income and those will be run, um all the time And they will they will exhaust bathroom and kitchen air and provide fresh air into the living areas Because we're reducing the energy costs I mean the energy demands so much we're going to have we can have a small and efficient, um heating system, which will be Air source heat pump will provide cooling and heating and we will also have heat heat pump hot water heaters. So there's no going to be no, um Combustion appliances on on site no electric no fossil fuels The goal I mentioned a little bit the problem with the roof, but the goal is to add some solar panels where we can To offset the the electric energy bill It's an efficient building. It's pretty compact. We have tried to limit Exterior envelope as much as possible and still keep it an effective, you know, attractive massing So the building the units are efficient It's an walkable location close proximity to services shops metal facilities in the bike trail And hopefully that reduces the number of tenants who own cars Which all contributes to its low carbon footprint um The building is is fully accessible in public in its public areas. So all the walks are slopes that Less than five percent. It's all the entrances are accessible They at grade There's an elevator There would be two two of the units will be fully Handicap accessible and they're larger as we saw on the plan There'll be one additional unit adapted for a tenant who may have sensory impairments um The other units will be adaptable In a design so that uh, they're visible I think Yeah, I think you got all of that Okay Um, is there anything else tom that isn't here that you wanted to say about the building itself I'm just scrolling back to see if you Okay, we may get questions for you um I'm just gonna quickly highlight the zoning waiver requests They're listed out in quite a bit of detail in the application But um, these are what I would think of as some of the highlights The number of units in apartment buildings. We're asking to have 28 instead of the 24 maximum The density of units to allow these 28 units parking allow 0.57 spaces per unit or 16 spaces total Maximum lot coverage we talked about being a little bit over the 40% normally permitted And to basically allow the comp permit to encompass all of the other town permits Water and sewer connections site plan review demolition delay Etc with the zba Consulting with the relevant town departments or boards Um, want to share a little bit about next steps Assuming that the zba were to grant a hearing we assume we'd have hearing and permitting during the course of this summer Might allow us to apply for funding in the winter And if we were successful, we would hear about that funding next summer We would work to select a general contractor and close on construction And begin construction in the spring of 2022 We'd have a marketing period as well as a tenant lottery that would kind of coincide with while the construction is underway Completing construction maybe a little more than a year later than it was started About usually a three to six month period to lease up all the units And then what we call stabilized operations is when you have a few months of fully occupied operations The end of the year 2023 And I think we're at the end of our presentation Thank you so much Thank you very much. Um Thanks for that presentation One of the things that massachusetts open meeting a lot requires is that questions asked questions asked at the site visit be Introduced into the record in the public hearing So what I want to do is go over some of those questions that were asked at the site visit and then I will um Turn the turn We can go through those I will then turn it over to the other members of the zba To ask their questions I have some other questions Which I can ask if the after other questions my my fellow zba members are at are asked and answered But I want to go through those make sure those questions that were asked at the site visit are put into the record um So Let's go to the the trees The landscape design first laura Could we look at I know there was lots of there were lots of questions around tree removal replanting and all that so in specifically Let's tell me what what plan We should be looking at which um piece of paper which Should we get that will help us with that? Okay? I'm gonna ask for help from rachel But so in terms of what is being removed from the site There should be a plan that's a demolition plan That would include demolition of the house As well as removal of any trees that are not going to remain on the site um The majority of trees that are there now are slated for for demolition um, and maybe so this demolition plan will identify each tree that's going to be Removed or just Just shows the trees that are going to be replanted it shows it identifies the trees that be removed I believe it does. Yeah, okay. I'll see 101 101 We'll see 101. Yeah got it Okay, let's practically so All the trees abouting the neighboring property are going to be removed, correct? Yep Laura, I guess Yes Rachel I'm having a hard time hearing you so just probably breaking up All right at the request of the neighbor Yes um We talked about the Grass pavers At the site. We understand that that's cement with spaces that grass grows that correct? That's correct um Another question was why You you allude to this a second ago miss lawfler You said that the trees would be removed at the request of the neighbor And there was a question asked at the site visit About whether there was any thought given to planting trees between the existing trees To try to provide a screen instead of taking down how many of those? It's not listed here on 101, but it's there's a number of Spruce trees there. There must be 10 or 15 spruce trees that you're going to take down Laura, do you want to answer this one? You had conversations Yeah, we have looked at a number of different options. One of them Was retaining those trees and putting a fence on our side of the trees and then putting some plantings there It you can plant things under spruce trees It limits the type of right. I would think that you could plant because it's it's pretty heavily shaded there Um But it's certainly something we looked at We did get the request uh from the abutter to remove those trees and to provide something new Which was of the eight foot cedar fence as well as plantings that we would Provide on our side of the lot as well as potentially on their side of the lot If they would like some plantings on on their land as well And what's the nature of those what species trees are you looking at on that level? along that property line So that rachel went through that section and we can provide this whole presentation To to the zba to be posted. I suggest that's probably the simplest way So she broke out the different planting areas and gave pictures and names of the different species that would be on there So which plan that um identifies the species the planting plan rachel? What is it? It's more important the height. I think the height is more important for this question that was asked at the At the uh site visit the height The the plants are also um on lc 111 um And there there are plant there's a plant legend with sizes and quantities uh and the symbol um symbol correlates to the scientific name um and The trees that we planted there are will grow to a range of heights um But what comes that what comes from the nursery is installed at a smaller smaller height So many of the evergreen trees come At eight foot heights five eight foot heights at install, but they will grow to 20 or 30 feet So at install we'll have they range from five to eight feet Along that property line, okay um There was a place we talked about the placement of the fence going to the bike path And that seems to me you you described that in your presentation. So I think that issue was um Mentioned already in the meeting um Do you mean the bike shed the bike shed? Yes, excuse me not the bike path the bike shed That'd be a long fence to the bike path the bike shed. Yes. Um Did you look at alternatives to asphalt paving was another question Yeah, so we did talk about that at the site visit whether we could use instead of asphalt porous pavement And we did consider that um because of the high groundwater on the site We did not think it was going to be a successful application of porous pavement because it has to be able to percolate down and go somewhere But as you've seen we do have about at least half of the kind of stabilized parking and driving areas are The grass grass creek instead of the two minutes pavement But the long run of driveway would be a bit two minutes pavement. Yes um You one question was about the ADA compliant rumble strip at the end of the driveway that along the sidewalk Um, you didn't talk about that in the presentation. Uh, could you just describe that for us? Sure. Those are those are standard To be provided when a sidewalk intersects a a drive It's a way someone who's visually impaired. You might be using a cane can feel A notice that they're about to Cross traffic with a vehicle So those those come in different sizes Standard is like a two two foot by three foot pad Cast in the concrete and it has a dome and it can be metal Or it can also be a concrete concrete favors, but It needs to be a contrast in color So we have two of those provided On both sides of our drive um What's the timing we were asked about the timing of the construction on route nine now? I know it's it's a state project you can't commit to the to the The timeline, but what do you know about the state's plans and how would you represent the timing? Well, the state has just contacted us for an easement. I believe they are at 95 or 100 design development I think they're looking at construction over two seasons. I think it might be next summer and the summer after There's a lot going on in our economy and It could shift But they've at least designed the full system. So it and and they're queued up in the funding stream to do the work My guess is is they would begin construction before we would And our our hope is to just coordinate the plans so that if we need to tie into the water line in north hampton road Which is our desire They would stub that out across, you know during the point of construction Even if we weren't under construction yet So I don't know exactly who's going to finish first My guess is they will uh, but either way we would do our best to coordinate our work with their work Um, one of the questions was whether the existing building would be demolished that of course is the case We did ask and that was that you represented that here in your presentation The cost of the building itself and the per unit cost was a question that was asked as well sure, um So when we look at the total budget for the project and we break it down by the units We're at about 265,000 per unit That includes all the common areas the offices the elevator the cost of the land Everything kind of rolled into one big what they call total development cost divided by 28 is 265,000 I believe we're budgeting about 250 dollars a square foot for construction So even though these units aren't large Um, they are expensive on a per square foot basis because they all have kitchens. They all have bathrooms We have an elevator. So it's it's this type of construction. It's a little misleading to just look at it on a per unit cost But we think it's pretty competitive on a square foot cost with other types of affordable housing cost in our region So total cost of the building is someplace around 7.5 million dollars Not the building, but of the of the project is about 7.5 million dollars. Correct Another question was about landscaping to the to shell landscaping in front of the building To shelter the noise from route nine up to the building Um, can you walk through with us how you're doing that on the landscaping? The use of trees and shrubs to Yeah, we have a immediately at Northampton road we have four missus salvatica Shade trees and then moving into the property. We have quarkus bicolor big oak trees and then we have We have some pines and we have We have some just a mix of other shrubs like the feather gillia and Oh There's some Japanese tree lilac and some understory trees as we move closer into the building We have a mix of evergreen and flowering shrubs. So there are lots of layers Both vertically and horizontally Um, we could also Densify that even further, but that would change the character Of that open open feeling between the road and the building I would add I would oh, sorry Mr. Langfield I think it would be who of us While you're talking about these plantings If we can get rather than just saying we have an oak and we have some pines Uh, if we could understand what? kind of pines like The pine trees along the driveway that they want to take down are I don't know 50 or 60 feet high But there are no branches for the first 25 or 30 feet. So they are give they give no Uh, uh, they don't block anything So if we could understand that with what they're going to replace all of these plantings they take out What they're going to replace them with their size their height How high they're going to grow what kind of cover they're going to give How full they are? Rather than just stating we have pines and oak and whatever else Do you want me to try to answer that now or is that I think that needs to be a further Mr. Langsville, I think you'd agree that since I think that needs to be a Additional submission where we could go through because you could tell us to us now and it would be I think it'd be more helpful to have a An additional drawing or an elevation of some way to represent that But you understand the concern that voice by mr. Langsville Yeah, and it's something that Informs how which which species we chose we chose some little guys That stay low that max out around eight feet And we've paired them with the with the bigger guys that get 30 40 feet high so So is is the main question what will this landscaping look like once it's matured? Because it looks very different when it's matured than when you first plant it So is that what we should be aiming to show the the board? Yeah, I think also the question is A couple of questions Yes, what is it going to look like when it's matured? What is it going to look like when it's planted? Along with And what will it look like next meeting? I'm sorry. What I think somebody was meant that was just inadvertent conversation Go ahead. Mr. Langsville. All right and Okay, well, I lost my train of thought And you was know that you that you wanted to see something for what it would look like for the first In initial planting and what we could what we'd expect to see when it is fully mature Yeah, there's two different representations, right? Okay, is that clear mr. Laughler. Yes Good Can I add one thing in terms of buffer and sound there is a lot of traffic noise from northampton road Because we're looking at doing a passive house building At least when you are in the building it will be extremely quiet We'll have double triple pane windows will have very thick walls. So just wanted to share that with the group Um, mr. Chairman, uh, it appears mr. Mara has a question Oh Yes, mr. Mara Wonderful presentation. Thank you all for your very hard work Um, just a clarification on those spruce trees again. Sorry um We have to consider A waiver on the eight-foot fence if if we don't Give that a waiver does the a butter still want those trees down? I can't I don't know the answer to that I think we need to Have a consideration for that And if there can be a dialogue with the a butter That if the zoning board doesn't agree to an eight-foot fence do they still want those spruce trees down? That would be helpful for me. Thank you. Great job Thank you One of the other questions we had was a location of the smokers pavilion and You've shown that on the on the plan um We did have a question of removal of the apple tree at the very back of the property. Is that tree going to go? Is shown going in the plans that we looked at the grading and we can tweak the grades To help keep it It'll reduce the amount of usable space near the building but um We can shift we can shift the grades for that Um That we talked about the height of the building you've taken care of that in your presentation and we've measured the Members of the zba went out to try to measure how an eight-foot fence which would shield the view of the The new building from the existing in butters and it looks like From the front door if I remember right it looks like from the front door with an eight-foot fence You pretty much can't see much you can't see much of the house at all the abutting house is that so if you could provide some kind of a um A drawing that shows from a standing perspective of a person standing on each side of the property how the eight-foot fence shelters the um or shields The the existing house from the new proposed residents that would be helpful So you is the main concern The neighbors look at what the neighbors are looking at or is it the main concern what our new tenants will be looking at? Well, I I think it's both but it's more that I think it's both um, I can imagine that the existing That the the butters have that question and it may come up with your your future tenants as well, but I think both And I think that was all the all the questions that we were um that were asked at the The site visit that were not um, we didn't specifically Deal with yet So I what I'd like to do is turn this over to other people on the other board members to ask questions And I'd like to start with uh, mr. Langsdale if you would if you have a questions at this time Uh, yeah, I have a few um One of the things that uh Is part of your presentation is uh concerns the walking distance to town and to the shops um along uh northampton road You have listed that the um Wait a minute, uh That the walking distance to the shopping To the west is six tenths of a mile. Is that a return trip? That's one way One way. Yeah, so It's over a mile down and back at least Yeah, um And then to town it's How long how far is that generally four tenths of a mile to where in town To I think to the nearest bus stop which is right around the corner Kind of across from the common Okay, so Right, so but it's not to the shops and stuff One of the things I think we need to see And this has to do with the eight foot fence as well is um a discussion uh a presentation a representation of the uh Difference in uh the levels of uh that area Because you're on that's a very steep Uh incline that uh you're on on northampton road So the six tenths of a mile down to the shops is downhill. That's nice coming back. It's all uphill It's uphill to town and downhill coming back the eight foot fence That the house that's next to you is uh Much more elevated than your property Yeah, so an eight foot fence really isn't going to block anything for them Uh Well, I don't know what it would be But so I think the it's important that we get a sense of the difference in heights that of uh the terrain That that is that Not just your property, but what's next door and and uh What tenants would have to deal with in terms of riding a bicycle or walking Down or up You also at one point in your uh presentation, uh showed that the uh The the people the Not the property management, but the other folks in the other office Who are there to assist the uh The people living there One of the points you made was that they would provide transportation. What transportation is that? Um, I think we would look for them to Provide one-on-one transportation to a limited extent for tenants. I think more of their job would be coordinating rides, so there's um Accessible van service in town There, you know, there could be tighter will be tenants who have cars so there can be rides and trips that are coordinated with tenants Um, so I don't imagine them driving every person around every day Um, but trying to maximize people's ability to use different types of transportation systems Okay Let's see, um the um You say also in your presentation that uh That it the occupants are not limited to the chronically homeless Who then It besides the chronically homeless What does what encompasses the people? Uh, who are uh Able to apply for and move into your place Sure. So the 10 units that have a homeless preference Someone may be homeless, but they may not be chronically homeless The remainder of the units Essentially, it's an income restriction So you need to be within a certain income range to qualify You know, we do references. We do quarries. You have to be a good tenant How the usual So quick what would that include students? Um, it does not include students The funding that we're you using, um Is not intended for full-time undergraduate student housing So there's a definition which I can provide to the board of what who qualifies as a student who could live in the property for example Uh, someone who's an a working adult taking vocational classes Could live in the property But a full-time undergraduate student How about a graduate student Depends on their age and um, there's a number of criteria. I can provide them to you. It's The idea is that We're not trying to subsidize the housing of people who are dependents of other people who might have more resources That's the concept Nor are we trying to punish people who are adults who are trying to improve themselves. So Let's try to split that Um Okay, uh the bike shit Um, the picture that you provide has uh A platform of I don't know four to six inches And then it has a cover with some posts for I think it's four posts at each corner But there's nothing inside it Uh to uh, I mean a lot of bikes don't have kickstands. Oh, sure. There would be There would be A you or a s or we would have a bike stand within it so that people could lock their bikes to something and keep them upright It's an empty picture and I also think it might just be on a pad on the ground So you're not having to lift your bike up. It was really just to give an impression of what scale and Type of thing we were talking about. Yeah I think it would be necessary for us to have a picture of exactly what you're talking about rather than A vague representation okay, um The lighting the pole lights there are four lights For the parking. What are the heights of those poles? I think we know hang on They are 15 feet high 15 Okay, um I would I would say that for a Residential you're trying to make this residential looking. Yeah residential type place 15 feet is extremely high I'm sorry. I looked at the wrong item. It was the product number for the meteor light The pole mounted lights are on a 12 foot base 12 foot Well, we can talk about that we we've recently done a project that is a an apartment building Where the light poles are 10 feet and 8 feet once again to Not give it a commercial look 12 and 15 foot Pole lights are much more commercially oriented So I think we'd want to look at that Mr. Langsdale, can I add something to your chair? Sure. Longer and that's long longer on that subject you know I you provided the The highlighted yellow Yellow highlighted Lighted plan and you mentioned how that it was difficult to read a normal photo photovoltaic plan with all the little numbers But I think we should have that photovoltaic plan submitted to us and not rely upon just the The representation that you had on your presentation of yellow varying degrees of yellow. So you could I think we should you should provide that to us. Okay. So that way it's called a photometric plan and it's in your packet Well, I can't I can hardly read it. Yeah I know we need I can't read it. So, um, we get a bigger We can make the numbers bigger And then but I think you need to adjust it for the other lights that mr. Langsdale was talking about A lower lower For eight to ten foot lights as opposed to 12 to 15 foot Yeah, what the difference would be we'll revise the plan to accommodate an eight to ten foot light and show darker Tick marks and numbers. Okay. Oh, yeah um also then uh in terms of lighting, um The windows in the building will how will they be shaded? Um Most often we do a kind of mini blind Okay, just so that there's a way to block off it for the nighttime, you know, um, and also, uh, do the windows open? Yes, these are double hung windows, right tom. Is that what we're thinking? Or are they casement? You're muted there. I think a lot of them are going to be I think they're leaning towards casement actually And better energy performance So they'd have a crank to open them typically they only open a limited way for fall protection But yeah, you can open them. They'll have screens Okay, good um Let's see Oh the height of the building is, uh 40 44 11 44 almost 12 inches Um to the very top Yeah, yeah there, uh in the proposal they it was said that, uh There would be three floors of apartments and other things but, uh Originally, I think it was proposed that the attic would have some living spaces But now you're not going to have living spaces in the attic. What is the purpose of the act? What will it be used for? It's the the attic is not you is not occupying It's it's basically what's left over to build the you know to move the building right so what's going to be framed with roof trusses Um, it will have sprinkles in it and it will have to have an access hatch to get in there, but it's going to have about 25 inches of cellulose insulation. Okay Good, okay Okay, that's all for now Thank you. All right. Thanks. Ms. O'Mara. Ms. O'Mara. Do you have questions? No, I'm good. Thank you Ms. Parks Do you have some questions? I do um Thank you for the presentation If someone were to um Come who had a small child would that is that something that you would consider someone with an infant? So it it a lot of it depends on the size of the particular unit. So The state sanitary code dictates that if you have more than one person you need 250 square feet of habitable space So some of these units are literally just they're not made for more than one person some of them are over that dimension um and We don't have any right to to tell people they can't come with an infant. Um, You know, we have had tenants living in this type of properties who've Pregnant or reunified with their children And usually our approach has been to try to move them into some more suitable Larger size apartment. Um that they can afford and it may take some time to do that Um, but it's not designed really as family housing. It's really it's I think it's highest and best use Is for single individuals All right Four units that are 266 square feet And then into accessible units that are just under 400 And then you were talking about having a property manager there for about 30 out 20 to 30 hours a week and then someone who would um Uh, coordinate services. Is any would anyone be there on the weekends? Um, not necessarily although the resident services coordinator position, you know, could have weekend hours if there was demand for that I think we'd have to kind of See where the ebb and flow of resident demand was um We could I mean that will be our Contracted employee or subcontracted employee so we can set up whatever schedule seems to make sense for that position Is there something like a 24 hour call number or something like that in case somebody's not doing well Yeah, so well, there's two things a property management has a 24 hour emergency call line Which typically people call for property issues. Sometimes they call for other things Um, and then we don't have a 24 hour person necessarily for a mental health kind of crisis Although there are community lines for that type of crisis Okay, and and I'm sorry to go back to this but I I also have a concern about that line of trees and I don't I'm not um, I don't I'm not a good tree identifier. I don't are those spruce. Are they hemlock? What are the what is that line of trees? Does anyone know Between the two properties I do know I think it's a type of spruce I did talk with the tree warden and I can I can fight he told me the name of them But I don't remember do you know Rachel what those are? I I want to make sure I get it right. So I wanted to double check All right. I just my concern is that because the property is sloped It seems like those trees actually would help with erosion And because it's a moist area in Amherst it also seems like they would help with moisture with Taking up some of the moisture and the other thing is today I drove up and down route nine and those trees really block that house the neighbor's house from that property from the prop from 132 and Almost all the way down to university drive as you look up You see that stand of trees and I went all the way down to Lincoln avenue and looked back and you see that Stand of trees and I I honestly think that it will create a bald spot If those trees are removed and I also You know, there are there's the the you know, kind of a mature apple tree on the property and and other trees I would just ask that Preserve whatever trees you can I did see that in that stand of trees along the driveway. There's 35 trees there 24 of them are very large trees and about 11 of them are really skinny trees and so um You know, I I do think I I wish that we could keep those trees. So, um I I don't I don't know if it's any determined deciding factor for me But um, you know, I just wish that take another look at the trees and see if we can preserve those That's it for me Thank you All right, mr. Hart um Mr. Maxfield do you have questions? Yeah, I said one that I want to uh So we're asking you uh, you folks again to reach out to that immediate the butter to um to the east there about That trees and alternatives to cutting them down what their thoughts on that would be um Also like to hear From them as well What their feelings would be on the size of those lights that um are going to be facing the parking lot um What they thought is on a 10 versus an 8 foot is as well as I think they'll be um one of the residents seeing those lights the most They'd like to know if you can get what their thoughts on that are I'd like to hear that Okay, thank you That's it. Mr. Lange. Mr. Maxfield Any other questions? No, that's it for right now. Okay. All right I've got a couple additional questions then or that I'd like to ask. Um unsupported services of as the extent Of the supportive services that you have you intend to supply or or or to um Connect tenants with either that you supply or you connect tenants with has that been described? Other than the the slide we saw tonight. Is that described in some of the places in this application? Yeah, so it's referenced in your application in the management plan. It references. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah Yeah, so Oh It's been posted on the town's website since May So if you go into the PEL it was part of the PEL application So if you go into that section, you'll see supportive services plan And the whole plan the whole draft plan is posted and you're welcome to take a look at it Okay, mr. Yep. All right. So One first off what's PEL? So the project eligibility letter was the letter that came from the state that allows us To apply to you for the comprehensive permit Okay, and then that supportive services plan Will you provide can you Can we get that the staff and we get that distributed to the members? So marion, can you get that from the PEL So I will submit that to the board Yeah, so we can have that We don't have to go looking for it. I think that's an important part of the Of the application um So I know that the town this is a question about the finances. I'm just not clear The town has provided 500 thousands of Community preservation act money and there was some earlier earlier money in that as well So it is around is it six hundred or seven hundred thousand dollars that the town has provided 750 750 and is that used for planning and preparation? So if this doesn't Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. It's both. So the first 50 is spent and gone It was really to identify a site and do very early feasibility analysis The second 200 we've only used a little bit of it's for design and planning The last 500 is for construction. So if we don't succeed in Obtaining all of our financing and permitting and going under construction The town never spends that last tranche of cpa money got it If we keep on the Financing issue There was a reference to a state fund for financing At some point where you when on the timeline you just thought Are you have to get approval from the state for for financing? Can you decide what that would be? Sure Most affordable housing in massachusetts at some point goes to the state They're the main distributor of both state bond money and federal funds They have an application round. It's called a one stop The idea is you go in and you can ask for multiple state and federal sources in one Gigantic application and it typically happens only once a year It's usually Sometime in the winter that they'll announce that round And if we are ready we will go in and apply for those funds and we'd be pulling from probably Six different sources within What the state has able is able to allocate The largest source is called the low income housing tax credit. It's actually not Public money at all. Well, it kind of is it's tax credits It's equity that comes from investors in exchange for tax credits at the federal level So that's the single largest source of financing that we would be seeking And your hope is to get 7 million dollars from that fund or for And so add to the 707,000 you know So in the I will just tell you in the project eligibility letter there are budgets also That identify all the different sources We have committed a bunch of local money, which is great. It makes us much more competitive when we go to the state They would look Very very favorably on a project like this that is for a low income vulnerable population in A nice community to live in So we don't doubt that they would support it It's really just having all the having all our ducks in a row so that we have a clear path And then we can go and seek funds from them And the 265,000 per unit is extremely low relative to What the per unit cost is in the state. They're they're not seeing much below 400,000 these days And they're trying not to go above 500,000 So most projects are coming in between four and 500,000 per unit for affordable housing development in massachusetts And there's of course, it's it's incredibly expensive to do these very small units It is you have you have to use a bathroom you have a bathroom and a kitchen bed For 250 square feet where it's on one bedroom You may just have one bathroom for 600 square feet, right? Right. Yep. Those are the cost-intensive features Those are cost-intensive using the state and federal programs are cost-intensive to be honest in terms of for attorneys fees and other kinds of design costs so Um it massachusetts is a it's a heavily regulated state and it's it's a housing It's a state where housing and construction is expensive Yeah um Is the the role of the residential services coordinator described fully in the supportive services Piece that's connected that's with your PEL letter. Yes So if I get that I will have a description of the supportive services residents Supported the residents services coordinator's job. Is that correct? I believe it's fully described So there's a description of the duties. There's actually a job description in there So if you look at that and you still have questions, please, um, let me know We may that's we may talk about that in one or the other When we get the information we'll review it and we may have questions about it in future hearings Sure Let's see Will there be supportive services provided at the site? Or just will they be will you just meet match client tenants and with supportive services off site? both So, um, the plan the plan is really about linkage. So some things like You know seeing a dentist you're gonna probably need to go to Other things like we had the the public health department offer to come on site and do some clinics You know, they can do flu shots and other kinds of clinics. So there's some services that it makes sense to bring on site Um, I would say the majority of services people are gonna need to probably go somewhere too And then social workers and therapists. It's a little bit of both some Especially for homeless folks often the providers end up coming to people because they have no transportation and It's just easier that way. So it will be both Yep um one thing I didn't see on the drawing is um And maybe I missed it is the distance between the new structure and the closest wall of the existing house existing of butters And I'm not sure that I saw how far away you are from the new building will be from the existing house and Can you provide that to us the new building from our neighbor? Yeah, from the 26th Right through the trees up to the okay the house to the To the south I guess we can figure that out Okay And then you mentioned this in your presentation you you provided a snow plan I always am happy when people think about what to do with snow um But what I saw is that you're going to push it up around the tree It looks like you're going to push push a lot of it up around the trees And I'm not the expert. So I think miss laffler. You probably are the expert if you have Uh chemicals salt, um ice melts other kinds of things. Is that going to um is Pushing this the snow up around the trees Appropriate place to put it or will that leave the damage of the of those trees and plants and should we find another place to put that? Some trees have different salt tolerance than others um, I think what we were thinking is that the The grass paved area Probably wouldn't be actually used for parking and that might be a place that we would be putting the majority of the snow Um, and then there were some other areas on the periphery for that um I think we can probably provide more detail and Laura and I should talk about what what chemicals if any are being used for for de icing And come back to you if they just for the description of that That would be great. Thank you um Is there any story That I noticed the units. This is probably a question for mr. Chalmers But the units have very little storage and if they're only 265 square feet and Many people who are likely to be tenants, especially those with less than 30 percent of area median income are unlikely to have a lot of stuff But is there any storage for tenant goods beyond that little closet? So is there storage in the basement? Is there storage in the attic or things that are um that they may want to seasonally store Or not And where in how much storage is there in that closet? Is that nine by six or Or you know nine by four. I mean something like that Yeah, there is limited storage There's no access. There's no storage in the attic. That is not accessible No way to get there There's probably about Well varies per unit somehow a little more storage, but You know, it's probably about three Three feet three little feet by full seeming height of storage in the that might not be straight kitchen related in each unit Plus the closets So We don't have storage. We don't have area in the basement So storage storage is a closet It's cupboards in the kitchen and often will do some kind of cabinet or little linen closet associated with the bathroom Um, but we don't allow tenants to put stored items in common areas Based on our experience that it It's it piles up and it gets abandoned You have to be you have to be thrifty And then of course we have bike storage outside and that's the only kind of outside storage that we have Is there room for a for a dresser or of some So you can see furniture layouts that tom has provided he actually used with size beds full-size beds tom Double double bed. So if you went with a twin bed, it gives you a little more flexibility I've seen people actually do loft beds in some of these units So they're sleeping up above and they might have a desk or dresser below People get pretty creative with it And where is what what's the sheet for that? Is it here the detail in our back in our detail? So there's a couple unit details. Actually, they're I think most of them are full actually was the the excessive if you look at In our presentation, it's a 8.10 But we don't have that in our In our submission Or you can bring it up if you can bring it up and share the screen that would be helpful You have it in your packet. It's a 8.10 and a 8.20 They're kind of blow-ups Also, I think I do you see that Yep, I see that that's helpful. Okay, so um So that closet these are hard numbers to read that on one dash o one that claws up above is how many Feet wide that six feet wide Yeah, it's a little over six feet wide Okay um And then you some of them. So some of the smaller units have uh A closet that's really part of the kitchen cabinet area if you look at the bottom 105 but most of them have So varies it's sometimes it's built in as almost kitchen cabinet closets and sometimes it's actually framed All right, so I can see the challenge that you're going to have trying to Keep people from storing a lot of things you you try to minimize the amount of stuff that they're going to be bringing in And that could be a challenge, but that's something you've taken on Yeah, mr. Langsdale Yeah, uh on that I have a question. I guess first of all the question is Dealing with the use of the use the use of this is housing for people of different income strata Of the 28 units you have five that have a closet The rest of them All have kitchen cabinets and maybe a vanity in the bathroom, but there's nowhere to hang anything What yeah What is your expectation for the people who move in there? Is this just a waste station? And how long would they be staying there? So I'm looking at unit 105 which has a double closet next to the refrigerator That would be a full closet Those are cabinets But it would be a cabinet closet. I mean it's basically to save So so you can hang clothes things in yeah, and we fit it out for hanging so it'll be It'll be basically a closet but build out of cabinet material And we'll have a closet pole in it in a shelf so what then For the kitchen what cabinetry is there for the kitchen? there's Base cabinets there's overhead cabinets So there'll be a sink base And there's there can be a cabinet so the same unit to the right of the stove Usually there's a little cabinet over the fridge. It's not a ton of cabinets, but for a single person You know, it's a basic usable kitchen space With a full refrigerator a sink a microwave a cooktop and an oven Um, we do not at all see it as a waste station. We've owned properties similar to this with smaller Uh apartments for 30 years. We've had tenants stay for 20 years in those tiny units so for some people this is a great place to live um and In cities we're seeing a lot of Micro units like this that are again smaller than this that are super popular because housing has become so expensive um So no, I would see some people are coming here because and it's a stepping stone in a in a housing ladder And they're starting kind of out of a shelter into this Um, and then maybe they move on to a one bedroom apartment if they have a good job um for other people they're living on a limited fixed income and This is a great option for them because they don't have to share A kitchen and bathroom with someone and a lot of adults Don't want to be living in shared situations like they did when they were students Okay, let me ask you then in terms of the income you say that, uh Uh The lowest, uh rent is, uh Basically 30 at 30 percent of income which At the top is 17 9,950 And that that rental then is 737 a month For the 50 percent which comes out to 29 nine at the top The rent is 740 it's three dollars more Why is there such a why is it so close? Why is the 30 percent? um Even close to the 50 percent sure The it's the last column. So the 30 units have an what's called a project based subsidy attached to the unit So those folks who are very low income are not going to pay 737 They're going to pay a third of their income for rent So it could be 200 dollars The balance to come up to 737 is going to be paid by the subsidy The folks in the 50 percent and 80 percent units have a fixed rent They have to come up with that much. They have to have enough income to be able to afford these units By the way, all of the utilities are included in these rent levels. So it's heat hot water electricity um central air conditioning et cetera so some people choose this because There aren't other options anywhere near this price range in Amherst or north hampton And if you only have so much money you might want a bigger place But this is what you can afford and we have a lot of people in that situation Okay, thank you What is the what are the initials mr vp stand for the massachusetts rental voucher program? So it is the state equivalent of what's called the section 8 which is the federal Yeah, this is the final section 8 state version of that Yep, I understand. Okay. That's what it is. I'm just was unfamiliar with the Part of the reason we're seeking those is the state will provide a little bit of supportive services money For these previous the the homeless preference units and that helps us pay for the resident services coordinator position It's not the whole thing, but it helps so in the case of somebody who is at 30 percent the the max of 30 percent of Area income with an income of almost $18,000 they will pay 479 About 250 dollars will be you'll get 250 dollars from the mr VP bring you up to your 737, which is your economic rent that you need, right? Right? exactly And you don't have any subsidies for the Well, couldn't there be a section 8 for a 50 or an 80 percent of of median income? Or are there are any of those available anymore? Yeah, they are and so in theory there could be we are Responding to comments that we had from especially from neighbors And also the housing trust that they really wanted to see a mixed income property It didn't want a property where everybody was desperately low income so And we agree that it's a healthier social environment to have a mix And so to have people who have jobs and and need Have enough money to pay these rents we see as You know a good thing for the overall social health of the building And one last question Help me with 40 hours per week Massachusetts minimum wage 50 weeks 50 probably 52 weeks a year. Yeah, what does that give you for an annual income again? It's in here. It was just under 25,000. I think just under so that they would be in the 50 percent They would be within the 50 percent so you could have You could have People working minimum wage jobs. Yeah 40 40 hours a week and they could they may not be subsidized right They may not be subsidized at that. So they could be paying $740 a month for he or she could pay $740 a month for their housing Right and utilities so there isn't in in essence There's a subsidy because the capital to build the project is subsidized And the trade is we give the town and the state a guarantee that will hold the rents to these lower levels So $740 for a studio apartment with all utilities in a nice location at Amherst is below market So when we did a market study in north hampton for this same kind of unit the market comparable I think it was around 930 dollars Believe it or not for The value of this unit. So even though there's no subsidy in the unit itself Someone is paying below market rent And that's the point One one other question I have is In terms of supportive services and we'll talk about this. I'm sure in subsequent hearings But what is the plan that what struck me is that you have people there During daylight hours and maybe during the week But they're not there 24. There's nobody there 24 hours And so what is and you don't have and you have a management Office where they can call to your management team and that normally they deal with You know a broken water pipe, but what if you what if there is A mental health crisis during the middle of the night? What if there is something Other than what? You know calling the police or calling some place Calling some service themselves What do you provide or what do you anticipate would be the role of your company or the Or your staff to help out in that situation? Yeah Well, I part of the role I see for the resident services coordinator is to make sure that people know where to get emergency resources so for example CSO has an emergency 24-hour mental health crisis line And that's the local provider in our area So what I picture in the common room is having a resource directory that will help people navigate When they need that emergency resource and it's after hours What we find is that people don't come to crisis Just all of a sudden it's a progression and so the value of having a resident services coordinator is What we're trying to do is preventative so that we see that someone is Decompensating we see that they're not leaving their room We see these things and we can get some assistance to them before they have a crisis And it won't always happen that way, but it it's much better to Have someone who can observe because it's usually a long time coming honestly people don't just suddenly break Those are those are my questions that I have at this time. I don't know if there's if any of can we Eliminate the share screen so I can see the I get a gallery view. Oh, yeah, sorry. That's okay There we go. Thank you What I want to do is see if any of our yes any of my board members have a question mr. Maxfield I got a couple of questions here with this um So for the the homeless preference there it says can be it's a they pay a third of their income is what they pay in rent Of whatever Um And if their income is zero do they they pay zero? I think actually now the minimum rent is $50 But if someone has no income usually they're eligible for at least ssi and it's just really a matter of getting them Some income so there are a lot of people who are living just on ssi, which is a could be you know, 7 to 800 900 dollars a month And so that's it. They can't they can't afford housing in our area Got it. So if that is something like that were the case where they were saying getting I'm sorry You said something like ssi. They're getting 800 a month. Does that then mean that they would then be turning around and paying Uh 260 dollars a month in rent Correct Got it and then um What typically how often would you say you folks deal with? evictions of tenants and uh, what's the type of thing that usually triggers eviction for you folks? sure I think like most landlords, um non-payment of rent can be an issue. Um Anywhere you look Um, I would say both our our property management and other staff work really hard to try to Not evict people But certainly if someone's breaking the lease if they're making persistent noise or doing something that bothers their neighbors Um, they will eventually get evicted Okay, is it is it safe to say that um Typically it's it's not financial reasons that people are being evicted from low-income housing in your in your projects. Is that uh, correct? Sometimes it's a mix of both. I would say generally that's true, although If people aren't compliant with various program rules, they can lose their benefits And so then it becomes financial But it it started with some kind of behavioral issue that then translates into a financial issue If you don't send in your paperwork You don't show up for you know your annual inspection for your voucher You're not going to have a voucher pretty soon. So sometimes they're kind of wedded together. Um So we we go the extra mile with tenants because we're all about people having housing But there's no perfect housing for for all people. I mean, there's no perfect system and people do Have difficult times even within a supported structure and um That policy of one third of uh Of income is that based on on some type of voucher program? How that works or that's uh your your policies that state or local policies at your policy It's not our policy. It would be the policy of whoever's providing the voucher. So the mass rental voucher program Would set their standard. It tends to be about a third of income. Sometimes you can exclude some medical bills or you know, they have a whole Uh verification system that they do with tenants to determine what their contract rent will be But I can tell you in general it's going to be between 30 or 35 percent of their income Yeah Uh, that's that's all my questions for right now So one thing I would add mr. Maxfield is that that 30 percent has been a number used to um 30 of income has been that number used to determine rent for people in subsidized housing for years in the federal programs Going back and so it's it's been adopted as kind of a benchmark for you know for decades as the Appropriate amount that people should pay for for subsidized housing right, so when I show the slide about 42 of amherst renters paying more than 50 percent of their income Per rent that's where we're at. It's it's not 30 and it's not even 50. It's more than 50 Just to afford housing Yeah um Are there any other questions that people have Well, I noticed that in there were several questions that we there's lots of questions what we had and I think we're all taking notes on requests for additional information and requests for You know further work on your part whether it's the the photometric plan or a better a more complete um Landscape feeling for what what what it's going to look like. Um, yeah once the trees are removed some ideas about the The height of the trees When those trees are planted what it would be look looking like at maturity, you know 15 years from on or whatever maturity would be In an architects world. I don't know what that is but um We look for that and and some of this I'd like I'd like to have as much of this as possible for our next meeting um As well as some kind of a parking management plan for the next for our next meeting um whether you have Are you going to use? stickers or do you have How are you going to how are you going to make sure that the parking the cars that are parked there to the extent? There are cars parked there belonging to them to the um Right, so I'd like to I'd like to have as much of this available by by The second july 2nd. I know that's quick, but we're trying to but you can do some of it by then I would like to have a lot of it as much as you possibly can. We're trying to move this as quickly as possible And I also don't want to have a lot of time between This meeting and when the pot and when there's going to be the majority of the public comment So I don't want it to go stale. I really do want to have this be fresh and in everybody's minds when they talk So, um, let's let's look at the it's okay with you. I'd like to look at the second Of for presentation of a lot of this stuff and we'll work and please work with the staff with moraine Especially there may be other things that we just didn't identify tonight that we um, we didn't specifically identify But which we talked about and should be part of a subsequent more fulsome um Presentation or documents from on your part. Okay Yes, would it be helpful for the board? We have a property that's similar That's just finishing construction now in north hampton And I could provide photos of some of those units including the kitchen area It might help you visualize What what's in the kitchen what it would look like things like that you've read my mind I was you know, you read my mind. I one of the things I was at going to ask about is if you've managed similar properties With the similar income groups And if there was any way you could show us some of the some pictures from some of that So that would be very very helpful. And also you're kind of your history with very low income Very low income people and how you've managed that property. I think we'd like to hear more about that Um, yeah subsequent meetings Okay, all right um We've got We're almost at nine o'clock. Um, I don't think it in my determination. It doesn't make sense to begin the problem the Public comment with just eight minutes where we just get one comment. So Um, I think we'll hold off public comments until Next week, uh, when we when we have the the next meeting um See what else do we have to do? That's it. So what I'd like to do is move that we Uh, continue this public hearing on this matter to 6 30 not six but 6 30 Next thursday july 2nd Um, and we continue the public hearing. Do I have a second second? Is there any discussion on the motion to continue this matter this public hearing until thursday july 2nd? Nope All right, all in favor. Oh, it's gotta be a roll call. I'm sorry. I gotta get used to this Always a roll call with zoom. So I vote aye Mr. Langsdale, aye Ms. O'Mara, aye Ms. Parks, aye Mr. Maxfield, aye Aye motion passes five to nothing um So the last item on the agenda On the agenda for this meeting is the opportunity for public comment On any matter that is not The subject of this public hearing. So anything before the zba. That's not a subject of this public hearing And we always make that public comment available at our meetings. So, um Maureen, could you help me see if there's anybody in the attendees That wish to speak on something that's not About this particular application. Yes. So if anyone from the public has any comments about items that are as as the chairman said items that have not been discussed tonight You would have to click on the button to raise your hand to indicate that you have something to say I am not seeing any hands being great. I'm not seeing any hands okay, so the I the With our meeting next on july 2nd, um, I anticipate that it will mostly be public comment We will take we will update the board members with the material that you provide That the applicant provides to us Make sure that we all have that and we're going to be some a short discussion about that but July 2nd meeting will be principally public comment And um, we will meet at that point So with that Um, unless there's any further discussion, I move that we had We've continued the hearing. So I move that we adjourn this meeting Um for tonight and that we meet again in Um next Thursday Do I have a second? All right all um I agree. I I vote aye I really want to do these voice votes. It's so hard Mr. Langsdale, how do you vote? Ms. O'Meara, how do you vote? I? Ms. Parks, how do you vote? I? Mr. Maxfield, how do you vote? I? All right, the motion passes five to nothing. We're done. Thank you everybody for all your work. Thank you to the applicants for your presentation Thank you for your time. Thank you to the public for for uh, Bring your questions. Thank you Thanks everyone. Thank you all. Talk to you next week