Arlington Redevelopment Board - Jul 15th, 2024

Meeting held in the Select Board chambers of town hall. Materials were available from https://arlington.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=2094&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda.

Review of Meeting Minutes

The board approved minutes for their June 17, 2024 and July 1, 2024 minutes.

Discussion of 1500 Mass Ave

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says that the ARB approved the special permit from 1500 Mass Ave in November 2020. Since then, the owner has run into issues with ledge and the need to include an ADA unit.

(Rachel Zsembery, ARB Chair) Ms. Zsembery asks if tonight's discussion will be about re-opening the special permit.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker answers in the affirmative.

(Darin DiNucci, Property Owner) Mr. DiNucci says the building at 1500 Mass Ave is about 80% complete. Inspectional Services Director Mike Ciampa contacted him with questions about accessibility requirements, and referred him to the Architectural Access Board (AAB). He says the AAB would approve the building if an accessible unit was added to the first floor. Mr. DiNucci says he originally though the accessibility requirements kicked in at five units. He says the delays have cost him approximately $300k so far.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery understands that the request is to replace one office with a residential unit. She recalls that the board discussed the percentage of business use in the building during the special permit hearings.

(Eugene Benson, ARB) Mr. Benson says he would not make a decision about re-opening the special permit until he's seen a formal application.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery notes that the board does have a diagram and documentation of what the AAB approved.

(Kin Lau, ARB) Mr. Lau is okay with re-opening the special permit, but he has some questions about the modifications. He says the parking, mechanical areas, and bicycle storage in the diagram are different than what the board approved. The bicycle room is in the rear of the building, accessed through a corridor. Mr. Lau thinks the corridor takes up a lot of interior space. He asks if the mechanical and bicycle areas can be swapped, so that the corridor space can be used for a larger office.

(Monte French, Architect) Mr. French says that part of the issue has to do with topography and ledge. Because of the ledge, the bicycle room has to be accessed from the side of the building, rather than the back.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says the understands that the ledge means the parking has to be at a higher elevation, and that the bicycle room couldn't be accessed from the rear. He suggests the applicants try to maximize the amount of office space in the building.

(Monte French) Mr. French says he'll look into that.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau ask why the direction of the parking spaces changed.

(Monty French) Mr. French says they got approval to do that from (former Planning Director) Jenny Raitt.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says the board will need to see and review the documentation of that approval to understand.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks if the applicants plan to install a trench drain at the foot of the driveway.

(Darin DiNucci) Mr. DiNucci says there will be a trench drain; they're just waiting for the final elevations. He says they've been working with the town engineer on the drainage system.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says when the special permit was issued, she was of the mind that a small office unit isn't enough for mixed use. She would not be in favor of re-opening the special permit. She thinks the applicants could modify the building to add an elevator, or decrease the number of apartments.

(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston would be in favor of re-opening the special permit. She thinks the transparent commercial facade wouldn't be a good fit for a first-floor apartment, though.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak asks if the applicants had considered converting one of the second-floor apartments into an office space.

(?) One of the applicant's says they considered that, but it wasn't feasible.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak says he'd be in favor of re-opening the special permit, though he acknowledges there are details to work out. He'd prefer not to have a partially complete building sitting vacant.

(Monte French) Mr. French says they discussed elevators with the AAB. Having an elevator in the building would require all of the units to be accessible.

(Eugene Benson) Regarding parking, Mr. Benson notes that the zoning bylaw allows up to 20% of parking spaces to be compact. He says the allowance for all compact spaces is mysterious. He'd want to revisit the parking, if the special permit is re-opened.

(Darin DiNucci) Mr. DiNucci says the retaining walls around the parking spaces have already been built. They'd need to re-measure the site conditions before making changes to the parking.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson suggests the applicants could provide a smaller number of full-sized spaces, plus a transportation demand management plan.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery is concerned about losing the second office space. She'd like to take advantage of any opportunities to maximize the amount of commercial space remaining.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson says he'd like the applicants to provide the same set of materials that the board ordinarily requires for a special permit, along with annotations of what has changed.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says he'd like to revisit the bike parking. He's not sure about putting all of the short-term spaces in front of a residential unit.

(Monte French) Mr. French says they can revise the bike parking. He says that's a remnant of the commercial space.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks about having solar panels on 50% of the roof, noting that's now a requirement of the zoning bylaw.

(Darin DiNucci) Mr. DiNucci says they can look at that. He says they'll consider adding as much solar as will fit.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery would like to set a target date for the applicant to come back.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker suggests September 9th, and asks the applicants to have materials submitted by August 26th.

The board votes to re-open the special permit, 3--2 (Mr. Benson and Ms. Zsembery voted in the negative).

Presentation and Discussion of Fox Library Housing Feasibility Study

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker introduces Director of Libraries Anna Litten.

(Anna Litten, Library Director) Ms. Litten says she was prepping for the next round of library funding in September 2022, and looked at the Fox Library in East Arlington. She wanted to see if we could use the library redevelopment to help meet the town's housing goals. She sees an opportunity to move in the same direction as Boston, who plans to redevelop the West End library with housing above. Ms. Litten worked with Ms. Ricker to get a feasibility study, which was funded with a One Stop for Growth grant.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that she and Ms. Litten have been working with MAPC, using $90k of grant funding. They wanted to understand the feasibility of building affordable housing, the timing of grant awards, and the municipal capacity to enable a disposition process. We're potentially looking at an air rights deal over the library, and are discussing this with several boards in town.

Ms. Ricker says that many communities have done housing over libraries, and cites Sunset Park in Brooklyn as an example. The city transferred the land to a developer, who built the units and conveyed them back to the city. Boston is doing something similar for the West End, but the developer entered into a long-term ground lease agreement. Boston also awarded an RFP for housing over the Uphams Corner library. That development will have 33 units, restricted to 80--100% AMI.

For the Fox, we could potentially do a 13,600 square foot library plus 15--25 units above. This configuration would be six stories; two for the library and four for housing. We're working with MAPC to evaluate the feasibility of different configurations. This includes looking at town subsidies to increase the number of affordable units, or to provide deeper levels of affordability.

Ms. Ricker says we still need to do an RFP, design, permitting and approvals, and construction. This would be considered a mixed-use building.

(Rachel Zsembery, ARB Chair) Ms. Zsembery thinks this is very exciting. She says it's a needed use.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak is supportive. He agrees that the Fox Library is in need of investment. He asks if Ms. Ricker has thought about which permitting scheme they plan to pursue. Mr. Revilak notes that the Fox is in a B3 district which allows a maximum of five stories, but he could see 40B as a way to get to six stories.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says they're too early in the process to have gone into that level of detail.

(Eugene Benson, ARB) Mr. Benson is also supportive, but he thinks we may need a zoning analysis to figure out how to make it work. That might require creativity.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston agrees that this is an exciting project, but thinks it may be challenging to do on this site. She'd like to understand more about MAPC's feasibility analysis.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau thinks there will be a need for some kind of parking relief, and it may be a challenge to get developers interested. He encourages the pursuit of configurations that would provide more affordable housing. He encourages Ms. Litten and Ms. Ricker not to think of this as traditional housing, but perhaps to consider micro units and the audience for them. The target audience might be young professionals who want to live in a walkable neighborhood and be close to Boston.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery asks about the timeline. She notes that the board is planning to propose zoning updates for Arlington Heights in 2025, and East Arlington will be the next district to look at. The Fox Library is part of the fabric of East Arlington's business district. She thinks it will be important to identify target demographics, so we can plan amenities for end users.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks about using CPA money for this project.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says they'll look at that.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak would like to echo Mr. Lau's statements about micro units. He's spent a good portion of his adult life living in small-ish apartments, including a studio that was around 300 square feet. Mr. Revilak says that small apartments aren't for everyone, but there are demographics where it's a great fit.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says she's excited by bold architectures to make libraries an important part of a community, especially the interior. She thinks the Fox Library deserves a unique architectural solution.

(Anna Litten) Ms. Litten stresses that this is a library-first project, and that the needs of the library will drive everything else. She says the library will need two floors above grade, and that it must be an important destination. But she would like attractive and beautiful housing too.

Memo regarding allowed changes to Special Permits

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker recalls an earlier ARB meeting where (applicant) Mr. Doherty discussed possible changes to the Hotel Lexington, and the board sought guidance on the permissible scope of changes to a special permit. Ms. Ricker discussed this with Town Counsel, and provided a memo to the board. Basically, any modifications that can't be done administratively require a new special permit.

(Rachel Zsembery, ARB Chair) Ms. Zsembery says that the Board committed to getting this information back to Mr. Doherty. She notes that changes to massing, siting, and height all require a new special permit.

(Kin Lau, ARB) Mr. Lau asks if a change to office and retail would require a new special permit.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker answers in the affirmative; it would have to come back to the board for the use change.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery believes that the only modification option would be to have a larger restaurant in the same building envelope.

(Eugene Benson, ARB) Mr. Benson says he was expecting to see citations to cases. He thinks that what is "substantial" can vary according to circumstances. He'd like to understand the case law; because in the absence of case law, it's the ARB's decision.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says there's some room for flexibility and interpretation, but not much.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says that ultimately, Mr. Doherty has to decide what he wants to pursue, and bring it to the board.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak has a question about the memo. The memo discussed administrative amendments and opening a new special permit. However, the board can re-open and modify an existing permit. Mr. Revilak asks where that fits in.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery believes that things like changes to fenestration, small facade alterations, or moving something a few inches to a foot can be done as modifications, but wholesale changes require a new special permit.

Open Forum

(Asia Kepka, Silk St) Ms. Kepka says she was interested in the last project, and that one large business recently left Arlington. She asks the board not to give up on the idea of hotel, but perhaps it could be proposed to a different developer. Ms. Kepka is concerned about trees because it's really hot right now. She's concerned about the trees that were taken down at 1500 Mass Ave, and says there was a project across the street that removed 80 trees. Ms. Kepka says she's concerned about Arlington's tree canopy.

New Business

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks if there's any update on 882 Mass Ave.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says she has to follow up with the owner. She notes that they still need to provide a lighting plan.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks about the repainting of the building's trim and cornices, and the dryer vents. He sees a lack of commitment.

Mr. Lau says the board discussed planned unit development projects earlier in the summer. He asks if the board can pursue that, perhaps with a property near the bikeway.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says the board has shown an interest in several parcels. She thinks it would be helpful for the board to align on a project or priorities of projects, and to speak with others in town.

(Claire Ricker) Mr. Ricker says she followed up with MBTA staff regarding air rights over the bus turnaround in Arlington Heights. She says that parcel is not a priority for the MBTA.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson thinks the Arlington Heights and East Arlington business districts should be the main priorities for the board, along with the Master Plan update.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery would like to say a few words about the Atwood House, and the petition for the Scotch Pine tree on the site. Ms. Zsembery says that someone spoofed her name on the petition, using her town email address. She questions the veracity of the petition, and does not condone the impersonation of town officials.

Meeting adjourned.