 Great, good evening, and welcome to the February 27th meeting of the town of Arlington redevelopment board like to call this meeting to order Before we begin I just want to let everybody know that this meeting is being recorded by ACMI My name is Rachel Zimbari. I'm the chair of the redevelopment board Welcome to our guests who are presenting this evening before we start I'd like the members of the redevelopment but redevelopment board who are here this evening with me to please introduce yourselves Steve Rubilak Eugene Benson Ken Lau And we also have with us the assistant director of the department of planning and community development Kelly line up So we will go ahead and jump in and get started So thank you all for joining us this evening The first item on our agenda is the continued public hearing for docket number 3650 for 190 to 200 Massachusetts Avenue What we will do first is Ask Kelly to top line any items that she'd like to highlight from the memorandum that was prepared by the department Okay So just as an update the applicant provided to us earlier. Well in the middle of The week previous to last a number of updated materials We reviewed those materials discussed with the applicant a couple of things that we had questions on And so in the memo that we've provided to you just outlined that they have in fact responded to each of the concerns of the board raised during the prior hearing Two things that I just wanted to bring up Actually three so the first is that they actually they are meeting the bicycle parking requirement and actually exceeding that And have brought some of the long-term bicycle parking up to the ground level So it's split between the below grade and above grade Um, the second thing is that through the TDM plan. They've provided two potential measures for your consideration for Satisfying the requirements of the TDM plan And then the third is to work with our department For administrative review This is something that we have worked with this applicant on in the past and I understand that In the in the prior situation where we worked with them on the TDM plan It was because they weren't sure exactly who the tenants were going to be In the ground floor commercial space and so that's something that You know, we've experienced with them that they're responsive to and they just want to the ability to survey those tenants in the commercial space In order to understand what their needs are before they prescribe exactly What the transportation demand management scheme would be for that element And it does have to do with you know, if you did have a bakery where you had somebody who had to come in at Five in the morning Providing a transportation pass might not be the appropriate measure of TDM in order to In order to satisfy that requirement. So it's just retaining a little bit of flexibility And then the third thing to note is that I did talk with the applicant about a butter outreach I know that they did do two meetings at least two meetings in advance of this hearing with neighbors And if they want to go ahead and describe that at all as part of their presentation They're welcome to but I do know that they did reach out to a butters and and met with at least two of them Right, that's it. Thank you for the update. So at this time, I'd like to turn it over to attorney and se for an update And I'm so sorry if I can actually ask um for those of you who are Presenting this evening. We can move the microphone But um, we really love for you to use the microphone so that those people who are watching remotely can hear Can I sit and uh, sure we can angle that I'm sure good. Oh, there you go. Wow. It's movable Perfect Thank you, Kelly We have our entire our entire team with us this evening And we have tried to the best of our ability to respond to the questions and we did adopt your suggestion, Rachel And uh, I we sent letters out To some of the abutters, okay Some of the abutters more directly impacted by what we're proposing to do And we heard back from a few of them and we had a couple of meetings And I thought the meetings went well We didn't uh Accommodate all of their concerns. I didn't think we would Well, uh, uh, entered the meetings But uh, the meetings were productive So, uh, well, I think what I'd like to do at this point if it's okay with the board is have the board Uh, uh get to my people and ask any questions the board may have with respect to our submission Fantastic. Does that make sense? Absolutely happy to happy to move to that To that next step. Thank you. Thank you all for submitting the revised Packages and the memo outlining what you um, how you've responded to each one of the boards requests. I appreciate that very much So at this time, uh, I'll go ahead and and start with king for any questions We'll save any deliberation or discussion until after public comment But any questions you might have on the revisions for the applicant? Well, thank you for um Removing that arch It made it'll make that space so much nicer. I think um And also, uh, get rid of the tandem spacing And that that also is very I think it's much easier to work out now um My first appearance of this building as I thought of of it last time I saw it. It's a bit Dark and heavy And I was wondering would you guys mind? Um Lighting up some of the material Namely This the little panel you have up there and or Your siding it's it's it's very dark gray Um Can I just ask kelly, would you mind um moving to one of the renderings please this one would be great Thank you You zoom up a little bigger There you go Or the siding to be a little lighter. I'm not actually going to change anything else but just the color It seems very Heavy right now. Okay, and it's seems very dark Uh, I know what you're trying to do, but I'm just it's it doesn't go with the rhythm that's happening along mass out right now Okay, and I just want to you would mind lighting up a little bit If I could comment, um, one of the one of the things that happened that we snuck into the rendering if you look You're seeing two tones of gray in there. Actually A lighter tone and then the tone that you have in your hand I would propose that we Take your we we feel the same way and then that's why In this rendering you see uh, you see a significantly lighter gray in there Um, and then it's there the there's the darker accent I would suggest maintaining the color of the overhang above the retail As being and and the other thing is these materials when they're outside I agree they're on the dark side purposefully so but they also They come across that there's a lot more reflection. So the rendering is fair is a bit more. Um, I think True to how this building is going to read Um relative to everything around it and and so the combination of the lighter material that's that's shown in the rendering to get and and uh And the character of the material in daylight, I think, um You know might respond to your concern As I had a similar concern frankly and I would I would say it's too bad I don't I I could actually go to my car and get the other sample, but I perhaps will have an opportunity to do that I think the question is can we lighten it up a bit? Well, we kind of on my point is that we already are In this rendering The darker Tone that you see in the rendering corresponds to what you have in the lighter tone Is you know many tones lighter than what you have in your hands. So Can you show us where this darker tone is in the rendering versus the lighter because I would agree that one of the other Rendering the the rear material in here Yeah, would be this this is you know, in fact That's the lighter Is you know quite quite many tones. So he's saying that tones is around the windows That's just around the windows. That's not the metal panel, right, right and this this material here and Is the the top of the the metal material? Okay, it is The last tree on the right Well, if you were to can we switch to the rail Rear elevation rear elevation Right there. Yep to the left That looks lighter to me. Yeah, because it is because because you have the dark material Which I'm only in my hand and you have the majority of the body of the building I realized Like I'm saying again Yes, so the the back of the building looks much lighter The front of the building was much darker I would like to ask you to see if you could Get the front of the building looking Lighter like the back It might be the shadow of the of the rendering. It may be. I don't know. I mean mine looks even much darker I think right. I think we'll need to see a sample of of the material and you know for sure. Yeah So that's that One of the things that I do have Some small concerns about is where you laid out the solar panels They're right up to the edge Yeah, but uh, no, that's a that's a graph. Let me finish. It's not the way solar panels are Let me let me finish. Yeah, go ahead. When there's mechanical there's roofing equipment on the roof And it's within 10 feet of the edge of the roof By osha you have to put up guard rails. That's 42 42 or 46 inches in height I don't want to see guard rails on top of your roof I really don't care where you put the solar panels, but Once the solar panels impact the edge of the roof where you have to put the guard rails up I do care Because you'll see that so what I'm asking you is Can you pull the solar solar panels away from the edge of the roof? So the so there's no requirements for the guard rails I see no reason why we couldn't do that. Okay, and you still will meet the requirements Of the square footage of the of the solar panels Yes, that's what I'm asking for. Okay. Yes, we can do that. Thank you um That was that was one and the other one was If you I think this is a small ask But on the top floor I had asked you to reverse the top unit So the bedroom Was not at the corner of the building Yeah, right there Because right now that corner is the Is the highlight of the of the whole corner of that block there and you can see it go by And the bedrooms are generally dark Except for at night So if you can just whip it around like you have on the lower floors, I think that's easy enough done It just gets a more of a Live leak corner right there, which I think is important That's when you when you're coming down mass the air where you want to see it kind of light All right, so I'm just that's a small ask. Okay. And if you say you cannot do it because It screws up the market of the unit or whatever. Let's talk about it. But let's but if you can do it I'm sure you can. Yeah, I'm sure I can too. Thank you um I'm going to stop here because I as I want to rituals a few things about that And uh, we can talk more about this but that that was the main gist of what I had there Okay, but thank you for listening to some of our changes earlier Great. I'll actually move over to gene next Thanks, um, let's start at the basement Where you added some of the bicycle storage 18 bicycle storage Right there. Thank you Kelly Is it possible for you to put a bumper to separate the bike storage? from the driveway Because the zoning regulation says To the extent feasible bicycle parking shall be separated from motor vehicle parking to minimize The possibility of bicycle or auto damage. I'm concerned that the bike the cars Pulling back out of the spaces Could hit the bicycles unless you had some sort of bumper. So is that something you would do a ballard or ballard or something There's there's going to be a lot further articulation of the enclosure. We're not even showing that it's enclosed It has uh, it's going to have a steel mesh and Ballards will also be a part of it. These are these are very important details that we Admittedly at this stage. We've taken this as to a certain point, you know But there's there's several layers across the board and and one of them is definitely The security of that place in terms of you know, you have to have controlled access so you can get your bike And and we will configure it and everything so that it's accessible and the next Well, you don't have to go to the next slide yet. Kelly, but the um The next floor where you had the other bicycle parking did show A cage for the bicycle. Yeah, is this going to have a cage? Yeah, that's that's the intention. Okay. Yeah, absolutely Okay, um The the part where the ceiling height is if I saw it correctly In the basement six feet seven inches Um point No, the minimum height that we're going for is going to be seven feet We know we can we can accomplish that we had some you know of some last-minute conversations about the um They're right there. Yeah, that's it We have yeah, we're going for something out. We don't have structural drawings yet I always anticipate in having done a few of these I'm anticipating a worst case scenario of about 24 inches for a beam down So that's kind of my datum and then I know I have about a five and a half to six inch slab So right off the bat. I'm losing 30 inches From my building height from floor to floor and we we we account for that so if you can see for example You know when you get to areas like this You know here we have seven foot clear And that's and that is making an assumption that is three structural drawings that this beam could be as deep as 24 inches which is It might be the other thing, you know, we've gotten into situations where if we wanted a little more clearance in the building utility cavity up here We could actually pull that beam back And add a smaller beam we've we've done various things to get the head room but we now know having done enough studies that We could achieve the The maximum grades where we have parking is just two percent. We have a ramp of grades that we've we've resolved and There's a significant amount more real detailed work to happen here once we get structural drawings and that that Conversation goes back and forth But what I can tell you having designed it is that I know that I can meet the necessary requirements that I can get the hand room that I need We don't anticipate more head room than seven feet. We're not imagining box trucks or anything going down here When you look at how tall vehicles are 99 of them fit within a 70 range and well below actually real vehicles are not often as hot Tallest people think they are I'm gonna come up as long as they're up there too Gene if you do can I ask you to drag the Thing over with you too. Thank you Thank you Yeah, um more than apples for the front of a vehicle So you think this is not gonna get above? I do actually think it will get higher You can see you can see that this is a work of progress because you've got all these different lines here This should just be a parallel line. So We will be able to manage that and if we needed to even if we needed to go with that a little bit What's the what's the link road requirement? Does anybody know what's that the height requirement? Oh, this exceeds any height requirement in this part of the vehicle oftentimes they will actually put um Uh like massive vet docks and things like that in the parking area there And how many how many of the spaces are going? About if you want to scroll this to Backwards towards the the front of this this the plan so I can show you I think it's like four maybe I don't know We'll see you in a minute Here we go. Uh, yeah beautiful. Um, so we're talking about these here actually three Yeah, these three And honestly by the time we're we're done, we have you know, we we can get we can get it to work so that I've seen actually Places where they have bicepals storage above the hood of a car and some of the parking Remarkably um This layout Worked out almost to the inch like if we were missing another we were missing three feet or something wouldn't have fit You know, we were really quite fortunate that they were able to to maintain Um, the the clearances the parking distance We even I get bonus distance from the lot line, which is really nice So we don't have to actually worry about you know being in the public way Etc. You know, there'll be now. I don't have to use fancy footings here to the state of the public way I can use the standard footing say, you know It was it was a nice fit Okay So on the ground floor Going up one more I was unclear where the garage door would actually be located Sure Right along here. This is a rolling. This is a um Um What is it? Roll up door. Yeah, no Uh, it there's no chain or anything. It's a it's a it's a Very common word escape So these cars are technically outside they are yeah, they're outside But yeah, it's completely screened. The lighting is up high and low so that there's only a glow for safety Um, and that's basically it. Um, there will be some, you know, in here, um Some some down lighting on inside this sort of garage area nothing is going to spill out There's a rendering this shows. Yeah, there's a rendering this shows Yeah, here you go. Well. Yeah, here you go. It's all in here So can you go back? Yeah So the Okay Wait, sorry, which one that we're looking at before So anybody could technically go Yeah, yeah, they technically could sure that's completely screened So your parking summary, I just want to point out on See I think it's c102 is incorrect The minimum required for apartment buildings is is one space per unit You have the old amounts before the bylaw was changed So, um You basically would need 30 residential spaces not Whatever this shows out to be For the 30 units It's a little bit it's a little bit different. Um, then you have on here So instead of, um Minimum required spaces 44.7. Maybe my colleagues can correct me. I came up with 36 Spaces That were required So there are There are fewer spaces that we have to do something about Then you've told us, um Getting getting to that we You know, we we can wave the six commercial spaces as you know um with a tdm plan and and um With some other findings we'll have to make and we can also reduce the residential Spaces with a good tdm plan I don't personally I don't see adding three extra bicycle Spaces as being a tdm plan For residential units Since we've heard the bylaw sort of calculates. What's an appropriate amount of bicycle spaces So I don't see it for that. I know last time mr. Revillac asked if you'd decouple The parking from the rent and you agreed to do so I did some research about that to see if that really works and the jury's Sort of out on it, but leaning against it really making a lot of difference It depends on a lot of things but um And I say the jury's out, but I'm not convinced that that's We can put it in there. I'm not convinced it will work Particularly well What I read said that in most cases they think what happens is that the building owner ends up making a little more money Because they charge the apartment rent plus The parking so that the residents who have parking end up paying a little bit more But it doesn't actually reduce The need for the parking. Um, so I'm not really sure about that. So I've been Wondering concerned how we get rid of the four spaces That you need us to reduce and one way to do it Is to add one more Affordable unit so you'd have seven instead of six because under the bylaw If you add one more affordable unit You get a 10 reduction in the amount of required spaces which would then go down To 27 and then I'd be fine About reducing it one more to 26. So I'd like you to consider adding one more affordable unit Which would I think resolve the issue with how we get you from 30 to 26 residential spaces And that's if you want to look at that that's section 8.2 point 4 of the zoning bylaw I'll let you think about that while I go through the rest Um stackable bike racks What which I think are the ones that you're having on the next level up What is a stackable bike rack? I think you could go to the page that shows that would be great. These are actually really nice racks. I've seen them And yeah, I saw what it is Is it's quite understand how well it allowed it's kind of how do I describe it? I mean there's a there's a There's a bracket for each each bicycle and it supports the bike and the wheels and it's There's one and one and one. They're kind of alternated. So Yeah, you would have to lift the bike to shoulder height to get it to the so it's not one where the the rack goes down and goes up automatically Yeah, so I mean We can give you a More comprehensive look at how that works the rule under the bylaw is That unless we approve otherwise Not allowed to require a bike to be lifted off the ground Without physical assistance That's in the zoning bylaw. So I think there are ways There are bicycle racks because I've seen them in other places Where you pull out and they come down you put the bicycle on and it goes back And I think that would be the requirement. You've seen those two I assume and I think that would meet the requirement of the zoning bylaw Whereas having somebody having to lift up the bicycle I think is not the way to go with this because there is an alternative that would work. So I think you need to look at that Shade trees Can you go to thank you with shade trees? So the rule is one shade tree every 25 linear feet of frontage so on I couldn't quite figure out the linear but on chandler It seems to me at least to me one more shade tree Which probably can be At the corner next sort of by the transformer between the transformer and the side Yeah, let's do that. So can you put another shade tree over here? Now on this It's really nice So I think the alternative which is in the bylaw Is um To make a payment to the island and tree fund. I don't know how much this payment are The tree or maybe we can talk about yeah, of course, I think there should be at least two or three On lake street if it's not possible Not possible To get the trees in Yeah, so that what I think need to be done for the trees Um Yeah, and I think one more. I think I have enough on I think one more in chandler would be enough because you can't have one obviously where the driveway is I've never driven my car through a tree intentionally or not Gross floor area. Can somebody explain to me how you calculated gross floor area, please Gross gross floor area gfa outside wall to outside wall complete everything included Area of residence inside wall to inside wall actual area of residential Very accurate So those are the differences one is one is referred to in the in the real estate industry as net And then and then gfa gfa It I've never you know, it's all it generally always includes from the outside skin of the building So there's no and it and it includes elevators and stairways and all that stuff Open space, how did you calculate the two types of open space and can you show them to me on one of the drawings? Where they are Back up to There we go. Thank you. Can you hear me now? Perfect. Um, so we did we called it out on the sheet Oh, too far. Sorry So this this area here 722 square feet. This is landscaped open space These areas here landscaped open space landscape open space 26 square feet and then This patio area It's not landscaped open space. So it's just these one two three Yes, that gets added not landscaped but usable 609 I have a question about let me see I have to look this up because I don't remember One needs the 25 That is usable usable does do you think the usable one has that? What are what are the dimensions of the patio the architects were drawing there probably be some useful dimensions there? Yeah, well go back. Yeah, so um, so the you have 14 14 feet from the face from the base of the building to the lot line in this direction and Without yeah, and I actually yeah, I have another dimension 30 31.5 feet It's it's used, you know, it's big enough to be something something, you know We can throw a few tables out there Right. I saw that. You got um, yeah, and you are going to have an entry from That retail from that tenants. Yeah, the idea is to have that completely open. Yeah, I go out the door Yeah, the folding type that does this Okay, thank you. Those were my questions, so I think the the one Well, the two things are that I got are the stackable bike racks and whether you can Get the I don't know what they're called automated. There must be a system out there I'm sure there is a system because I've seen it We'll find it in Europe. I don't know if you can get them in the u.s. and um And what to do with your residential parking and whether you do one additional Affordable unit to get to the number of residential parking spaces Can I ask you a question because I'm surprised you did not mention it. Are you in agreement with the categorization of the rear of the building as a side yard and not a rear yard I'm glad you mentioned that I wasn't going to ask them because I thought that was for our Weekend that special later. We can Okay, we'll table that Okay, um See so So one of the things I um I actually did a double take when I looked at your dimensional sheet Um because this was listed as a As in the greater than 20,000 square foot category Um, it's actually the lot size is under 20,000. So you're in the under 20,000 square foot category One of the the significant difference for your project is that the greater than 20,000 square foot category Also comes with a 600 A minimum of 600 square feet of lot per dwelling unit um The smaller lot size doesn't have that constraint and basically it would have Reduced your unit count by about two-thirds if the lot if that if you were you were correct I just want to point that out in case someone is looking at the sheets and notices it, but you're fine um So with regards to the bike racks, um I was going to ask if there was a some sort of mechanical assist Um, you did put you did provide the manufacturer of the bike rack And they do have a model um you know if We The board were to impose to ask for mechanical assist as a condition Would is that something you'd be comfortable with? Can you look that one there has like a ramp that yeah, if that's what you're referring to all day long Pull it down. You lean the bike on it. That's a standard thing to be honest with you I think we overlooked it. I bet you anything they're not asking you to lift it There's yeah, there there are both types available Like the ones at the t station you there's nothing you you have to hoist it up. I'm happy to hear that I don't have to lift it. Okay Um, I also want to do say, um I like the redesign of the in the removal of the tandem parking space Um, I think that's a that's a good place for the bike parking and the Little extra depth on the retail is prop is is also nice um You see the other things I have I think can wait for our deliberations. So that that's it for me Thank you And a couple things uh, so if we go to uh, let's go to the rendering of the rear elevation if we could Um, I also just want to echo that I really appreciate the attention that you spent with how to Reprogram the area when the tandem parking came out. I think that was an excellent Solution that you came to I also appreciate That you took a look. I believe at the the parapet height and the articulation of the brick around around the sides this Beside here I I really do like the dynamic nature of the other facades that the push and pull you have some of the Juliet balconies, which are are quite nice. Um, this feels rather flat to me And um, whether it's introducing, um, you know One or or two You know vertical rows of of balconies here. Sorry go ahead. I am at a meeting within a butter this morning Yes, that we would add at least another Carry that brick one more brick section over The other thing I was going to ask is if you could bring the Perfect. Um, I think so that's on the right hand side of this Plant are yes, yes closer to the garage. Great. That was one more over in the back. Yeah Yep, perfect. That was my other question was whether you could return the brick Okay, um I um saw on one of the plans where you indicated A few light fixture designations, I believe that was for the building lighting Did you do any photometric calculations in terms of the spread of the the light beyond The building and did you have any specifications for the light that's in the Unenclosed parking area Okay, so we have light fixtures The building mounted light fixtures. I did see a specific so we have like we have the sconces that are that are facing the Yes public way, right? And then I have one light fixture by it by a service door in the rear about in this location that is a downlight Yep and then we have only a handful of Of uh, there will be a handful of led low low intensity lights for safety essentially in the rear And that's really all the light that we're anticipating at the moment. Um You've got me now searching for some software that will actually in this building not so much, but I'd like to Sure You know If you feel that you'd like to see Because I I have a particular light fixture in mind here and we have the the the section of its beautiful fixture Um, the other this one here I also want to inlay it into the brick a little bit so that it's actually but that's a little bit down the road I'm fine with with those. I think what I just wanted to understand a little bit more with the lighting in that Parking area whether or not Um, it will just be the emergency lighting that's on all the time or whether I would say in the building. I would keep it on all the time Um And it would be very low intensity. I'm not even sure with a photometric that the I I suppose And I don't think we need when I just didn't again, I I I didn't have the information to understand what you were proposing under there. So I think if um, we could have you submit that for Records is that again, we could understand what the output for fixture is how many pictures The goal of business so you're not walking out. It's dark. So it's just Only understand for safety Understood I just want to understand the impact on the neighbors These spaces want to be lit enough that that you can see people what they're doing So otherwise they tend to go to the lake streets Facade the elevation would probably be best Lake street That one perfect and if you could zoom in on that a little bit. Um, I really like the way that you have You have identified the signage canopy for the mass av side of the building I think again, since this is your your major tenant your 3000 square foot tenant If if I were them, I would want my my signage to be A little bit more prominent I think that they're you know, we have the discontinuity with the sign Coming down because of the the way that this this balcony Steps down and the way that it doesn't on the mass av facade your your signage is continuous As opposed to to on on this particular side of the building I want to make sure that there is enough room for signage for that particular Tenant oh, yeah below so, you know, you could look at that in a couple different ways Right now you have a prominent building number There right, so I'm looking right above the entry doors, which is most likely where the tenant will want to put their their signage This is this is where we want the signage for the tenant. That's where you want the site. You don't want it Yeah, and that would be um, you know, I think we would create a tenant criteria package that would That would limit the size and the type and so that it doesn't have to to be exactly the same like if you wanted to brand your font and all that I don't The idea is that it's surface mounted and low and low light and maybe that's something like that The other thing I think on on this facade that I'd ask you to take a look at because I think you have because of the peers you have and and you know, potentially Where you have the lighting is to potentially look at a bracket signage That, you know, is perpendicular to the to the building or whether or not that's something you might want to introduce It would be lovely, but it will go into the public Bladesign the bladesign are those Encouraged they're allowed. Yes. They are. Yeah, and again, I think in a pedestrian Oriented areas such as we've allowed them before Kelly correct me if I'm wrong where they project into the public way. We don't have a taken process here for public air rights It'll be in section 6.2 I don't know the number exactly because you don't see them too often, but because yeah Lake street has a lot of Traffic and a very small sidewalk and you just probably get more attention from mass av with the bladesign So again, when you when you do develop your signage Criteria and package I would just ask you to you have for example multiple signs shown on this facade. We would allow one um, and and we would also And again, I'll ask my colleagues and you know, we'll give you further direction when we're finished, but um A blade sign. Um, I I think would complement Um, everything else they have I can wait until we Chat together as a board. Are there any other questions before I open this up for Yeah, I have asked a couple more. Please of course um, you guys show, um A garden up on the four floor On the setbacks there Uh, is that by Each apartment owner or is it by the landlord? Uh, how do you guys get out there? So they go up to the roof and then come back down and into that unit outside the outside unit Okay, that's a way I guess Um, and that's Just a bunch of big big bushes or trees right not not like no low vegetation So that's just mainly for the public to see Not like a little roof garden for The penthouse unit there too So it's still a regular I get I'm assuming it's an epdm rubber roof or some sort of roof here, right? We asked them to consider that I was appreciative Okay, I'm just You know Um, and then when you come out from the garage On channel of street side Is there going to be like a horn or a strobe Warning there so you don't it's not required, right? I've got plenty of room there for people Visibility from the vehicle number one nothing too high and number two You know, it's not like the car is just popping out right at the sidewalk. That's why just one And it's purposefully so but it was by setting the whole thing back It's going to have virtually I believe knowing back on the name And the word I was looking for before was pulley Believe it or not And and so it's a very silent. It's like a like a rubber rubber band basically It's very quick and very quiet And lightweight My last question is It's an enclosed garage in a lower level. So you're going to have to exhaust the fumes inside Restraps exhaust Where the exhaust louvers On the side Well, is that it right? Yeah, we have a basically again, this will all get calculated by MEP But we have all of this surface area to work with to To for cooling for condensers for exhaust from the Etc. So We have a really Nice conveniently located space with the garage and Various other things How does that line up with the building behind you? Is it in the does that line up in the parking garage parking lot in front of that building? Or is it at the building? It's in the parking here Okay Yeah, it's well for if you're talking about the existing building now, it's it's way forward I realized it's not gonna have any impact doesn't make any noise or anything actually right here Right But where's the pop see if there's a building right behind a poppy line there Go to the rendering now the rendering with a fence shows it Okay, yeah, so it's pretty far away. Okay, it's far away. It's actually it's actually way over here Okay Thank you. Just didn't want that in someone's window And I just have one more thing that I um called and it's not something that I Want that I necessarily need an answer on because again, we're not reviewing the interior plans But um, I just want to I know that you're getting a lot more detail here to make sure that um, you've really taken a look at the remoteness of your Access because they they look awfully awfully close together to me. And again, that's not something that we're going to I looked at it. Actually, okay. Great. Look at it. I did my travel distances there. Okay Okay Yeah, all right But it's a super valid point. Yeah, I just don't want you to go too far in there. Okay fabulous Um, okay, any other questions Right at this time, we will open up for public comment anyone who would like to um address the board with any Covins or questions regarding this application. Um, please raise your hand. I'll call on you And you will have up to three minutes to speak And what I'd love for you to do if you wouldn't mind is to please come and use the microphone right here I'll also ask That you please introduce yourself with your first last name and address Feel free to leave your mask on if you're more comfortable or if you prefer to take it up That's fine, too. I found it kind of hard to hear some of you. So okay Um, we can hear perfect. Great. So thank you. I'm sorry. You wanted my name and address, please Yeah, my name is Rachel Roth. I live at 16 Chandler street And so I had a couple of things I wanted to raise One especially for you the board I mean, we know there's a lot of interest in this project And we know there's not very many people here compared to when the meetings were online And so I I have written to the board and the department about this I would encourage you to at least make the meetings hybrid Um, I understand why you want the big screen and everything But I think we can all tell this is fewer people who usually come So I would just say that Um So I wanted to say I do appreciate, you know, things like Hearing that the garage is going to be quiet and it's not going to have those things that you were asking about um But um Some other things that I'm concerned about so we are at butters I know you've reached out to a couple of my neighbors We, uh, live right next door to one of the people So I don't know how far you've reached out but 16 chandlers basically a stone's throw and no one to my knowledge has reached out to us Um, I think the whole street is, you know, going to have concerns about the scope of construction and everything It's definitely going to affect everybody's lives. Um, you were just the question just came up about noise so I don't honestly know with all those compressors on the top and The question about the exhaust. I think somebody just said it doesn't make any noise, but um I know there's been attention to like a lighting study. I'd be curious if there could be some kind of um, a noise study or just some information for people about You know, it is a very different, um building from what is there now um I also wanted to hear a little bit about, um demolition and construction Um, so I think the whole building is coming down. Is that correct? Um So, you know, we had snow last week and at three in the morning a snow plow came up chandler and It just dropped the snow blade or it did something so that there was a big bang and our whole house shook So I think that's the you know, it's not bedrock as far as I know. So Obviously there's things that can be done But I would just like some information about what will demolition be like What will construction be like in terms of the impact on people's houses from the vibrations? um And you know generally like I think you did show somewhere where the construction Hub for lack of a better word would be but what is that going to be like when it's happening and all the construction workers are there with their trucks and all the rest of it So, um Those were some things I was concerned about, you know, I um Still think it's it's great to get one-on-one feedback and have a community meeting um I also read an article in the globe I think it was about all the new independent bookstores springing up and one of them is in rosland dale I think this is the the development where they mentioned it That the developer asked the neighbors what kind of business would you like to have in this building? And people said we'd like a bookstore and now there's a bookstore So that might be something to think about getting input on what kinds of businesses would be good for the neighborhood So thank you. Thank you very much And so what I will do i'm going to capture notes from anyone who'd like to speak and then we'll address those items at the end of public Comment, great. Thank you. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak please Steve will come to you next Peter Ferguson 16 Chandler. Um I'm not sure how you found your butters, but I suggest you do get a new method I'm not sure if it's provided, but that's regardless I do have questions. They're also about detailed design around the construction and the demolition Because you did mention you're going down about 24 billion 24 inches below Your elevation that you show on the drawing correct To to put in pilings. I realize you haven't got your structural drawings yet but The location of your construction entrance To the yard, which i'm sure is going to be enclosed Is it a series of a number of dead ends? I'm sorry one-way streets Um, and you're going to be doing a lot of earth removal So there's going to be a lot of trucks coming up and down there I'd like you to consider and i'm not sure who does this in the town can giving them a variance So they can enter off mass have rather than come and trundling up Chandler Which would reduce the impact Yeah, look my questions are really around detailed design. Um, I wish you luck. It looks like you you're trying Um, but I do think you need to try a little hard to reach out to the neighborhood Thank you Please Steve more uh piedmont street um I was looking over the uh detail of the submission um the updated package and Um, my first question was if you could go to the landscape, uh and and tree planting uh page It's down towards the end Where the root balls and things start showing up There you go. Um I was looking in this page, uh, there was a reference on one of the earlier pages to The fact that one tree in front of the building on mass have is going to be Uh retained and protected It said look for the protection detail I I've gone all the way through it as far as I can tell there's no tree protection detail Did I miss it? I was sliding all around on my phone. It was a small screen. I might have missed it Uh, we'll we'll come back to to questions. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, you know, that's okay I just don't want you to use all your time waiting for you. Thank you. Uh, yeah tree protection detail would be helpful because From what I can tell the whole sidewalk is going to be removed as well as all the planters to replaced and built um And I'm not sure how that tree is going to survive that work demolition of the building behind it remove the sidewalk planters I assume that tree is probably going to um Die in the process now that doesn't mean it can't be protected and you can but it's going to require Some protection if you are going to retain that tree and not plan a new one um Also, it said one of the questions that was asked by the board Uh, I believe had to do with irrigation Um, and it said no no irrigation hand hand watering if necessary Um, I would strongly suggest you add irrigation to the trees in front of the building Street trees on a commercial area like this Just don't typically survive without a good amount of care Specifically sufficient water hand watering won't probably not be sufficient Um, so I would suggest you add the irrigation to those trees to create the streetscape that is the intent of your plan um And I think that was It From what I could see on the plans I think that was it. Thank you very much. Thank you Okay, so with that we will close public comment and um I just want to circle back on a couple of the items that were brought up by the residents who who spoke So it sounds like a slightly wider radius of of the butters would be helpful the next time that you Have a meeting with the residents on Chandler street who are going to be affected Um, if you I don't want to get into a significant discussion on the demolition and construction details Here, but if I could ask that you um follow up with the butters to provide them with the the details That that they're seeking that would be very helpful um If you are able to give some information on the type of mechanical system that you're currently considering so that they understand um the convention system That would be a question that I would ask you to address I would say um to The person that's concerned with sound um That these units are up Centered on the roof and way up and just ambient air movement and everything else is Almost going to be more noise than the actual unit. So that's the good news there This this building will not require large chillers and that sort of thing The building's 100 electric and these are like the mini splits that you would see like I even have one outside My house like by my deck So we're very you know take one of those and put it in four stories So these are the heat pumps? Yes. Yeah, very quiet. Very quiet. I've got them too again Great, thank you for addressing that I appreciate it. Um, and About the input tonight butters and uh the tree protection detail. I know that these are still a work in progress Um, if that's something that we can add if it's not Okay, great. Thank you I'll add that to my notes Great. So at this time, I'd like to turn it back over to the members of the board for discussion Uh, and gene I will start You know, I forgot something but you reminded me I always asked that you put in a couple Electric charging stations in the garage. Is that something? We've got six of them. You do I think that mandated now It's going to be it's going to be I think in some towns. It's definitely it's not a guy's got to get So here are the things I I sort of want to talk about um the step back Is there a rear yard Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna discuss that and and and this um proposed loading zone on chandler street and what happens if the town says no To that, do you know what we would need we would need to go to the select board to request and I've spoken with the applicant About that about going to the select board and having a note from the if the board is in support of that We would have a note from the department that indicates that As far as a request for like even just like an early hours loading zone for chandler street I think we should discuss what happens if they don't get that Because my fear is that the trucks will park in the You know bus zone Right there That's the bus rapid that's the brt lane so they can't park there They can't but that doesn't mean they wouldn't I mean, they're pretty strict about ticketing that so they would not do that for That's my concern. Yeah, I think we might want to do something to encourage the select board if that makes sense The other things I'll mention is um, we're allowed to Authorize up to 20 percent of the parking spaces And I think you have five Compact spaces, I think I think five but we can allow up to five Compact spaces because 26 spaces 20 percent is five Spaces, I think I think that three on one floor and two on the other I hope I count this correctly We have I think three spaces right now And two and two more on three I thought And then two, yeah, correct. So you have five that's right So like we would have to approve that but we have to figure out what to do about Um, they're they have more open space than exists now But not as much as is yep on the list If we're okay with the transformer in the buffer zone um And what to do about the parking we need to Figure out what the tree pain should be for more trees on light street Um, I don't I think that's the first time it's come up since the tree Bylaw was passed a year or two ago. Um And um, I don't think I have anything else And and then I guess I pardon me and then right and then will you do one more affordable Unit to get the parking relief Which makes good sense to me All right, well let's start with um Any other topics for discussion before We dive in kin. Did you have any to add to that list? I think the issues I had they all said they will do okay, so I don't have any issues Right and again, not that these are all issues, but they're all items that we have to find that we are In in agreement with some of them will be easier than others. Well They're all findings. We have to yes, we have to discuss I think gene and I have difference agreements in Interpretation I I interpret that as a side dark because it's a corner a lot That's something we'll always have this agreement on we'll get into I've been sitting. I think about it Okay, I any other items, please so um, we because we are um We are exercising discretion with respect to lots effects um, I think it's five three sixteen We'll need to um Talk a little bit about that I have thoughts, but I'll I'll wait Okay, let's start with the side yard versus very yard Chained go ahead. Well, I was I was surprised to see that there's no rear yard and I think I think I think it's a hole in the regulations in the bylaw That it just been in the bylaw for a while It it's yeah, and it hasn't come up because how often do we see the zoning here? It hasn't come up at the ARB Where there's something that takes up three sides, but not the entire fourth side of the block so Do you have any My reading of the zoning bylaw is that if there are two front yards You the property owner can determine which one is the rear yard and which one is the side yard But in this case you have three front yards And so it the the zoning bylaw allows for interpretation and and my read of it is that they could determine whether the the non-street facing frontage Or that non-street facing Boundary is a rear yard or a side yard. You see I think that's true if there are a corner lot But not if there are three sides That's the problem for me is that it's silent It says if it's a corner lot, which is you know, you have two two sides, then they get to decide but it's completely silent on Who gets to decide when it when it's three sides and um And then is there really a rear yard or not because if you look at the through lot Diagram, there are two front and two sides. This is not a through lot But clearly it's anticipated in some instances that there is no rear yard. So I you know, so I think this is really interesting And I don't have I don't have a solution other than we should We should try to put in a warned article an idea or in the fed To to figure out what to do if this happens again, but meanwhile I think the solution Is that we do have the authority To adjust required setbacks So I think whether it's a rear yard or a side yard We're going to have to do that anyhow because You know, they're subject to 5.3.8 Having to do with some of the other side yards on the street So if we want to let them do this And I think it's a good idea Because the current building is up to the lot line We can make the same decision about the rear yard if we want. So it's important, but I don't think it stops us from making the decision Yet to money the the water is even more our definition for side yard Includes a language in the case of a lot having no street frontage Or a lot of odd shape any yard that is not a front yard or a rear yard can be considered a side yard So they contemplate the lack of a rear yard, but for different reasons Or the by-law does I just yeah, just I think ultimately if we decide that We need to decide whether it's appropriate that currently proposed setback Do you have feelings on whether or not it's appropriate? I think that I think it's appropriate Personally and the reason I think it's appropriate is because much of the Setback on the other side is the parking lot You know to those of you and so there is the brick building That's close But it's close to the current building also so I I think that This there are special conditions that are unique to this proposal And they've made the appropriate Effort to screen And landscape the buffer Steve your thoughts on the appropriateness of the setback whether it is a rear or a side yard I agree that it's a hole in the by-law I I think the setbacks are appropriate and I think for me the part of it was just the configuration of This these parcels in the adjacent ones the fact that we've got two corner parcels So with three front yards That are directly Surrounded by an r6 or r5 through lot You know with screening it as as mr. Benson said I I think it's appropriate In yes, you create I agree it's appropriate as well and we will Find Note the finding is that whether or not is a rear or side yard. Okay. So, um, let's run through some of these other um items, so um the request for The five compact parking parking spaces Um, I have no issue with No, okay Um the Step back So all right, so as you know all of you know we differ I just agree with the rest of you and I think That um the seven and a half feet Needs to be from the building for Not from the lot line and I know I won't be able to convince the rest of you of that um And I say that in part because it says seven and a half feet beginning on the fourth floor Which to me contemplates that that's where it is and it's not like you just pull the building back. However It's one of those things where the three of you just if the three of you continue To disagree with me. I am not going to stop this project By voting wrong on the step back because we're going to put something into meeting you for To hopefully get this resolved. So I disagree, but I'm going to go with the majority if the three of you still Are wrong I Read it as the lot line Steve Hi, I'm okay with reading it. It's a lot line. Yes. Okay so we Are agreed to disagree on on that one, but we have yes three of us reading it from the lot line which um ensures that that Okay, so the next item we have is um the discussion around the open space the landscape and usable which is increased from What is existing but um, obviously they are looking for relief from what is required in I will start by saying that I I appreciate that um More than most of our projects I that we have seen recently I feel that the usable open space is actually quite usable In this particular in this particular case. Um, and I do appreciate the fact that they have added the The the trees and the The the green roof elements that we have requested as well Which to me um is helpful in terms of thinking about Um Alternative methodologies to meet the intent of that provision Steve your thoughts so I'm in terms of the Standards in section 3 4 4 for open space Um, I think this one does a fairly good job at meeting them Um, you know base the by-law says that open space Shall be designed to add to the visual amenities of the vicinity by maximizing its visibility visibility to persons passing Or or overlooking it from nearby structures The location and configuration shall be designed as to encourage social interaction maximize its utility and facilitate maintenance so this is this is um Like kind of the business center of of capital square and you're giving people a gathering space right in front of um A pair of shops and across from the the capital square building. I I think that's I think that's a You know that that's a great element in the project great Ken Yes, I'm In agreement. I'm okay given the relief on the open space gene. I am too um I think that if I am because the current building has much less open space And I don't see how they're going to put anything in meaning for you Without us giving them some relief from the open space requirement and as some of the rest of you said It's it's reasonably usable open space The landscape is reasonably good. They're doing some green roof pieces. So I think it's appropriate to give them relief great The next item I have here is um related to the parking reduction So they have provided The start of a TDM and have requested to work through that further with the Department of Planning and Community Development As a condition of the permit gene you've suggested that they um add an additional affordable unit To reduce the parking Further so that we only have one space that we're Looking to provide relief for I would say they need one TDM for The commercial commercial and then something else for the residential and as I said, I don't think the two That they've come up with Are enough Beacher, can I come in on that please? I think let me just think but I think if they got one more um Affordable unit, which is an incentive in the zoning bylaw to allow To allow a reduction in the parking then I think it's okay to just Give them the relief from the one Space now that we figured out the correct number of residential spaces That they need and you know, we they're just last year the town meeting reduced A number of red and so I think we're almost there So that's my thought and I just wondered if you would be willing to add one more affordable unit I think we would be so just uh, great. I understand it's one TDM for residences One for a commercial space, which I'd still like to be to be to be determined One more affordable unit Yep, that'll be great We anticipated that I have a note from John earlier. Can I come on that? I have that very question Please I think differently on that jeep Um, you're asking for another Afford of you. I'm glad they're willing to do that. Okay. I'm not Not saying that okay, but I was willing to go a little differently than what your request was I was okay to give them a relief on a number of parking Because the fact that what they did was we had asked them to Get rid of the tandem parking And they increased the commercial space on the first floor We asked them to do that. They did that and I was willing to give them A break on the required parking because they did that but they didn't reduce them in the parking space No, that's they've agreed to do this. Well, no, that's based on what you said And I differed from you in that opinion and I just want to express the fact that What I differed is because the fact that we asked them to do something And they did it by getting rid of the tunnel spaces And increased the ground floor commercial space And they did that and now we're asking for more And I I just don't want to come across that way And that's what I want to make I think it's a fair as a fear statement and right or wrong if and I'm not telling them not to do it But I'm just stating that was my opinion. That's what I want to express and It's different from yours and that's okay Steve your thoughts on the parking? um I general My general feeling is that we tend to over park or require more parking than necessary um, I would have given them the relief anyway just as um You know this you know aside from You know for reducing the reducing the cost of the of the project and also because of its location um, it's near the minute and It's a shot. It's a relatively easy ride to ale life And ale life aside from having the t station also has a number of shuttle bus companies that serve Like route three and 128. Um, there's a whole you know the whole 128 corridor A lot of there's a there's a good number of people who get there by hopping on a private shuttle at ale life um so because of the the combination of you know, mainly that Mainly the other transit options available. I'd be Yeah, that that's basically I think it's it's enough there's enough transit oriented stuff around that A parking reduction would be reasonable for that reason And and I actually agree with kin and Steve, you know, again, I think if um, they Want to add another affordable unit that something that they can certainly decide to do but I would not personally make it a requirement because I feel that they've um, they meet the that they Are in one of the most transit friendly parts of Arlington and they they did meet our request to reduce their parking by taking out the tandem um In return for increasing the commercial space. So um It sounds like the consensus would be that the board would not require you to add the additional I don't know if that's what the board's I I under I understand that so I'd agree to do great and I That's that's something that we can share. Um, we this is a vote that would need three members of the of the board. Um So that's a decision that You as a team will need to make as to whether or not you would like to add the additional affordable unit or Thank you for the ask the client The client would say no, we would not like an extra affordable unit. We're going Uh, to great lengths as as we are right now, correct. Uh, the See what a gene is proposing and I Laud the proposal in terms of having one more affordable unit in that building But I think if I would oppose the question to the client The client would say we'd rather not do that. Why? because We are uh, basically Basically our plans on economics and uh, economics come into play With respect to having one more affordable unit So I think that's That's that's the response I would get from the client. I'm sure understood Uh Let's see and the last there are two other items. Um, one is the loading zone on Chandler street um, my feeling is that we would need to make, um That a condition of the of the permit to work through the designation of a loading zone on Chandler street with the select board um There's, you know, really nothing else that we So if the select would just know then the project said no No, oh, okay. It's just the prompts that they're going to work with a select board. That's it, right and that we will um We will communicate to the select board our support Of a loading zone of a loading zone. I'm no problem with that. Okay I will say that we started that process Okay Great well great But you try again Great, um, and then the last item was with regard to a whether or not a treat we would require um payment to the Arlington tree fund in lieu of placement of trees on on lake street um Steve, what are your thoughts on that particular item? Oh Because they currently do not have shade trees. Well, we do have trees however on The green roof area, correct? Home bushes we're called them bushes. Okay. They're they're arbor vitae type Right, they're not shade trees But we don't have Any precedent correct kelly for Determining the Contribution to the tree fund What I'm what I would interpret is that under computation even though this is about rounding up on trees or rounding down I would say it's in an amount equivalent to the full and fair market value of the additional tree. Yep. Um, and so I would I would use that as a cue for what this amount should be if we're talking about two trees I'm supported. I'm in support of that great paying a paying a fee for the two trees the two trees Any other discussion on that gene? Steve nope, okay, you would be amenable to that All right. Um, so let me run through the list I think I got everything. Was there anything else in terms of Findings that we needed to review as a board Okay, I'm going to run through the list of open questions That I have and we can discuss whether or not this is something that we would want the applicant to come back to To share progress with us or whether or not we would want to defer this to administrative approval The first is Seeing a sample of the the lighter material. Um, we only have the darker with us this evening I could literally get you that in about a minute and a half I don't want to rush it, but yeah, let's I mean, I really would like to see it But let's um, let's let's see if that becomes a material Got it piece of importance Um, the second is to ensure the solar panels are far enough from the edge of the roof so that a guard rail is not required um The fourth was uh, excuse me. The third was uh to swap the living room and uh bedroom in the plan southeast corner of the building um, the Next is um to show the bike parking interior enclosure with controlled access The next is to change the specification on the bike rack to a mechanical assist rather than a physical lifting of the bike for the upper rack We talked about the um payment to the garlington tree funds in lieu of two trees on lake street Um, and adding one additional tree on chandler chandler near the transformer Um, the next is to provide a specification for the light fixtures and a light Lighting plan In the area of the open parking Um The next is with regard to signage and again, we are not approving any signage as part of this plan But when you do look at um your requirements for building pretendent signage to look at a blade sign And limiting the number of signs on each side of the building per the signage by laws pretendent Um returning the brick at the uh rear facade of the building or side facade Oh, you speak about that uh the uh adding a tree protection plan to the site plans and um to reach out to a wider Radius of the butters um to discuss the demolition and construction details Um in any other questions that they might have Did I miss anything? You know But to answer your question i'm happy With the stuff you listed there as administrative approval Um, I trust I'm making the building light up. That's the one big issue I had making a lighter and I trust Well, we can make that conditional to the the final review and approval of the coloration Of the of the materials um But that's not going to hold them up for another review, right? No We could we could do that we could if they submitted them I could even bring them into a future. We've done that with other Okay, I'm okay with that. Okay Jean I'm fine with Okay Fine with those okay We can agree with all those items you and you would agree to all of those items. We can agree with it. Okay. All right so um I'm going to run through our findings And then I will run through um special conditions that we will add To the permit um, or excuse me to the um To the decision So that we can um have a motion created so um, we can find that the reduction of the parking Is acceptable, um given the uh agreement to work with staff on the tdm And the reduction or the removal of the tandem parking spaces um, we have uh found that the step back From the lot line is um Is uh approved We are we are finding that the um Setback on the non street frontage side of the building is appropriate Per the zoning bylaw guidelines We are finding that the um Five compact parking spaces and the reduction to allow those Is approved We can also find that the um Proposed open space both landscape and usable Is is approved And we are finding that the Two trees on lake street um That are not being provided can be um instead supplemented with a um donation to the arlington Or payment to the arlington tree fund in the amount of the fair market value of two trees So this is a finding and um I would like to see if there is a motion to sorry Um one small friendly amendment to the uh to the um finding regarding parking Yes, um could we add proximity to non-automotive transit, um resources. Yes Public transportation, yes We'll transport it right right. Yeah bikeways. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Okay. Um, so any other Changes amendments to the findings Okay So is there a motion to uh approve Docket number three six five zero for 190 to 200 mass av with the conditions of um the applicant submitting a um final package of full package of um exterior building material samples um to the uh Department and the board for uh review and approval um ensuring that the solar panels are far enough from the edge of the roof so that the guard rail so that guard rails are not required um to Ensure that the bike the interior bike parking enclosure um is protected um With an enclosure and controlled access that the specification of the uh bike rack uh will be a One with a mechanical assist rather than a requirement for physical lifting of the bike Um that in lieu of providing the two trees on lake street that a payment isn't made In the amount of the fair market value of two trees to the Arlington tree fund That one additional tree is added um to Chandler street from what is shown on the plan That a light fixture schedule is submitted to the department um for the open parking area Uh our standard conditions include notation that the signage is not currently Approved that that will need to be approved under a separate permit The applicant will provide a tree protection plan And the applicant will also endeavor to reach out to um a wide radius of a butters Including those on Chandler street to discuss demolition and construction details Any other special conditions? We have our standard conditions which include snow removal trash removal Restrictions and timing et cetera Is there a motion so motion I have a question do you want to give The staff any guidance about what we'd like to see In the tdm for the commercial space and what we'd like to see in the tdm for the residential space So for um Although the jury is still out on unbundling. I know a number of transportation nerds Yeah transportation nerds agree. Yeah, right So I would like to go to to stick with on with unbundling. Um Come back to that in the past, uh unbundling the The rent from the rent of the parking has reduced the number of parking just because You have to pay more To have one that you may not use all the time It just becomes something to jettison and for uh commercial Again, I I think it does depend on the the the type of um Business that you have there, but um, you know, whether it's providing um transit passes for employees um Pull up what our seed you have our list. Yes, I can see Yeah, the stipend for For transit pass subsidies and um, you know, we we have provided uh bicycle parking And they have provided a significant number of ed spaces as as well, which I know is not I know it's not required but Yeah, I mean I was Yeah, if it were a surface if it were surface parking I would ask the applicants to consider trying to partner with a A car sharing company zip car or whatever, but I'm with the with the garage enclosure. I'm not sure that would be a practical Those are miserable too. Yeah Yeah, okay Then you'd have to give them another space Exactly All right, any other thoughts on the TDM? guidance on the TDM Okay, any other um Amendments before to look for a motion All right Do I hear a motion? So motioned Second a second. All right. We'll take a roll call vote starting with Steve. Yes. Jean Uh kin. Yes, and I'm a yes as well So I would just like to put on the record why I'm saying no Um, I think it's a good project. I think it's one that is going to help the town It's what the town has envisioned for massive it has Helps with commercial space. It helps with Residential space. I'm voting no because I think the reason the board has Reduced the number of residential parking spaces does not meet the criteria Of the zoning bylaw basing it on things like getting rid of tandem parking And doing some other things we asked Are completely unrelated to Whether the number of parking spaces should be reduced For I think that one more affordable unit would have been a much better way to do it And the town needs a lot of affordable units And I'm just very very disappointed that we're not going in that direction And that's why I have voted no for something that I otherwise think is a very nice project and very good work By everyone who's here and thanks to all the neighbors who commented during the process Thank you I'll just note as well that um in addition to the Reduction of the tandem parking that um the other board members did specifically note the proximity to non Automotive transit All right, thank you very much appreciate it. Good luck with your project. Thank you. We're gonna make it nice. I promise All right, uh that concludes our first agenda item And we will now move to We'll now move to agenda item number two, which is the open space A nice sample board. Thank you very much. Thank you So long Just give everyone a minute to All right, so let's now move to um agenda item number two, which is the open space and recreation plan updates And I believe that we have um an update to the work of the committee My name is wendy rickter and I am the uh Designee from the arb on the open space committee. I also am now Co-chair of the committee because we've changed And the royer is going to continue on the committee, but she's no longer the chair So um, we thank you for your support and the development of this, um open space plan open space and recreation plan Which you I think it was in the summer that you approved it and it's now It's now in print I have a copy here and um, you should have access to this. It's also online, which is really uh Actually easier than having it in hard copy there are a number of items action items in the implementation of this plan that The arb is listed as one of the parties involved and I um, we're hoping that you are familiar with the plan And especially those um, and I just looked it up. I have them here There's six items that have arb after them And I don't know whether you've had a chance to look at the plan or not. Would you like me to read those items? They're short Sure, go ahead. Yes, please. I don't really have another you know, you know about the plan I should just let you know what they are sure. Um So the implementation uh is in a chart at the end of the of the plan and um under um Goals the first goal is to ensure that public and private investment support and build upon the town's recreational facilities conservation areas and other public spaces and under that um goal Um arb and this is ongoing. So this should already be familiar. Um Explore future development and redevelopment projects particularly those within environmental justice communities To incorporate meaningful open spaces and recreation opportunities On-site for residents walking and biking connections should be prioritized to nearby recreational facilities conservation areas and other public spaces So that's the first one The next one is under um the second to be objective To improve the town sidewalk streets and recreational corridors to make them safer and more accessible to all users And that's to continue to implement Um connect Arlington to increase multimodal opportunities in town and address safety access and efficient Efficiency of walking biking and transit use particularly around town public spaces and recreational areas Um If you have any questions, let me know And I guess I did them out of order because that's kind of the second goal I'm going through a tablet. So it's not always doesn't always go back to the beginning Let me just make sure I'm at the Yeah, okay, so I'll start with the first one. Um So the objectives improve the quality and functioning of the town's waterways and wetlands to support aquatic life and biodiversity So the first one arb is listed under is continue to implement strategies from the milbrook corridor report To expand public access and restore and enhance the natural features of the corridor such as cooks hollow, which is Under study right now um Next one is to protect undeveloped lands that have ecological value wildlife corridor connections and habitats for native flora And fauna or that present opportunities to restore natural systems And that is to enforce the conditions of the zoning board of appeals 2021 decision on thorn dyke place the moog our property regarding establishment of a perpetual conservation Restriction on the designated 12 acre conservation parcel now. We know where that is in process But that's been an objective of the open space plan for it was in the last plan as well Yeah, let's see And these are the last two and this is under the goal Ensure that public and private investment support and enhance the resilience of the town's natural environment So 1d 3 is use native and pollinator friendly vegetation Appropriate for an urban environment in town landscaping projects including more curbside rain gardens Focus along the mass av corridor and other commercial streets And it was nice to see that trees were discussed in in the project I saw presented And then the last one is review town policies and regulations to ensure that they include climate impact considerations unnatural systems and their ecological functions and identify updates as needed so Just keep the open space in mind. This is a It's now public policy. That's why we do these open spaces and we're working on There's a lot to be implementing over the next few years. So Sort of we all have our role in having that carried out and I guess I want to say as the Blazon with ARB. I've often not quite known what my role was I've attended many meetings that were around zoning I feel like that's often the The point of you know overlap between open space and and ARB So I would like you all if there's something that's coming up It would be great. And I know David is often the one that will help highly You know, he'll let me know he'll flag something if it's coming up But if there's some something that you see as being relevant to open space, please let me know or let the Committee know so that we can participate or you know be present in your deliberations. So going forward So thank you so much for coming tonight. Yeah, I I think one of the things that the board has really been talking about is how to ensure that the opens So there's obviously public open space and the private open space the private open space and many of the Projects that we see to ensure that that is really truly usable for the for the residents And programmed so that it's you know space that really can be Used by those people who are especially in those denser neighborhoods as opposed to Just checking a checking a box to you know really make sure that it's something that will enhance the the lives of the residents that it serves Can any thoughts for for wendy Or questions do you guys talk about sidewalks at all? Well, we talked about accessibility in terms of accessing open spaces. So in that regard it is in the plan One of the things that I think that sort of came out of this pandemic is this kind of summary Um Extensional restaurant spaces out into the sidewalk that kind of lively space neighborhoods, I think that's something that we should encourage more of I think it's a good thing And see how we can I don't leverage that And do more of that because I think that adds To the city's great seascape along the street there And then one of my pet peeves Is the brick on the sidewalk it's just a trip hazard right now and To me, it's very uncomfortable. Maybe you walk on Yes, we're in front of the the library and the town hall In that church. It's just it's just awful there and I've actually seen a woman trip and her head there and Skull my son sitting laughing, but you know, uh, it's not funny It's dangerous. Yeah, so very good That's all I have to say Jean I mean, yeah, I agree and it's right by, you know, the robins memorial garden and open space So the town has this, you know, beautiful garden between town hall And the library and you have to walk on this grip sidewalk. That's undulating The clips missing and some space is filled in with little sort of dabs of asphalt and And you know, it's sort of pretty sad It's pretty sad looking the one thing I wanted to mention When I think you came with Anne right when Anne Were you here with Anne when Anne presented? I may not have been So Anne presented the open space plan to us and yeah, no, I wasn't okay in the summer And and one of the things that I said was I think the town needs to look at Whether the open space is doing the job For all the various ethnic groups in town And you know, I gave an example Of that I used to give when I used to teach planning and land use law About well, you have a park, you know, and and how you could design it and things like that and it turned out nobody In the class ever thought well, who's who's in the neighborhood and and maybe people play cricket or maybe people play soccer and things like that and there are no cricket pitches in town and Soon after that I was walking on the bike path By the field at spy pod and there were a group of people who'd set up cricket and were playing cricket on the baseball I've seen in there a few times since so I think that's just a little example Of the town needing to think Or adjust the uses of open space to who's now living in the town Great point. I think they are doing that with when they're whenever they're working on a field or something The multi-use is You know the multi-use is usually baseball football Not always we're I mean, we're hoping that it's going to be more especially looking at hills hill That's a whole hoping to have yeah, they'll be hopefully more than one use there. So I just want can I address the Sidewalk issue feel like the sidewalk issue. It's kind of like potholes It's it's like the space is there. We have no jurisdiction over that. That's something that's town public works public works It's something that yeah, it is and I mean if you think it's an issue I mean, it's it's an accessibility issue for anybody if you're tripping on it It doesn't you don't have to be in a wheelchair to have a problem with that So and I think they did address that when they worked on the corridor in east Arlington They did not put in brick sidewalks for that reason and when they redid right in front of town hall that part is You know right in front of the entrance the town hall, right? I think that's a wire cut right right. Yeah And what did they do here because I come in the side door. So did this get re-bricked? Yeah, I think this also was the wire cut. Okay flat. Yeah brick as opposed to the Historic the city halls is a heated plaza too. Yes I think did you have one other thing and I feel like this is can I take the open space Yes, this is my own personal coming to it's part of why I'm on open spaces So I feel like the issue of density Is is huge and I know a lot there's a lot being talked about that as more Density is happening in town and I would like to see a good dialogue with the open space committee And the ARB around issues that come up with as density Increases because I feel like the more especially around residential density The more you need the public open spaces for people who don't have backyards So I just see that as something that's coming and there'll be there's going to be a lot talked about around that as we increase You know density absolutely. It's a really good point and it's something that I think before It looks like some of the warrant articles that we had initially been planning for spring town meeting Will actually push to the fall and I think Engaging with the open space Committee as we move toward that is Is something that would and I see I see mass avas a big open space It's not a green space But it is and as if they're trees if they're rain gardens it becomes and I think that the what you're talking about those pocket What did they call those Croclets It's turning it more into something that people perceive as a green street Streetscape as opposed to just a transit corridor, right? So Steve did you have questions or comments or a few comments one of the the things I've read recently is The city of summerville did a a curb survey. So the basically it's a survey of How of what type of uses there are in the curb who the users are what they're doing? And you know, yes, you're they're they're weighing off a bunch of different things. So one is things one is parking one is Accommodating bicycle lanes and other forms of transit other is a comet having public open space for residents another is Loading areas and drop-off areas Um It's it's a very cool document. Um, I wish we could do something like that here and maybe at some point we will but um There's I guess one of one of my Sort of high-level thoughts is that we Probably devote too much space to cars and I'd be You know, I'm I'm interested in ways where um, maybe we could rethink that balance but Sometimes like especially on public rights of way. We really don't have much in the way of jurisdiction So, what is that called? It's you said it's a curb study. Yeah, so, um, that may be something to look for Yeah, if you were to go to go to search the fine web for summerville curb study Um, you you should be able to find it Okay Anything else for us lindy? I think that was thank you so much for coming in this evening. I really appreciate it And we look forward to continuing to work together with you Great. Thanks. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Thank you so much great um We'll now move to our third agenda item, which is edr application review and I'll turn it over to kelly sure, um So I just wanted to thank you for taking a look at the revised edr application Gene provided some comments. I don't know if anyone else has any feedback, but basically what we're trying to do is take Some of the common oversights that have happened as part of application review and kind of clarify clarify the process by which we review making sure that applications are complete before we schedule hearings And then what we're intending to do with this now that I have some feedback and you're welcome to provide additional feedback And and we can keep updating this But to have this be have the application that you saw as a draft Be our primary application for like redevelopment or development And then create two smaller sub applications from that and one would be for signs So for anybody who's looking for just a sign permit through the arb and then a second one would be for For a change of views because that's another smaller type of review that you often end up doing But just to kind of make sure that The goal with all this is to make sure that people are submitting a full set of materials that we're keeping it up to date as the zoning bylaw is amended and Just making sure it's clear that the various steps in the process are clear to applicants So it was just a note to Thank you all and if there were any additional feedback any additional comments. I'm happy to take those now I'm also happy to take comments In the next week or so I have one, please. I'm sorry to get the earlier. That's right I want to add in that one applicant is showing the elevation Yeah Of their building that they also show The elevation of their neighbors So there's a comparison across everybody just shows their building. That's it. They don't show the uh What's next door? So okay context Yes Anything else gene? Kelly did a really nice job Thank you. Yes, it's much clearer Steve. I I agree it's uh I Have not had I will try to get you some some feedback. I did not have a chance quite have the chance to do it yesterday so That's okay And I will as well. I'm uh Still fighting with my email access At the town so as soon as I have that I will do it Don't get me started on that one there Oh, I finally figured it out We'll talk after this. Okay Anything else for kelly on the edr application review? All right, thank you so much for putting that together So we'll move to agenda item four, which is the schedule for 2023 annual town meeting I'll give it you back to you. So this was just um just to confirm with you all We've reduced the total number of hearings to two um, so next week monday we have Three amendments or sorry four that will be before the board One is a citizen petition from christin anderson regarding animal daycare use And the next three are the more administrative type amendments. Um for Stormwater the the level of storm water that should be retained for an additional height bonus in the industrial districts um incorporating the solar bylaw into the industrial district zoning now that that's been approved by the attorney general and then Updating that minor update to section 3.1 b Based on the attorney general feedback and then the following week is Those are the other three citizen petitions So the two from james flumming regarding downtown business parking minimums and one and two family usable open space and then The third being from tom perkins regarding building affordable housing anywhere And I know that he has reached out to some of us with regard to some feedback And he'll be coming back with the main motion and for a discussion on that date We have two dates held right now, so March 20 and march 27 those were held In the case that we would have more zoning amendments Right now. We don't have any pending applications for those dates And I actually don't think given that it is the 27th of february. It's too late for any other applications to pop up so The legal ad for this noted that the arab would be voting deliberating and voting on the amendments on April 3 and then coming back to review and approve the report to tom meeting on april 7 Or sorry that following thursday, so I think with that schedule in mind. We probably wouldn't have any And unless there were other things that you wanted to bring in for meetings on the 20th or 27th Like if that's the question I have is would it be If we're meeting on the 6th and the 13th, yeah, would it be Be Better to meet On the 27th and then the third right rather than trying to squeeze in the thursday evening meeting on the 6th um Because we we don't have to turn it around in three days because we have a little bit more time So this is more a question for you and you know, what would be better for you because I know that that is often a fast turnaround I will need to check and see since it was provided in the legal notice this way if we can't if we're allowed to or not Okay Did you send us this? Um, I don't I don't think this was a I think you voted to approve the articles, but we didn't um That didn't come. I don't think I said it. No, I'll send this. Yeah, sorry Other thoughts on timing Steve um, I mean in terms of I I have sort of two unrelated questions Sure, um, since we have we have two whole evenings that have opened up Is there any word on the applicant applicant for 99? and at some point At some at a point in the past we had talked about meeting with the economic development coordinator and possibly the Um, yes chamber. Yes the chamber So 99 mass av is scheduled to come back on March 6th. So that's the first thing. Oh, okay on the 6th Um, I'm working to find out when DJ is available based on his other schedule. Um, so we had tentatively scheduled that for February, but it didn't work. We couldn't get both of them on the same date. So If you're open to it, I could figure out which of those dates works and we can have them come in and we can talk about a few other projects and perhaps invite some other Some of the other boards liaisons to boards and committees Do some of that business then The other final thing that we haven't scheduled is a public hearing to revise the air be rules and regulations now that we have the solar the solar bylaw Yes, yeah So just looking at timing wise if we didn't need on the 20th now because we don't need to if we could maybe shoot for the 27th Um, that would allow us to do those items and that way If we are able to change this such that We can, um review the final um the final, um Memo to town meeting on the 27th and then vote on it on the third that might Be a little easier on on you. Um, but if we can't we can still then have a short meeting on the third And then we'll need to meet again. It sounds like on the 6th that the one other proposal would be that potentially on the 6th if we meet in person To deliberate and vote on the third We could consider doing that meeting on the 6th to review and discuss the report virtually if that would That would be even honestly either one is fine. It's easier for me I'd like to also suggest I know when this Board voted to establish the working group for MBTA communities. You asked for frequent updates as much as we could I think we could probably deliver an update on one of those evenings. Perfect. Yeah All right, so it sounds like we will it's too short Eliminate the meeting on the 20th. Yeah, and then um 27th target An economic development discussion Either that one or on the third And then on whatever other one to do the MBTA communities. Yeah, perfect. I assume you'll send it out, right? I didn't write it down. So what dates would we be meeting in March then? The 6th and 13th are our two hearing dates and the 27th Would be Either economic development or MBTA communities and if we can review the Memo to town meeting that night we would do that Um, and actually we need to vote, right? Yeah, that's that's when we would need to vote as well And then that would give kelly a week So that we could meet again on the third to go to approve the So we meet every Monday in March except except the 20th 20th. Got it. And are we voting tonight? Okay, any other thoughts on schedule? Since we put in all of the warrant articles at some point we have to vote Something on all the ones we're not That is true. We had said that last time we were going to vote tonight to Officially Officially vote to move them recommend or to move those to fall town Right, we need time and I didn't put it on the agenda. So let me we'll put on the agenda for the 20 Sorry for the six Right, and then we have to recommend the option Right Did you get any information from the manager's office about whether or not they were going to put the three sort of Administrative ARB articles on a consent agenda Or are they going that's going to be up to the moderator? So we won't know that for a little bit yet Until the until the substance of the main motion is determined We have a new monitor now, right? It's Greg I knew it is Steve Great, great. No, but Greg's new. He was here last year. Yes here was his first. Yes. I know my I knew the guy before that John John. Sorry. Okay um So that's our schedule agenda item number four. Um, now we'll move to agenda item number five, which is open forum Steve, did you have anything you wanted to Share with us fantastic You know the drill first last name and Steve Moore, uh piedmont street um You guys have gone to live meetings You're not doing hybrid and i'm wondering if you could explain why that is When so many other boards are as part of this pilot doing hybrid meetings Sure, i'm happy to answer that i'm actually on the remote participation study great So, um, we have identified that the um It is working well for some Folks who are trying hybrid meetings and not for others and for the folks working well for are those who typically are not seeing Conducting hearings on behalf of the town and don't Um need a large staff support in order to run the hybrid meeting like we would need So we have a challenge both with our room and some of the audio issues that we have in this particular room And the technology and we also have a challenge where we would need a third staff person to adequately run um a hybrid meeting because of the way that Because of the volume of information that we have and Admitting folks back and forth and we we had a pretty lengthy discussion around whether or not that was something that We felt that we could Bring into this particular board and um, you know in speaking with various folks within the town from the technology department. They agreed that there is a Currently a technology challenge for us to be able to adequately staff and Um support in the space that we are a hybrid meeting So we feel that it's important to um work together in person with our applicants for the best experience both for the applicants the people who um participate from the board from staff and from The the the folks from the town who who come here to participate Well, I I guess I would uh suggest that One of the things we've learned from covet is that participation Has gone up dramatically with the use of the hybrid approach and as evidenced by tonight and the lack of Well the very few public people who are part of this um That that has gone back to not a lot of participation um, I would guess that probably the amount of Demand for the board's time is equal to the zba and the zba seems to be Um functioning quite well under the hybrid approach I'll just say that um, we're not going to debate whether or not This is the right decision or not But we we very much feel strongly that meeting in person is is the best experience for us We have had extremely high turnouts for some of our in-person meetings For several of our cases obviously not tonight, but for our prior meetings and it has actually been A really wonderful experience to be able to be in the room and face to face with the residents when we're working through really sometimes very emotional and Very uh items that um, it really requires that kind of a personal connection and empathy In terms of ensuring that the applicants as well as the residents Understand each other and where each other coming from there is a lot more Empathy and I feel that we've been able to come to solutions that um are That really helped modulate between the interests of the residents and the business owners In a way that we have had a very challenging time connecting and being able to do that remotely So that's that's all i'm going to say on well fair enough fair enough and I appreciate you laying that out for me Because I agree that in-person meetings are better than remote As long as the crowds come back Because I remember there was huge demand before uh in person and that was wonderful because you really got this cross section So thank you for filling me in on that. Absolutely. I appreciate it. Thank you. If it comes up again I would ask you to consider it, but thank you. You got it. Thank you very much. I appreciate it Thank you for coming this evening. Sure All right. Um, and so with that I will close um open forum and open up agenda item number six, which is uh the meeting minutes So we will Uh, first of all, I'll thank everyone who sent um Comments ahead of time. Um, we'll move first to the january 23rd 2023 uh draft meeting minutes And I will see if anyone has any additional comments into what was already um submitted starting with ken. No Jean nope steve. No and mine are already submitted as well Um, so is there a motion to approve the meeting minutes from january 23rd as amended? So a motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. We'll start take a vote starting with steve. Yes Jean. Yes. Ken. Yes, and I'm a yes as well So those meeting minutes have been approved We'll now move to the february 6 2023 draft meeting minutes. Um several comments were submitted ahead of time So I'll see if kin has any additional comments. No Jean no Steve nothing here and I don't either kelly. Thank you so much for integrating all of those Um, and I'll see if there's a motion to approve the february 6 2023 meeting minutes as amended So motion second. I will take a vote starting with steve. Yes. Jean. Yes, kin. Yes, and I'm a yes as well Those have been approved Thank you Get back to my agenda. Um, we're now on to agenda number seven new business Kelly did you have anything? Yeah, so I think I may have mentioned this before but on march 1 I'm talia fox our sustainability manager and a number of other local experts are running a virtual town forum on the specialized The specialized stretch code versus the stretch code So there will be a vote by town meeting this spring about whether to Adopt the specialized stretch code, which is basically like another layer on top of the stretch code And this is an informational forum to kind of explain what the differences are between them And there's she's pulled together an excellent panel of experts her and the cefc committee On this to talk about the distinctions between the two. So this will be virtual event Tomorrow wednesday night, sorry And I believe it starts at 7 p.m. So I'll I'll send this and the other events. Yeah, I'll via email by tomorrow morning The second event coming up is a virtual community listening session or a visioning session regarding mbta communities so we had a second meeting with mbta community's working group to talk about visioning and where Because our process is so open-ended because our District or districts can be located anywhere At the recommendation of the working group We're kind of taking a step back before we put anything on a map and conducting a visioning session with the community to understand Better the goals and priorities for multi-family housing in town And so this will be a facilitated visioning session. We'll be doing breakout groups. We'll have a poll We're working on a companion survey that will go out to the community to basically ask a lot of the same questions And we're working on putting together a meeting in a box kit so that um individuals who Have like a smaller community group and they want to kind of hold a similar session Within the comfort of their home or over their own zoom meeting or whatever can can run a similar session for that So this is coming up on march 9 at 7 p.m That's next week thursday And then the final public meeting coming up is on the 15th and march 15th will be the final public meeting An invitation for public comment for the massachusetts avenue appleton street corridor project Um, this was the project. I was uh with the select board um with tonight We were asking them for a letter of support not a letter of approval To move forward with um designing the corridor to 100 design We did receive massworks funding to get us there to get us from concept to biddable documents We're using talent funds up until now Um, you know the very fact that we rewarded these design dollars means we are in line for construction dollars So that's where I was tonight asking for that letter of support from the select board And if you can make it on the 15th, I would love it if you guys would like to come and take a look at design And offer any comment suggestions support Did we get the support from the town? What's that did we get the support? There's a lot of love for parking Um, oh you say we did not get a support from the select board. We got a support level We got a support letter that enables us to apply for further funding We did not get support at the design as presented So A lot of talking about concept Thank you lots coming on You all are very busy and I appreciate all the work that you're doing on behalf of the town A lot of varied work too. So thank you Any questions for coming in cleric steve? Oh not a question, but I do have a bit of new business. There you go So, uh, this is regarding section 542 b8 Which you all know is the recently added set provision in the bylaw that allows someone to reconstruct a home on a non-conforming lot Provided that the new home Meets a certain energy efficiency standard and is not more than 750 square feet larger than the previous structure So we had I discovered that we had our first one of those built um, it's on palmer street and That is my good news for the week How's it look? It looks it looks nice. It's um, the builder is Want uh, is it is a local builder? He lives in town. He does a fair amount of work his company does a fair amount of work and down um It's it's a nice looking duplex. It has a hers rating of 38. I think So her score. Yeah, very low Below the record Pretty good Fantastic Any other new business? All right, is there a motion to adjourn? So motioned There's a second second take a vote starting with steve. Yes gene. Yes ken and imas as well. We are adjourned. Thank you