 So I'm going to call to order the September 9th, 2019 meeting of the Arlington Redevelopment Board, recorded by ACMI, first-center doc at the scene. We have a public hearing, but I'm going to jump around the agenda just for a minute. We have a couple of scheduling changes to discuss before we move into the bulk of the meeting. And I'm going to move backwards through that. The presentation on housing in Arlington is going to be tabled and continued to October 7th at the request of the town manager. He's not able to be with us tonight. Since he's an integral part of that discussion, based on his schedule, that is the next meeting he's able to attend. So we'll be having that discussion at that point. I know Gene here. That's fine. What's that? It's going to be October 7th. Okay. Time to be determined on the actual agenda, but that's what we'll be depending on the select board. And item number two, which is the continued public hearing on docket 3348, EDR, the applicant there has requested that we continue that also to October 7th. That we'll need to vote on. I can table the other right on, but since that's a public hearing, we need to vote on that. Is that a stop and shop? That is the CVS. Is it the SOR? Yes. And that was a date of the out. The person who we'd like to have here have requested. Motion to continue. Wait until we get to that. I'm just going to do that. Do you want to do that? Yeah, because they requested we just get out of the way. Motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Good. All right. So that knocks off item number two and item number four. So at this point, I will move into EDR public hearing docket 3606 for the 1st House LLC 1314 Massachusetts Avenue. We're going to have the applicant components come. Have a seat up front. Please introduce yourselves and walk us through what you're asking for, please. I thank you very much, Mike Bettencourt. I represent 1st House LLC and Jim O'Rourke here to my left and Tom Bernzani and Jim's wife as well as here tonight. So we are looking to open a restaurant at 1314 Massachusetts Avenue and where the Baylage 5 and 10 existed for a long time until recently and this comes under the B3 Village Business District under 3.4. So it's under your jurisdiction for a special permit. It will be a pub style restaurant. Mr. Bernzani and Mr. O'Rourke have been working together for a very long time. They opened a similar establishment a few years ago in Winchester and it's been very successful and they live locally and are looking to work in the Heights area to increase some foot traffic and bring along a good business for the area. I'm not sure if you've had an opportunity to review our submissions and if there are any questions or any about what we've submitted or any omissions that you need us to supplement. I think we'll get there if you have anything further to continue on through or we can just move into more discussion. Sure. I think we can move right in. Okay. I'm excited about it. I think it's a good idea. I think it's a good use of an existing space in the neighborhood. I think this is a demonstrated need for or a desire at least for something like that. The neighborhood I live nearby so certainly concerned about certain things. One of the things that's different from the other pub type restaurants in town is that there's residences above that. Can you tell us about noise, smoke, food smells, etc. How do you plan to mitigate that so that those don't negatively impact the people living upstairs? Sure. As for the ventilation, it'll be out the very back part of there. There is a roof that extends 30 feet beyond the residence so the vents for all the food will be back there with filters in them to dampen it. Are you able to mitigate any noise from that with dampening? They are quiet. They're fishing. I think if we have what you plan to use in the plans here but to the extent that you're able to shield those with any sort of structure, I think that's something we'd like to say typically. Sure. And a lot of times you don't really know what the noise and impact is going to be until you open the doors and I will say that's been their experience in Winchester as well. They've been good partners with the businesses that are up there at their existing location and mitigating the noise and mitigating any sort of trash smell or anything that goes along with it. So I think they've accommodated for all of those things all along. I've actually been to the restaurant in Winchester several times. Great, great. I'm familiar with that fan. So that's to be nice. There are other apartments above in Winchester and we haven't had any complaints. I will say the times that I've been there, it's been fairly quiet. The business is there but the atmosphere is fairly quiet and does a good job fitting into that. What about trash removal? I mean you have a pretty narrow alley behind the building to deal with that. How do you intend to deal with that? So we've been working with the landlord. We're going to see how much trash we generate and decide on whether we're going to share a dumpster for the whole building or if we're going to need our own separate one. So what's in there now is a restaurant, if you're facing the building, there's a restaurant to the left. Correct. And then the building, the storefront's adjacent to that vacant all the way down to the- That's a separate building. Well, there's a Boobia Joules and I think one other business. The other side, there's Nail Salon and a Harris Salon. Nail Salon. Glasses. Hi, doctor. And then the big question, of course, is parking. And I think you've had a discussion with the department about this but I think one of the conditions of our special permit is that you be granted a parking variance by the building board of Boobia Joules and I hate to force you to go in front of another board and jump through other side hoops but given that there is no parking to be had at all in the department and in special services is talking about this and work through this unfortunately and that's kind of the only way to go about this. Yeah, so any permit we grant is going to have that as a condition that you go to the ZBA and get a variance on parking. Yeah, I think we're aware of that and one of the things that we've done as well as Jim has spoken to some of the other owners around in the neighborhood as well. Dagestinos in particular to say, hey, we're we're going to actively put signage up in the heights restaurant to say if you park there, you know, you're going to be towed so that I think that there is some concern and there were some rumors that we were going to be using some of that parking as part of ours. But the way that we've seen it's there's plenty of on-street parking to service the restaurant and there will be a lot of foot traffic from the neighborhood. Yeah, I think I think outside normal business hours parking is example. Yeah, on street because of the most part there's not a lot of activity there at 5 o'clock which would obviously be your prime time. And we've seen through a couple of the public hearings as well locally with the neighborhood action plan that the neighborhood is seems somewhat eager for something like this. And so I think if we strike the right balance, I think it will be great for existing businesses and some other opportunities that may develop there. Yeah, and I think that's been the case with some of the other projects that were similar. That's all I have. So I'll move on to that. Ken? I, too, I was very supportive of this project being in the Heights but I still have a few concerns. I think Andy's comments are should be backed up like a site plan. Okay. I would like to see a site plan locating your establishment, the alleyway, where you can put the trash. How's the trash being removed? Is there a pickup point? Okay. Trash is only one part of it. I'm assuming you have fry ladders, right? Yes. So you're going to have oil storage somewhere and that's going to be outside. So I've been doing it in Winchester inside and then the company comes and picks it up and then they remove it. Okay. But there will be a contract in place for that, so... Check with the building official of storage of... Use fry oil. Oil is okay to be stored inside the building. It changes the classification. You need some sort of like a room or something. It's, you know, just a big barrel of oil. No, we do it in the... We put them back in the jugs so it's easier to get out of the building. Oh, you... And then the company comes and they update it to that truck. A lot of concentrated fuel in one spot. The other thing I would like to talk about is your front elevation. You're putting in this... This looks like a clear anodized aluminum storefront with all-purpose windows. So during the summertime, you open up the windows so it's indoor-outdoor type of space? The windows will be more sliding. Four panes, two panes sliding out. Okay. Into the... Can quite really tell, you know? Yeah. So, but it's meant to be indoor-outdoor kind of space, right? Yes. With full screens. And that's going to be a clear anodized window frame or is it black or is it brown? It'll be the aluminum. Just clear aluminum. Yeah. Okay. Do you plan to have any other lighting? I know this is going to be like a pub, so you can have any other, like, bar lights, you know, along the window, like Budweiser and... No. We do it on Winchester and I don't plan to do it. I guess we don't want that. Yeah. It just doesn't... Well, we understood. Quite right with the character of that area there, okay? And then you show these brick pavers out in front of your stop. Are you doing that or are you just going to leave what's there? I'll leave it there. What's there? Okay. It was a little hard to understand because it's not in the greatest shape. And I'm saying it's your responsibility. I'm just... Right, yeah. Wondering again as this, you know, you might take an interest in making the front look a little nicer too, you know? Absolutely. Something that could be disgusting. You show the hours of operation on that little thing, that's fine. And where's that plaque in it? The... The big black. This... I don't know. This... Looks like a message board or something, I don't know. The hours of operation. Yes. Yeah. It looks like a... It looks like a pilaster, right? What's wrong with that? I think that's just being depicted, being on the... I think the black is just the island of glass. Is that correct? That's correct. That's correct, yeah. So it's a triangle on the glass? Yes. Okay, so that black screen is not like a billboard? No. No. No, it would be on one of the inside, you know, panes of glass near the door. All right. Okay. Yeah. Like, where's this going, you know? Yeah, there's not enough room on the sidewalk to put an A-frame out there. No. Or anything like that. Or have it mounted on the side of the building either. Okay, so it's just that pure glass with an awning on it, downlight from this... Yes. Goosenecks. Okay. I think if you just work out the parking, you know, do you know what the required parking is that you're asking a reduction in? It was one spot for every four seats. Yep. So 16 spaces? Yeah. Okay. In our park you have, there is 29 spots. Yeah. On the angle? Yeah. Yes. So it doesn't utilize that as well? No. I'm not saying there's not enough parking there. Yeah. I'm just saying I just want to establish what the parking requirements are and what you're asking for reduction in when you present to the ZBA. Yeah. I mean, we'll be looking to reduce it to zero for, you know, in front of the ZBA. I mean, it's... There's nowhere for us to create parking at this point. Yes. But, you know, we think it's worth it to put this space to be recreated in this way for the neighborhood. But you can also... Let me just give you a hint. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. No, we appreciate that. But you might want to look into your employee parking and see if you can find employee parking elsewhere. So that would relieve some of the congestion around there, either by giving a sense of using bicycles, using mass transit. You know, I'm saying we'll give you a free pass. Yeah. If you take transit to our work. You know, that kind of stuff. That's part of the TDM stuff that you might want to look into. Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of, you know, Jim's employees, you know, currently in Winchester are local. And so a lot of people are dropped off and picked up or even walk, you know. So that would be, you know, ideal for the location as well for employees. But we'll certainly make a note of that. Yes. If that's the case, then you might also want to include, do you have room for a basement here? Yes. There's a full basement in there. Okay. So I'll let Dave talk a little more about that. But maybe like a showering place where they can come and shower. If they do ride their bikes then to work. You know, that kind of stuff. Yeah. That's all like encouragement stuff to make it more less congested by relying on cars. That's all I have. Go ahead. Yeah. So I'll just follow up on that point since Ken started discussing it. But it obviously is quite a walkable and bikeable area. There is a connection to the Minuteman Bikeway down Park, quite close to this area. And I'm not, I didn't get a chance to go up there and take another look today. But maybe someone from the department knows what's the bike rack situation in that neighborhood? Not many amenities, if any at all. Really limited. So I might, we can discuss whether we'd want to make this a condition of a special permit. But I'd like to see you guys work with the department to get some substantial bike parking installed in the business district there. Because if you're going to be encouraging people to, whether, I mean, I think the employees is a separate story because that's something you can deal with on your property. But if you're going to be encouraging your customers to bike, they've got to have some place to lock their bikes. And since you don't have any place to do it, it's going to have to be on public property. And I think there may be some potential. There may be space up at the corner. Yeah. So there may be some potential working with the department for you guys to provide that for the town as part of this. On that corner, on that side of the street, there is some hardscaping and some landscaping that is very nice. It looks very recent. So I don't know what the... Yeah, I think a neighborhood, that's the right corner. I think there's a neighborhood group that's taken that over. So maybe we would speak with them as well about... It's a discussion. Yeah. And I'm not recommending any particular location, but I think there's an opportunity. Absolutely. Which would benefit not only you, but the rest of the business community in the Heights Business District. So it's worth taking advantage of that opportunity. As far as your employees, you can meet the bike parking requirement. I think which was, what, two spaces? Two long-term spaces? I think so. Oh. Yeah. If you do have space inside, that certainly would be preferable. And the department can work with you for meeting our bike parking requirements, which we pretty recently updated. And so they're much more extensive than they used to be. And that would apply for both outdoor and indoor bike parking. So it's preferable for employees to have indoor, secure places for them to put bikes in. And as Kin was saying, if you really want your employees to come to work, you might want to look into providing them with like locker and shower type facilities so that they can get cleaned up after they've biked in and not have to worry about that. And you might be thinking about doing that anyway so your employees can get cleaned up when they need to. And what else? I thought I read somewhere in here there was a question of meeting an historic review. Do we need, with respect to the changes to the facade? Was that what it was? The signage and the awning? Yeah, it's basically any of the changes to the facade. Yeah. So do we also need to make that a condition of any special permit that we would grant? We can do that. We've had other applicants with a similar situation who are continuing to have a successful review and approval by the historical commission. And we are scheduled with them as well for I think October 1st now. So it's the next day that we'll be before them. Moving to historic? Do you know that? Anything else, David? I was just curious and I don't know if you know, Jenny, whether any of the other restaurants in that neighborhood have had to go the variance route with respect to parking. How has this been handled in the past? I actually researched this and went back in time to figure out how many restaurants along Mass Ave have had to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for variance. When it's the first time that a restaurant is being proposed and they do not have any available parking or may use a lot or anything of that nature, essentially zero parking spaces or less than that even. Like there's literally no room for to install any parking which is the situation in particular. They go to the Zoning Board of Appeals for variance. There's at least three examples of that having occurred when we went back in time to look at that particular situation. And so after consultation with the inspection services department, determined that that would be the best thing for this applicant to do in order to be able for them to proceed with their project. It's the change of use there that really triggers the Zoning Board. There's not a restaurant there. That's right. And then in the cases where a restaurant has turned over to new hands, they don't go back to the Zoning Board of Appeals. They come back to the redevelopment board to review signage and lading other things when necessary, but not because of parking. Okay. I don't think I had any other questions or comments. I'm also excited to see this proposed for the Heights. I think it would be a nice addition to the neighborhood. Thank you. I agree with my colleagues on the board that it can be a very nice addition to the Heights and to the entire town for that matter. And I agree with their other comments. I have a question about one statement, which in your proposal, it's number 12, sustainable building and site design. It says the Heights, which I think was in typology, says those cows will involve mostly interior construction, which will reflect the commitment to LEED standards. Resource efficiency, indoor environmental quality will submit a checklist identifying the performance objective. So the project, when do you think you'll be able to get us that checklist? So I think once we start moving a little bit further into the project and start selecting materials, I think that there is a little bit of a question of whether that was required of us in order to move forward to where we are now. So certainly the materials and design of the pub that they have now have certainly low flow and LED lighting and all of the things that you would expect. I think what we're willing to do that isn't required of us is basically a question of cost and efficiency long term. So certainly it's going to be a priority for the business owners, but where there are costs and requirements are at odds, there will have to be some decisions made long term. But as of where we are right now, we haven't really selected building materials or anything like that. What do you think that bylaw requires? I think that it's at your discretion whether or not you require them to comply with the checklist on the interior, which is what they're predominantly doing in this project. When it comes to brand new construction, I think that that is a very different condition and situation. So I would defer to the board on your decision making on this particular matter. The only thing I consider a GNC that I'm putting out there is, we've talked about it, we're going to show you a meeting. It's going to probably be about a five ton unit on top of the roof in the back. And then you have your exhaust fans. And the lining, there's really not much else to it. There's not much else to it. I can't see a reason to require. We're going to trust you saying you can use the high efficiency roof type unit and maybe with the economizer mode where if the weather is like this outside, it just brings in outside air. It's at the right temperature. So this is a pretty small space. Why couldn't they use a couple of mini-skits that would probably be much more efficient and not as intrusive? Then you have them inside the space. So it depends on what the design of the interior of the space is. I think it's a pretty accepted practice to use the system that they're proposing. But I'm just wondering whether it makes sense. In a large space, maybe that makes sense for a small space. I'm just wondering whether it would make more sense for them to look into doing that. I hear you saying that the mini-skits are more efficient and it's more compact. But as a long use of equipment, mini-skits are good for seven to ten years. And that's their life expectancy. If you use it in a commercial setting, that just doesn't generate the right cost versus buying that. I mean, we're getting a little off your case here. And we have to speak with the engineer on the projects as well because there's the hoods that will be pulling air through and make-up air that we have to compensate for. Make-up air is a big pressure coming in. I wish you'd have opened the front doors. That's right. So I guess I wouldn't require them to do that, but I'd like them to consider it as an option. And also I'd like them to submit a checklist of what they're doing for energy efficiency. Absolutely. Anything else, Jean? No. Rachel? I just had a couple questions. I'm also very supportive of business use and the heights. And from living in the heights, I also am supportive of your request for the parking relief. I think there's plenty of parking in the times that your highest traffic will be there. I had a couple of questions for you about the storefront specifically. So you mentioned that you're going in front of the historic commission. Can you tell me what exactly, so the black band that you have above the awning, are you planning on painting the sign band or putting in a signed backer with the letters affixed to it? I think that was just painted. That should be painted. The same color as the sign. Okay. I think that with historic, you might have better luck if you actually kept the sign band painted to match the rest of the building and treat it much like the sign bands are in that general area and just use a backer panel with the sign affixed to it. I think that that might be more keeping with the intent of what the historic commission will be looking for. And just had a question for you on the storefront here, the red below the existing storefront windows. Is that something that you're replacing that entire storefront in full or just the windows itself? Yes. So that will be similar materials just in black. Just in black. Okay. Yeah, that color won't remain there. Great. So you're taking off the brick new wall there? It's either aluminum or it's been there for 70 years. It's not a great change. I'm glad to hear you're replacing it. Yeah. Great. So the nail place next door is brick right then. I saw some brick somewhere. The nail place is brick. Okay. Yes. There might be some behind the metal panel, I'm not sure, but it's definitely a metal panel case. Let's see. And then the only other question I had was just about loading. Is that through the front? Only similar to the business next door? There'll be a second egress towards the back. So during business hours it would be through the back. Okay. We do a very early shipping when we get our main food in a couple times a week. Yeah. That's a key drop where they come between six and seven in the morning. Okay. And they have a key and they just go in and put the stuff in the walk-in or the freezer or trash storage. Okay. So hopefully they're not out front for too long. Okay. We'll try and get people to use the back entrance. Okay. So any questions I have? Okay. Any other questions from the board at this time? If not, I'm going to open up for public comment. This is a public hearing so you will be required to give me your name and address. Will you speak? Please raise your hand. I'll call on you. We'll move through the process. Please be respectful. So if there's any public comment. Yes. I have two questions basically. How is evaporation established? We'll be open at 11 a.m. Okay. The dining room will close. Well, the kitchen will close Sunday and Monday, 9.30 or 10 o'clock. And then towards the weekend, the kitchen will close at 10.30. But the bar will be open till I believe it's 12 o'clock in the town. Okay. Any live music? No. How many square feet is that? 2100. Thank you. Steve, I just, you know, I'm part of the shift in the real estate across the street also to retail business. Rachel, you had mentioned that you're comfortable with the parking. What do you foresee for the parking that will be available and how do you utilize it? It's a question for them. I guess you would say that you thought it would work. Absolutely. So, you know, in the evening, you know, the past couple of evenings since this I've come up on the docket, I've been taking a look at the parking situation, especially at the Angle Inn on Park Street. And, you know, after five, six o'clock at night, there are, I think, or two cars typically at most parked in that area, which seemed to be the times that, you know, would be your greatest business hours. So, you know, even, you know, I'll use last Friday night at 7 p.m. I drove through on my way home from work. Spaces on Mass Ave right in front of your restaurant, even with home taste, completely full of people waiting out of the door, and every but spot of the Angle Inn, but two were free. So, you know, even during the day, when the business is packed towards Chick-N-Role, everybody else fully packed. There were still spaces open on Mass Ave, and I didn't see many people parked on Davis or, you know, it was probably half full on Park. So, to me, it seems like there's plenty of opportunity. Obviously, this group will not make that determination. The Zoning Board of Appeals will, but to me, it seems like there's a lot of opportunity for their patrons. Hopefully, many will walk from the neighborhood, but, you know, it seems like there's plenty of parking available as well. I agree, Rachel. I live in a neighborhood to myself, and I do drive by there quite often, and I don't see it taxing parking there in the evening. You know, during the daytime, let's say, around noon or lunchtime? Yes, it's a little more crowded. A lot more crowded. I mean, if I want to go grab a sub at your place, it's sometimes a little challenging, or maybe two blocks out of the park to get over to your place. But I still do it. But we have a lot. I don't... That would be my first choice, yes. I'm just concerned with the amount of time that I think the patrons would be into the restaurant at this 24 seats and I don't know how many basketballs can be potentially in the peak time. I think it could take very space. In the peak time, I think those spaces are available. I agree with that. In the other businesses that operate on a more traditional business schedule are closed. There are 30 spaces emptied between Daniel Street and the bus stop. I think there's plenty of space in the mall. In the long park, you have along the Angle Park. Yeah, I agree with those. Yes, sir. Mark Kalsamo, Applin Street, a neighbor up there. We're enthusiastic about this. A couple questions about the ones on the parking. On Surrey Road, you know, when the height starts to fill up down there, people start to double parking on Surrey Road, turning that into a one-way street. So that might be the only problem, I think, around that area is really, especially since one-way people might start to do loopies around there. That might be a problem. The other one, a couple of months ago, I attended a transportation board meeting and they were talking about doing something with Paul Revere intersection in those slots. So I don't know if you talked to them. Did they forget what they're doing on that whole thing there? So I know the applicant is in regular contact with the department before we get too far down the road of parking. What's going to happen here is this board is going to make a decision to face them in a special permit for the change of use here and the applicant's been asked to go before the ZVA for the parking variance. So we can ask them, we can tell them what our thoughts are on the parking. The ZVA is ultimately the board and they'll be in touch with the transportation advisory committee as well to figure out, make sure that one hand knows what the other is doing for certain. Since I guess it's probably out of the, your hours of operation though, there's only one other part that's open that late here in common ground and they've got a variance for that. So I don't know what, that's not really this problem here, but I don't know how you're going to adjust that for staying open late because everything goes around here, Thank you. Yes, sir. Yeah, my concern was just parking as well. Name and address, please. I'll show up. Finn Fenneth addresses Sam from Massachusetts, a well known inflection driver. And I, and Plotin is in a real estate with the parking lot in San Vegas. You know, we respect what's going on and we're concerned about the parking lot. Mainly for our tenants that look at it and people, actually, I've known him a long time too. I'm concerned about that too. If people can't get spaces, it's going to be tough for success, I would say. When you fly around and you can't get space, you tend to go someplace after all that. So I'm just, I'm afraid of the fact I know that you already had conversations about that. But just bring it up as well. Okay. Comments, questions, concerns? Members of the public? Seeing none, I'll turn it back to the board. The next steps here are a couple of asks. But nothing, I'll defer to my colleagues here. Aside from the request for a site plan and possibly a landscape plan, if there's any intent on landscaping from the building, I think we could turn that to department approval. And allow these gentlemen to move forward this evening. I think we can add that into a contribution. Absolutely. And based upon the discussion about parking, I just wonder, and I know this is going before the ZBA and it's to whether to grant a variance or not, I just wonder whether it would be helpful if their website would indicate where people should go to park and where they shouldn't. And maybe we can add that as a condition that they need to get work with the staff on what's going to be on that website. I think that's fair, and that's a good suggestion. Is that parking information be added there and then also available at the host and the front of the building. I plan on putting it behind the bar in the bathrooms and everywhere. I want somebody coming out from having dinner on a 125 dollar trophy. And I have no doubt that if you want to be successful you're going to be a good neighbor and work with your neighbors and everyone else that's around there to make sure that you're not customers on camping. So let's make that a condition. We also had the roof plan for the rooftop units. We just want to show the roof plan where the rooftop units are located and the neighbors behind you up on the hill because it's kind of a steep hill down there. And then also the people above you just Jenny who can do that as well. And I think a trash removal plan and a transportation management plan. And I just wanted to did you also get working with the department for compliance with the required on-site bike parking? I have that. Yes. It still exists. I also have the updates to the sign band and the painting. I didn't capture the exact language I'll work with Erin on that. And then the last thing was the fulfillment of LEED by providing the checklist and working to consider energy-efficient measures as part of the interior renovation. Jane mentioned that. The motion to approve this project docket $3,606 $3,606 with the following conditions as provided by the director. I mean, I have just been there all over the place right now. We've repeated them all, but I can read them back quickly which is contribution to a bike rack in the neighborhood within the business district I don't know exactly where so that's not the exact language I'm quoting. Providing a roof plan to identify the location of units and screening for the units. Fulfillment of LEED by providing the checklist as required and consideration of energy-efficient measures as part of the interior renovation. A site plan which identifies the dumpster and any available landscaping or out-landscaping. Updates to the sign band and the painting and was there another one? Notice is about parking. The notice about advertising on-site parking directing people directing patrons and employees to available parking. Okay. Is that good? That's everything. So noted. All in favor? Aye. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time. All right, so I am closing public hearing docket 3606 for anyone that came in late. Docket number 3348 second item on our agenda this evening has been continued to October 7th and the presentation on housing in Arlington has also been continued to October 7th the request of the town manager so I am going to move to item number 3 which is the open forum so if there is anyone that would like to speak on any matters not on the agenda this evening I will call on you please state your name and address Patricia. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I come here tonight as a former charge member Arlington's affordable housing task force which like the residential study group was charged by town meeting to study certain aspects of housing and worked at that for over a decade among other things we presented the inclusionary zoning affordable housing bylaw to town meeting which approved Arlington's master plan makes clear on page 88 that the only kind of housing that Arlington needs is affordable housing together with senior housing both market rate and affordable for over 55 seniors any other kind of housing is not a matter of need additional housing construction is a matter of choice usually of developer choice or policy initiatives of regional planners and their local representatives among you additional market rate housing units are now endangering the town's financial stability the chairman of the finance committee made a statement when speaking to town meeting this year that development now needs to be for commerce and business not residential which he pointed out costs the town more than it brings in in taxes dense residential development especially drives up pressure on schools Arlington is already the second most dense town in Massachusetts the drive to increase density is being done by advocating for street walls of mixed use housing with little or zero setbacks no open space large winter shadows, no trees token requirements for affordable units which can be easily gamed and store funds that remain empty Arlington town meeting has voted no action on these articles and the mayor of the city of Medford has withdrawn the mixed use proposals from that city's consideration if mixed use is to remain a choice for Arlington it should be with the requirement of at least 50% of the building to be for commercial and business uses in addition the escape clause for developers section 524 of the zoning bar law whereby mixed use building owners can switch a mixed use building to always general use essentially predominantly luxury units should be eliminated if that is not done then mixed use zoning could cause unsustainable town finances unless there are constant overrides, gentrification and massive displeasements and deviations that are currently reasonably affordable rental units there are many small reasonably affordable homes in Arlington but these are the very homes that are being targeted by developers for demolition and replacement by much larger, more expensive buildings two years ago town meeting realizing the dangers of this situation for Arlington residents established the residential study group to study the teardown situation however the study group has worked to document interesting data and develop helpful legislation and the good neighbor agreement that agreement is often simply ignored in conclusion I point out to you that the specific recommendation in the master plan for dealing with the teardown problem is found on page page 888 and in accordance with that I recommend two actions which should be taken first floor area ratio specifications should be instituted in R1 and R2 districts in order to limit the proliferation of teardowns of small reasonably affordable homes second the set lets be carefully and selectively increased for residential zones there is a third suggestion which I would like personally to make and that is that you add the definition of foundation to the zoning pilot as you agreed to work on that failure this year thank you thank you Mr. Seltzer thank you Mr. Chairman Don Seltzer Irving Street I have a few comments that I prepared that relate directly to the town manager's presentation on housing that was applied for the safe bank that I understand it's not going to be given it's highly data intensive it's not going to have content into three slides why don't you provide those to us and we'll discuss those I would rather present it to this other audience here and the people who are watching on ACNY rather than having it buried just within your board it won't be buried it will be a public record at that point no I would not to present it publicly I don't think we have the ability to do that oh yes we do why are you interested in seeing the data that I have researched if it's particularly data intensive I'd like to have an opportunity to look at it I will present it to you also but is there any reason why you're excluding these people from seeing it no I'd like to have them have actual copies in their hands do you have copies with you no but I'd like to present it it's not something we usually do you have an opportunity to present it during the town manager's speech I mean we usually have an opportunity to review the materials that are going to be presented beforehand they're posted online for us not just for us I have set you similar information in the past as official correspondence and it has not been posted in the official correspondence for the board it has not been made available to the public it's ignored this is specifically applicable to the information that's going to be presented at the October 7th meeting that submitting the information ahead of time and giving us the opportunity to make it available at the time that we're discussing that information might might actually be beneficial to when you're to when you're presenting it is there any harm in using it tonight and I can also I don't know if I'll be able to be here in October 7th I don't know if you're going to postpone it again provide the material to us it will be made available online it will include it as part of the official correspondence and part of the agenda for the October 7th meeting will you go back and include the correspondence that I sent you to the regarding the hearing on the Pikes Hotel and put that into the public if it hasn't been included we'll make sure that's corrected but I'm sure that everything has been included as part of our agenda thank you yes Jennifer Seuss I just want to speak to you there are to sort of make you aware and you probably are aware that there are many many people in town who are excited that having more housing having housing diversity in fact almost everyone I talk to is in favor of it with caveats you know to looking at the proposals obviously both for two reasons both to create the kind of dynamic inclusive town that we want to live in with the kind of housing diversity that we don't currently have and for moral reasons frankly the feeling that there is a housing crisis in the greater area and that every town and community has to do their part and no town can say oh well we won't be part of the solution that we feel that they're sort of a real moral imperative here but I worry no one likes to be laid out everything that I've seen successfully happen in town has happened after at least a year of big open forums where everyone has the opportunity to hear the proposal to express their concerns to give ideas changing the traffic pattern redistricting that we've done certainly the new high school so not only was there many years of discussion in private and meetings like this but there was at least a year of big open public forums where lots of people had the opportunity to think about it and express their opinions and I think and I encourage you to do that I think when you do that you will find that the community is obviously divided but I think it's really valuable for the community to hear each other's perspectives and so I just encourage you to do that thank you a lot of respect Aaron Moment 12 Woodmore Street I'm concerned that the machinery of town government particularly as it relates to real estate development is really starting to show some cracks some failures I'm not talking about the failure of democracy I'm talking about the actual execution of the cops the machinery of town government and I'd like to cite a couple of examples of the things that heighten my concern the common denominator is that they all have to deal with real estate development so first going back to this spring with Article 16 the redevelopment board over mostly opposition approved Article 16 after town meeting indicated it was pretty clear on Monday night that it wasn't going to pass town meeting held up the ARP held an illegal meeting in order to change its vote to no action now if you really believe that this was the appropriate thing I think you should have stuck with your recommendation rather than change the vote to no action this was really inappropriate so I'm concerned about that another example a little bit of forgetting about property the town accidently discovered that it owned the disabled American Veterans Club something it forgot about I wish the town would forget that about my place and I wouldn't have to pay my tax bill for a while but I don't think that's going to happen so first it forgot that it owned it then it realized that it owned it then it tried to figure out what to do with it had a fairly limited perfunctory attempt to find reuse then a fairly limited perfunctory attempt to find buyer for it then it cut the price and then sold it to the former town assessor this doesn't look good a third example in August somebody found out that bylaws which town meeting had passed had not been submitted to the attorney general the way they are legally required to do and have been required to do every year and by an amazing coincidence we had some controversial real estate legislation in there meanwhile because of that delay certain bylaws are not being implemented including bylaws which would bring some significant financial revenue to the town and the town is losing that the tree ordinance just as one example only I'm not going to get into talking about trees the fact is until the bylaw is approved it cannot be implemented and enforced nor can those fees and this just strikes me as an incredible failure of the town government they all involve real estate and real estate development at a time when it is clearly quite in the news so I just want to indicate my concern you're seeing similar things happen in other towns I'm sure you're all aware of the fact that in Boston somebody dealing with a real estate permit was indicted on a bribe I just want to raise the concerns I would like things to be done appropriately and properly thank you I only wish that these zoning changes that have been introduced would bring diversity unfortunately they're going to reduce diversity because you see all of those apartment buildings very modest ones on Mass Ave from Arlington Center in Cambridge they're very basic and they are what are often called naturally naturally occurring affordable housing they will be torn down there will be lots of displacement of people on modest means that's going to reduce diversity in this town now what they're going to be replaced with according to the Harvard Center for Urban Studies is luxury housing that's what the market is that's where the profits are and that's what we've seen so far two I'd like to talk about mixed use because it's not mixed use it's luxury apartments with an empty storefront underneath in order to get some special zoning considerations and if we're going to go out and mix use someone ought to take probably take one day to study what's happened to mixed use since they were allowed to have mixed use and of course the prime example is 87 Mass Ave the one right next to Stocker Shop it how many years has that been a year it's been quite a while it has empty storefronts and it has luxury apartments there are four of them so there are no affordable units in fact they last time I checked were $3,000 a month that's $36,000 a year no Arlington School teacher can afford to live there so these are luxury apartments third, community participation I want to thank you now of having regular participation in the ARV and I hope other town committees will do the same it was over the last year far too managed outside people come in to do the agenda and to run the meeting it gave little chance for Arlington residents to really speak up as one another I remember it be famous I think we called it by invitation unless you found out about it for someone leaving a year ago in December which I found out about and finding out myself invited to a lot of interesting things did come up co-housing over 55 housing apartment buildings which were owned by the tenants but at the end of the meeting it was announced that the zoning by law changes had already been written and they were on the way to the ARV the best question of the evening was the last one well how are you going to incorporate what we've said if the article is supported and written so I think as we move forward we have to really talk about authentic community participation because people have good ideas and I think we should listen to them thank you thank you Mr. Evans I would be all have wonderful summers I want to speak also about the issue of displacement in regards to the housing plans because I think one of the possible large and really damaging unintended consequences of this is that we could actually see a net loss of affordable units there are no provisions in the housing production plan as it's currently been presented that offer protection to existing residents whether that is tenants or small businesses and as the President pointed out these garden apartments up and down Broadway and Mass Ave are hot, flaming bullseye targets for developers because they are large lots they would be demolished there would be new buildings built and they would be market rate primarily market rate with either the 50 or 20 percent affordable depending on where we wind up however what we have now according to the 2017 U.S. Census Community Survey the medium rent in Arlington is $1,593 the 2018 HUD set rate for two bedrooms considered affordable is $1,647 so right now we have apartments that are renting below what the HUD grade would be and those are the apartments that are really in the sights of redevelopment and we're going to be wiped out so this is why I say that we could see a net loss of affordable units rather than an increase in the kind of diversity of housing available to everybody here so I hope very much that the Board will keep this in mind and think about ways to protect the people who live here now and I should also add one last statistics 39 percent of the residents of our occupied units are renters of those 21 percent are seniors these are people who don't have a lot of leeway when it comes to figuring it out all new again if they get pushed out I think people are up a creek so I hope that we will be able to keep this in mind as we move forward, thank you thank you yes sir Alex Bagnell, Wyman Street I'd like to support your efforts in the re-examination of our zoning I think our country has used zoning laws as a racially explicit method of excluding people from communities up through 1968 and in 1972 Arlington declared a moratorium on development and then in 1974 recodified zoning to be exclusionary the last 45 years of that zoning regulation has given us the inflated housing prices that we have and has resulted in an economic segregation which is allowable when the racial segregation the explicit racial segregation was finally banned by federal law in 1968 I think the current zoning plan needs to be re-examined in the light of that and the effects of that that it has had I also think it is developers who built most of Arlington and develop them in the interest including the fill boxes that we have on Mass Ave is a bit unfair thank you for the comments moving on to discussion of the meeting minutes last agenda item this evening so we'll go to Monday, July 1st if you're leaving please do so quietly or it still has business to discuss I read through these I didn't have any changes on July 1st I'll carry down the line that may have been our first meeting where Rachel was with us go ahead Jane I didn't have any changes I don't think this is anything incorrect but I do have a request for future minutes I think the minutes don't give us enough information for example the first large paragraph pardon for example the first large paragraph after the first sentence talks about changes that we ended up voting on to what was presented to us but they're not set forth in the minutes so there's no way to know other than what we got and what was final and I don't think that's the way the minutes should be similarly on the last paragraph just before the motion to adjourn it again talks about broadening the scope and that's true but I think we need to have the minutes in the future explain what those are I think these are more general at least than I would like to go along with these minutes I just think that we need some more detail about those things not what everyone said but when we made some changes and what's presented I think and we vote for that I think the vote should indicate the specificity we can have staff focus on that future other than that I'd move to accept the minutes of July 1st okay, second all in favor we'll be on to July 22nd which was lengthy but I think they did a pretty good job the only question I had was on the next to last page there's a paragraph that says sherry bar was it sherry baron I'll make sure that she's recognized it's sherry and that was really something that I saw in there that used to be amended I had a number of things the third paragraph about the fourth line in says this property is in the B2 zoning district but I think it's in both B2 and B4 it is B2 and B4 so I think that I think this is just referring to 1207 well except but the previous well I think that's what that was I tend to say that 1207 Mass Ave is in the B2 zoning district because earlier this property refers to 1207 to 1207 so I think that would make it clear on the second page or say that 1207 is so actually what you could say here is 1207 Mass Ave is any B2 zoning district and the next sentence that begins 1207 Mass Ave is currently on repair business with a single apartment on the second story and zoned B4 that would be a nice clarification on the next page the two pages over the one that starts with my name there were some run-on sentences and some things that were incorrect actually looked at the video today because I couldn't remember but the first sentence should end with the word trees period Mr. Benson and us about the tree trees period and the second one should be he is concerned that's fine the third is fine the fourth is fine except it should say Mr. Benson said that he reviewed the lead checklist and currently and currently the plans to be qualified to be certified then the last sentence is also run-on should be Mr. Benson also said he has concerns about parking period and then it says he corrected the submission which indicated that people would be charged to park off-site but they would be charged to park on-site that's what I said and I was concerned and is concerned about what they would do about overflow parking and all the current lots or when the current lot is full so that needs to be corrected there and then on the last page there are two votes where both Mitchell and I abstained so it couldn't be 4-0 they have to be 3-0 they're near the end the chair did just a second including all meeting minutes and then Mr. Watson second should be approved 3-0 Mr. Benson and this summary abstained the next paragraph same thing approved 3-0 Mr. Benson and this summary abstained so that's all I've got I just have one item on page 2 of the meeting minutes the paragraph that starts with my name it's in the middle of the paragraph where we talk about the materiality for the side of the building where he's talking about stucco I'd recommend that they look at clabbered or masonry brick and stone both masonry but I'd also want him to look at clabbered that's a question I had a couple of clarifications in the paragraph of my comments on the detail project I'm not sure what page that is it's also the second page it is the second page I guess Mr. Watson requested a more detail traffic study that paragraph so there's a sentence in the middle of the paragraph they do not want to make the existing conditions in the aerial worse it's unclear who they refers to I think that makes sense I think that's referring to just the project generally should not make traffic conditions worse it sounds like it's talking about bicyclists but it isn't traffic is traffic traffic and second to last sentence because of the location embedded in a neighborhood we need to understand the site's relationship to the existing neighborhoods that seems a little repetitive but I'm not quite sure what I was saying I think I think because it's so close proximity to residential neighborhood the idea was to have a relationship to the surrounding neighborhoods or structures the idea was how this would relate to the surrounding structures and residents I think it's just because of the location the project just take out embedded in the neighborhood the site's relationship to the existing neighborhood I think it would just strike embedded in a neighborhood yeah I think that'll cover it and in the last I did in fact want a comparison of shadow study of existing conditions to proposed conditions but not just for the neighbors to review I also wanted us to see that right okay okay so I would take a motion to approve those minutes as amended second all in favor and that is well before we wrap up we have a lot on agenda for the 7th we'll probably have a crowd I think we have so I am so let me jump to the 21st really quickly that is the continued hearing for the hotel I have the auditorium reserved October 21st and they're ready well that's the date that it was continued to on the 7th I have put in a request with a woman who manages the reservations for other forms in town hall and I've asked for the alliance hearing room for that evening and that evening we have the continued CVS housing in our and then potentially another public hearing that we're still awaiting actually sending the representative and then September 23rd which is actually your next meeting you'll have the we believe the only item at the moment is the reopening of the public hearing for 19 art park which is Downing Square the housing corporation to review their final final documents is it just Downing Square or is there another one? no it's just Downing Square and actually we need to reopen the public hearing as nothing has material changed it is just the standard condition in the decision where the ARB has the final opportunity to approve final specifications of the buildings before it moves on to the building permit review just for future clarification anyone who would like to speak during open forum is more than welcome to earlier today discussed that if there are materials to be presented that I would request that those be presented as part of the agenda and as a presentation so then we're not surprised by additional information we have time to ask responsible and appropriate questions if it's more of a discussion item in our presentation that makes sense I think that should also hold during public comment during public hearings if anyone if any member of the public wants to make a presentation as part of their comments I think that's that's okay but that should be seen and I'm happy to engage it but I would like to have staff and the board prepared I think that's only fair and that gives us an opportunity to take questions to review those more thoughtfully and I actually was hoping Mr. Selzer and I was going to extend that because I wanted I wanted to say to him that I did find his comments at the public hearing on the hotel project to be informative despite what he thought our opinion was I'm happy to review his data but I would have appreciated getting that information ahead of time in order to be able to digest it and I think we would have extended that courtesy of the invitation to him can we put up a notice to that effect on the website and I think we're sort of feeling our way through this and it makes sense to feel a way through it but I think if that's going to be the standard that we're asking people to meet and I'm fine with that I think it's appropriate that there should be something on the website or the meeting minutes that basically says that so people know that if they want to do a presentation we need some period of time in advance an opportunity to review it and make it part of you know what I will allow it and I will accept it as part of public comment I just don't want any surprises it's just a matter of keeping these meetings orderly and fair I guess the other part is time I think at some point we have to think about setting a limit on how much time each people have because it's great to do this but people will go on and on so I think the other thing we should think about and again maybe it's something to see how it goes is set time limits on how much you know the maximum time people have for a presentation if they want to make one during the open forum Okay, make one more question? Yes On the August October 7th hearing for the CBS can I request some documentation? Request it I can see what I can do What is your request? I'm asking for the last three years police reports on that property Okay What can they get called there if they write a report? So I can see what I can do what I was actually planning to provide is a memo that will be that will have inspection services health and public safety commentary from whatever has been happening at the property and how up to date it is and whether or not it's a code compliance so I'll be able to provide that by evening I'll ask the police department to see if they can provide something in more detail I would like to have that stack of police reports if possible Do we know who is going to be in attendance? I don't have the confirmed attendance just yet My apologies to everyone that I won't be at the meeting We'll carry your thoughts I watched the meeting that I missed you all look terrific Thank you Anything else? Anything else we should know about? I don't think so Take a motion to adjourn Second All in favor Second