 This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you The appointed hour 6 30 having been reached. I welcome everybody to this meeting of the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals My name is Steve judge and as chair of the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals. I call this meeting to order pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12th 2020 order Suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law general laws chapter 30 a section 18 and And the governor's March 15th, 2020 order Imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place This public hearing of the town of Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals is being conducted via remote participation No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted But the public can listen to the proceedings by clicking on a link on the town's web page in accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts general laws chapter 40 a and article 10 special permit granting authority and of the Amherst Zoning bylaws This public meeting has been duly advertised and notice thereof has been posted and mailed to parties at interest We will begin with a roll call of the regular members of the ZBA who will be in panel for consideration of the comprehensive permit I'm Steve judge the chair. I'm present mr. Langsdale president Ms. O'Meara present Ms. Parks here Mr. Maxfield present And the associate ZBA members Ms. Waldman mr. Barrick here Mr. Greeny here Mr. Meadows Mr. Meadows Speak up. Are you here? You were there? Yes great Also an attendant is Marine Pollock Marine Pollock planner Christine Bresta planning director Rob Mora building commissioner Nate Malloy planner John Witt and Barbara Huggins carbony of the KV law firm who are assisting the board in this matter The zoning board of appeals is the quasi judicial body that operates under the authority of chapter 40 a of the general laws of the Commonwealth for the purpose of promoting the health Safety convenience and general welfare the inhabitants of the town of Amherst All hearings are open to the public and are recorded by town staff Each petition heard by the board is distinct And is evaluated on its own merits and the board is not ruled by precedent The subject of tonight's public hearing is ZBA 20 20 39 A request by valley community development corporation for a comprehensive permit to construct a multifamily building containing 28 units at 132 north ampton road Amherst This is the second in a series of public meetings and public hearings and public meetings to be held on this request for a comprehensive permit The focus of tonight's public hearing is to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on the application There was not time at the first meeting to permit public comment And I want to give ample time for public comment on this matter Tonight's agenda is as follows first submittals We'll note submittals received by the board since our last meeting from June 25th From the applicants town boards and committees as well as the public We'll have public comment the board will receive public comment on the request for the comprehensive permit The applicant may respond to the comment that to the extent time permits The applicant may respond to public comments submitted to the for the record or public comments presented tonight And if time allows the applicant will present responses to the zba's requests and questions from our last meeting on June 25th Zba members will discuss the app if there's time zba members will discuss the applicant's responses And we will compile a list of questions and requests for the applicant to provide for the next public hearing At the end of the hearing we will move to continue the public hearing to a date certain And the board will entertain public comments on any matter that is not subject of tonight's public hearing Tonight about halfway through the hearing that we will take a five minute break I found that it's probably better just to give everybody a chance to get up move around And go get a drink of water and then come back But just to give a break to everybody at five at about eight o'clock quarter to eight I also tonight want to review the ways in which in that in addition to these public meetings The public can be informed and comment on this application Copies of all submissions can be found on the dedicated project page on the town website If residents wish to be notified of any additional information recorded by the town Concerning this application They can use the notify me feature of the on the 132 north hampton page of the town website Public council comment can also be submitted on the town website or email to marine pollock planner at pollock at amherst ma.gov This meeting will be broadcast on Amherst media and may be viewed on Comcast channel 17 And may be streamed on the Amherst media website In addition this meeting will be uploaded will be recorded and uploaded to the town of Amherst youtube channel And we will be uploaded to the dedicated project page on the town website Tonight the board is holding a public hearing on zba 2020-39 valet community development corporation 132 north hampton road requesting a comprehensive permit under massachusetts general laws chapter 40 b To construct a new two and a half story residential multifamily building containing 28 small studio apartments and related common areas on an approximate 0.88 acre property located at 132 north hampton road map 14c parcel 8 general residents and educational zoning districts Before we begin are there any disclosures? If not, I want to remind the applicants the board members To seek recognition from the chair to speak You can do that by using the raise your hand feature on zoom When recognized unmute yourself when you have finished, please place yourself back on mute We have received the following submissions from the applicants Since our last meeting In response to our questions we received an updated planting plan Or a response to a request for an updated planting plan response to a request for an eight for the eight foot A Drawing of the eight foot fence along the northeasterly property line We've received detail for a bike storage shed We've received photo metric plans and cut sheets for exterior like fixtures We've received A description of the supportive services plan as well as a reference To the full supported services plan which was enclosed which was attached to a earlier filing to a to the the town council We've received an estimate of a distance from buildings to buildings We've received a description of snow removal policies We've received a parking management plan Photos of similar low-income projects in other areas We've received answers to several questions on the heating and cooling systems and the electrical systems of the of the proposed building We've received a response to a question regarding the trees along the alleyway separating the property We've also received a response to a question regarding the proposed budget and finances of the Of the proposed plan The town staff has also asked questions regarding construction the site plans and photographs and some section of that Elevations We've received response to that though and at times the applicant was not able to provide those we've received A description of the storage in each unit And the types of jobs at various income levels in the town And we've received a definition. I think of students As well Is there anything else marine that I've forgotten in terms of submissions from the applicant? That's it, isn't it? I think that that's what covers it. Yes. Yep. That's complete And we've received no new submissions from town boards or other government bodies. Correct We have received 10 comments as of noon today 10 comments from the public And those are available on the town website as well So the public speaks with the permission of the chair If a member of the public wishes to speak they should so indicate they're using the raise hand function on their screen The chair with the assistance of the staff will call upon people wishing to speak When you are recognized Present your name and address to the board for the record All questions and comments must be addressed to the board Instructions for how to be recognized to speak will be on the screen for your information Please keep your comments to about three minutes If you wish to make a statement in addition to your three minute statement tonight Please note that you can submit written comments for the record Those written comments are reviewed by board members and by staff And there are also additional hearings on this matter and there will be an opportunity for public comment at many of those hearings as well We are trying to schedule additional public hearings on this meeting And and those will be the sub and those will be noticed when we get that done So This is the time for public comment Maureen do we have people in the Participants who wish to comment Yes, so let's I'm going to that now. We have four raised hands So let me five. Okay I'll go to the first one Which is Liv Ben Izer Sorry if I mispronounced any one's name I'm going to Allow you to talk. Uh, so if you could state your name and your address Hello Can you hear us? I have unmuted you Hi, can you hear me? Yes Great Hi, I'm Lev Ben Ezra. I am the executive director of the Amherst survival center. And so I am speaking on behalf of the Um center which is located at 138 Sunderland road in north Amherst. I am not a resident of Amherst myself Okay, great Um, so thank you. I appreciate the opportunity To comment on this issue and I'm glad to see members of our community continuing this discussion around affordable housing and As the executive director of the Amherst survival center I would like to express my strong support on behalf of the center to For the development of additional affordable housing in our community Our support for this specific affordable housing project is based on three key points the need the opportunity and the reward Um, so I think that where we all agree is the need. We know that there is a really critical need for affordable housing Um, this affordable housing shortage exists nationwide and unfortunately is even worse in western massachusetts than the state as a whole and One of the issues that the pandemic has put so starkly into view is that as all of us were asked to stay home to Relay solely on our immediate family unit On our own home on our own savings for those who were needed to stay home from work and weren't paid That it really put into such stark contrast the The distinctions there between those who had access to sufficient housing and those who don't Um, the fear for so many as we come up to this end on the moratorium on evictions Is a testament to the need for more affordable housing that people aren't at risk of losing with this We know that the median wages locally are not sufficient to afford housing Wages for cashiers nursing assistants or teacher aides are half of what would be required for a single wage earner to afford a studio or a one bedroom Supervisors even in retail or a full-time tractor trailer driver still don't meet that that threshold so There is a need for Zoning boards in various communities to evaluate then how to site and how to appropriately zone these residential buildings And and that creates a really unique opportunity that here we are We're lucky to live in a community where we see this need for affordable housing and we're lucky to be At a time when we have the resources to help the connect the dots We have a site ready for the project. We have a community organization with a long track record of success managing affordable housing developments We have funding that is set aside and we have a community of people who care are engaged and have the ability to see this through an effective manner And we have the opportunity for the zoning board to move forward to allow this project to take place So my last point before I'll yield the floor is just for us all to really consider the reward A key role of the zoning board of course is to think about how to use the physical land that exists throughout the community To most effectively build a thriving community that supports all of the different components residential life business life, etc In a way that supports a thriving community Um, and we know that affordable housing is the foundation upon which a stable and thriving life can be built that without stable and safe housing People must focus all of their energy intelligence their bandwidth on this most fundamental need Um, and so this affordable housing is a key factor in maintaining food security. Um It is a critical opportunity to focus on Our it's a critical way for us to support our community's public safety It benefits our schools. It benefits our local employers who are looking for great staff Um, and now more than ever we see how affordable housing really impacts the public health throughout our whole community So I really believe that this project has has great potential to benefit our community as a whole Um, thank you so much. Um And uh, that's what I had. Thanks for your consideration of this proposal Thank you very much Okay, uh next we have douglas marshal Okay, uh, so state your name and your address for the record My name is doug marshal. I live at 64 eames avenue in amherst I'm calling in as a private citizen rather than my participation on another board in town I simply wanted to express my support and be on the record that I think it's a great project and it's a Good place for it and it's a good design. So I hope uh, you guys will support it. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Marshall. Um Next is steve george. Is that right morning? Yes Okay, steve if you could state your name and your address There we go. Now I should be okay Yeah, okay. My name is okay. Great. My name is steve george. I live at 23 Three days straight. There's probably no day in the street intersects with north hampton road near the project site I appreciate what's being done by the developers so far to respond to neighbors concerns and the project I think is improved compared to what was initially Described however, there's one central feature of the proposal that remains problematic to me And that's the fact that it packs a large number of only single occupancy units into the project site Rather than including a range of kinds of apartments The number of dwelling units relative to the size of the lot The so-called density of dwelling units is far out of line with the normal zoning in the rg zone How far to line well the for apartments in rg on a 39,000 square foot lot like north 132 north hampton road the maximum number of dwelling units is seven Not 28 is being requested. I know that the zba has unlimited authority to grant waivers in this situation But extraordinary deviations from the bylaw should require substantial justification and so far. I haven't heard such convincing justification The report by town staff to the zba lists this waiver request But I'll state that it's a fourfold increase in density just says you need more square feet of a lot That doesn't seem very relevant or helpful to the zba Since there's no way the zba can work with the developers to increase the size of the lot What you can do is to work with the developers on the number of dwelling units Which I believe is too large In the past the developers have made arguments as to why This waiver shouldn't be considered extraordinary They've said that some amherst college dorms and an assisted living facility in the area are similar to what's being proposed I disagree. I don't have time to discuss this within the time limits But I wrote out why nothing in the project area is similar to a 28 unit apartment building and my comments are in your materials The developers also say that the allowed seven dwelling units could house as many people as 28 single occupancy units If the seven units were for families So the impact on the neighborhood should be no different But I disagree that the impact would be similar In fact, including a family apartment in the facility would help it be better integrated into the neighborhood Which has mostly family residents as many with children You could keep the basic building size and design and the great plans for landscaping the plantings As I sure hope come to fruition But specify that some apartments will be one and two bedroom rather than studio apartments The developers have said such a facility is not financially feasible But I understand that financial feasibility is part of your considerations I respect the valley ctc staff who have worked on this project And if they say a development with mixed types of apartments is not financially feasible I know they believe it However, I don't think the zb in the situation must or should accept such a claim without really verifying In a way that can be understood by people in the neighborhood so we can really get kind of this project In both north hampton and east hampton the valley ctc has developed affordable housing projects that combine studio apartments with one two Three bedroom units Why is what is desirable and feasible in north hampton and east hampton not desirable and feasible in amherst? the um Oh, yeah at the cba meeting a week ago a point was raised that seems to indicate that a facility with family apartments Would be actually more financially feasible Uh feasible The high cost of the project per square foot was explained by saying that each one room unit must have all the facilities for plumbing kitchen and bathroom Um, presumably high voltage for stove and so on but if there were family apartments Those rooms do not have to have that so the cost would be lower If you're inclined to approve this we have I hope the reasons for doing so will become clear in your discussion I look forward to having this facility in our town Thanks for listening to my comment Thank you, mr. George um Miss louis Please state your name and address Uh, this is carol louis. Can you hear me? I live at 21 ward street in amherst? Yes, we can okay I want to voice my strong support for this application and urge the board to approve it as submitted And I will tell you some of my reasons which I also have submitted to you. Um Before this but anyway, it seems to me Uh, lab benedra has done a beautiful job of explaining both the need and the benefits And the town has recognized this need for years and it's a housing production plan that was approved over five years ago The need was recognized for this particular kind of housing and the need since then has only increased There's no other housing quite like it in town, which is but there should be this kind of housing single room single room studio apartments for people who have Limited income and maybe and some of whom have been homeless is something that is desperately needed um Secondly, I see valley community development as just a very Wonderful organization. They've been working on addressing this need for years They have a strong track record dedicated staff in this instance They've shown their responsiveness to the concern raised in many ways by residents and others They've increased parking They've increased the amount of time that staffing will be available on site to help residents locate services should they choose to use those services The location and the plan are appropriate near shopping near public transportation near the town center The area is already home to single and multifamily dwellings. There is a scheduled Road improvement that will create sidewalks there um Additionally to my mind valley cdc is planning on building this as a passive energy certified home building thus Helping amherst decrease our energy footprint at the same time providing environmental advantages to the project residents So it doesn't end up to be only rich people who get to live in housing. That's That's appropriate for the climate conditions that we live in. That's a wonderful part of their proposal to me And lastly just any delays or changes Well, won't only slow down the availability of housing that was needed yesterday It will likely increase the costs and for a project That's already has a slim margin for financial viability. Such increases Could be seriously detrimental And right now they part the amount of money that the town has to put into this is not I can't remember the percentage, but it's not a very large percentage of the total cost of the project That's a great advantage to the town financially Again, I just want to strongly urge your prompt approval of amherst studio apartment's comprehensive permit application. Thank you very much Thank you, miss Lewis um The bgw next moring Yes Please give your name and address Yes, my name is Barbara grab and wilbur. My address is 126 Northampton road and I am immediate a butter um, I am not voicing my Negativeness about the proposal. I believe there is a need my one concern that um lead mentioned was the community um I am concerned that this is for the community and Not for folks that live outside the general amherst hadley Belcher town area But what I would like to address is what took quite a bit of discussion at the last meeting And that's the trees that border our property and 132 those trees are Extremely tall. They are right on the line the property line They are a menace um We have been here in this house since 1973 The trees have probably tripled if not quadrupled in size the wind blows the trees sway I fear that they're going to fall on my house um So I would like you folks to reconsider the Taking down of those trees um I have submitted additional comments to you in writing. Um, I hope you have a chance to look at them. Um And I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have concerns that I might have about The density of what was once a one family more than quadrupling Not overnight as I understand this is going to take probably another two to three years to complete Um But thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much Um next Jay Please state your name and your address. Uh, can you hear us? This is uh, Jay Levy. Can you hear me now? Yep Okay, I'm with uh le at chs homeless services and I'm also a member of the amherst community at 34 Blacktown road amherst mass um What we do is outreach to folks without homes within uh really all throughout western massachusetts and We've been engaged with a number of people who live within the amherst area and certainly throughout Hampshire county probably over Uh 30 people that we've been working with who are chronically homeless and sorely in need of affordable housing options I'm here really to Fair witness to the great work that valley cdc has done in the past and hmr properties That does the management. I've worked very closely with them Around other projects including go west out In uh north hampton one of the things we do is we not only work with the folks without homes But we provide support services transitionally helping people to get settled into their new homes and uh continue to work with community resources and connect people up To ongoing services that they may need to be stable in their housing. We've had great success working with valley cdc and hmr properties On their past projects, especially in the early part of the development. We've been involved in monthly meetings with uh hmr property staff and valley cdc personnel we were able to review the clients that we've uh been able to connect into the housing and to Talk about the support services that are needed and the work that's being done and attend to crises And that's worked very very very well um So, you know, we really support uh, we know there's we support this project. We know there's a great need for affordable housing We feel that valley cdc has done heroic work in the development that they've done And in amherst in particular where i've worked with craig's doors And i've worked with chd and i've worked with servicemen and other nonprofits To come together around organizing Uh these support services. It's nice in amherst to have something Percolating and actually happening that's along the lines of Permanent housing and in this case permanent housing would support services for the folks that are allowed in there That are homeless uh amherst has done a good job in terms of Providing and supporting us in the outreach services that we do and they've done great at supporting the shelter But this uh add-on of affordable supportive housing is is essential Thank you Thank you um Next is john hornick Okay, give your name and address please My name is john hornick i'm a resident of amherst I live at 59 carriage lane in south amherst I am also the current chair of the amherst municipal affordable housing trust um I sent in written comments on behalf of the housing trust which are available to you the housing trust you vote Voted unanimously to support this project um What i want to do right now is to focus on two aspects of the project That are not part of my written comments um The first issue that's come up is public safety reading through The comments on this issue I would say that there are several people who live in the vicinity of the proposed studio apartments Have convinced themselves And some of their neighbors that the persons who will write we will reside in this building Will pose a danger to others or to themselves The evidence for this is very poor to non-existent People have suggested that drug and alcohol problems will be highly prevalent There is no data that anyone can point to that supports this Yet the group of people who are promoting this view have frightened themselves and others One person is even convinced that she will need to buy a gun to protect herself and her family They are now attempting to infect this zoning board with these scare tactics If you approve this request and something anything bad happens, it will be on your heads Please don't let these emotional outbursts affect your judgment Most town departments were invited to comment on the application For a comprehensive permit That includes the departments of public health and public safety If there were actually serious danger in this project, we would have heard about it The public health director has a few comments intended to allay these fears The fire department's comments are focused entirely on assuring that fire safety requirements will be met And the police department did not even think it necessary to make any public comments This is not a dangerous development This is not a dangerous development And I don't think you should allow anyone to persuade you that it is The second aspect of the Request that I wanted to focus on is the plan for social services support Valley community development has gone beyond A social services plan for any similar building that I am familiar with Most development of this type would only have plans for building maintenance and property management These are present But valley has gone beyond this there is a property management office plan for the building But there is also a separate Office for social support They anticipated hiring an appropriately trained and schooled person to provide 70% Of their time each week On site To assure the availability of social services Some of this will be the direct responsibility of this person. That is they may Do some counseling of individuals if that's necessary They may help people get rides To other services They arrange for people to provide services to come on site and use their offices They will be knowledgeable about other services that are available. For example, Jay Levy mentioned Elliott services This person Would work with residents or work with elliott homeless services to assure that people who are homeless Are properly settled in the building They can arrange for Substance abuse services john can you can you give us a kind of a summation here? okay Basically what I want to say is If the residents have needs and are interested in receiving these kinds of services Valley has set things up so that they will be accessible and Just not on site, but even off site and I think that's a very important contribution Which as I said, I think is very unusual for studio apartment projects. Thank you Thank you very much. Mr. Hornick Uh next it's I think it's jay. Can you identify yourself? Please unmute identify yourself and give us your address Well, uh, I think jay or Oh, you're right. Yeah, so it's thomas Yep, thomas. Thank you, marie okay Thomas can you uh, I um, I have clicked the button to allow you to speak I think Can you hear us thomas thomas? I think you're still muted One second to sable. Uh, I says Um, sorry thomas Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes. Okay. There we go. I'm sorry So, uh, my name is tom kekelman live at 649 east pleasant And I am a member of the municipal affordable housing trust But i'm speaking here as uh as an individual resident My wife and I operate a bed and breakfast there and uh We had the wonderful pleasure of having Five unrelated students move into a single family next door recently. I know that's not quite what's supposed to happen, but um it's not uncommon on our street to have lots of young people living in single-family homes and it's becoming more and more Predominant in town and it's just a part of the Crisis that we find in housing as people begin to squeeze into whatever available resources there are and find ways to accommodate the growing inequity The gap between what they can afford and what's available and um Many of these landowners these landlords have skirted the laws and have done so quietly and Without any public discussion certainly not as much as we've seen here with valley's proposal and Literally hundreds of such units are being created all the time around this town and In this one particular incident with these relatively small number of units a extremely competent professional reliable um Just wonderfully resourced organization Is coming forward with one of the most responsible plans that you could imagine Amherst is indeed extremely lucky to have a group like this Involved in the town trying to help deal with what we have in town which is a Very serious very extreme housing crisis That needs to be addressed As quickly and as expeditiously as possible And I hope the zba will move promptly to approve their application. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Cableman Next is Nate buddington All right. Hi, can you hear me? Yes? Yes, Nate buddington. I live a 21 saco drive in amherst until wednesday yesterday, I was Chair of the cpa committee in amherst and I was On the cpa committee when we uh unanimously and enthusiastically Voted to send this proposal to town council for approval And many of the people just spoke and have said things that I was thinking of saying but but I do I think it's important to Mine a little bit this fear. I think that people have about people who are single And people who need single resident occupancy housing We have more and more single people in this society. We have a chronic issue with loneliness in this society And this is a a group of people that who are often overlooked in the affordable housing equation And I think valley cdc has really Kind of brilliantly put together Uh a wonderful facility in a good location Um that I think is serving a population that we really need to spend more time talking about And I'd say this is especially true Of disabled people. I think when you look at the housing problems that we have in this Country, uh, you can multiply it times 10 for disabled people who are often living by themselves And these apartments are all as I understand it very close to being built With universal design. They're going to be very handicapped friendly Um and the last thing I want to say is, you know, this this sense that people are bringing baggage Mental health problems alcoholism whatever to this facility. These are the same kind of Issues that we have in our neighborhoods and our families and our extended families and we're able to manage them Um And I don't see this as being much different than a neighborhood other than the fact that we have a cluster of people Living by themselves, but in close proximity to other people, which I think is a wonderful part of this project I think this would be uh, this is an amazing opportunity for amherst and I hope the zba will recognize that Um and allow this to go forward as it's been presented. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Barrington Well, next is Amy Gilbert Loinza Amy Can you hear us? Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay Thank you. Um, my name is Amy Gilbert Loinaz and I live at 14 orchard street And I am in a butter to this development. Um, as in a butter. I am deeply invested in the success of this project and uh, tonight I would like to request a section 53 g independent review of valley czc's proposal under chapter 43 of massachusetts general laws and I would also like to um Request that the zba start a pro forma process regarding funding financial details of the proposal Uh, we were told that the zba was the place to work out the details And so I'd like to focus on the details I think that some of the comments are getting a little bit broad and we want to Focus in on what this development will be what services they'll provide Um, my specific concerns which I outlined in a broader letter to the board Involved the density issue um What I consider a weak and unaccountable financial model and structure a risk of unfair senate tenant selection process that um, does not assure compliance with fair housing laws And what I believe I respectfully disagree with john hornick from the amherst housing trust Is a lack of a comprehensive service plan that meets the needs of potential residents And it's under their response the responsibility of valley cdc to provide its tenants Um tonight, I'd like to focus on two areas in my limited time Um, I'm wary of valley cdc's tenant selection process Because um, they are limiting the homeless preference units to individuals recommended Through a loose and non binding relationship, and I would focus on the non binding I think that there are no guarantees. There are no contracts There are loose memorandums of understandings with these social service providers And I don't have any issue with the social service providers I just don't understand the relationship that they've established with valley cdc And what kind of accountability there is um They are recommending the tenants themselves And I think this really opens it up to bias. Who are they selecting? What is the criteria? Is it universal? Do they select people that they Are managing because it works for their schedule their services, you know, will other people be left behind? Um, they are only providing nine to 12 months of services, and I don't think that this is adequate for the needs of this population Uh, they are entitled to services for the duration of their stay at the facility The best practices that are recommended by HUD calls for universal Uh criteria, and then they do a needs assessment Upon, you know, the tenant selection after tenant selection process Then they'll do a needs assessment and then link them to services provide the services. This seems backwards to me um And then the requirements of providing social Sorry, um the preferred placement plan. Um, I find it hard to understand how this is acceptable and permanent supportive housing They have received 7.5 million dollars in a supportive housing plan. So this is not just You know a housing plan their building is beautifully designed My husband told me I would get no support for asking it to be less pretty But I think that with 7.5 million dollars. I would love to see them put that back Into their services for their tenants The other issue I have is that they're saying you know Valley CDC made a point last week during the zba meeting That the homeless population wouldn't necessarily be the chronically homeless that we're talking about people who are Are just temporarily unable to find housing. How does very specific about their definition of homeless? It is people who are in a place uninhabitable for human Um habitation for a year and it can be a year with some interrupted periods But they're very very specific about that the chronically homeless are these under that definition With a disability including a handicap a physical handicap mental illness Substance use disorder. So these are the people under the responsibility of Valley CDC And I don't understand the broadening of this definition to include people who are not Technically under this definition. So, you know, are we providing for the most vulnerable or are we broadening it out? for some kind of um You know for easier services people who fit into their financial model. I'm concerned about that And that's why I would like this independent review In addition, I just wanted to say that I um You know, I'm a public health I have public awareness. Can we can you uh summarize for us here? We've run a little over time. Yeah, okay I'll just finish up I just wanted to say that I've been working on the COVID-19 response in the state for the last two months And one of the things that has been most tragic is watching The vulnerable citizens in the densely populated congregate settings And I think this whole move towards infill and density of municipal centers Will have to be a reassessed in light of this pandemic and future pandemics to come You know threats of swine flu and other things that are coming And we just really need to think about public health perspective and coordination With a climate change perspective and what's better for our society. Thank you Thank you very much. It's my answer. Thank you Um Figure uh Mike Giles Hey, can you hear me? Yes All right. Um, hi. I'm Mike Giles. I live roughly in the neighborhood of 57 Blue Hills Road Walked by the property every morning. Um, and I think I'm echoing a lot of the things that other folks have said in my support of it You know, homelessness is A very multifaceted problem as we all know But one of the very large contributors to it is this nationwide loss of SRO housing If you kind of do the research, you'll see that that entire tier of housing has largely disappeared in the past few decades. And so There and we know in Amherst that housing prices and rental prices are extremely high due to the student population. So Um, the loss of that really has pushed a lot of people to places, especially single folks where they just there is no affordable option for them. So I Fully agree that everything we do comes with some risk. Um But at the same time, it is really hard for me To see kind of how a proposal could be much better. I did serve on the homeless committee in Amherst for a few years. Uh, and Um, I have a lot of respect for Valley CDC They have a very strong track record across a lot of different projects This location as someone has highlighted close to town close to route nine And in addition the very strong local need of of residents for this type of housing Really does make it hard for me to kind of picture How you could come up with a better package than than what we're looking at right here Uh And you know, I served for a number of years on town meeting and while that was frustrating at times I think it did help me to see that The folks in Amherst really do want to live in a compassionate town That takes care of its citizens and often, you know, really take that Much further than other municipalities do. Um, at the same time, you know, I see a lot of the same red flags here that we often heard at town meeting where Um, folks who were, you know, directly Adjacent to or affected by projects would would speak out against them often those few kind of passionate voices would instill kind of fear and doubt and enough folks to to Either delay or through delaying ultimately just kill projects. And so I'm really hopeful that We don't let that happen here again I really feel like, you know, the Valley's EDC has has really has an incredible track record across our area folks who want to explore that certainly can they've Got folks we can talk to and questions that can be asked. But um, I really do think this is a wonderful opportunity for Amherst to kind of take Tangible steps towards caring for the neediest members of our community. Uh, and hopefully Guide a path for other area towns to do the same thing and really help To build a new tier of housing that helps a lot of people Find the stability that they need to get out of chronic homelessness. So Thank you Thank you, Mr. Trials Melissa Please state your name and your address Hello Hi Hear me Hi Hello Yep, we're having a hard time hearing you. Hear me now I'm gonna do this to hear how it all seems like being in stability I'm just trying to communicate to the unit about the proper equipment The proper hands, the proper mind, the proper ab, the proper address I can question you all. Do you know me? Do you hear me now? We hear you but you're breaking up. Um, but I can't really say why Okay, I can't speak about liking up. I can't do anything about that. I am lying up But I can understand what you're saying. Hey, yes, I can understand you I am Okay, I'm a low-income person The assumption that all low-income people are dangerous That affect community in some negative way Is problematic. It's the same problem. We have the Black Lives Matter or gender neutrality We give students from international status such opportunity in this community Low incomes Students in national people come with nothing and thrive Her can relieve people come here with nothing and types is America people This is America What are you afraid of? Everyone starts out low income From the moment you're born, you're debt-sidey So don't judge me I'm 47 years old I'm nothing at it I'm a low-income person. I don't have a car right back to ground So that's why it's quite a dozen ends I'm a B.C.A. I care a lot of social stuff Don't judge me because I work out of my age This is not the fault You're having too much restate This is about raising rent above the average So that low-income people cannot live in this town This is about low-income students Okay I got this C.C.A. I work enough to buy Can't buy these rents Everybody has no debt And I'm not an ass-blocking promise I have thunder-wasting vengeance Security because I'm a student I'm a yielding student But my money back Can't afford fun Last month and a half One time a year Two times a year Two times a year Four times a year I've been depressed doing people Once you're talking about you That's C.C.A. I brought you over You're feeling a problem Fifth answer C.H.D. in town Town number Way rarer C.D.A.C. C.C.A.O. All those services are already vibed for We don't need belly C.C. Hiring over us Doing but service do we need We need guest calls I'm a personal person I want to know that when I lay my head down at night I'm a half-ass-fine neighbor And talk in my sleep night Because they can't have guests over The students on the lease But I signed these I watch on guest policies On a manner onsite That is looking at the parking spaces And the guest and who says You have a lease You've been precinct to be here If you don't have a lease You cannot be here I earned my place On this plot I earned my place here I want a strong guest college Melissa, can you wrap up your statement We're running a little over time So No problem No problem Inclusion I agree The services that LACDC is responsible For already be provided For by the community We just need strong cases We need strong housing agreements Thank you very much And have any C.A.C. names Thank you, Melissa Is Gary Weiss next? Yep Hi, Jerry Hi Hi, Maureen Can you hear me? Yeah Say your name in your address I am Jerry Weiss In District 5 Middle Street In South Amherst Go ahead, Mr. Weiss Okay, so I am calling in support Of the project I will speak here as the president Of the board of Craigsdorff's The organization that runs the winter Homeless Shelter At the First Baptist Church I think most people know that The primary cause of homelessness Is lack of affordable housing Amherst has a long standing And strong commitment To providing affordable housing And this project comes as close to In my mind A perfect example Of affordable housing As I can imagine It's somewhat unique And it's actually Will be targeting some homeless people For some of the apartments I just joined in Because I couldn't come earlier But at a public hearing last year I heard some people speak Against the project Saying that it wasn't a good plan For homeless people Because it would be a long wait Until they get in Because it wasn't close To a bus stop And because it was a half mile From the nearest supermarket I would say that I doubt Any or many of these people Have actually spoken to homeless people About their lives If they had They would know That the reasons given for Objecting to this project Are extremely poorly informed About the needs And how living at 132 North Hampton Road Would be a blessing Rather than unfair Right now Homeless people are living In tents in woods All around town It's not the greatest way to live Tenting is really great for us Privilege people who get to go camping This is the way it is for them All summer Until our shelter opens And I find that this location Is nearly perfect It's not far from downtown It's really only a half mile Six tenths of a mile I checked from the big Y And as we know Valley CDC has a very good If not excellent track record In running such housing I hope you will do whatever it takes To agree to permit this project Thank you so much for listening to me Thank you, Mr. Weiss You're welcome Next is Elsa Campbell Can you hear us? I think I've unmuted Is that correct? Yes Yes, it's actually Elisa Campbell Thank you I live at 27 Pine Grove And I've been attending meetings For the housing issues now For quite a while For the League of Women Voters And the League did send in a statement In favor of this project I just wanted to make a couple of comments Similar to something I said a year ago When the town council was having a meeting About this project Because I think it's important to remember This goes along with what Jerry Weiss just said About the need for this kind of housing And the cost of housing One of the studies I saw What a year ago said that the average rent Or excuse me Fair market rent for a studio apartment Is $1,272 If someone is going to be able to pay that rent On their own They need to earn it Dollars an hour We have lots of people in Amherst With jobs that do not pay $24 an hour I think it's really incumbent On those of us who are lucky enough Privileged enough to have stable housing To be empathetic for those who for whatever reason Have not succeeded in getting stable housing And therefore I really hope that we will Permit this project and have it go ahead So it can be providing housing as soon as possible Thank you Thank you Mrs. Campbell Next is Give me a second Susan? Yes Okay Hi Susan Hello I thought the comments I'm Susan to grab I live at 88 Rolling Green Drive in Amherst I thought the comments have been excellent And I really liked the comment by Nate Butington about the fear of people Being single and thinking that you know the worst I think one person in their letter talked about these transient men You know just these kind of language and fear-mongering is just not right I also don't particularly I don't agree with With the last speaker I agree with what the last speaker said about It's much much worse to be homeless And to struggle around outside and the elements Then to have to walk What is it at half a mile to the grocery store I'm sure that people would find a way And they would you know pool resources or find Get there One of the opponents had actually mentioned Or someone who thought that the Support services should be greater had actually mentioned Maybe there could be a shuttle or something Maybe something like that would work If there's disabled people need to get to the store I just wanted to make a couple points about Early in the discussion One of the gentlemen talked about We should only depart from the zoning laws If there's an extraordinary reason And because it's case by case I submit that we should Because this is as everyone has said This is a very well-designed project Valley CDC is coming in here Good faith as professionals as experts in the field And I and I really have to take issue With people in the comments who have tried to say that They've lied and misrepresented And things like that If they said something was at bed and breakfast And now the person is not running it I mean come on Can we get to the issue here Which is homelessness And as the last gentleman said It's very very serious When you're out there and you're all on your own I think I've only lived in Amherst for several years And I would I full disclosure I've been a member of the housing coalition Coalition for affordable housing in Amherst Which John Hornick chairs Why first learned several years ago That Amherst when I went to the meetings Amherst has been quite slow In changing zoning That it's a lot of single family homes And we had a presentation about a project In Northampton where the idea was to allow Say someone who's elderly who has a garage And wants to convert that into housing For someone you know one room or whatever it may be Sound like a great idea But someone in the meeting Might have been a lease I don't recall Had said well you know it's hard to get movement in Amherst And I've seen that having been here now for Let's see three years So I think that a departure from the zoning rule Is certainly warranted especially since I don't think It would be binding on you know another project It's case by case maybe I'm not correct on that But it's really an issue of addressing a problem And making changes I remember before I moved up here I lived in East Longmeadow And years ago was the notion of recycling was introduced And people got up and said how are we ever going to Put our trash into barrels? It's impossible we have a large family And lo and behold they tried it And it wasn't so bad and it was great And we reduced you know the waste in the town By quite a lot and it wasn't such a hardship So when people want to say You know that they can't change laws Or they're set in concrete I think that's wrong These are extraordinary times we have to react Nimbly Finally I would say that as the gentleman said Pertain to the homeless and some other speakers We really have to look at the humanity here Some of the speakers with all due respect I don't think they're considering the humanity Of the people who are in these circumstances They want to really nitpick about this point and that point And really their purposes to defeat the project We know that even in the things that have been Happening with Black Lives Matter that White people have sometimes you know not understood The way that Black people have been treated as less than human And I'm getting a flavor of that in the sense that As John Hornick said the demonization of these people that you don't even know They're going to be you know a menace The children are going to be menace There was mention of there's 20 to 30 children in the neighborhood There's no Can you make some concluding remarks here? Thank you So finally Caroline don't do that please Finally I think that you know there's just There's not evidence that these people are going to be harmful I think they'd be very grateful to have the room I did hear in closing the statistic on the radio that five percent Of people were not married and single many years ago and now it's 25 percent I think as Carol pointed out So what are you doing? My daughter was trying to point out something else but that's about it I really I really appreciate that the opportunity to speak Thank you very much Susan You're welcome Is there anybody else we have no other people that have indicated by raising their hand virtually Through the zoom app that they wish to speak is there anybody else Who wishes to speak? So please raise your hand on the zoom app As we said earlier in the meeting This is not the only way that you the public can Contribute to the process You can watch the video on YouTube or on the town website or on the Amherst media You can contribute your comments through email by writing to this writing to town You can view and you can get information about the project on the town website So this concludes the public comment portion of tonight's meeting The next item on the agenda is for is to get responses from the applicant To the questions that the board submitted at our last meeting on June 25th And I would like to ask I guess it's It's Ms. Laughler or the Valley Community Development Representative Is your preference to to give a to review the submissions in response to the board questions From last meeting or would you like to talk about some of the comments tonight But would you how would you like to proceed because we will be take we have some time to go over your comments Up there with me Jane Rachel Sorry, I It's Laura up here now No, oh valley. Um I don't know who valley is valley community. He must be Laura Yep, and then I don't know So Tom we should have Tom Chalmers and Felicity Hardy. Yep Tom I might be on this community Israeli So, um, Laura Laura, would you like to uh, how do you want to proceed? Do you want to describe your some of your um Responses to the questions from the board from last meeting? Yeah, I think that we will um So we have uh prepared a presentation for you tonight. Um, it will be much of what you got in your packets Um, but we could run through it with you and see if you have questions We did the best we could in the couple days that we had and it wasn't I'm sure everything that people would like So we can have some back and forth about that as well Um, what I'd like to do Laura is just for us normally I would say do the whole presentation and then we can come back to Each individual questions, but these are very um, if I if I'm right, you're going to take each one of the submissions and describe them Is that correct? Yes Yes, would it make more sense to go through each To discuss each submission itself individually and have questions or do you want to Would you prefer to have the whole presentation presented and then questions at the end? Um, I think because it's hard to go back and forth in the power point Um, I think people should ask questions as we go along Okay, so then what I want you to do then is to indicate when you completed your description of one We'll ask questions and we'll move to the next one. Okay Okay All right Should I go ahead and share screen now? Yes, please Okay, how are we doing people seeing a Front page very good Yeah All right Just a reminder to folks that there is a real treasure trove of information on the town's website about this project Because we have been in a lot of active communication about it for more than a year And so as time permits, I would encourage the zoning board to go back and read through especially the project eligibility letter submission Um, because it has some information that is not duplicated in the zoning application So, um the format that we used for this presentation is kind of a Q&A Um, we tried to focus on things that would be visual as being more appropriate for a power point Um, there's a lot of verbiage that we also gave you in your packet. Um, so we'll go through there was a lot of discussion about Uh landscaping and these were the questions you see here that were asked about the the intended plantings Um, Rachel is going to lead you through We did a couple of charts that answer some of these questions in terms of the quantity the size of planting the maturity the growth time for all of the different proposed Landscaping and then a couple of slides down you're going to see a little bit more of a graphic representation of Kind of the different um plantings in their location. So I'm going to turn it over to Rachel Thanks, Laura Sure So I'm going to talk about three different major categories of planting that we're using on site Um, the first category are the is in the shade and flowering trees These are deciduous trees that provide shade. They provide habitat and some of them flower and provide nuts and berries Um, there's a range of heights also within within our selection Trees like the black tupelo Are medium to large size shade trees 30 to 50 feet high Um, and we have a range of growth rates that are slower to faster Some of them will take 32 years to mature and some of them will mature in eight years also A lot of attention in recent years The profession has been really evolving to Understand better how different plants support ecosystem services of pollinators and birds and mammals And so I referenced Douglas Ptolemy's recent publication the living landscape and double checked all these trees to see what Um benefits he lists they provide. So as you'll see in the category under eco services Many of the trees that we've selected are supporting local pollinators In the case there are some non-nate most of the plantings are native. There are a couple non-natives Um, and where I have been able to research when they were introduced That's also listed in the chart. So there are some trees that are non-native but they were introduced In the 1870s interestingly enough the the Norway spruce Which are um on the property line are actually pretty prevalent throughout Amherst and they were introduced during colonial times So the left to below is a shade tree. Um, it also likes wet environments We've placed it in the lower part of the site where Where things we anticipate being a little bit more more wet this way a little bit more wet has a lovely Lovely lovely fall color It is also well adapted to southern climates also. So as things heat up that tree will continue to thrive Um, it's companion tree the slump white oak corpus bicolor Is a larger shade tree. Um, it's up to 60 feet tall And the oaks by Douglas Tallamay really heralds the oaks for being able to support a lot of insects and Really provide a lot of services, but they're also just wonderful trees to be under. Um, they have Very smooth low leaves The sycamore tree plantus octodontalis is a native tree. It's very large. I've seen a couple heritage trees in the area Wonderful peely bark. So even in the winter It has a presence and beautiful yellow color The sycamores do tend to on a wet spring. They tend to bloom out later, but um Just they're they're just so wonderful and they have a strong presence and they thrive here The japanese tree lilac is actually used by a lot of trees By the shade tree public shade tree committee in amherst is one of the street trees It has it's not native, but it is really Understory tree that provides a lot of interest 20 to 30 feet tall um, we've also chosen, uh, we have one sugar hackberry on site um, it's Quite gets quite large also um and it has really supports a lot of songbirds and the hackberry moth And also we're using eastern red, but it's another native understory tree The buds out and has great color Okay, next slide The next category of trees. So those that's our shade canopy And understory understory accent trees The next category are the trees that are going to be providing screening and color throughout the seasons So when those trees lose their leaves these trees kind of create more of a structure or formal structure in the landscape um And we've in this in that category we have a range one of the challenges with a lot of evergreen trees Like the norway spruce is on the site is that over time they lose the bottom branches due to shading and so Trees that were planted once for a visual screen become open at the bottom where people's sight lens are And the the needles are at the top. So what we're doing is we're employing a mix of heights So some of these evergreen trees like the blue jinnaker And the ball cypress boulevard and the birch nest spruce are low evergreen trees That really occupy that six feet to zero level and stay dense and compact in combination with the larger evergreen trees like the lawson cypress and the white pine And the pisces lacca. So the white pine is a fast growing evergreen tree It has these really swoopy needles, which are really lovely to see And that one will really take a dominant role in the landscape The weeping white spruce is a little bit more narrow, but it has a different color and different texture and the Lawson cypress is um It has a nice green foliage There is some variation out there with different distributors as claiming as to the height Of the of the lawson cypress We would make sure that we would get the variety that is the taller one for this case um We also have rain garden area that we're we're going to plant instead of just using mulch in the rain garden Or rocks we've been experimenting in the firm with using various grasses sedges Uh to to use as a base layer that then we can plant shrubs in so that it stays green has vegetation and habitat throughout the years um And so I've outlined on this chart also which some species of caterpillars Um that appreciate these types of sedges also Okay next slide and then The sort of the mid height can category the the flowering shrubs and shrubs typically in In the landscape design in the public landscape shrubs usually get the short shift um A lot of public landscapes are tall canopy trees very few evergreens And very few shrubs In part because it's a maintenance issue and also it's a visibility issue Um to really make a space wonderful and feel very homey It's really helpful to have things at that sort of mid height the three to four height Range where you can kind of see over them or you feel more create sense of enclosure in spaces It also provides more bird habitat And more more support to those colonnaders And it helps express change in the in the landscape over the season Some recent projects are really pushing the boundaries of how Shrubs and how the shrub layer could be woven into a public landscape Like take lusky park for example A lot of the the heights and plantings there which are so wonderful to be in feels like a garden because It's in that scale and that's something that we're going to be using here So we've also used a lot of natives And a couple a couple of non natives and i've highlighted which ones are non native and again as they said before the ones that Are non native i've written out when they were introduced to cultivation in the united states 1870 is Pretty pretty great year for cultivating plants So to talk you through some of those Spring torch heathers and massing a little bit and it's been used for centuries and you're in new england and in europe plethora all onifolia summer sweet Has really great White wispy flowers which are probably in bloom right about now Comptonia peregrina also known as sweet burn Has a really dense texture and it kind of has a spicy smell so when you walk by it You're really aware that it's there with the native plant Um red twig dogwood tornus bailey cornus cericia bailey um is a Native plant um it is often seen near wetlands or in wetter sites, but it also can tolerate dry conditions since Probably one of my favorite shrubs mostly because in the winter that picture Fourth one in on the bottom the red twigs Are really really prominent in a winter landscape against the snow Um, but then in the summer has very lush green leaves and white flowers So it's a plant for all seasons. It also has really soft So snow can be piled on it can break and it won't you know It won't break it'll come back and you can also cut it down and it'll grow back in a year So it's a it's a winter for the landscape Father guard father gilla is a native. You can see the in the wooded landscapes nearby Um, and it's great for caterpillars Which hazel has those yellow blooms that in the spring some hydrangeas they're they're You know more more typical in a new england historic landscape and then Virginia sweet sweet spire Henry's garment, which is also bloom right about now Tolerates wetter sites, um, which we anticipate here and have really wonderful red leaves and the fall Ilex glaber shamrock shamrock ink fairy is Often used adjacent to parking areas. It has a good salt tolerance And it has these berries which are which are delightful for birds. It's evergreen through the seasons And it's pretty has a dense compact foliage Call me a lot of bolia at mountain moral It's all over the area here in the woods and in Everyone's yards and it's a it's a staple of the landscape design It's evergreen. Um, it has Pink or white flowers in the in the early summer Uh, northern bayberry immersive. It's levanica also has a tight compact form It's semi evergreen. I always hoped it would be evergreen, but it's semi evergreen Since the we lose its leaves in the in the winter, but it has wonderful berries and pops out in the spring And then flowers beauty pyres is another evergreen tight compact One which is provides structure in the landscape That's a summary in detail of the species and kind of the Intent of those types and now I'll talk you through um, how those Are placed in the landscape and I'm just zooming in on the plans that were already provided That were in all of this information is on lc 111 Okay, next one So I've added color dots to kind of locate you and tie you back to the plan where these trees are enough There's a couple different slides that zoom in onto different parts of the site plan So starting at the eastern border to our adjacent neighbor Where the existing norway scruces are we were proposing a range of evergreen trees Those are the the blue dots on the plan So really using a lot of the pine astrobus Torilosa the white line with the twisted needles that will get quite high Where that creates the structure for the new the new screening fence At the end we've added some weeping white spruce um, and then we've mixed in a range of the Full of our false cypress the blue point juniper the bird's nest spruce and the mason silver queen So that provides a really strong formal evergreen structure at multiple heights In addition, we've added in The the sycamore and the hackberry And then towards the bike shed area. We've added in some of the red twig dogwood and the sweet curtain next slide And the area that we're calling the front landscape It's really the area between the front door of the apartment building in the parking area in Northampton road And this is the area that residents will walk through daily as they Go to and from the from the residents In this area, we've got a lot of things going on We're dealing with storm water. So we have a rain garden area Right next to the parking area um, we also have we're trying to screen individual units from views of the parking area and create some privacy So we we do have units in the in the lower level And as tom had mentioned last week when you enter the building you enter at the mid level height The lobbies are a mid level between floors and you go either up or down to residents So for the residents who are living in that ground for sort of half half garden apartment We wanted to make sure that we're providing screening for them and something soft and Lush for them to look at when they're looking out and not looking into the parking area So we're relying on um on some witch hazel some more of the birds Nespous lots of the redwood dogwood We're looking at the cow mea latifolia And then we're using a lot of understory trees in that zone also to kind of give more stream And provide in spatial interest so that we're using So some of those guys also like the Japanese tree lilac Um And then as we move further out towards northampton road We're taking advantage of The street tree and the shade tree relationship that's happening on site. So at northampton road We have a a road venicephal badica the black to the low trees And then we also have moving inward to the site some of the Some of the swamp bioke trees and then we around the parking area we're using Um the door for the gilla some of the cluthora And closer to the end some idea Garnet as well as in the rain garden area. We're using a mix of Carracks appalachia carrots and over blue side oats graphs and little blues and Okay, next slide In the southern border the the portion of the parcel backing on to Amherst college property Uh, we're using again a structure of the evergreen trees. So again pineastrobus Is the white pine those blue dots are providing a structure Um, and we're interspersing those with some leaves and whites Closer to the building we're relying on the eastern redbud um, and then moving between towards the patio garden area we're using more of the the sycamore And the in the quarkus white oak salt white oak And then we have a couple purple shrub areas in in those zones We're going to use more of the full woods full cypress to kind of block to use from the patio into Amherst college's property those guys will Block everything from zero to eight feet um, we're also using some more of the cornice and some of the Next slide on the western border adjacent to the parking areas Using many of the same trees and we've heard comments that there's a desire for more screening between the Outdoor pavilion and the patio and the parking areas And so right now we currently have a deciduous shade border right up against the fence there With the sycamore and some forest pansy but what we could do is um Add some more evergreen trees there if it's more shaped screens desires So that's something that you know, we can we can modify if that if that would be of benefit to the town um We as we move closer to the building. We're using the eastern redbud kind of created grove that you sit up against and to provide again more screening between The residents looking out to people that might be in the landscape We do have some spaces carved out for the for the garden areas Earning open and then moving towards Northampton really again. We're using more of the big shade trees Blue missus olbatica and the small white oak And a couple more of the other greens and then closer to the building on the front. We're kind of Taking reference to more of the historic landscape So we do have some evergreens as a foundation planting up against the building And then we're bringing some hydrangeas in front of there And some of the heather in front of that some conditional names and planting next slide Thanks And then we had a question about will the crab apple tree along the bare property line remain And yes, we think we can before we had prioritized pedestrian circulation around around the building at the level of the exits But I think if we if we take that away and Change the grading you can We can pick up the tree And then the question was what is the common scientific name the ally or trees along the northeastern property line And that is marley spruce Pisces allies and as I said before that is a something introduced in colonial times is actually native to europe and not not new england I think we're gonna leave the the intense landscaping part of this so people have tree shrub planting questions About what rachel has presented. I think this would be a good time for those Yeah At the end of we answer that we're going to take a five minute break and we'll come back so all right, um, so let's Who has questions about the? uh planting plans or the the landscaping We've just covered I have one Yes, no mr. Langsdale The norway spruce do you have any idea how deep the roots of those trees go? I don't know at this time that I can try to find out The only reason i'm asking is They're obviously mature trees and I know that pine Trees their roots do not go real deep So they're more prone to falling down So I was I was just wondering I don't know about the spruce and I was just wondering if that's true of spruce as well Yeah, we can find out for you and get back to you on that Thank you I have a question Miss parks Um, so it along those lines, um with those northern spruce I'm just wondering if If there's an assessment of them that they are unsafe trees that they are You know a danger to either property and if they might fall down I'd be interested in in The answer to whether they are concerning trees So one concern that I'm thinking of for that neighbor who is uphill is if those trees are removed I think that the lighting for the parking lot and for this new building will be very Evident for them. Whereas with those trees there It would provide screening for a lot of the additional lighting for this property. And so I just wanted to Just make that as a note. Um, just for That property owner to maybe imagine those trees missing and if there was a lighting lighting parking lot is that it pervert preferred view for them And then um, I'm I I'm just wondering what the cost of removing those trees is Um, I know that we've I've had trees removed and it's about a thousand dollars a tree And so I'm just wondering What you think the cost of removing those trees is and I'm assuming that you're going to have to do something about the roots or not um So, yeah, I so That that's my questions This is laura. We have not done an estimate on the cost of removing the trees Um, it would be a significant cost. It's not likely to be a thousand dollars a tree because they do them all in a day or two Um, but it's significant and then they would have to remove the stumps as well if we're going to plant something in that area So I am interested actually in the question that was just asked about how deep the roots go because In order to make that soil suitable for replanting, you know What level of removal would we have to do to really give the new plantings a fighting chance? Do you know the age of those trees? The norway pines Yeah, you know your best bet is barbara the neighbor because she remembers I believe when They were planted. They were planted by the family that Used to own 132 north Hampton road. I think in the belief that they were on their property so And I guess do you have an answer to miss park's first question which was um, the The stability or the potential dangerousness of the Yeah Of those trees We do not um, you know It's not unusual that we would have Either the tree warden or an arborist come on site to evaluate trees because We can tell maybe not all of these trees are perfectly healthy trees So it's definitely something if there was a contemplation of saving them We would want to assess their condition if they're being removed then it's kind of a moot point what their condition is So it really does kind of a fork in the road for us Um, so we do not know their condition And it would it would require hiring someone who's got some expertise to evaluate them Other questions about the landscaping from members of the board Just you know, uh chris, uh breast strip has raised again the playing I can't see her great gris Yes I just wanted to note that I did speak with um, guilford mooring the head of the dpw And I asked him whether the tree warden would be available to evaluate these trees And his reaction was that he um the tree warden His area of jurisdiction doesn't cover these trees And it would really be better if um, if you did feel that they needed to be evaluated That you had an independent Evaluation of them rather than having a town employee evaluate them Thank you miss rest up. I conversed with the tree warden prior about this row of trees And his comment, you know, initially we thought, you know, maybe it's not All or nothing. Maybe we could thin them Um, and he recommended against that because as they grow the branches kind of interlock And so they're less likely to topple because they're kind of all Holding each other up. So I'm just sharing what little I know about those trees other questions about the Landscaping I have one quick question. What's the approximate cost? What are you estimating is the cost of this? It's lovely. It's a lovely plan looks to me. So I congratulate the landscape advocate What's the cost of this it's And then What what do you How much do you think it's going to cost to maintain these of the shrubs and all the different? Plantings to keep them looking so nice because that's one of that's one of the real attractions of this project Sure. So rachel, do you want to do you want to take a stab at the cost of the initial planting? Sure We haven't we haven't done that evaluation yet. I mean that's something that we could provide at the next meeting And in terms of in terms of the maintenance I think for the Initial planting in the first five to 10 years It'll be good for the tree maintenance just to keep an eye on where their limbs are coming in um And that there's an opportunity to really think about Views in and also what's being screened by those branches. So that's something that in those initial years of growth Valley CDC can really Cultivate what feels more open So a shade tree that's tall with branches that start at six feet high Would allow for these through versus a shade tree that is left with lower branches Be blocking views. So that's that's something that Would be a recommendation To for maintenance in the early years a lot of the shrubs Can be left left as as they are They're They're well behaving shrubs I think You know worst-case scenario or even they are only enhanced by by shaping and trimming Um, but for the most part, I think these can Be left left to be I think also initially with the ground plane Anything in the rain garden area and any areas with the planting beds Every two every two maybe every two years you want to bring in more mulch And you every year every spring There the weeding effort is really helpful if you read early You can really get ahead of anything kind of overtaking So we we tend to tell people those first two years after installation when the plants are really small or on the smaller size and growing Um, it's really helped. You can really make a lot of headway by By managing and maintaining it On other, you know We could get some quotes for valley cvc or valley cvc might help if they do one of their projects But we can we can pull together those numbers also And talk about what's up my tail. So in our management plan We reference the fact that we do third party contracting for grounds maintenance And at a minimum that includes a spring kind of cleanup Which would probably be the time that we would be fertilizing things or or pruning things And it would be a professional landscaper who would do that. Um, and then we do mowing throughout the season And then we do a fall cleanup as well. Um, so that's kind of the bare bones of things that we would be doing Rachel, can you talk about whether we you think these would need watering or Are they pretty drought tolerant and also on a site that has such high groundwater? Whether you think there would be much watering needed I think I think long term watering would not be needed Um on sites Take for example this this last the last two weeks where we've had Unseasonally high temperatures without rain um, even even The places that I've been walking around Amherst that I that had to have high groundwater that have soggy ground Um, I've been seeing things really struggling. So um, I think Wait, we that for again that focusing on that first year of establishment is really critical to water Uh, and that will be something that will be in the in the contract documents and will be on the onus of the Contractor to maintain that first year But everything will be to be watered and really cared for during the first year Since we are using native species and we have matched the species to be To the character of the soil conditions of the site long term it should not need irrigation Um, but it's really it's really really keeping an eye on them in that first year first year and We're too to make sure that they get the water so they can get the roots out. Great. Thank you Um, Ms. Omira, I see that you have your hand raised. Do you have a question? I do just a clarification on that Norway spruce tree line if we can get through this um the abutter wants an eight foot fence And that's a waiver. I believe from the zba for us to agree upon or not agree upon Would the abutter still want those trees down if we did not agree on the waiver? And is this not the right time to ask that question? I I think it is the right time to ask the question. I you know, I we I think that question probably is answered by the abutter and The abutter I think has their hand raised in the attendee list if that's correct I think I see bgw and if I remember right, I think that is That is the abutter We you know, I know that you can't answer that at valley development corporation. So um, I think You could ask Go ahead, marine Barbara, I'll allow you to talk Go ahead Thanks, um This is the first I've heard that the fence would not go up Those trees have probably about 60 years old. Perhaps even a little bit older Looking online It says that the norway spruce has A shallow root and I can say that yes it does because the roots have extended into our yard Probably going out about oh at least five feet in some areas if not further It is I you know my husband I are both 70 years old and while when we were younger cleaning up after those trees was less of an issue Now it's becoming more problematic Um So It's you're are you suggesting that it's either a fence or those trees? I mean I Could you clarify that please? I think the question was what If those trees stay do you want the fence? Yes, those trees come down And there's these other Plans Do you still want the and which include the trees come down? There's a plan for a fence, but we have to provide a waiver for the size of the fence that's being talked about Right. I would we would like a fence given that we do not want people crossing Now cutting across to get to town. I mean if you're coming out that side door and you need to get to town The tendency what is it the shortest distance between two lines Or between two spaces a straight line We do want a fence along that whole property line um And we want the trees gone because it seems it will be very difficult to Have a fence and have the trees both. How are you going to maintain it? um I just I don't see it So miss omira does that answer your question that you have me? Sorry. Um, as far as the lights We are uphill. I don't anticipate that the lights will be an issue um Our bedroom sleeping quarters are on the second floor. So we were even higher um I don't anticipate that the lights will be a problem. I appreciate the consideration Miss omira does that answer your question? You can't hear you. All right. Um, I don't think it answers the question The question was if we don't agree on an eight foot fence, do they still want those trees down? So Can I just clarify so we can do a six foot fence by right basically? so your Difference between the waiver, which is for the extra high fence of eight feet versus six feet So The zba denies the waiver for the eight foot fence and we can only put a six foot fence Does the neighbor still want the trees to be removed? Is that your question? Yes, that's right. I guess it's a You're um Yep, yep louder Now we should move on Quick response Yeah Oops, sorry. Sorry. I pressed the mute. Sorry. Hold on. Yep Uh, I think you can talk wait, uh, where did you go? Sorry, uh, bear with me. Okay. You can talk Barbara Thanks, um We would much prefer the eight foot fence If a six foot fence is all that would be allowed, then I guess we don't have much choice We would still want the trees down All right, thank you Let's go back to questions from the panel from the cba members of regarding the Landscaping I had planned to take a break here, but we're almost we're getting Close to the end. So let's let's just and let's people eject. Let's just power through this to nine o'clock and Go as far as we can We're already at eight. It's almost eight thirty now. So There's not a lot of benefit to a break So, uh, shall we roll forward in our presentation? Yes, let's go to the next Okay, let's see. Do we need we've been through the trees the eight foot north and then now we're into the bike storage shed Well, I do know that I do note that dylan had his hand up. Oh, he did Oh Mr. Maxfield, where are you? I'm sorry right here. Go ahead It's not a question. It's it's more of a comment. Are we we had a point of comments or should I hold those hold those later on? Comment on the on the updated Landscape plan. Yes. Yeah comment on just my opinion on on those trees before we move forward. Go ahead Yeah, we have we have the direct about or the direct neighbor there who says that they uh You know, they want those trees removed. Uh, they want that that fence put in there And I know there was we had a little bit of talk of maybe about doing some type of study About those those trees and the roots, but I I would say at this point for you know Any of the members in cba to think about my inclination here is for that I I'd say remove those trees. They want those down And then my inclination also was an eight foot fence. We'd seen what an eight foot fence would look like there It it didn't look To my mind like something imposing So I I know we keep going back to the discussion about those trees But like to say my my current inclination is is to to go with what the butter has asked for and the applicant has agreed to Personally, I think it would be a good idea to go that direction. Thank you. Um Go ahead so We were asked for sections and elevations along the fence line and Um, just want the zb to zba to be aware that those are Are kind of tall orders in terms of how much design time it would take And not typical for the preliminary design phase. And so just to note My kind of opinion about 40 b Is the goal is to provide a streamlined one-stop permitting process through the zba that relies upon preliminary plans In order to contain the developer's pre-development costs This is part of the state's policy to foster and encourage the development of affordable housing so I just would have Ask back to the board to think carefully and selectively about how many 3d images You really need to evaluate the project because it will take time and money to be able to produce those That's my editorializing So, um, okay, we understand that's I appreciate that And I think we do as well We know that they cost and if these are you can see we spent we just spent 45 minutes on or we spent by 20 minutes on trees Yeah, and fences. So maybe it may be an issue. This may be one of those issues that is important to the board But you know, it may not be We think there's needs for an elevation. We will let you know and if that's a Basis of our decision. I think you should know that and we may ask for it. Okay So we've covered some of these. Thankfully, barber was willing to be here tonight and could directly represent her views Questions asked whether we Had always intended to take these trees down and the answer is no our original plans had them preserved And they were altered in january 2020 in response to barbers request We're open and willing to save the trees or consider alternates within the project's budget However, we seek an outcome that is amenable to the immediate abutter Bike storage shed. We were asked for construction details and dimensions on it and here they come This is a look at what we think it would probably look like Actually, tom, do you want to take us through these? Sure. So we were Looking at just a very simple structure. We envisioned that As we discussed last time and on the drawings, it would be just built on there'd be no pad as was shown on the detail In the drawings, but it would be built on sauna tubes with the paver the grass pavers continuation of the grass pavers beneath them And it visioning just a simple structure built with locally milled green hemlock for instance and steel connectors And the dimensions are the same as The dimensions that were on the drawing I believe 24 feet long I think the height was less than 10 feet Yeah, yeah, if you go to the next slide So the only thing that's really you know governing the height is just having enough headroom clearance and at the back and cover And the bike rack would just be a simple s-shaped rack in the center Running down the center And it would accommodate how many bikes did we say? 21. Yeah, something like 21. Okay And then there's an outlet shown there which we we thought would be important for charging electric bikes And this is just a floor plan and another elevation with dimensions Um, so just a little bit more about the the bike, uh, you know, obviously tom hit the outlet We are seeing a lot more of our tenants using electric assist bikes And in this location where there is a slope up and a slope down We thought it would make great sense to provide an easy way for people to charge bikes Just a note more editorializing that we also see a lot of our tenants in motorized wheelchairs Which makes it much more manageable to manage The kind of slope that we're looking at on north hampton road I think we're going to move from bike shed. So if anybody has a bike shed question, this would be the time Just really quickly. Um, I thought at one point you said there was going to be lighting in the bike shed Is that your lighting plan because it's not a measure pictures we just saw Yeah, I believe it's on the lighting plan. It's uh, um, it's a Fixed your mounted under the roof so it would be basically just shining down onto the bikes Okay, stop me if you need to Um, we're gonna do your questions on the bike storage All right, go ahead We had a suggestion that we look at lowering the pole lamps from the 12 feet that was proposed to eight or 10 feet Um, our lighting consultant definitely did not encourage eight feet He thought it would create kind of hot spots right under the lamp and not give a nice broad light over a big area um, so We're providing a couple things one request was to be able to read the numbers on the plan The original plan and honestly, they're still hard to read on my screen They might they might be easier in your hard copies And then this is the this is the slide that we showed last week of kind of showing the different Intensity of light, but all of these light levels are fairly low Um, and then we're giving you a look at what we could do with 10 foot high fixtures And really the difference is we need more of them. So instead of up here You'll see four of the pole lights along the parking area one two three four Um to get the same kind of coverage. We would just need one additional pole light Um to get approximately the same kind of lighting for the area Um, and then we're showing we gave full cut sheets of the fixtures to the zba Um, but right here. We're just really giving you a snapshot of what the different fixtures look like instead of all the technical specifications Um, as rachel mentioned last time there are 3 000 k or less, which means a fairly warm kind of light These guys over here are solar powered everything else's traditional electric So questions about exterior lighting No questions about that Yeah, Keith um, you show on the plans you show a Pathlight type two and type three the type three is 36 inches high But on the uh plot here, I don't see any Threes is that correct? You're only using the twos The the twos are in the in the back area and connecting the patio to the pavilion Yeah, the the threes are along the path the main sidewalk connecting the residents to northampton road So they have a little bit more more spread So these ones that i'm pointing at now rachel are are taller Correct, then these ones back here could you uh I can't read what this says over here because all of our pictures are there. Can you Move our pictures so I can read that You can minimize the pictures too if you hit the little Minus sign you'll just see yourself Um, so the the p3s are looks like 36 inches tall and the others are 20 inches tall Yeah, okay. I don't what minus sign do I hit? I don't know There we go. Okay It's just like two it says pathway type two not three Path type two Do we get the next step? No Path like type two is right here Yes, now look at the other Look at the Does it say a two as well? That's type two as well type two. Okay, so rachel that should be three correct? Yes That is an error should be three and it looks like the wash is There was no wash on the to the boundary The neighboring property correct one of our important goals is to not have any light spill over the property line So even if the trees weren't what you're saying is is this right that even if the trees weren't there There's no wash over the to the The boundary of a budding property You may be able to see the light from the abiding property because Depending upon the height, but there's no wash over directly from the light Right, so they're all kind of full cut off lights Um, and this I I don't even think the rachel correct me if i'm wrong I don't think dan took into account the fact that there's a big fence and plantings here. This is just Almost as if there were nothing What people tend to see honestly are lights on in the building When there's a you know, there's nothing you can do to shade those if unless people have their shades down Okay Uh Other questions of on lighting before we leave this area. It's it's always a These are all downcast on and um I'm not an expert on on cut sheets There are people on this call who are but these are all downcast dark sky dark sky compliant lighting, right? Correct Okay, and if and if you are familiar with looking at foot candles, you know We're in the point one to one one to two range, which is pretty pretty low light Yeah Okay There's no other questions move on to the supportive services plan Okay So the question was whether the supportive services plan we had already submitted to the town has changed and the answer is that it has not And my understanding is that morrin made hard copies for you folks and distributed them so that you have those in a format That's easy to read We sent those plans in with the project eligibility letter to the department of housing community development We got comment back from them that it was a very robust plan So it the plan does not become final until it's approved and funding is granted by the department of housing community development They will be giving some resources to pay for the resident services coordinator Okay, so but this is a draft. This is the plan that you submitted to the town Yes, and the state and so So what one thing I would like Is not just that the zba have a reference of the Of the supportive services plan, but it seems to me we should have the supportive services plan submitted to us As well as something we consider in our deliberations. I mean right now it's it This is a plan that is that is submitted to another body And the other body approved it and it's been And it has been judged or you've represented that it's been judged to be You know a robust plan And one of the things I'd like to do is have this as part of our document So I would like you to submit this to us and not just reference it as a submission to another government another amherst agent government agency Will do Okay, thank you You know and I would like to spend I don't want to spend as much time on that today. I think this is a discussion For a lot of I mean there's a good discussion on supportive services I think that the board would be interested in and I don't know that we have time to do that in 20 minutes I do think it's a deserves You know more discussion and I think and I didn't anticipate I thought we'd have a lot more public comment I anticipated that we wouldn't get this far. So We'll have more discussion upon the supportive services plan later But if anybody has an immediate question, they want to ask We can do it now, but know that we have more discussion on supportive services in the plan That they've proposed at a later meeting right and also know we have a summary of the plan within this set of power points later Yes, mr. Maxfield So if we're um We're asking that the supportive services plan be submitted to us directly. That's part of the um the pl correct Yeah, good. Um, should we just ask that we have the pl submitted to us in its entirety as a as a document That we would review because I know there's other parts of the pl That i'm sure we'll be discussing later such as the uh the pro forma for example We could do that Is there any I mean I was going to go piece by piece, but if there's um The whole pl is um, I think a document that went to the town council and to the funding agency and it seems to me the whole thing should come to to the the zba right Any reason not to do it In my experience often towns make it a requirement of the comp permit application Yeah So I think it's a good I think that's a very good suggestion. Mr. Maxfield. Mr. Parks. Ms. Parks Um, I just have one question in in some housing Uh, there's a resident who is designated kind of as a as a manager in case there's any emergency overnight I don't in any of your properties. Does that happen or is that a possibility that someone could be a designated? Right to take calls in case of an emergency who then You know would be the person to get the service Right. Um, I understand your question. We have not used that model. I've talked with other folks Um who have gone back and forth in terms of that model. Um, sometimes it's tricky to have a resident Be a resident and also fulfill a professional function. Um, so no this has someone who's their daytime's Only there is a 24 7 um emergency line. That's for property management issues Okay, I just wondered if that was something that you might consider. I know uh in for Some places they there's a reduction in the rent to just take on the official responsibility Yeah, and those places um, we had a lot of consideration of this. Um during this planning and I talked to a number of Agencies who run programs like that and they go back and forth if I'd make success with that model. So We would like to have someone who can stand a little bit apart maybe from the tenants And feels separate a little bit and has some authority and also some specialized training And who doesn't have to meet income guidelines. We're really looking for someone who's a seasoned Person in social work to to be our resident services coordinator I was thinking of it in addition to that just somebody who would be sort of the on-call overnight, but I understand what you're saying. Yeah All right, so I just want to go back and confirm Mr. Maxfield's request. I think that's that having the the entire p.l Submitted to the cpa view is a good idea. And so we'd like Okay, so Clarifying question it's three hundred seventy three pages Is it sufficient to send it digitally rather than copying? Okay I think so. I will talk to I will I don't want to speak for maureen and the staff rules. I that's I but I think that probably Is um sufficient maureen. What do you think? If for chris either one If the board is fine with just receiving electronic copies By all means yeah, we don't need to cut down any more trees for that for For that, right? But you know if there is a you know a specific document that With it within the whole sort of package if you will That you feel that oh That you realize oh, maybe it would be nice to have a hard copy You can let let us know Yep, but yeah printing out 300 plus copies for all the board members seems like a lot of paper Great. Thank you. We appreciate that accommodation Uh question arose about the distance from the neighboring properties and I'll let rachel rachel did these calculations I'll let her talk about what she found I don't hear you rachel. So you might be muted Apologies, um, I used a mass gis's all all of our online viewers And I measured from the neighbor's house the footprint on oliver to the property line which gave us roughly 79 feet Um, and then if we looked at the measurement of our proposed building its distance to that same property line um the portion as a building at the Near the storage shed and the dumpster area Is 66 feet a little over 66 feet from the property line And then as the building gets closer to northampton road It's further away from the property line the building's in l shape and it's 90 a little over 90 feet. So um That means that those two distances combined The building footprint the proposed building footprint is anywhere from a 145 feet to 169 feet from the neighbor's house on our road And I will just give a caveat that when we use gis when you use oliver There's always a little bit of horizontal distortion With both the location of the property line and structures in the site. So this is not a survey. This is from oliver And then so this is the screenshot from oliver Um, and I added a bit of mentions I described before So you can see 126 markhampton road massing footprint in the neighbor and then our new footprint Um Is in red an existing building footprint on our site is the the beige color at the corner of the footprint So you can see how how far those distances at it Thank you. No no questions on build building distances. Okay We were required asked for a snow removal plan and specifically to talk about deicing methods and products and Really, you know the the plowing near plantings was kind of I think the concern that folks had And I'm going to kick it back to rachel again Um, so we have a lot of tools that we can use to manage snow and ice on paved surfaces and I think as As you pointed out that not all are the best for plantings and actually not all are best for pavement So the goal with our snow removal plan is to primarily support vehicular access to the property and support emergency vehicle turnaround and access Regardless of of how much snow has fallen recently um And then removing removing the material from the paved surfaces for the safety of the residents staff and visitors Um But in conflict that our dense shrub plantings which we Know will make this feel more homey and more residential and also help with screening the parking areas from other Neighbors and other parts on site Um, also these planted plantings are helping increase the uptake of storm water more so than regular lawn um These are inherently in conflict with snow storage areas. Yeah so the plan that valley cdc is proposing is to The contractor that they hire will be instructed to avoid the plantings And only use the designation designated areas for snow storage Um heavy storms. They're going to have to take the snow off site and smaller storms It will be push the periphery And if the grass paved parking areas are not in use by residents After a snowfall this area can be used for additional storage Um And then sand and salt um sand is is used it doesn't actually help melt salts snow or ice, but it does provide traction Um, but it has limited limited use we uh Folks tend to use chemicals to Speed up the melting process and help Prevent freezing of areas, but there are a number of different Out there that have a range of impact on plant sand paved areas um Sodium sodium chloride is most commonly used. It's what that's why we call it salt um, and it's very cost effective and it's Very effective up to 12 degrees Fahrenheit Um, but it also is very detrimental to plants and so that is something that we would not want to be using on site at all It also can build up into the adjacent soil areas and over a long term can impact uh plants ability to take nutrients Up into their into their systems. So this would be avoided on site Um calcium chloride is used in highway de-icing efforts. It's very effective down to negative 25 degrees Fahrenheit Um, it has minimal minimal impact with plants um there's also um Uh ria is another product that is used and in the in the industry in construction new construction Uh, we often when we install concrete require that The the grounds and maintenance not use any of the assaulting materials that use instead your ria Um, it's a fertilizer, but it's often used in for de-icing And it has less of a negative impact on newly installed concrete, which if concrete Goes through too many free stall cycles in the first year it can be prone to spawning So ria is something that we recommend anyway for newly installed concrete sidewalks for these de-icing in that first year So that is something that also is beneficial to adjacent plantings But if it's overused it can also be a problem um And then calcium magnesium acetate is another product that might be used on site Um, and it's it's not harmful to plants at all so What we would like to propose is to give valley cdc the flexibility to use a combination of these beneficial products um With sand and the calcium chloride ria in ria or calcium magnesium acetate is needed To adjust their plan to what the temperatures are on site and what the amount of precipitation is and what the issues are they with their their encountering So you're mad, um, if I could ask the question your management plan would then reflect that We store it on site if we if there's too big a Too big a snowstorm it's removed so or if the parking area is needed by the residents The snow is removed on a big snowstorm and you're trying to prevent Using dain or harmful Uh chemicals to melt snow you'll use sand and the two urea and the calcium magnesium Uh acetate I guess are the chemicals So the the management plan should reflect that that's your that's what you that's what you need to do. Okay um a question Any questions? All right parking parking So, uh, we were asked for a parking management plan. Um to talk about the needs of tenants guests staff and service providers And this is what we sent in your packet. Um The 14 parking spaces which were kind of originally the total parking spaces that were proposed Closest to the main entry restricted to cars with a parking sticker for the property Uh with some signage to indicate these spaces are for resident parking only two handicap spaces will be reserved for tenants having a handicap parking sticker or placard Um tenants with a car registered in their name will be issued a parking sticker allowing them to park on site No household will be issued more than one sticker Um regular staff working on site. Uh resident service coordinator and property management will also receive a parking sticker Uh cars and designated spaces without a parking sticker will be subject to towing at the car owners expense The two parking spaces located farthest from the main entry will be available for visitors and guests who do not have a parking sticker But are visiting a tenant who lives in amer studio housing And these spaces will be labeled accordingly And we do anticipate I think I've referenced this before there's a little bit of a flux between The peak time for tenant usage, which we would expect would be overnight and weekends And when there might be uh staff on site, which would be more likely to be uh during the daytime hours Hey So do we have any any questions from the board on the parking management plan? you know, I think we I think we're coming up to the time we have to break for the The meeting and the and the questions What do we we need to um have comments from public on matters that are not under the Not on the agenda and we also have to talk about the next time we meet Um as on this subject So what I what I propose is that it's as it's 10 10 to 9 we have a discussion Um when we meet and open up the public comments to the public For matters not on the agenda tonight But first I think we need to move to continue this to a another date And so I'm going to make that motion To move to continue this hearing to a date that we'll have a discussion about that date After we make the motion so I move we continue this hearing to a date to be chosen. Do I have a second? Okay This park seconds it um discussion We I know Maureen did a doodle pool A doodle poll not a doodle pool a doodle poll and that poll indicated that the first time we can get the Everybody back together again On a thursday night is I think august 6th. Is that right maureen? uh Yes, uh That everyone um Correct Yep, and because there's one time when we can't get people together, but we have a full agenda for other items So it seems to me that's the most reasonable thing we can do is Uh plan for our next hearing on this matter for august 6th We have a meeting next week on three. We have three items next week to continue them one new one I think or at least two continued and and perhaps the one on One new one as well. Yeah, and then we have another meeting scheduled for july 23rd Right for two special permits two special permits, but we don't have enough people to continue this meeting on that date So, uh, let me look at the poll. Um Yeah, I don't think that that doesn't work So I move that I would want to amend my motion to have the date be the August 6th that we continue this meeting to august 6th Anybody object to that amendment? Hearing none the the motion is amended Any further discussion and that would be at 6 30 just to clarify Yep, that's excuse me. That's right at 6 30 Any further discussion? Was that seconded? Oh, ten minutes. Yeah, I think yep we We had a friendly amendment to the original proposition and uh, so now we have the date of the 6th all in favor Be a roll call vote I vote aye. Mr. Langsdale. Aye Miss O'Meara. Aye Miss parks. Aye Mr. Maxfield. Aye Motion carries five to nothing Uh, so the meeting is continued until august 6th at 6 30 the last thing is um I know that the we had several questions the staff is going to put together um a list of questions That we will submit to you. Um through the applicant We also will continue that meeting and we'll also continue on through the The submission that you had tonight We'll Continue on that and we may have other items in the meantime that come up When we review the the plan and the social supportive services So we'll be back in touch on what we need to have ready for next the next meeting Okay, great. That'd be very helpful. Yep and since the business of the Comprehensive permit is complete for this evening I we now open it up to public comment on any topic That is not the subject of the hearing tonight So attendees from the public See here, um I don't see any hands raised I see no hands raised. We'll give them just a second, but It looks like That's it All right, okay Thank you very much very much to all the members of everybody And thank you everybody for all your hard work. Thank you. So we have to make a motion to adjourn. Yeah. Yes, we do. Thank you again And we have a motion in the second, uh roll call vote I vote aye Mr. Langsdale. Aye Ms. O'Meara. Aye Ms. Parks. Aye Mr. Maxfield. Aye Motion carries five to nothing. We are adjourned Thank you