Arlington Redevelopment Board - Nov 18st, 2024

Meeting held at 27 Maple Street. Materials were available from https://arlington.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=2154&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda.

Board member Shaina Korman-Houston was unable to attend tonight's meeting.

Review Meeting Minutes

The board approved minutes from their October 21, 2024 meeting, 4--0.

2025 Meeting Schedule

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says that staff has put together a proposed schedule for 2025. Although the board normally meets on the first and third Mondays of each month, the proposed schedule has them meeting on the second and fourth, to avoid holidays.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak says he'll be away on July 7th, but could attend remotely.

(Rachel Zsembery, ARB Chair) Ms. Zsembery says she may have a conflict on July 21st.

(Kin Lau, ARB) Mr. Lau says he might be away on June 16th.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery suggests using this as a tentative calendar. We can formally adopt it when Ms. Korman-Houston is here.

The board will defer this item until their next meeting.

Docket 3798 - 821 Massachusetts Ave

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says the applicant requested a continuance and suggested the first meeting in January, which would be January 13th. She says the applicants are actively making changes to their plans and that Docket 3348 is in a similar situation.

The board votes to continue Docket 3798 to January 13th.

Docket 3348 - 821--837 Massachusetts Ave

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that the applicant requested to have Docket 3348 continued to January 13th, subject to the board's approval of the 2025 meeting schedule.

The board votes to continue Docket 3348 to January 13th.

Docket 3810 - 149 Pleasant St

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says the applicant for 149 Pleasant Street has asked to have their hearing continued to December 2nd, in order to prepare and submit materials. She says they've gone to the Select Board for a tree hearing.

The board votes to continue Docket 3810 to December 2nd.

Docket 3823 - 1349--1357 Massachusetts Ave

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that Arlington Coal and Lumber wants to renovate the street facade of their building at 1349--1357 Mass Ave. The renovation will expand the floor area by 29 square feet. They also plan to add bicycle parking and make improvements to the rear of the building.

(William Hubner, Architect) Mr. Huber says the general gist is to renovate and improve a tired old building. They want to correct a deficiency in the structure. The angled front wall doesn't follow the foundation, and exposes the basement to water infiltration. They're planning to move the wall to the street line. The front door will remain in the same place, but it will be recessed.

Mr. Hubner says there's moisture damage in the building, and some of the beams in the basement will need to be replaced due to rot. All of the front window glazing will be replaced and the entrance will remain accessible. The general fenestration will remain the same. Mr. Hubner says the apartments upstairs were recently renovated and are not being changed in this application.

A portion of the basement is habitable -- meaning that the ceiling is over seven feet -- and a portion is not.

The rear of the building is almost entirely covered in asphalt. They plan to remove some of this in order to add a concrete pad and build a break space.

Mr. Hubner says he's asking for waivers for the section of the zoning bylaw that requires bicycle parking to be reached without stairs. He's also requesting permission to use hanging bike racks.

(Note: The applicants are proposing long-term bicycle storage spaces in the basement of the building.)

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says he likes the water color rendering that was included in the application. He asks why the applicants are making changes to the building, other than the structural issues.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they're trying to clean up the area, and prevent exposure to the elements.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks if they have a tenant for the commercial space. He's asking because of the position of the front door. He suggests the applicants may want to find a tenant, and do the work as part of a tenant fitout.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they want to create a desirable space. He thinks that the special permit requirement to change the facade is daunting, and it would be hard to do that as part of tenant selection.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says he doesn't want the process to be daunting -- he wants to help businesses thrive. He asks if it will be a more modern-looking storefront.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner answers in the affirmative.

(Eugene Benson, ARB) Mr. Benson thinks the storefront has a tired-looking facade; it's nice to see it being improved.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they're planning to use three colors on the facade, and they're leaving the sign band in place. They plan to use ship-lap siding, with different colors and textures to differentiate the commercial and residential spaces.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if they're planning to change the doors leading to the residential apartments.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they weren't planning to replace them.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about the second-floor windows.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says the windows will stay, but they'll be re-cased when the siding is replaced.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about the opaque area on the ground floor.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says it will be around the front door.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if there will be signage for the commercial space's street number.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they're planning to have space near the door for a street number and a mailbox. The street number could also be stenciled above the door.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson thinks the proposed location of the front door is okay. He asks Mr. Hubner to describe how the floor of the retail space slopes to meet the sidewalk.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner describes the transition from sidewalk level to floor level.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about bicycle parking. If it couldn't be located in the basement, where would it be put.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they're planning to put U-racks in front of the building. He shows potential locations for long-term bike parking on the front floor. He says he wouldn't want to build that in before finding a tenant.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks what the rear stairs are like.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says they're planning to re-do the stairs. He says they can add a trough so that a bicycle can be wheeled down the stairs.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks how high the ceiling is over the stairs.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says it's about eighty or ninety inches.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak asks about the square footage of the retail space.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says the retail space is 1526 square feet.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak says the bylaw requires 0.1 long term bicycle parking spaces per 1000 square feet -- 0.15 spaces in this case. He questions whether the applicants need to provide a long-term bicycle parking space.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson believes they'll need one long-term space.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery thinks the siding looks a bit co-planar. She thinks there should be a difference in thickness, so that there's a shadow line around the windows. She'd prefer the transition have some dimension, rather than being flush.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner explains how he intends the textures to work against each other.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery asks about the sign band.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says the sign band framing will have a different thickness.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery asks if they're planning to keep the siding on the front and rear.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner says the existing siding will be retained on the sides and rear of the building. He describes how the siding will transition from the front to the side of the building.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says she's a little challenged by the vertical siding, and suggests replacing a portion of it with panels. She'd like to focus on simplification.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau suggests changing the two residential doors, because they're both different. He takes Ms. Zsembery's point about the siding, but thinks the doors are more of an issue.

(William Hubner) Mr. Hubner thinks that's a fair ask, but he doesn't want anyone mistaking the residential doors for a commercial entrance.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson agrees with Mr. Lau on the doors.

There's more discussion about siding.

The chair opens the hearing for public comment. No members of the public wish to speak.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak would like to see a channel installed on the basement stairs, so that a bicycle could be wheeled up and down.

Mr. Revilak says that Mr. Benson showed him the part of the bylaw that says fractional bicycle spaces are rounded up -- there is a requirement for one long-term bicycle parking space. Mr. Revilak says the bylaw requires racks that don't require the bicycle to be lifted. He'd like to see the required space meet that requirement. He's okay if hanging racks are used to provide additional storage.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson would like the new residential doors to be subject to administrative approval from staff.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery summarizes conditions.

• Installing a channel on the stairs, so that bicycles can be wheeled up and down.
• Replacing the two residential doors, with the new doors subject to administrative approval.
• Changes to the siding, as discussed

Permit approved, 4--0.

Open Forum

There are no speakers for tonight's open forum.

New Business

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak notes that Arlington's ADU bylaw will need to be updated in order to conform to the state's ADU bylaw. He offers to have a conversation with the ZBA chair, draft a potential amendment, and send it to staff for review.

Board members and staff are okay with Mr. Revilak working on this.

Meeting adjourned.