 Report we can say that we don't have one or did we meet no we did it okay great Great, okay So I assume there's no public comment for that so that takes care for We can skip to how about could we go to item 7 number D Chris included a letter from PC Which is a separate issue then if we talk about Pioneer Valley Planning Commission later under planning board committee and liaison reports Chris did you have something to tell us about this letter that you included in our packet from pdpc? It's a letter that we receive every year and it goes to David Burgess who's the the principal assessor and it is to let Let mr. Burgess and other members of the town know that our assessment and did I not include the assessment page? Okay, oh, I'm so sorry because we were supposed to have a list of all the cities and towns that are included in the pvpc There are 43 of them and that list shows what their assessments are So I can get you that list if you're interested But Amherst's assessment is around sixty five hundred dollars a year and some Assessments are higher than that and some are lower, but if you're really you email that I will email it to you And does anyone have any questions on? Okay, it looks like we're 705 so with that we can go back to the first public hearing I'll read the preamble and open the public hearing in accordance with the It makes charming in accordance with the provisions of mgl chapter 40a This public hearing has been duly advertised and notice thereof has been posted This hearing is being held for the purpose of providing an opportunity for interested citizens to be heard regarding SPR 2019 08 Javier Campos of Adams and Ruxton for Bank of America at 360 College Street So SP It's the request for a site plan review approval to install new light posts and fixtures To provide better illumination safety and security for Bank of America ATM it's in a commercial zoning district district map 15 a parcel 28 First I need to ask are there any board member disclosures Okay, so the next item would be the applicant's presentation Welcome if you can just make sure your mic's on or yeah Chris is coming It's a yeah, she'll show you So good evening, my name is Javier Campos. I'm a project manager for Adams and Ruxton construction company We are general contractors that work for Bank of America and I'm also a PM project manager Who's gonna be working on the project that will be discussed in shortly? So basically a brief description Bank of America has what they called an ELP Exterior lighting program where they basically go around their sites and they serve at their sites and determine Whether or not a site is in need of additional lighting again as you stated for the safety and security of the customers and they deemed this site over at 360 College Street it needed improvements so So basically I want to add additional lighting on the exterior attached to to the Little strip mall where it's at and add two additional light posts in the parking area so I'm here to I mean I think I Submitted both drawings engineer drawings showing the location of the light fixtures as well as cut sheets of each individual light fixture For your for you to to review so obviously we hope to proceed with this work Could you give us a little bit of detail about how the design? We will get into the site visit next, but we did notice some work. It happened already and yep. Yeah, so I mean the Most old basically all the work is electrical work Added addition adding, you know lies fixtures to the building and the light posts So our electrical subcontractor went ahead and pulled an electrical permit and received it So we kind of mistakenly thought that that's all we needed obviously that you know Building inspector went by and told us to you know stop the work and that we needed to apply and you know for a view first, so that's what that that's what we did and You know obviously we immediately stopped and we haven't worked there since but of course we'd like to continue The yeah, I'm sorry, so the light poles originally were 25 feet tall We had a like a little pre review of this with a Christine over here and she suggested Drop them to 15 feet, which the latest drawings called for so we did that and While still attaining the the lighting lumens that the bank is looking for So Did you email that those to us? With my application that I thought it will went with my application to you guys you sent it to whom to me to I'm sorry, I'm blacking out Right I think I did right No, no, this is when I originally sent my application and you know a few weeks back There should be any updates. Yeah, so if you look at for example at the at LU2 Where it's where it shows the? The life picture schedule it does show a height of 15 feet So if that's not what you have then I I apologize But that is it is what we have. Yeah, so that's that's that's the latest and greatest as they say of the engineer drawings for That was enlightening Do you want to open the questions or can I do the site visit first? Okay So before we open up to questions from the board We're just gonna talk about the site visit that happened today. I Believe all five of us were there at the site visit Chris, there's no site visit report, right? Okay, so do one of you all want to give a summary? Michael sure we observed the Area under consideration and looked at the existing lights under the overhang that exists the the three store for business fronts we noticed the pole the yellow ballards which are in position to service the basis for the the new lights that you're proposing and we noticed on the pole at the corner of Southeast Street and College Street an existing lighting fixture a downcast lighting fixture and wondered about that whether it was operable and whether or not it was part of the plan that you were proposing and That's about about it, I think It definitely it's not part of our plans notion of the drawing. So that's an existing fixture that was already there and And is that lighting fixture operables that currently work? I I don't know the answer to that Wouldn't that impinge on whether or not this lighting proposal is necessary? I Would have to get the engineer and ask the questions or You know would they go out and they you know come with their photometric Instruments and basically they decide what if it doesn't meet Bank of America standards as far as lumens Then they keep adding But whether that my fixture was on or not at the time they were there. I don't know the answer to that. I could certainly find out or even you know go after this meeting and and Take a picture or see if it's on or not. I think part of the issue is It's there. So you're you know, you're of course you can upgrade your lighting That's great, but you'd also would we would be wondering so is that gonna stay is that gonna be you know taken away or it is Not part of the scope. I can tell you that But again, I can find out Yeah, that would be great. Yeah So if does anyone else have anything to add to the site visit while we move on and okay So at this point I will open Questions to the board and then after that I'll open it to public comment Okay, so you want to start Michael Yeah, is the Proposal proposed height on top of the existing three-foot standard or is that a total that's a total That's the total height of the light of the lighting fixture itself correct So the head of the light fixture on top of the pole will be at 15 Thank you. Yeah at 15 Yeah We did notice that across the street. That was what appeared to sort of be in the Florence savings bank parking lots Have there been safety problems at that site at the ATM like what problem are you trying to solve? It's it does not it doesn't have to have a problem. Just if the bank Their engineers, you know, they have a certain Amount of lighting that they require per bank and if it doesn't have that then they add additional lighting It doesn't mean that that there's been problems or issues at all But they just like to keep a certain amount of light outside all their ATMs and banks of lumens David Who owns the property and does Bank of America have right to? Plant these light poles Of course, so it is not a bank owned property But obviously they go through there the landlord and make sure it's okay and We have received they or they have received permission To do this work and I be happy to give you, you know confirmation of that if that's what you need I just want to clarify something so I'm looking at the specs that were given to us Right, and I think some of the confusion came from on the back page the red box Says 25, you know that that may be the old one. Yes, it could and I think that's where yeah, because I'm like how did this so So looking at the new when I look in the details it says 15 feet That's a total feet and how high are the bases right now? There are about approximately three feet high Approximately three and so you would just put on another 12 feet on top of that. Yeah for the post use About the bases which are quite large and bulky Is there a way to make them more attractive than bright yellow large concrete like bollyards or some kind of planting? I also noticed that one on the east side seemed very close to the pull-in, and I wondered if people would just hit it And actually now that you are talking about enough I'm wondering if you can just solve your lighting and safety problem just by the lights on the building like on the ceiling of the building Just to make it less unattractive The question was asked and and they I mean the engineer GMR who designed this Just could not get the adequate amount of lighting. That's that the bank requires just solely on Fixtures attached to the building. I mean there in addition to the two-poser adding three more as well to the building and it just they couldn't get the Minimum amount of lumens required per bank standards that they have to comply to yeah You say the bank requires Don't you mean the bank prefers or suggests or recommends it is not in their position. They're not in their purview to require Level of lighting. It's our Responsibility to do that. Yeah, I mean the bank has does have minimum standards and that's what they they prefer. I mean obviously you know, they have back they have branches everywhere and I Mean they'd like to keep it uniform throughout Are those standards in place at the Triangle Street Bank Bank location? My assumption is yes, but I'm not familiar with that Location so these this new lighting system that you're proposing on College Street will be the Equal in terms of the output of light as the one on Triangle Street I'm not familiar with Triangle Street. It's it's I mean the output of lighting is shown in one of the drawings over here as far as the amount of lumens so Again we I don't know familiar with that site Is the purpose of the Bank of America ELP program to more brightly illuminate Bank of America storefronts and Will and Related question is will this corner now be brighter than all the other corners At this fairly busy for this, you know small town interest At this intersection. So will this what will be then the net effect of brightening the sky These lights it's mostly for this they say it's safe for the safety and security of their customers Well, it's gonna be brighter than what's out there Without me taking a reading on the in those surrounding areas I I can't say Is the lighting to be on like 24 or not 24 7 bet from dust the dawn sort of thing correct. Yes David is there any way to mitigate the the light bleed pollution that will that will result? Yeah, I mean All the new fixtures are you know full cutoff, you know dark skies, you know friendly compliant fixtures I think I read on the specs here that the kelvins you're going with Is it 40 K your 4,000 K? It's hard to tell you know because you have the the 3,000 4,000 and 5,700 at the top of the chart it does say 40 K Which is a mid-range. It's not a blue white and it's not a warm But I just wanted to confirm that Right. Yes, so this this conscience were given by the designer and You're talking about the red Right in it does say 40 K. So that's that's what we would install it would be 40 Is that Bank of America standard or they open to possibly doing? 3,000 I could ask a question. I'm like, you know, I Would appreciate if you can ask that question. It's a warmer light. It's it's less harsh and where people are concerned about light spray That does soften it quite a bit If they do decide to leave the Bases there and you decide to let them leave the bases. Is there some other color that they could use besides yellow? Well, I don't Issue I have I want to go back to Janet's point Where if we look at the map if you look at L u3 and it has where you've already poured the bases and They flank each of the driveways Being at the site visit today, you know, I With some of my transportation background and parking spaces I was like that's tight and the handicapped spots there was their Consideration in the design to move the right hand one the one to the east further to the east To be on the other side of the driveway where there's no spaces and it could be tucked over now I don't know how far it could be pushed over But you'd have to run your photovoltaic Modeling again and if you were doing that I would be interested in knowing if you could push the pole That is on the left and move that further west to the other side of the driveway And if that modeling could be done with the 15-foot height would that give you enough Lumens to cover the site Yeah, the designer would have to run all those And you cut the bases and just before them. So that would be an option to be Explored, I'm sure I can definitely explore. I will ask a question Anyone have any other comments on that? When you're doing that Can you see about that extra light to see if that's on and things like that and just maybe bring some alternative bases that? Kind of fit the area better Well, that's a good point that made me think that the reason why these were so high was because if you just put the Metal pole and that gets hit you're gonna have they're gonna break break because they're very fragile But if you could move the bases and spread them further There's a much lower chance of them getting hit and then the bases could be lower and you can still adjust your pole to be 15 Good point. So then they we wouldn't have to worry about them being big yellow Tubes any other comments on this? Yeah, could you I understand how the? HT1 poles are Mounted can you explain how the sk1 lighting and sh1 lighting fixtures are attached to the building? Yeah, basically just attached to the exterior wall I mean exterior wall not to the overhang not the other end to the exterior wall well they appear to be attached to the overhang They are attached to the overhang at what level are they attached? Okay, so they are if you go back to l u2 It'll it'll tell you a level of each one They appear to be at SK's are about 14 feet of what finish ground 14 feet above that means they're higher than the building itself is that correct? How are they man? How are they mounted on the building? You know sort of when when I saw this I just assumed that they were attached to the wall I I did not see that 14 feet. So I would have to question that or You know there's a under part of the building that you say you're removing those lights. Yes, you know with that point they must be on the The overhang of the building the flush part Yeah, that would be we didn't get a front pitch, you know, we're only looking Flat so And would those also be on from dust to dawn There is there there's no way that any of these lights could be motion sensor Or I mean for the safety and security because otherwise it just seems to be to be a means to illuminate What's that yeah, I mean obviously any light can have a motion sensor I could ask the question or whether those would be acceptable To use at that location Chris I Would just like to bring up the topic of this area being considered a village center or at least a budding village center and That there should be consideration for This to become a pedestrian area with a nice streetscape. So Whatever is put here should be in keeping with that idea because I think other things that are happening in this location are Tending towards that type of Image and character. So that's just a thought for you to consider as you're reviewing this project Chris I know we don't have a standard right now that we're following for street lights there's a trend towards Want the certain light that we use we used at Atkins and we've used on the northern end of town Do you feel and it is proposed in the southeast development across the street from this? Yeah So I'm really not talking about the style of light I'm talking about the same thing that mr. Levenstein was talking about the brightness of this location when you're thinking of a Streetscape that is comfortable for people to walk in and to you know want to go to to have you know some I don't know what meal or go to a store or something like that that kind of bright You know sort of shopping center like a lighting system is not conducive to Feeling like you want to go to a place and like it is a village center. So just something to consider So it sounds like at this point They need to go back and re-examine and and potentially redesign what we have on our documentation here so Is the general consensus that we should you know continue this at another meeting and they can come back with their new information Everyone in agreement with that. I think you have enough takeaways from this. I know what to do. All right. Thank you So we have yeah Are you going to vote to continue it? Yes, exactly So we need to hear a motion that Do we have to have a date Any suggestions? I Think the next date that I'm sure that we will have people available would be the 18th of September and that and so the The new documentation will be created its email to you and then you'll get it to us and then we would see you on the 18th Okay, does that sound all right? So I need a motion move to continue the hearings will September 18th at 705 And do I hear a second? Second Okay, any more discussion on that we good. Okay We can we so we can take a public comment right now too sorry, so if there's someone who wants to speak to it you can come up to the microphone and Please give your name and and your address and you can address. Thank you So Can you push the button right in front of you Vince to turn on that yeah, he'll not yeah, okay great And So my concern is that there not be any lighting on this side or any other sites that shines in the upward direction No, no lights that are on the ground that shine up no lights that are on the wall that shine up and that The lighting that is Proposed I mean you can see example of a of a good intentions but bad outcome at the People's Bank at the corner of South Prospect and Anamity Street Where technically they the lighting may be proper But in fact the the lights on that site shine into the second floor windows of all the surrounding residential properties, so I think it's important that That in addition to having the lights be cut off That the the The fixture that emits the light not be visible From off-site so that it's much more efficient to have a fixture that directs all the light in the downward direction on the areas that you want lit up and Having the having the lights shine off the property is a waste of both energy and it's an annoyance to the abutters and That also can be seen at the if you want to see an example of that You can go to Long Meadow Drive to the affordable housing property Which is an annoyance both to the residents and to the abutters Because the lights are not they shine in the second floor windows of all the surrounding Properties and and the residents the properties of the residents who live there, so I think it's it is important that Not just having cut off fixtures, but fixtures that make sure that the light is focused in the downward direction And it's not and the and the the source of the illumination is not visible from off the site I believe what you're asking for is you like shielded lights. Yeah. Yeah, so that's correct and I think it's important that we start doing this and and when somebody comes in with Proposing to add the fixtures and leave others in place I would urge the planning board to say yes We'll let you have new fixtures if they're appropriate and proper, but we want but if they are Existing fixtures that are problematic that the board condition the new the approval the new fixtures on removal of certain older fixtures that that really Violate the boards lighting standards, and I think that's a reasonable condition I think that it's a way to begin things although a general by-law that would cover the entire town Within a reasonable period of time. I think is what we should be looking for it, but thank you for time Thank you. I think you were heard by and so please, you know consider that So are there any other public comments to this? I don't see Any other comments on the board? Okay. We'll all in favor of continuing this following the motion the 18th All in favor say I Okay, great unanimous. Thank you and we'll see you on the 18th so next public hearing for a site plan review is In accordance with the provisions of MGL Chapter 40a this public hearing has been duly advertised and notice thereof has been posted This hearing is being held for the purpose of providing an opportunity for interested citizens to be heard regarding SPR 2019 07 and SPP 2019 0 for a mere Michi, thank you. She Southeast Street Courthousing 133 and 143 Southeast Street This is a joint public hearing to request a site plan review approval to construct a new three-story mixed-use building with 62 apartment units 1358 square feet of retail space and Associated site improvements and work in the town right of way under sections 3.325 of the zoning bylaw and request a special permit to modify the front and side Setback requirements under footnote a of table 3 section 6 of the zoning bylaw B VC zoning district map 15c parcel 3 and 4 Okay, and you all are settling in great first off any board disclosures. I See none So we'll move on to the applicants presentation if you could introduce yourselves And and then proceed Yes, my name is Amir make tea Project Okay My name is Amir make tea the owner of the 133 143 Southeast Street and the application for the 64 62 Units and to retail a space at that location Roy Brown is the architect of the Great if you could both introduce yourself sure Michael Lou with the Berkshire design group and the landscape architect and designer for the project Roy Brown architect Wilmer him I'll start okay, so this project is at the along Southeast Street I'm trying to figure out if I have a pointer here Oops, I guess not highlighted on the screen in red are the two parcels Currently there are two residential units on the property. I think one is vacated Okay, both are vacated now Combined the site is just over one and a quarter acre As you can see from the aerial photo. It's basically the houses front on Southeast Street There's a very wide right of way on Southeast Street and then the back portion of the Properties are basically currently just lawn space for the two units The proposal is for This L shaped Apartment building. It's a three-story building. Roy Brown can talk about that or if you have any questions about the building There's again three stories with 62 residential units there are two Retail spaces on the ground floor totaling while each of them about 1200 square feet The parking as you can see comes off of Southeast Street and comes into a parking lot So most of the parking is going to be hidden from the streetscape. The building is proposed to be Pushed up very close to the property line. We're asking for a six foot setback on the front Street line the setback is a 10 foot minimum to 20 foot maximum It is shown by the red a parallel red dash line that goes around on the inside perimeter of the property It's a it's a tight site and it's very I'm going to say it's very efficiently used There is an isolated wetland in the center part of the site We are proposing replication of that wetland at I think it was a four to one ratio a four to one ratio at The southwest corner, which is the low point of the site It's highlighted By the kind of like the blue background coloring down to the south of the parking area There's a couple of bike racks proposed at the entry of the building which is at the crook of the L There's an arrival Plaza there. That's the main entry to the building for residents Additionally, there's an entry opposite at the Southeast Street side And I'll talk about some of the work in the right away there, but the there's a door to the at the northeast Side of the building which will get you Access to Southeast to the sidewalk on Southeast Street Now the proposed improvements in the roadway include road widening of the actual physical road itself that was requested by the town as you know some of the road was widened from basically the The curb cut to the Florence Bank parcel just to the north to the intersection of College Street So this project is also proposing to widen the street down to The bottom where you know the end of the rendering is shown south of the entry It also includes a bus stop shown where that large red vehicle is shown in the roadway I Asked for that to be blue, but somehow it turned out to be red But there's a bus stop the sidewalk would be redone From from the curb cut to the Florence Bank parcel, which you can just see at the top of the rendering all the way down to the new driveway to the project there's a semi-circular Pedestrian plaza outside of where the retail space is and also between the building and the bus stop With a walkway connection down to the bus stop So we can envision that you know, I don't know what the retail is going to be ultimately, but Potentially it might be some type of coffee shop or a convenience store or combination or something like that This space would also serve as perhaps an open space gathering location for the residents of the the building Seeing that there's kind of minimal green space or usable space around on the Backside of the building if you will So there's a Series of sidewalks that connect from the building to the to the street sidewalk and green lawn space which we Regrated and reseeded and smoothed out As you know right now the the drainage comes off the street and kind of just sits in that in that green space right now and Pretty much pools and infiltrates, you know To the best ability it can We've gotten conservation approval already on this layout with the drainage system It's been reviewed by the town engineer And We've gotten an order of conditions on this project that was granted. I think in the spring No may or something of this this this year There's a couple months ago The only drainage we're proposing in the street which was Discussed with the town and the town engineer is that at the bus stop area It's a low point to the south of this site approximately where the entrance drive enters the project There's a high point and there's a slow very gentle grade back to the north So catching water Approximately where the bus is indicated on the plan We're proposing just a catch basin in the road and a piped With the outlet pipe back to an existing catch basin that's in the green space in the right of way to the north and that Continues outlets and connects to the drain system, which you know heads up to college college street I've gotten a verbal approval from Jason skills about for that Simplified system and I know that I don't think he's provided a memo or anything to the board And you might be seeking you know verbal or a written Approval on that I Guess I'm not if unless there's any other questions. I'm gonna Let Roy do you want to say anything about the building or I'm gonna continue and just flip through this to show you the Oops wrong way That's the style of the building the up the Elevation to the top is from Southeast Street the The Retail locations are shown by the green awnings So right outside of that space would be the semi-circular Gathering space and then continuing on to Southeast Street the bottom elevation is the back side of the building looking Is that looking east? that right and then Similarly whoops going the wrong way Other other elevations on the top one looking south So that would be the facade that would be facing the Florence Bank property and then the other of the box. Oh, I got that backwards. Okay, sorry and then the Okay, all right So that's the style of the building and I guess I'll conclude right there and open it up to comments and questions, which I'm sure you'll have. Oh There's think there's one more I'm going the wrong way We did prepare have a lighting plan prepared and obviously it's a little bit small But you can see the lighting locations which are basically centered in those in those. I think those are one foot candle Blobs But the the style of the lighting is shown there. We try to mimic the new standard. That's Being used in town. I think it's in two locations. The one I'm familiar with is the new roundabout at triangle Street and There's also a couple of Lights along Southeast Street, which you can see it's not shown you can't see Southeast Street But to the right of the building one at the bus stop to the north and one at the entry drive So realizing that these are going to be in the right of way We tried it Amir was agreeable to choosing this style which would match the town standard Thank you. That's it for Okay So the next thing we would move on to is there was a site visit today all five of us here attended Chris I assume there is no site visit report. Okay so if one of you would be willing to give a summary of what we saw today the excuse me the group noticed the large common area in front of the proposed project Including some existing vegetation Particularly the large catalpa tree which is In some sort of questionable state of health It seems to be Wired up significantly on the other hand it seems to be quite Present as a as a visual statement and the leaves and the flowering of the tree seems to be very healthy We noticed the two buildings referred to that are existing on the property in In somewhat questionable repair Notice the large area in the back noticed where the flood plant where the Low water lower low area where water will collect in the spring exists and Thought about issues of The slope of the landscape Particularly as it relates to the street and the slope downward toward the buildings and then the slightly raised platform on which the building is proposed and thought about how much fill would be necessary to Complete the project as proposed Notice the fence that exists between the property and Florence Bank property Notice the proximity of the Amherst College land on the south and west side and That's about it. I think anything else that we Think about Thank You Michael So the next We'll open it up to the board. I just wanted to before we open up to questions I wanted to ask Chris if you could update us on the status of the tree. We had opened this Before as a public heat and it ended because we weren't sure about the tree. Do you have an update? I heard there's a meeting coming or something I spoke with the town manager about the tree issue the board the planning board did hold a public hearing on April 17th and One of the residents of town brought in a letter of opposition to the tree removal So the public hearing that the planning board was holding with the tree warden pretty much stopped at that point and the planning board closed the public hearing expecting that the Decision on the trees would go up to town council, but after consulting with the town manager and the Attorney the town attorney It's been determined that the decision really needs to go to the town manager rather than town council So what we've been advised to do by the town attorney is for the planning board and the tree warden to go ahead and hold a second public hearing with The introduction of the letter of opposition during that public hearing. It's already been introduced So we'll just reintroduce it and then the planning board needs to make a decision on whether it Agrees that the trees can come down and the tree warden needs to state his position on whether the trees should come down and then the planning board can close the public hearing and given the fact that a letter of opposition has been submitted state law says it must go to the The executive in town who is the town manager So after that the town manager would make the final decision about whether the trees would come down or not Does that help any questions on that anyone understand? Okay? Thank you So at this point, I'll open it up to questions on the board General questions and then we'll start to go through our checklists and get specific Does anyone want to start? I saw David first and then you're not yet for you David on the architectural drawings how tall is the Fault height of the building the third floor looks like went to 32 feet, but including the roof and the Fencing structure on top and if you don't know that's fair. That's but but if you could approximate it would be great Approximately First floor, I think is about 11. I think the next floor is 10-foot 6 and then the next floor is 10-foot 6 and then it pitches up to the roof so you have about Maybe about 40 feet plus the the guard fence at the top the widows walk Approximately 40 feet That's including the fence on the top or not just the structure Plus the fence on the top that'll be 42 inches, but that's an open open rail fence That was basically the question I was saying the fence at the top is only a two-foot high fence No, what I said was a 42 inch fence So I'm saying approximately 40 feet to the flat piece of the roof and then a 42 inch high fence Chris is there a way we can confirm that height? Is that written anywhere? All right, you're building height I think is to the average of a sloped portion isn't it and I thought I thought it's a proc I measured it, but I didn't have an exact Height I'm coming up with 37 feet to the to that midpoint of the slope That's the on on your drawing L2 the site drawing L2 That is the height that was listed and that goes up to the midpoint of the slope That's how the planning or excuse me how the zoning bylaw measures the height of the building That's also how the building code measures buildings 37 feet to the midpoint. Did you say it was on L2? L2 over to the left. There was a little there's a zoning table on the illustrative site plan Hi, I have some questions So can you just tell me about the size of the apartments one bedroom two bedroom? What who you expect to be renting price of? rental prices What market are you looking for and expecting? The they're all one bedroom apartment and roughly there are 595 square feet and It is intended for young professional basically because I used to teach at UMass Sometimes long time ago and I had friends who used to come from Boston and they were looking for a place to live And that is basically that that is where I got the idea that you know I would have a place that I could accommodate These people that are coming that they want to know nice simple clean place that they are from the crowd and That was basically it and for the rent. I don't know. I mean talk. I have to talk to we haven't finalized it I'm thinking about in the vicinity of 1200 to 1300 1200 to 1300 and could they be students undergraduate students or? Of course we cannot discriminate if they apply you know They can but my intention was for the young professional who want just enough space but it is available to anyone Can there be an occupancy of two people in a one bedroom or is there like one or two people? Sure, yeah, it also might be married couples But it too would be the max in a I assume none of these units are designated as affordable housing units Did you give it any thought to the possibility of having affordable housing units in this building? You did not give any thought to that Do you have any idea what the economic impact of having those affordable units would have been on the total project I? Could you have built the project? Could you build the project if there were affordable units in it? I? Never considered so I never because I was Asking my bank to see what they would Do but I never considered definitely I would look into it I have to but I don't think that would stop me not to go ahead with the project Chris is there someone out on staff who could potentially talk to him about the options of that and We have discussed that option It's not a requirement and so Mr. McChie has chosen not to include affordable units because it's not a requirement It's not a requirement because of the fact that there is it is a mixed-use building. Is that correct? Correct, there's no special permit required for the use. There's only a special permit required for a dimensional modification, which is a setback which is not one of the Threshold items that's listed in this owning bylaw. It would be nice if you could reconsider Sure Any other questions here concerns Jack Mike do you want to restate the reason for the reduced setback that you're seeking? We talked about that It's kind of a well, I don't know the total history, but when Amir was talking to the Building commissioner about this project. It was actually suggested to build a zero Setback project I advised Amir that we should have some Space between the foundation and the property line because we're gonna have to put in Some piping for drainage for for the for the roof, etc And that it would be in his best interest to have that on his property rather than in the town right of way if the Building were actually set at zero so I Think I guess Amir was encouraged that he could build a zero setback And what we did it was initially we started at pulling it at five feet back It kind of moved to a minimum of four feet ultimately it ended up here at six feet Just giving some strip of additional green space on the front and still allowing the little green Planting strip on the backside of the building before you have the sidewalk We pretty much were locked into where the parking had to you know had to be laid out So that we didn't violate any of the setbacks to the to the wetlands In the rear section that's on the Amherst College land actually it was a tight fit and Could we have made this a tent foot setback? Physically it would have fit but from a convenience point of view and driving through the parking lot I think it would have been very tight and You know, we felt it was better to allow the maneuvering space for vehicles back there And I know nobody likes to hear that but it's a fact that You know, you got to allow these cars to be able to turn and get the maneuver through a parking lot Otherwise it becomes even more dangerous for pedestrians Thank you, I What if you could talk a bit about the wetland area which I know you're putting isolated wetlands in and are they gonna be Vegetated with trees. Is there is that the replication area? Yeah. Yeah, um, so the replication area is a low area at the low part of the site outside of that parking area and it's going to be I think we have native trees and some shrubs planted in there as well as a Like a wetland type detention basin type seed mixture So we're basically letting it naturalize And not quite honestly if if we did nothing there, I think it would eventually turn into a wetland Because there is pooling water on the Amherst College property And I think that with the high ground water in this area That if you didn't mow it for instance, it would kind of return to that natural state right now It's being moaned back there for lawn So this area in the bottom left corner is is kind of non usable and we kind of Maneuvered the parking such that we could provide this area and it turned out there's actually more than the two-to-one That's required for the replication of the isolated wetland But we threw it in because it's because you know from a practical standpoint It's it's not Usable to the project I don't know if I answered your question or not Yes, I have a question about I know you're right next this nature preserve and I know there's often standing water It's kind of a really murky area And I have a question about lighting and how much lighting there will be at night because I would I see Animals and insects being attracted to that from that reserve and the same time you need to weigh You know people can Walk out of their house and see something and I'm just wondering you know It's your plan says the lights are on for 24 7 or all night. Is there a way to I'm not I think I think I read Did we okay? I'm not I don't remember that the I'm trying to look at this plan that there's light post that the In the center part of the site where there's the bigger blob that light is in the island in the parking lot So below that Would be the replication area and then beyond would be the wooded area to the slightly to the right there are two lights Located on the southerly parking lot that would be Do you they have an elongated? pattern of lighting The the two on the bottom there. I really need a pointer There's no pointer It's dead So in terms of Light like casting Backwards into the into the wooded area There's a really a minimal amount if we look at the light levels if you look at those numbers You can't read them, but most of them say 0.0 So the the foot candles resulting from this lighting Is going to be nil at the tree line essentially Can you say that in lay terms The light level you won't There's there will be no measurable light level if you went to the tree line and and and used a light meter Of course, you're going to see lighting You know over on the site, but if you measured the light level at the tree line According to this which was prepared by lighting Manufacture there won't be any it would register zero Could I Chris we do have a bigger one and squinting I can sort of see the zeros there But is there a way we could get this? electronically so we could You zoom in on it or I've tried to look at it. Do you want me to bring you the paper copy? I've tried to look at the electronic version and it's so rough. Yeah, and I know you have smaller Copies in front of you, so it's a little more difficult Yeah, I can bring it I can go back to my office and get it and you can pass it around if you'd like that That be helpful. Let me ask a couple more questions about lighting because we'll see if I think we you know we one of the Pre-requisites town has and that you know we had the lighting manufacturer produces like at the property line You know we want to have zero Light level at the property line. I think that's achieved on the three sides And obviously not at the on the street side, you know because we've got these lights on the street here and the bus stop This seems to be the night about light, but I Have a question, so if you're looking at that plan and where you said the main entrances I also remember from the landscaping plan. I believe there's a tree there and So there could be you have provided us with parking lot lights, but are there going to be any lights on the building? Is there an overhang? because right there I can see the entrances I Think you're probably gonna have pork pork lights at the doorways, you know something of that nature so we would need to See additional lighting that you're putting on your building it same concerns Downcast light night sky, you know, I don't think you're proposing any building I would imagine there'd be like, you know, like a porch light, you know Because that shows it's pretty dark going in your front main door there So that needs to be expanded on a light plan and to repeat myself from earlier The Kelvin is very important to me. I you know Rather than the fifty seven hundred the blue white, you know, they're leaning more towards four But even lower if you consider I do appreciate that a lot of this parking lot and the light shine It isn't seen from the roadway You know and it's pushed behind the building, but I still think we should do you know do diligence and trying to Keep it softer on the eyes And we can we can get that information and add it to the plan and kind of see what happens here Great, so that will get added and then we submitted to us. Okay Yes, Chris. I was wondering if the applicant could provide a Photometric plan that actually showed the site because sometimes you do get Photometric plans where you see the edges of the parking lot and the edges of sidewalks and things and it's easier to read it and I Agree and adding to that that you just made me remember so much of this project Crosses over into the public way and we have a bus stop out front and we have a nice Pedestrian mall or whatever it is. I can't remember from the site. Is it what street what? Poles had street lights there. Yeah, if you're riding the road our new ones going in we can verify that But I do remember I checked out the same thing one day driving by and I think that there's a there's a Utility pole on the other side of the street opposite the proposed bus stop that has a Cobra head on it and I don't know where the next light is But I think it's further to the south and then obviously you've got lights at College Street but we can verify that information and and Those lines I can see some curvy lines depicting the edge of the paving on there But it is very hard to see it's they they it turned out very light on the plan that they produce so we can enhance it and The light is a little sketchy. I noticed it's hard to see but if you look hard you can see the walkways and Right next to the front of your building. They appear to be dark again and Again, thank you for the roadway improvements that you're willing to get involved with And I don't know where these lines Chris get drawn between the two But the walkway that leaves your property heading north heading up towards the intersection Which I assume there'd be pedestrians at all times walking there, you know, that is not really addressed up there again I can't remember what street lights are there And it is the public way. So, you know, we're encouraging people to walk I don't know if that's a joint effort, but I don't know if it's ballards or another one of these lights Does the board have any other questions regarding light why we're Adding to our list thinking about having a small light on this side of the wall See that get on the side of the on the on the ball and the Facing the street so that the building Yeah, just very minimal so that there would be more lighting, but because of this is The Amherst comments we try to do this minimum as possible and we are open for any suggestion It's a balance right and with the night sky compliance. They're great except they Don't throw a lot of light. Yeah, so your designers will help you with this Thank you Any other issues on the light or can we sort of you got all that Chris and yes Said one minor issue which was what color are the light poles and light fixtures going to be are they going to be black? Like they are downtown or are they going to be aluminum color or is there some other color? The town was using black. I believe I believe so. Yeah, so I mean we We'd copy that I think yeah, they'd probably we've had a black finish Does someone want to bring up another topic or we can go through you know, it's helpful to look at the development application report It's not on that list I think Can you describe the nature of the edge between the property and the Amherst College conservation land? up in that triangular green space, it's basically going to be Left as it is the wood line comes up to the property and that would still be Green lawn space, but I don't I don't know if Amir has an intention to keep mowing it or just letting it revert to you know Successional wood woodland species if if you Wanted to Help it get a head start. I don't think we'd be adverse to planting some additional trees in that location, but That's the only kind of open space on the site The rest of it is pretty much you there's minimal buffer from the parking like on the south there to the to the to the property line and There's basically a tree line there. So that would be left intact So a resident could easily simply walk from the parking lot into the into the conservation area I suppose so because there are several trails that come out right here, right? Yeah, I know that I think there's some other trails to the south of this property, too I've walked them many years ago, but Yeah, there wouldn't there's nothing right now prohibiting the access Do not suggesting a fence or a barrier no berm or something like that It's just going to be left essentially as it is correct. Yeah I'd like to bring up the waivers that you've requested there's three of them a waiver of parking requirements Which is sections 7.9 of the zoning bylaw you've like to waiver the traffic impact statement and the sign plan if you Could address those three why you would like to Okay for the parking I think the requirement is for two spaces per unit We're asking for one space per unit. These are I Don't know if I should use the term but more or less efficiency apartments kind of knowing that the the the clientele that Amir is trying to attract I think that Most would most residents would probably have one car if that it's on a bus line Very you know, we were posing the bus stop coming in the other direction as well, which was looked on favorably by PVTA So For parking we're asking for the one space per unit and then it required which is six comes to 62 spaces and then the based on the formula for the Commercial space we were required to have four spaces for the commercial part of it So that came to 66 and then we've got we've got 67 spaces one extra When we presented that idea to the building commissioner, he seemed very comfortable with the one space per unit Given this type of development So that's what we're proposing to have The traffic impact statement. I mean again, we're on Southeast Street Coupled with the widening of the street. This street is a is a you know collector There's very good visibility on this street. It's a straight run There's really no obstructions in this area. So We didn't provide a traffic impact report We didn't come up with you know traffic trip generation figures We could do that if you'd like we could generate that to get an idea of you know Incoming outgoing vehicles at peak hours and so forth if if that is Desired it wouldn't take that much effort to do that. We'll look at the ITE trip generation Manual and and we could come up with that But we felt that you know We didn't have we didn't we shouldn't need to go into a full traffic impact report again It's a very you know, it's a it's a village center. We're expected to have traffic in this area. There's shops There's other conveniences. So people are traveling through here again, the streets are on all very good condition traffic seems to run smoothly and The project would Realistically have a minimal impact on the level of service on this on this adjacent streets But we will generate some trip numbers if you'd like the sign we're asking a waiver for that there was there was a Mirror didn't intend that the project would have a sign so In fact, I was kind of curious whether or not you wanted to even have in it some Name of the project need a little on a little plaque on the building or something, but At this point, I guess he doesn't have a any desire to have like a project sign Yeah, Chris would you I think if the owner would like to have a project sign in the future if he has any idea of That it would be good for the planning board to take that into consideration in a condition so that if such a sign were proposed The applicant wouldn't have to come back to a public hearing but couldn't come back to a public meeting with the planning board And the other thing is they have two retail spaces. So I'm wondering if the retail spaces would Are there two or four retail spaces? To what's in there two or two? Yeah, oh Thank you, too. Yeah, so it seems like the retail spaces would want to have signs also And so but that's another opportunity to come back to you to show you Signs for the retail spaces and there's also the issue of an address and You know at the other property that we looked at today on Main Street There was a sign there that said, you know, it was kind of an index sign And was that what you call it a directory sign excuse me But it will in the future show the address of the property and then it shows the different Entities that are there so there may be a need to have something like that And if you don't include it in your conditions, then the applicant have to come back and go through the whole Site plan review process so should it potentially to sign issue like the the sign that Names or gives the address or whatever of your Apartments, but then there's two retail spaces I think I don't know where I would like to maybe reconsider that but if it is written in the conditions I don't think we'd have a problem with you know complying with the with the sign by-law and coming up with the design and having the Is it building commissioner that would have ultimately approve that? Yeah Right, and you don't have to bring that to us that part the details It's just that it's a condition and it's easier to come back. I think so that makes sense Yep, okay Yeah, so right ask So I would like to see the traffic impact study With an just to know the vehicle trips and the with an emphasis on pedestrian movement and bicycles also because There's a lot that goes on in that intersection. There's at least 14. I counted Ways like, you know driveways in that intersection of Northampton Bank and you know the auto you know, there's Cumbies and there's the auto Inspection place and then there's some other driveways and they're kind of all over the place and You know you have cars coming out right where the bus is pulling out that is going North and then you have a new bus stop and you know at peak traffic There's not a most of the traffic I think is on route 9 heading towards the university. I speak from deep deep experience They live on Southeast Street But I just wonder about how vehicles move how people cross the street with a bus, you know how you bike down and If this is the best place to put your your driveway In addition in addition to that as an add-on I think there's a visibility problem to the south if you're pulling out of that driveway the woods Are a problem in terms of visibility going looking south to on northbound traffic And so if anybody's pulling out of there going north It it might be an issue. So I think you should look at that as well Okay. All right. Thank you So just adding to I know the trip generation. That's not hard to do Then there's these other factors that we're talking about and the road is changing a lot of this is Projected and being designed because we're gonna widen the road and the whole right of way is being changed Chris I would hope that the town engineer that Jason skills could also assist and give a little oversight on this because some of this is It's the town right of way Yeah So there are really two options one is to Have a letter written by a traffic engineer that describes what the trip generation for this site would be and Talks about some of the issues that you've brought up including site distance and blocking of sight lines and things like that And the other would be a full-blown traffic report which requires counting traffic on all the streets in the vicinity and then determining whether there needs to be improvements to nearby intersections. I think that's probably A bridge too far for this project, but I think having the letter describing What trips you're expecting to come out of the property and some of the issues that may Arise as a result of numerous entrances and exits those things could be Addressed in a letter from a traffic engineer Knowing what I know about that subject. I agree with you I don't think the volume that we're talking about here Which the whole point of a traffic impact is not that it's a busy road Which it is it's a connector But how much of an impact this project would have on daily trips the other parts are important In consideration of you know pedestrians and making it you know friendly for bikes and all that but I would be content seeing Trip generation done and that's a starting point because that gives you the numbers of where to sort of Decide do we need to go further? Sure, I think that makes sense. I mean From from my perspective, I'm not a traffic engineer either But you know, we've got a very well controlled intersection to the north that route nine with crosswalks. You've got lights Traffic lights there. You've got I believe there's a pedestrian crossing A signalization also We're also adding a crosswalk here as you can see at the between the two exit the existing bus stop and the new one That's identified. It's set back from the two bus stops. So pedestrians have or drivers have a Clear view of pedestrians crossing they're not jumping out in front of a bus, etc So that was a requirement that the town put forth that we we have a crosswalk in that location You know, obviously we're happy to do that to help improve the safety in this area You know, obviously Sometimes people run across the street in different locations, but you know, we are providing that that you know safe Crossing from one side to the other Just keep them on, you know, it's a mid-block crosswalk. I know which is not right, right They're really high on that These the flashers right now Right, so I think what happens is line of sight and widening the road actually does speed up traffic It is it helps to have that controlled intersection to the north Hopefully other way is the issue when they're coming out of that intersection that they have the urge to part of the road widening the town told us that they desired to have It's 34 feet wide from curb to curb With the 24 foot wide, you know, two 12 foot lanes in each direction And then the town wanted to add, you know, five foot bicycle lanes in this stretch So I don't know if that's going to continue in the future But you know, it's it's intended to be a common be able to accommodate a five foot bicycle lane on each side so Hopefully coupled with additional pavement markings, etc. It's gonna be a little bit Better controlled in terms of traffic and hopefully that you know, people will be slowing down because you know, they're approaching an intersection Just to confirm you said 24 so your time it's 12 foot lanes. Was that from the town yet? That was what the town Requested or required a 30 foot 34 foot total pavement width Okay, interesting So in that letter when you're including the trip generation if it could also Back to Michael's point when you're pulling out of the driveway and overall I am glad that the driveway is Further away from the intersection as possible because that's a safety But could you take a look at how the line of sight does look as you absolutely the south and sure is there good visibility great? Absolutely We'll go and document that and take some photos as well One thing I do want to just point out it in the Amir owns the the four properties on the other side of the street at some point He is intending to do another project over there and it will Eliminate some of those residential driveways, so they'll actually be a Few fewer curb cuts on that side of the street Any other traffic or does anyone have any parking? What are at the proposed driveway what happens to the sidewalk south of the you're putting in a sidewalk going running north from the driveway to Florence savings back. What happens to the south on that little bit? There's just a curb ramp there and ultimately it might continue At a future date if anything happens with the town decides to build more sidewalk on Southeast Street I Think we're our proposal is to stop it at the at the driveway currently There's a sidewalk on the other side of the street that goes up to Colonial Village correct. Thank you Great I know I have some parking questions. Does anyone have parking questions? So I agree with you with industry trends on parking And the two for one would be overkill And you also feel that that number you've chosen that number because this is the reason why The special permit is involved because your setback is the six feet where if you had gone four more feet to ten That would eliminate that but I assume this is impacting Your parking plan if you could touch on which ones are compact Spaces and which ones are standard and any other thoughts you have with that Yeah, and actually that's a good point. We had to Provide some compact parking spaces in order to Get that extra two feet if you will to just be able to reduce the pavement by two feet just in order to Get this layout to fit so the compact parking spaces are on the far left-hand side facing the woods The Amherst College property on the south very south side facing the Amherst College property and On the north side facing the building wing So basically the compact spaces are kind of around the outside Yeah, and the rest are standard correct, and you balance that as you were trying to fit it to the site correct Yeah, any other questions? I have two two questions What on the south south? How how will it drain on the south? Where and the southwest corner of the parking lot and then like the question that that Second question is did you consider would you or would you consider? including Electric and electric charging space or two two would be really you know, it would would be the number In in among them I'm also interested in that how it drains Does it just drain into the woods or will it drain back into some? System well for the drainage all the runoff on the paved parking area is Direct is caught in catch basins and piped to an underground detention basin in that southern parking lot area It's going to go through a treatment chamber and then into the underground detention basin For attenuation and then there's an outlet overflow outlet which discharges back to the out of the underground basin to in a Westerly direction to the back to the wetland or actually would it be would discharge into the replicated area Yeah, correct No, there's no surface runoff directed outside of the the parking areas, it's all caught if you will Yep Can we zoom on that? So in that southern parking area, you can see the kind of heavy-dash line That's the underground detention basin. There's actually there's actually us. Oh, thank you. Well Hey, does your finger work great good? Can we pan? Well So you can see kind of the these little circles on the plan There's a catch basin in the far north corner of the parking lot. There's a catch basin to the south The one from the north run is connected. They both both catch basins Discharged to a this double circular Symbol that's the stormwater treatment chamber Where oils and sediment is filtered out and then that connects into the underground basin when that fills up Water will you know discharge back out toward the Replicated wetland area. There's a second Subsurface detention basin a rectangular shape on the west side under the parking lot That is for the we're directing the roof drainage into that to help it discharge Well to slow it down and let it discharge It's a simple Drainage system in terms of like there's only two catch basins required, but it's really not that big of a paved area So there's a there's a ridge across the pay the parking lot So the north part of the parking lot drains to the north and the south drains to the south But it's all caught it. This is all curved. So we're not allowing water to sheet off of the paved areas Thank you And then the electric charging space space oh, oh would that be a consideration? Yes Yeah, actually we have We're thinking about designating some for the Resident who have the electric call that they wanted and the plan is that also an auto express I'm thinking of you know providing some for the car that you know one electric charge But there for sure there will be some designated Parking space for the Also for the two-to-one was that you know we have been going through this for years with Chris and building inspector and The buses stop that you see on the other side. I donated the land when they were improving the South East Street and to just make sure that we would have a Bus stop to basically encourage people to use the public One to one is would be adequate Just one other Transportation issue is they're going to be a bike rack. Where would that be placed? Well, this plan is showing at the At the entrance to the building you see the little diagonal pay piece of paving with the one can't count them Five there's five bike loops shown there for You know to park bicycles And that's uncovered Correct. Yeah, five uncovered and if demand was There you could find another space to put it. Yeah, we could find you don't want bikes. Just get So when people are moving into this building, what do they do because it seems like there's no place to unload Bags or packages or anything like that. It seems like it's just parking spaces and then a door And then there's only one elevator for 60 people in the building. It seems sort of The elevator was not required for when you have a three-story building We put it as a convenient for the people and you could you show me where that is? I can't the elevator Is right at the L. Shea in the in the Well, Roy will maybe Roy could point that out on the plan. Yep. I was just it was just pointed out for me Thanks. Oh in in the Meeting of the two wings in the central part. There's a There's an office Management rental office. There's a small laundry for the residents. Oh, there is no okay. I thought there was we got deleted Okay, small lounge, okay, and then an elevator in that in that core Could you repeat there is no laundry because it Not what we're looking Each unit has its own washer dryer So that space that says laundry here is now going to be a lounge Lobby now So is there any place to unload to pull up a car and unload I can't Speak in to this and a point if you have to I'm sorry that lobby by the elevator is gonna Basically provide a space for people to just basically unload and I'm just saying if you pulled up in your moving van or your Miss, where would you do that? Just oh? There's actually a couple of other there's actually a couple of other egress doors But the main door again is here, so I would envision that you know a van could pull up Here if you needed to and unload out the back and get to this door But there's also an egress door at this stairwell, and there's a door right here at this stairwell So there are other ways for people to to access the building and are they keys going to be able to open those doors? I would assume yeah our card key So they'd be locked obviously But residents would be able to you know get into those doorways as well So Janet's got me thinking now We have two retail spots, and I don't know what they're going to be you can talk about what you're designing or imagining But I would assume most retail spaces have deliveries Where you know if they pull in where the driveway is and they then are dolly carding it up You know up to the door Because I know there's no it didn't appear that they were Egresses or doors from the main hallways into your retail space So how what's the plan with the retail? deliveries It would be a some exactly the same way that we have it in downtown that you know from the front door There is a sidewalk that goes along the building Actually, can we use our new mouse? Well, these are these are the doors right here these to the retail. So I'm not sure how you You're envisioning that They perhaps have to pull off on the side of the road For a short time to unload where we're back door to the return and then dolly No back door So where would they park? I guess it well, I think he's we're saying that the just by the park in the street Street or the potentially on the street Parking lot and then you know they have to basically whoever is doing it they have to Well, it's tough because there's a bus stop And then after to the north of the bus stop we start getting very close to the intersection, which that's not good So it have to be below the bus stop is I Imagine the thing that it can come through the Ride at the driveway and just you know or go to the back of the building whatever it is My envisioning about the retail space is that it would be low demand And That's that it wouldn't have as much of a loading or offloading. That is what I Don't want in a high-traffic Retail, I don't know what who is gonna come and what they would be doing But that's what they know. I'm imagining that, you know, I would be renting it to the people who have very not very So much demand on the loading and offloading what kind of utilities you putting in Like could there be a restaurant or your that now or is it more like office space office space that that's what you think Okay, so We didn't have that much of an impact so much. Okay Any other questions with the loading or doors or parking area Yeah the Town engineer has not reviewed the stormwater report I Think the 10 engineer has reviewed stormwater in the context of the conservation Commission review But that happened several months ago. I don't think he's had a chance to review these drawings We haven't gotten any comments from him I think that letter was dated like October 2018 or something. Is that the one in our packet? That's the correct the letter in the packet is from October. Yes. That's right And has the have the plans been significantly changed since then? Basically the site hasn't changed, but it was We were kind of working out what was going to happen in the in the town right of way So speaking of that and the grading plan There's concern and issues with how much fill is going to have to be put on the lot and in the town way to get flat Surface for the build Is that an evolving thing right now? Is that known? No, that's that's known the building is approximately The finish floor of the building is two feet eight inches higher than Southeast Street Two feet eight inches. Yeah Is I'm was looking at the architectural is there a basement or or not Yeah, okay, where the elevator is Yeah, exactly, right. I can point that out to you if you like Yeah, because I was thinking with the high groundwater you're gonna have a basement there as I didn't make sense and yeah So if Phil goes into the town public way Chris does the Town council have to approve that part because they're yeah The town and council will have to approve any of the improvements that are being done within the right of way The improvements that are immediately in front of the building and I think also in the roadway, but I'm not sure exactly about that I'm on a related matter to the parking in the drive We're also looking for the fire department Okay, so in terms of you know fire truck access and other issues I guess would be interested in that So did we agree that the town engineer would look at the storm revisit that and revisit his memo Yeah, I think the town engineer needs to look at this whole set of plans and give us his opinion on them Even if he just refers back to his old letter It says all of these things have been taken care of or some statement about this current set of plans and Mr. Luke and What should I say? Promote that idea by going to the town engineer and talking to him and saying please submit a letter to the planning board that gives Comments on this set of plans Sometimes the applicant has more effect than the other town staff Site management plan Um The only issues So Are you planning to manage the property or are you going to outsource it outsource it you are So a note here from you is right at the applicant should submit a complaint response plan as part of the management plan I don't know if you They talked to you about that. What is that until Chris? Well, you actually have one for your next applicant And I could give it to mr. McChee as an example of what would be acceptable It's part of the rental registration program that you need to have somebody available to Respond to any complaints that come forward and I also think that the management plan should Clarify that the applicant wants to hire a management company to manage the property and he should name that That entity that's going to manage the property Does that sound helpful if you get an example? Construction logistics plan Has anything been submitted on that That's something that you might consider putting into a condition that Construction logistics plan be submitted before the building permit is issued and that's helpful particularly in these very tight sites where it's not clear where Staging would happen. It's not clear where contractors would park. It's not clear where You know the machines and the material would be stored because the whole site is going to be under construction So I think it's going to be an important piece here to make this project run smoothly And you said submit that before Before the building permit, I think yes Does that make sense to you? Yeah. Yeah, I think that you know, there's there's room to stage on the site too and with the The option of using properties on the other side of the street for Potentially storage of material since Amir owns those lots. He's willing to do that to free up space if you will Right Chris So I would recommend that the applicant and his consultants talk to the building commissioner about what would be the ideal Construct with construction logistics plan before they submit it just make sure that they're hitting all the things that he would be Concerned about and then when they submit it to you it will be adequate If you could just touch on the trash where the dumpsters are and how the truck would come in Now that I've got this fancy thing so This is the dumpster and recycling location. So Trucks would enter maneuver around here to be able to pick up Front loading and then a little backup and then Exit easily this way Is that a twice a week thing or how often do you think that would be? I Would imagine it would at least be a weekly Yeah, pick up Doesn't that get put on one of the forms Chris this the management It usually does get put on the management plan So that would be helpful to have that information who's picking up the trash and how many times a week So this one needs to be more detailed the management plan form For the trash recycling Also, it's sort of the same with the snow removal like so you're looking at more right who you're going to contract with Does anyone have any questions about landscaping? This is kind of about landscaping the Facade of the building is is pretty massive and if it's only six feet away from the The right away my question is about the width the sidewalks in you know in downtown when you have full bit full of Zero a lot line Buildings the sidewalks are quite wide. Yeah, I'm not sure what the numbers are eight feet Something like that these sidewalks look significantly smaller than that. Do you know what the width of these sidewalks is? I believe they're six feet six feet six feet. Yeah, I Mean, there's a significant number of shoppers in stores downtown obviously Right, I'm thinking more from an aesthetic point of view than a Business point of view Because of the mass of the building which is much larger than anything else in the area It seems to me that wider sidewalks might be more attractive if it's not a Problem with the right-of-way or the town I will add a DOT standard is now five feet Anything over that of course is better six is better But if you and I know there's a cost associated with sidewalk, but More than a cost it is because it's Amherst commons. You really have to be submitted Mike submitted three Rendering about what it's gonna look like and they told us this is the one that they pick And we tried to and they asked that they know everything should be minimal who picked Chris The plant planning staff kind of favored this layout, but I mean not you know not a specific sidewalk width per se but like, you know, I mean ultimately if You know if we want eight-foot walks, I don't you know, that's Something that a mirror would consider if you wanted to increase this, but I don't know if it's necessary I mean it's balancing use with with bike lane, you know, that's sometimes they can see a court 8 to 10 is like a bike trail bike trail a multi-use path And where the bike lanes are going in so is the town Wade, you know thought about so the town it was just Some staff people who spoke with mr. McChie and his consultant about various scenarios that they had for this piece of town property that's right in front of his building and This configuration seemed like a good configuration with the size of a plaza. We didn't really talk about the width of sidewalks So What they might do is look at the sidewalk with on the other side of the street that the town just put in and try to match That at least for the sidewalk that runs right along the edge of the road. I Think that would make sense My guess is that would be a five at max, but if six was willing to be a go I'd rather see six We can we can take a measurement a mirror thinks this the new sidewalks on the other side might only be four feet I'm afraid they might be but When were they three done like a few years ago, okay? Well and DOT it's recent that they've Changed their recommendation from four to five. So that could be what happened So we have a long list of stuff that we need Public comment to be yeah, we're right. So just We have a lot to come back is what I'm going to say So we're obviously not going to finish this tonight because so there'll be another chance to look at The new information that comes in and anything that we're forgetting or you know hasn't come to mind at this point It's been a lot of coverage Yes, Chris There's one more thing that I thought of which might be useful to you and that would be Either a sketch or a cross-section or something between this building and the Florence savings bank because Is a pretty big building it's in this vicinity and it would give you a sense of what the mass of this building is in regard to other buildings in the area Bring across okay great, and that's on the list Okay, so at this point if the board is good for now we're gonna open up to public comment We have to do a little juggling because you guys will still have to answer questions But we'll need one chair open so that people can come up and ask their questions. So I don't know how you guys want to Do it? Thank you How many can I just see a show of hands? How many people do have questions that they'd like to come for now? So I see two hands. Okay, so I Miss Pam if you want to come up and Just state your your name and your address because I assume you're here as a resident. Yes Dorothy Dorothy Pam 229 Amity Street I'm still confused about the public the public land or the the town owned right of way and and The building is gonna come right up to the absolute edge of it. Is that correct? Six feet and the zoning requirement is seven so they're asking for I'm sorry. I said this gonna be a long night ten It's ten to twenty is what is in the zoning and at first they had six said zero But then it's been altered through redesigning. It's now at six feet back Because you the picture had two sidewalks one near the street and one right along the edge of the building and You have people with first-floor apartments I mean, I think you just can stand on that sidewalk and look in the windows and see what they're doing Their doors are also right up there on the street or the only entrances from the back from the back Also the little Half rounds the half circle that you called a public gathering place. I Find that a difficult phrase because it's right in front of the retail stuff and I Don't imagine any tenants ever Gathering there. I Just think it would be strange. I just I guess there's no I See that the the plan does not provide green It doesn't provide and really split real space which would be in the inside of the crook of the Building the where the parking is where people could actually sit in a chair or chat with each other Because the wetlands area is full of trees and I guess it's wet I'm not sure It just seemed very Antisocial and kind of sterile to me so It looks very massive and unfriendly it kind of I mean I kind of like the design in a way But it reminded me of the old factories in Hartford So that's my comment. Thank you. Do you Have any comments? I just want to ask for clarification Mr. Connor you can comments it. I just we talked about it common gathering space. Are there benches or anything? I couldn't remember if there's any landscape furniture There aren't but I don't I don't think that you know again It's a management issue Amir's agreed to take Responsibility of the maintenance of that area for that, you know, it's in the town right of way He's currently mowing there So he's proposing to continue mowing there and look after the trees that are planted And we've got the plaza. I don't you know We'd have to discuss whether he'd be willing to put furniture out there or you know We could potentially look at putting in permanent seating right now. There is none Okay, thank you Vince no Connor 175 summer Street. I'm honest. So I have a number of areas And some minor comments based on my Service on town committees and so forth. So Maybe I'll just start off with a simple one When I last talked to the building commissioner, he was in the process of his initial discussions with the North Square folks About how they're going to provide for the snowfall off the roofs of their buildings So I think rather than wait until the buildings are half come these buildings are half completed It might be a good idea for the planning board as the permitting authority to insist that there be some reasonable discussion of Of how where the snowfall off the roofs are going to fall and therefore How the site is going to accommodate this snowfall? So that that's one. Yeah, that's one issue I with regard to the comments of the previous public comment And my own concerns. I would refer the board to section 11.2 403 which Which says that there should be adequate recreational facilities Open space and amenities I think that there is For the number of housing units here There is not sufficient of any of these Things that are required And by that section and I think it is the operation of this section which I think might cause the board to consider by some way of reducing the number of units to be more consistent with the More appropriate use of the space and more appropriate facilities for the potential tenants I was chair of the bicycle committee the committee on bicycling for six years from 1988 to 1994 and I can just tell you that The number of bicycle parking spaces in this era of five for a building of this size is not adequate and The location of those spaces in front of the building is really not a good idea Those spaces should be in in some kind of a sheltered area With an overhang in back of the bill building where the parking is Because that will you don't want to advertise bikes for The stealing and so it you have many more eyes on bicycles if there if you might have for the visitors to the Commercial area you might want to have a couple of you know a few spaces in front But there should be about maybe 10 spaces in back or some similar number if But again if the number of units have reduced and Then you know there might be fewer spaces required I live in an apartment that is probably less than 500 square feet that has two bedrooms There is no place to put a bicycle and certainly bicycles Should not be stored in the hallways of a building with this many housing units Even whether even if it was a two-floor building It would not be a good safety idea to have people putting their bicycles in hallways. So adequate Storage and parking spaces for bicycles is important Now I think we get to some of the real difficulties with the proposal In in Amherst, I think With 62 units you're going to end up with somewhere between 90 and 120 residents and the way to Do a quick check on that is Through the town clerk's office as to how many folks Reside in the three five-story buildings that have been built that have a similar types of housing units which is Kendrick Place, One East Pleasant Street and Olympia Place and The way to tell how many cars are required and I can give you the number for the first year for Kendrick Place There were 57 Parking permit applications because Kendrick Places in the downtown and only had four parking spaces inside two for zip cars and two for HP Spaces And of the 38 units in Kendrick Place, I think the first year they had only rented out about 30 so 57 applicants 30 housing for 30 housing units that were rented the first year that the Collector's Office, I believe will have those statistics for all those buildings for Olympia Place the The numbers will be in the possession of the UMass parking authority Because folks who reside in Olympia Place have to get a parking permit From the University because there's not very much parking there and in fact They have to be related to the University which allows them to get a parking permit from the UMass parking authority, so And I really think that there needs to be some kind of a professional study as to how many residents we I listen to Presentations for the five-story buildings claim there was only going to be run resident per bedroom in a college town given the likely Cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment That's not a realistic Thing And in fact on weekends you have visitors You have family members coming and in that parking lot Unless the apartments are going to be fully furnished as they are in some of the other proposals You're going to have to have spaces for people with trucks bringing the furnishings To to their apartments and up and and a and an elevator capable of of elevating those Those furnishings to the various floors so With respect to I've already had my say about lighting, but with respect to recycling I Do think it would be useful We're moving into a new era to See what there there can be some composting facility available, but also that the recycling Required be required to be separated Because as as many of you know The United States recycling loads are being rejected all over Asia because they're contaminated and they're Contaminated because when you don't when you don't separate recyclables What happens as you end up with a lot of garbage and I live in an apartment complex Where our recycling bin? It becomes a second garbage disposal facility so But I there has to be some kind of a professional study Regarding how many persons will live in this building because that will tell you how many cars there will be and You can again check with the buildings that have been recently constructed with similar types of thing so And I was happy to hear about the charging proposals charging electrical for electric vehicles my Additional comment all three of the five-story buildings that have been proposed with similar types of housing things Not a single one has any Photovoltaic arrays or anything that would even generate enough electricity to heat the hot water in the building and I think that I Think when you're in a hole as I think we are with respect to the environment the first thing you do is you stop digging and What I mean by stopping digging is permitting buildings that Contribute to the problem, but do not contribute to the solution. So I do think that The board should consider requiring that there be Some meaningful Solar Gathering that To serve it an important useful function for the building. This is not a building that's going to be built in 2020 and then we're going to turn the clock back and it'll end its useful life and in 1960 the building is going to go forward and as it does our problems with Co2 and other things released into the environment are going to get worse not better and the building should not Contribute to the worsening of the problem So Finally with respect to the bylaw itself that Permits this mixed-use building Which has become sort of a fiction because there is a building that was permitted that For as a mixed-use building which has as as yet, I have not seen any Commercial use on the ground floor and so what I would like the board to consider as part of Its review of this application is look at the section of the bylaw that talks about mixed use Because there's no definition of what the mixed use is Which it seems to me since Planning boards are not presidential bodies like the Supreme Court The board can take a look at that statute and say Well, there ought to be at least the same percentage of commercial space in this building as there are in other Buildings of a similar nature that had been previously permitted or we think that mixed-use buildings should In other words, not just a postage Yes, a place to sell US postage or something, but there has to be some I think the board ought to really consider Looking at the statute and saying in order for this statute to be meaningful Some minimal percentage of the floor space of a structure has to be devoted to commercial space And I think it's within the board's authority to do that but I think also Whenever the board permits if it chooses to do so a a mixed-use structure the board ought to insist that before to avoid What has happened in the past that the board ought to insist that There be a Before any residential occupancy permit is issued by the building commissioner That the commissioner and the board be presented with a signed Commercial contract for the use of the commercial spaces so that we don't have a series of mixed-use buildings where the occupancy permit for the residential use is granted and the and the commercial spaces Sit vacant and give the impression to the public that this that this is an apartment building that where in fact an apartment building and the mixed-use Statute is a fiction that is being used to permit apartment buildings in locations and of sizes and so forth and Of nature of things that would not be permitted under the apartment building statute Look at the apartment building statute look at this statute and see if in fact What I have said is is not a problem. So thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Mr. O'Connor We have another comment, please Sit down catch your breath. I'm okay Maureen Adams you've woken us up Maureen You woke us up. Oh good. I woke myself up as well so Before I get to speaking about handicapped spaces I do want to say that I lived on Southeast Street for a long time down at Fort Hill So I know how the road narrows as it goes under that bridge I know how people zoom up and down that road with no expectation. There'll be anything until you get to the actual crosslights I Also, I don't use auto express very much But I do use a 7-eleven and I try to fill up my car there from time to time Let me tell you trying to get out of that driveway Either to turn east. I mean to turn north or God save us if we had to go across traffic to go south I am not convinced by all the plans that this is going to be a safe area Particularly if the plan is and I was very glad for the honesty of the proposer to have Development on the other side of the road as well There's also a large entrance a little bit farther down Southeast Street the colonial village It's kind of and it's used quite a bit. So you have colonial village. You have the auto express. You have the filling station You have this new unit and you have Traffic that is not yet Accustomed to this being so built up. So I am very concerned about the traffic issues number one Having used them myself and tried to negotiate them I have heard nothing at all about handicapped Units I don't know if that's required but it certainly is desirable and Even young professionals Can be handicapped one doesn't have to get as old as I am to Need that kind of unit Which leads me to the issue of apartments Some I'm sorry to the elevators. I am a little shaken by falling It somehow makes me think of European hotels where there's only one Elevator and people are trying to get up and down before going down very long narrow passageways to get to their rooms a Single it may be that there are very kind of jogger-friendly Residents that we're hoping for but I would hope for at least two Elevators on each end of the building because three stories Is a bit of a climb when one's coming back with groceries and bags from school and other things so That's not an objection so much as though. It's it's a concern I'm also very concerned as other people have said about there being no outdoor amenities I mean it it makes me feel if I were going to live there I'd need to be really nerdy that I'd I'd go to work and I come back and I'd go to sleep And there'd be no place to sit out in the Sun there would be you know If it doesn't feel user-friendly not to have green space residential space Places that kind of put up at a beach chair or you know to put a grill outside and it's It's because it's so tight and it's because there's so many units so I would encourage a reduction of scale I'm also concerned about the issue of Storage as someone who moved from graduate school to an efficiency apartment to another efficiency apartment if you don't have Parents to leave stuff with and there's no place to put stuff And you're in an efficiency apartment you're in real trouble and I would ask the planning board to think about that Solar panels this is an incredible opportunity to put solar panels on I know in town that we had Agreements about town Buildings of a certain scale, but I would very much like to see the planning board encourage this We're seeing a lot of ratchet development. We're not seeing solar panels the you it's going to generate a lot of electricity and I I've made my point and then the last one is I Heard the answer about professional use For the retail space as a response to the lack of pull-up space for delivery of supplies But it occurs to me that a 62 or even fewer Residents with very small space people will want to go down to a restaurant They'll be wanting to go down to a cafe Those would be the like your occupants of the retail space and they'll need delivery space So I don't see this as an issue to be shrugged off by the board So those are my concerns and I'll try to make them. I see in one piece Thank you. They are those issues you'd like to address You don't have to address them, but if there's just as far as the Handicap. Yes, we have a few units that is designed for the handicapped specifically Could you say that again for the handicapped? The question was handicapped apartments the code requires those there were three and they're in there and Handicap parking spaces are also there. I believe we have four handy four handicapped spaces on the on the site plan as far as the Green was concerned is we have this My intention is that you know we would Take advantage of this and the courage and people to take advantage of the Amherst comments That is there and we are gonna have benches, but we did it minimal because you know, we were wanted to have the feedback from the Other people to basically tell us, you know to what extent we would like they would like us to go And that was the reason of easily we would like to have a benches and we did propose it to in the beginning But if we were encouraged to just basically make it to a minimum as possible, that was the reason but you know There's a plenty of a space there and that was the whole basically the idea that you know I'm sorry. Can you can you? Clarify what you mean by that when you say the emmer's comments you mean the space in front of the building. Yes Does the board have is there any other public here who have questions? Is it something new? And I'm sorry again, Vince O'Connor 175 summer Street with the importance of making sure that the number of units and the number of residents really fit this location is I think With respect to parking I think can't can't be overstated because Unlike some of the buildings that have been constructed in the center of Amherst in This location there are no surrounding residential streets with parking permit locations Where the residents of this building or their? Or their visitors Could park you cannot park on southeast Street. You cannot park on College Street or Belcher Town Road There is no play and you should not be creating a situation Where the residents of this building start parking a colonial village or in the commercial space the banks? the commercial spaces where the bank is and I think if if this Project is not sized properly and Thought through clearly you will end up with a very serious problem between the residents of this space who won't have enough parking and surrounding business and Residential properties, and I don't think the board should allow that to go on Thank you Any other public comment? Chris Just wanted to clarify one thing when we first started looking at this project and a space in front of the building We called this the Amherst common because we thought it was an extension of the common. That's up by The old East Street school, but since then we've done some research and the research has shown that this area South of Belcher Town Road is not really part of that common the common really just exists north of Belcher Town Road So I just wanted to clarify that this is just an area of wider right-of-way, and it's not a common Thank you Does the board have any other comments or questions at this time? I just have one that didn't get addressed. Did you think about solar? I have been approached with the solar for my other buildings and There is pro and cons and even though I'm very much interested in on doing that, but We have on this building. We have Condensers on the top and to put a solar on the and we just have a little bit of Roof facing south. So it really is not efficient It's not in all cost-benefit to really go through so much to put that that's one So that was the reason so That's a lot So if there's no more Questions for now on the board We could Continue this to a future date. What would that be possible Chris? I Think the best date would be September 18th because I believe that there will be Members of the planning board available for that night You might want to take a poll to see if all these members would be available on the 18th Would the 27th be an option after the other Tree, I'm sorry. We did talk about that earlier. I lost my focus. Yes. We did talk about Let's back up set 27. Yes I only know of one planning board member who's available that night so far So we would need to pull the people who are here tonight to find out if they are available on August 27th And what time was that meeting to start the first one the tree? Because you're saying do the tree hearing and then at the end of that we would continue this So the tree hearing would probably be scheduled for 705 and then this could be scheduled for 715 or something like that so who is Available on the 27th Tuesday. It's a different night I am you're available You think you're good. I believe I am too. I'm just checking I'm available Jack Jack is a go David. How does your world look? So we have Maybe leaning yes, so maybe leaning not sure and we have three of us So we would have to find out with the other two Members if they're available. Yeah, so I have heard from miss Chow because I did that reach out to her about the 27th for the tree hearing and she told me that she is available on the 27th. So Have we said that three definite from this group here and Maria and Maria and then She thinks Janet a Good maybe so you could continue it to the 27th and then if we find out people aren't available Okay, then we continue it again to the 18th Does that date sound okay? Yes, August 27th, so the tree hearing is earlier and then we do this right after I Know there's some information you have to gather to so Seems like that would be We'd need that amount of time to try to assemble some responses here Okay, so we need a motion to Continue this public hearing 27th then I move to continue the public hearing for site plan so-and-so and so-and-so To August 27th Okay Second okay any discussion, okay, we'll vote all in favor say aye Michael Okay, so we will see you on the 27th. Hopefully thank you for coming and Everyone thank you. This is a really long night I hate to put off anything longer, but I think we all need to take a five-minute break just to run to the bathroom and sort of get a drink of water and then we'll start right up so It's about 928 so in five minutes we'll come back. Thank you Thank you everyone this is this is a top I Think it's that I think it's that I We're gonna start in a minute I Wanted to just remind you that you do have a site visit report for this one and was that given to us? Yeah, tonight Let me oh there we go Okay Okay, so we're back on Amherst media you there Okay That probably sleeping Okay, so oh gee it's way past seven fifteen. Thank you for waiting in your patience everyone We had a big night. It's a tough summer getting people to be available Okay, so preamble three here we go in accordance with the provisions of Mgl chapter 40a this public hearing has been duly advertised and notice thereof has been posted This hearing is being held for the purpose of providing an opportunity for interested citizens to be heard regarding SPR 2020 01 SPP 2020 01 462 Main Street Center East Common 462 Main Street This joint public hearing to request a site plan review approval to construct a mixed-use building on the Easterly side of the property containing 16 dwelling units and one professional office space Including site improvements under section 3.3 to 5 to be co-located With the existing commercial building containing seven office spaces under section 3.358 and in accordance with section 3.0 01 and demolition of the existing accessory building Request special permit to extinguish special permit ZBA FY 2018 08 ZBA FY 2005 18 and ZBA FY 2004 dash zero zero zero three four ZBA FY 1998 dash zero zero zero two four ZBA FY 1980 dash 0071 and any other special permits currently or previously associated with the site BN zoning district map 14 B parcel 68 Okay, so the first thing I'd like to ask anyone is there any board member disclosures. I See none. We'll move on to section 3 applicant Presentation is it a long one? No, no, no, we will keep it brief So thank you very much madam chair members of the board I'm Tom reading my attorney with bacon Wilson here in Amherst here on behalf of 462 Main And its application as the chairwoman mentioned with me this evening is The manager of 462 Main and also the property owner John Roblesky We've also got his wife and who's in the back and it's her birthday, but I wasn't going to mention it But I decided to mention it Christine Royal is here and she's our architect and then we've also got Bill Osley who is the civil designer And so I think what we'll do is I'll give her this the brief overview of the project talk a little bit about John His history here in town Then I'll turn it over to Bill to talk about the site and then to Christine to talk about the architecture the layout elevations Etc. And then we can start we can talk a little bit about management Traffic and anything else that the board would like to talk about I think If I could draw your attention to the screen what we've got just to for a little bit of site context This is 462 Main it was previously zoned general residence But then it is now zoned Neighborhood business and so I think really what that allows is a project like this to come forward So what you've got in front of you are two separate decisions one is a special permit to eliminate all those Previously issued special permits and those special permits were issued because the uses Were in the general residence zoning district and those uses Required special permits, but since the zone change to neighborhood business No longer a special permits required for these uses. So the office use itself Requires a site plan review as does this mixed use and so when you're when you're looking at the project it really is Site-wide a mixed-use project. So what we have is that building on the left It's an existing office building about 2400 square feet Supported by 20 parking spaces and what you're going to hear about this evening is the proposal for that easterly 16 residential unit with 550 square foot office space on the easterly side of the building supported by 32 parking spaces and we can get into to parking later John owns High Street 22 high Street, which has 12 units and I believe 40 beds supported by 34 parking spaces He is a former Amherst police officer came to town in 1971 And bought his first rental property in 1981, which I think 734 Main Street Which is a three family that he and Anne still own so it's that property It's the high Street property and then this would be that third property and the proposal You'll see is for John to continue to manage this property as he's done with those other two And just by somewhat high level of those 16 units that we're proposing four of them are going to be one bedroom Ten of them are going to be two bedroom and two of them are going to be three bedroom I think with that I'll turn it over to Bill to talk about the site and then we can start talking about the architecture and anything else that you'd like to talk about Williams-William Osley OSLEY project engineer with Martin McDonald an engineering firm in West Springfield our firm paired the civil-site design drawings for this project and The existing conditions plan shows the existing wood frame structure two-story and a garage in the back Associated paid parking Landscaping lawn area and some wooded area This is all on a three-quarter acre parcel and I guess we can go to the Opposed layout this is the proposed layout plan You Can see the proposed building on the easterly side of the of the site the setbacks are 20 feet from the easterly property line and 20 feet at the at the rear the approach layout here shows the parking area in front of the the proposed unit and There An access to the to the site would be via the existing driveway 18 foot wide driveway from Main Street so that will Know the the access really will remain the same the curb cut will remain the same But the driveway itself will be the pavement will be ripped up during construction and repaved but essentially exactly the same place all right Here The wood-framed garage You'll see is missing from this plan because it's it's proposed to be demolished the other structure will stay the same Sidewalks on the site would be concrete all of them five feet wide and In compliance with ADA specifications for for slope And Sidewalks to the the ground floors Would all be in compliance with the Fair Housing Act as well as ADA meaning that Each one of the ground floor door doorways is a barrier free And You can tell by if you look at the spot elevations if you want to you know if you want to get into the weeds You'll see that they're there the grading is 2% or less So it's all represents, you know barrier free wheelchair accessible accessibility Parking level I'll obviously be paved. They'll have the two months berm The perimeters Parking spaces will be delineated by by painting by painted stripes and Handicap parking signs will be provided For each of the three handicapped spaces. This is the this is the grading plan In in grading the site and in selecting the the finished floor elevations first all this this proposed building will be on a slab there will not be a basement and We try to balance the the elevations Proposed building and and the existing one you see that if you look at the there's a benchmark on a first floor sill, right? at 9750 roughly and if you look at the elevations official elevations of the Proposed you'll see that we're They vary from from 96 to 98 So Averaging 97 we try to balance to get the finished floors about the same so visually everything looks from the street level looks Looks balanced This building is stepped Meaning the finished floors do do grade from 98 to 96 And that's to take advantage of the general slope of the property So it'll just minimize the amount of cut and fill The grading in the parking lots will generally be between two to five percent, which is Which is reasonable and in the back on the north side of the north end of the building You'll see there's a grassed area and there's a A very shallow Swale it's shown and that will that'll be to Aid in the drainage around the around the north end of the building and it's carried around to the same way it does now you talk about the Overall drainage don't keep it up there to keep it up at that one Yeah, we'll get into the storm water, but you can see how the site is graded from the north West to the southeast That that's pretty much how it's graded now. It's the existing again. We try to keep the drainage drainage patterns as they are existing and As far as the first for storm water the The northern called the northern parking lot drains to a catch basin Right At the 96 Dreams all that water drains the catch by the island and then there's another catch basin Further down Right there and that That catches all the Stormwater from the From the parking lots and from there That where that where the cursor is there now that That is a stormwater Dynamic separator meaning it removes 90 not quite and it moves 86 percent of the total Suspended solids and from there it flows into a detention basin. That's a sub that's subsurface it's essentially a large tank and The the runoff from the from the proposed building roof flows it's collected in gutters Into pipes and it's that goes directly to the infiltration basins shown now the infiltration basin Overflows into the detention basin and from there it goes to a Outlook control structure and then into the town system this is all in compliance with mass DEP stormwater management policy standards one through ten The town first we know the town does not have a bylaw a stormwater bylaw yet. I guess you're working on it So we're so we used we were Jason's skills recommended we use the DEP standards which we did On this was reviewed by Jason yep, we got feedback from Jason right But he had no problems issues Now we perform the stormwater stormwater management using a stormwater modeling software By the name of the company's hydro cad. It's very popular in the area. A lot of people use it But a lot of engineers use it And all that was is presented in our stormwater management report which went to Jason skills for review So essentially this stormwater the management system has been it's been designed to To attenuate peak discharge rates Recharge the groundwater and promote water quality for the DEP guidelines All right, the water and sewer For the building there would be connected to the water and sewer it at spruce Ridge Which stated John John Droblesky owns it so he is able to Run the water from spruce Ridge via the four inch line And connected into the mechanical room and the same with the sewer can exit the mechanical room and tied into the sewer system in In In spruce Ridge and part of Of course, you'd have to have easements would have would be created to allow for this connection to happen And John correct me if I'm wrong, but you you were in contact with the water department To get this And they were very much in favor of that Because they said they had just done over Main Street and this saves tying into anything on Main Street and cutting into Main Street, and it's a very very easy thing to do because it's like 80 feet away from the current System on my other property there and the water is literally 10 feet from the property line there We've done a flow test on High Street for the fire sprinklers back in May The town water department was present for that, and I think the fire department letter kind of addresses that Yeah, it's all been with that. Okay. Thank you, June As far as the utilities, I think the only other utility it's it's not shown here is the Is the electric service the primary electric that's going to run from Well, I guess it's up to the electric company. How are they gonna run it? But there's a there's a pole Out on Main Street close to the existing catch basin in a general area. Oh It should have shown there's a pole is shown there. Yeah, a little hot right, so But each one of those utilities would need to produce a you don't plan to for the contractor to follow As far as I know that has not been you know, you haven't got any plans yet I Think maybe just now is a good time to Insert that John is looking at solar and he is looking at doing electrical vehicle charging station I think you've already started talking to eviscerce about that charging station Yes, I filed the application for two charging stations and it'll probably be located If you remember this morning, I pointed out those three shrubs that were on a corner where Jack Park So those first spaces right in front of unit one off the corner of that building Right about there to share those two parking spaces as charging spaces and We talked about people that work there in the office during a day Could you use them to charge their vehicles and at nighttime those people would be gone and share those spaces for The residents to use for charging at night Well The other thing I guess I can address is the erosion sediment control plan So we prepared it's it's a very good. I think it's a very last one. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. All right The this plan will show you that There's a construction rock construction entrance plan for the driveway and this is to remove any mud and dirt from Vehicle wheels that's shown with the heavy heavy rock hatching and then on the south and east Side of the building there's you can see there's a grid pattern that represents a jute matting and That'll that once it's loaned it's seated This matting it will be spread over and it's pinned it's pinned down to the ground and you know It's a it'll allow grass to grow through it and but at the same time prevent erosion We have that There and then at the northern northern part of Yeah, the northern part of the site also there's there is some there's some sloping there So we decided that that would that would work The catch basins The one in the street and the two on the on the on the site Would be fitted with inlet filter bags that would be to catch any sediment entering From a storm, you know from storm runoff into the you know into the catch basins Silt fence will be installed. It's shown there as an SF Right along the Eastern the southern and eastern property line At the toe of the slopes it runs all the way Yeah to part way up the slope Yeah, right right to there so and that will be a requirement of the contractor to install it and maintain it throughout the whole construction process And the same with any of these erosion control devices. It's up to the contractor to to maintain them And I think part of this would be part of the construction logistics plan and Well, we don't have one now We would accept the condition that we have to provide it whether it's to the planning department or the building department or To the board at a public meeting if you wish prior to the issuance of a building permit And I will note that mr. Roblesky has had discussions with the VFW across the street for Contractor parking and he's got a letter to that effect that we're happy to submit for the record The other thing I can address is the long-term operations and maintenance plan or the ONM plan is called It's been developed by our office and it was part of the stormwater management plan or drainage plan It's included in that plan as Appendix G and That plan what it does it it presents inspection and maintenance procedures Associated with the various Components of the system and it's and it's made for a long term it states the you know how often the you know like the infiltration basin and the Detention basin are inspected and Maintained and things like that this It's required by DEP so it And it's it'll be implemented But that's something that mr. Roblesky would be implementing and not the contractor Which is like after the site is stabilized and it's constructed so so there are two plans There's the erosion seven control plans, which is the contractor responsibility, and there's a long-term operations and maintenance plan that's would be under management of the facility I Guess I guess a couple of points. So Jason skills has reviewed the plans didn't have any comments I think Beth Wilson looked at it from a concom perspective and saw no need for any wetland permitting Required here, so I mean with that we're happy to answer any questions about the site if you've got them or we can Look at the architecture and then the floor plans and use Given the time Yes, Chris. I just wanted to note that we did receive Messages from the fire department today, and I think I emailed them to you Unfortunately, we don't have them in our packets, but I believe that they were You know they didn't have any adverse comments about this project And we haven't received written confirmation from the town engineer I think there should be an email to that effect. It's an email saying that he had reviewed everything and didn't have any comments meant I sort of Be called paraphrased it in item number eight on page five of the development application report the town engineer has reviewed the Plans traffic impact statement the stormwater management plans and has no comments or concerns that was kind of a direct quote from his email and I Thought we had sent you great. It might be a pop great just confirming. Okay I've got the fire protection one as well. I don't know if you've got that in your packet Yeah Received it via email, but I don't think we copied it for him. Okay. Yeah, that was no copy here Double-checking because we have double going today. So oh, yeah There's two there the first one was from June and then I identified a couple of things and then the second one Effectively shows the resolution of all of those things that were outstanding Now basically what happened there with the fire department them they were unaware that a flow test was done I guess I assume that the Engineer doing a flow test was going to notify them, but that didn't happen So now with the new information that you know that the flow test was done in the satisfactory and all that He did the second transmittal today Well, we had a site visit today, so we're going to cover that first we actually Yep, we have one here all five of us were here Does anyone want to summarize this? It's pretty easy since we have the report At the site visit we observe the existing building and and the garage and The area that was designated as a Trash maintenance Yes, the extent of the parking lot we looked at fencing along the west side of the property Because there was an email from the butter we were looking at an HVAC unit That was to the west of the building and and Got good perspective in terms of the architectural drawings and and how that the plan building would be set along the the east side of the of the property and John did to describe you know how the sewer and water was coming in from from his property to the east And Am I missing anything? Questions and Questions who walks through the property of the land over land owner to the west Doesn't the fence prevent people from walking through I guess that was a comment that they were worried about trespassers going through and They were wondering about undergraduates as tenants can they be refused Tennessee is this age discrimination? They are not a protected class of people Was our understanding from Chris so and then are there apartments in the existing building? No, it's all professional and And then we talked about the trash room and where the door would be located on the east side of that addition and Who maintains the property? John you you Hire out the landscape maintenance and snow plowing What will be done to the existing sign the existing sign will be kept it straight now that it's a little bit out of pitch so that's going to be corrected and and Painted and a piece may be added to the top to show the property address Will people be able to see adequately when they exit the site onto Main Street The railroad tracks are close by and there is a large amount of shrubbery that blocks the site distance to the east and the response was the shove shrubbery will be cut back and Another question should markers be installed at either side of the driveway to indicate where the driveway is located This would help people entering and exiting to know where the driveway is, but might impede the site distance I Forget what that was about the markers And Can construction workers park at the BFW and yes that that's going to happen is the number of parking places enough for the proposed uses and The existing apartment development to the east that John owns has 40 bedrooms and 34 parking places the parking spaces Are usually not full now There are 30 cars that park there in the past the numbers have ranged between 24 and 30 Yeah You can after you can come back to that yet. Yeah, that's wrong Question where is the bike rack going to be the bike rack will be next to the trash room in a covered location What is the structure in the front lawn and it's an ejector pump for a sanitary sewage? The new building will be served by the sewer line that passes through the property to the east so that will no longer be Required how will the new building get its utilities the utilities for the new building will all be underground And what is the material of the new building and it's gonna have vinyl siding? Yeah, if you want to clarify any of those feel free. Yeah Just on the on the cars next door that's backwards years ago I had 30 up to 30 cars there for the 34 parking spaces then it's gone down over the years to 27 I think two years in a row 25 and then last year in this coming year It would be 23. Yeah that I recall you say so if you could just fix that in there apart great Yeah, so the average ratio of cars actual cars to bedrooms is about 61.6% Okay so at this point to thank you to the board I would propose that we Break this might be a good point to break and continue the hearing But I do understand that there might be some questions that you're afraid you'll forget or I don't know if this would get Continued to be 18th if someone would be here Am I considered hearing from the public? Yeah, I'm gonna do that too, right, but just the board was first So if if you do I wanted to ask if any of you do have questions Do you'd like to ask tonight or? Are you willing to wait until the next hearing? Because what I was gonna propose is that we hear from the public and let them do their thing and then we can address anyone Who has some questions? Okay, and as long as we if I could as long as we could if we're gonna get continue to get a list of like Homework if there is such just so that when we come back Hopefully that's the last hearing with all the respect the last hearing in front of you And hopefully we can get approval then okay. I think we have some things that Chris we already know about I Hear you Okay, so a show of hands who here right now would like to ask a question or make a statement about this project. I See one okay, so again like the last time if one of you could stay up here, maybe and Miss Pam if you want to come up that was the only hand I saw but after she's done if you have Dorothy Pam 229 Amity Street it's just a quick question about the possibility of a few affordable units and I was looking at the bedroom plan on the first floor, which we've been told is totally handicapped accessible There are two one bedroom apartments I just thought it would be very nice if those could be perhaps for a low-income senior That's something to consider So if there's no more questions from the public I'll come back to the board Is there anything that anyone will and just to click would this get moved to the 18th of September or what are we thinking? It would be up to you you could continue to the 27th of August if you wanted to That's a full night though Well, it would have the tree hearing and Mr. McCheese project and then this one and you've already heard the presentation So you'd really be working on conditions and findings You know you were maybe maybe And if I understood it Mr. Burt whistle could not attend on the 18th exactly, but do you have a preference? Would you rather know you on the 27th and or is it okay if it goes to the Okay, thank you May I ask have you adopted the Mullins rule? Yes, okay have and there's two members who are not here tonight who if they're yeah, okay. Thank you Okay, so I I'm understanding that we will move this to the 18th of September Do we have to have a time or we just the night? Do we already have it? What are we at? 705 because I think that's the first one on the okay great Is there any way to get this on the the 27th? I guess given so without hearing what we have to come back with given the long list that the previous applicant had to come back with given them How this fits into the neighborhood we can get all into the reasons why and I think just Given the detail that mr. Robleski had put forward to get to this point I know that he was Looking to break ground in September And so a September 18th hearing would obviously push that timeline off And and I think is all you you all know with construction If we don't if we get approved in September We don't start who knows when the snows gonna start to fly and the ground is gonna freeze and when the plants are Closed and so all of a sudden you're talking about a spring start Which I don't know how long the construction is gonna be but then any I mean the lease terms here in town Are a little bit strange because they either go from May to May or from September to September so That would be the request I hear you all right so Chris could we just run over? What do you have listed right now for homework or come back for them? I've been trying to scribble a few things And if you see you also gave me a list of We did have a suggestion development application report So the applicant could go through the development application report and see what kinds of things were mentioned there But if you want me to do that And a lot of them work. I mean that I saw were Conditions I mean there was one thing that suggested maybe if the fire department hadn't got back to you yet To continue it before the approval But the other ones I saw seemed that they could be appropriately conditioned And we could just come back at a public meeting or submit it to the planning department or the building department prior to either The building permit or the certificate of occupancy depending upon the type of condition that it is. I mean that would be The preferred method I could quickly run through the development application report and point out the things that I Think are needed and then I could quickly look through my notes if that's What you'd like me to do because I think what they're saying is they they would rather do their work now and be ready Yeah, which would be 27th Okay, we'll try. Yeah, how's the order? gumming because they Would they go first? It would it make sense for them to go first or how's that work tree thing, but He said the tree would go first and then I'm here and then Because right we made a motion for them. We could go earlier But I worry that if we well if we just run out I mean we could do a six could do it six or six Do it six or you could put us at seven ten and then I mean it's just The general time so you start the tree hearing at 705 and then sandwich us in between before you Take mr. Mechke again with his project after you know, these are hard for my brain So miss Just asked why we couldn't have a meeting in the beginning of September I will be out of town in the beginning of September But you would be here at the 27th? Yeah All right, so because you also had given me this list of conditions which are conditions But it's more just was there something that is like oh we they need to well, I noticed One or two things there's a pad and a light shown at the rear of the building where the office is located There's no door there, and I wondered if they if they could clarify whether there's actually what page are you going through? I'm going a page three at the bottom of the page great the lighting plan. Yeah under issues to consider Is there an exit there or not and why do you need a sconce light and a pad if there's no exit? So that was one of the things Then I think I Photometric plan they gave us Information about lighting, but they didn't really give us a photometric plan. So that would be helpful if they could do that It could to confirm that the sign is not illuminated to I guess Submission of sample leases for commercial and office uses and for residential use So there were conditions on page five that I had suggested that they brought over from the Special permit and there may be some discussion about whether these are reasonable or not But one of them was that the office building shall continue to be occupied only for business and professional offices as described in Section 3.358 and 3.359 of the zoning bylaw Unless a special permit or additional site plan review approval is received for those other uses That seems reasonable the businesses shall not be conducted after 9 p.m. That sort of keeps noise level down in the neighborhood Exterior lighting shall be downcast and not shine on to adjacent streets or properties The building and site shall be managed in accordance with the management plan approved on x-date And they once again those and those conditions would effectively extinguish the previous permits Yes, you don't you could extinguish the previous permits and include those conditions in your site plan review and that would be fine and then the construction logistics plan and And then you need to make a finding that this That the two buildings are clearly complementary to each other. That's something that you need to do Then I can go through my notes Could I take a second to ask a question? Have these 20-foot setbacks would that give people space to barbecue and put some chairs or does the slope prevent that or Just in terms like space on the, you know place for people to hang out Well, Bill, I think the slope that the finished slope here you see the dotted lines With the starting in 198. That's the existing slope So you can see that the finished slope is going to pretty much mirror that Mainly up in that corner and gets a little steeper down toward the front where the storm water is Plus, there's about 2,000 square feet on the north end of the parking lot around that big tree and stuff And they'll have that privacy fence along that north border Plenty of them near to and this grass there flat So you probably want to have a condition about the clearing of the shrubbery at the entry drive Can I talk about their rear exit and get that cleared up? I think I mentioned it this morning that is note. It's not required. We are under the understand here and just Figured we needed a rear door on that office building But the code does not require it and the building inspector said really if you put a door there Where's it going to go? You know, so you might need a sidewalk and that type of thing. So I mean that building is only 25 feet wide So that door has been eliminated and it's now a window. So eliminate that pad that pad is yeah And there's a light that was referenced outside there too, and that won't be there And I guess maybe to further my argument Hopefully you can see the type of things we're talking about aren't necessarily that heavy of a lift So if we're able to come back on the 27th and be towards the beginning I think we'll have all of these things straightened out well ahead of time. I Hear you I'm trying Yes, so you could do the you could do this Main Street project first and then do the Mr. McCheese plan and then the tree hearing after that because I haven't advertised the tree hearing yet So the only one that's really been definitively scheduled was McCheese continuation, right The only thing I'll just ask the board is do you feel it's important if they have the tree settled Which it isn't even fully settled at that point because it goes to the town manager, but Do you have any preference? Yeah I seems to me that that the tree issue ought to be settled before we Way in on the on the site plan review Because if the tree has to stay The building has to be either totally redesigned or abandoned or something it seems to me And if the it if the tree is allowed to be taken down We won't know that until the town manager makes a decision sometime after the tree warden and we have a hearing That correct I Think they're really I think you can separate them you could grant site plan review and Conditional on the trees being allowed to be taken down by the town Not allowed to be taken down by the tree warden the planning board and the town manager I don't think that that needs to hold you up from doing what you need to do with site plan review Because no matter what way we decide about the tree we won't know Is there a time period before the town manager has to weigh in or? He said he would try to attend that the hearing and so he would hear the testimony and then he feels that he would be able to make a decision Very soon after that. I was gonna say the amount of fill Proposed in that area would Yeah, it would have to be They wouldn't be able to just like cut out the building and have a spot for it It would So you're still proposing that we do this and then The site plan review and and then do the tree hearing And started six Thank you very much We did Asked I don't know. We might I because I did ask does that one have a time I Said is it do you have to have a time and you said yes? We might have to go back to Amherst media How well then we could create times now and if we go look at the video and if we did say a time we can readjust Do you think a half an hour is enough? Okay Yeah Well, don't we think seven and seven oh five and seven ten like we had it tonight. Isn't that satisfactory? No, that's the 18. Oh That'd be worse than We need a motion I move to continue the hearing until What was the date? August 27th Seven seven o'clock seven oh five seven oh five Seven okay So it's seven seven oh five and seven ten, okay. I'll second Any discussion? And you're good with this. Yeah, I mean I frankly we would prefer six, but if the board can't make it just because We waited here tonight And so we know what it's like when you get here at 715 and then wait till that time So if folks are here at seven oh five for the tree hearing which won't actually start until 745 if we take 45 minutes and then Amir's things starts after that you might have people starting at 715 in here until You know nine o'clock before their hearings even I feel comfortable that you start ours at six o'clock We'll be done before that seven oh five tree hearing and then everything there is a mirror related if you will I know Janet and I were okay with six Chris part a lot of this leans on you So how do you three feel about six I prefer I prefer seven What about 630 I feel like I'm If everybody else prefers six, how come I say we get done earlier All right, David any feeling I Know you were a maybe but you know, I didn't know All right is a democratic thing I think we're gonna go with six o'clock. Thank you Michael Okay, second, and so that's what we're going with all in favor say aye Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is that your summer? Yeah, thank you and Happy birthday So I say we just hold at this point and we Move to adjourn you want to move to adjourn. Yes. Can I suck it? We're adjourning Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your patience We have an a and r. Oh We have to do okay, but I think it'll be a race. That's right. So we're in hold right now We're ready to vote. So Chris. Is there anything we have to do tonight? Okay, so this is on where is this Bay Road? I think you've seen this one before but we've seen it in a different format It's Jeff Jeffrey Brown who's an attorney in town and his son have been Making plans for their property. So I'm going to pass along a Plan that shows what the property is like now, and then I will come around with the plan to show what they're going to be doing Okay, thank you Leaving this piece There is a house Frontage There's adequate frontage for this You're not Okay, but then this becomes a buildable lot What do they want to connect to this one what used to they want to connect to this this these are two separate pieces Okay, I should so they're connected this to this Okay And he wants to He'd have to restrain this out and then get this done as a flag lot and this is also he'd have double flag Yeah, yeah, you will see this again actually because Today's plan okay I'm sorry just we just