City of Lowell -Planning Board

Planning Board Minutes

Thursday, February 23 2006 7:00 P.M.

City Council Chambers, City Hall

City of Lowell, 375 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA

Note: These minutes are not completed verbatim. For further detail, audio recordings are available at the Division of Planning & Development, 50 Arcand Drive, Lowell, MA

Members Present:

George Zaharoolis, Chairman

Joseph Clermont, Member

Richard Lockhart, Member

Mary Burns, Member

Others:

James Errickson, Associate Planner

The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm, with Chairman Zaharoolis welcoming the public watching the Planning Board meeting on television.

Approval of Minutes

Motion:

J. Clermont: Motion to APPROVE minutes of the January 3, 2006 and February 6, 2006 Planning Board meetings as amended.

R. Lockhart: Second the motion

All members voted in favor (4-0)

Roll Call of Neighborhood Groups

None in attendance

Public Hearings

There were no public hearing scheduled for this meeting

New Business

Hale Howard Urban Renewal Plan Amendment:

An owner of one of the parcels that is restricted to industrial use by the plan would like to redevelop the property in accordance with the City's zoning code, which is currently HRC (High-rise Commercial). The plan must be amended before any non-industrial development can be considered. The Planning Board must approve the change by voting in favor of the draft City Council vote that would change the plan, and recommend that the City Council also approve the change.

M. Burns motion to approve the proposed plan change and recommend that the City Council approve the proposed plan change

J. Clermont second the motion

All members voted in favor (4-0)

Pre-Application Sessions:

The following individuals have requested for the Planning Board to provide a preliminary review of their proposed project at the addresses listed below. These are not public hearings. Each project will require a public hearing as noted below.

Applicant: Inner City Development Corp.

Project: Construction of six townhouses

Zoning: TMU (Traditional Neighborhood Mixed-Use)

Required Review: Site Plan & Special Permit

Attorney James Food (81 Bridge Street): I am going to speak for Mr. Jenkins. What this is it is the old Stack Induce Lumber on Andrews Street. The intention is to tear down the existing buildings and build 6 townhouse units. It is a special permit and site plan. We will conform to all other zoning requirements. The townhouses will be 4 stories high with parking in the back. The plan has six parking spaces garaged and 8 external, for 14 total spaces on site. I think it will be an improvement to the neighborhood. That is basically what we are proposing for the site.

J. Clermont: Do you have any architectural thoughts on the buildings?

D. Jenkins: The Board approved the Whipple Street, and we plan to work on that designed for this site. We are going to try to incorporate the same design of those plans into these plans. The parking is in the back, and the front doors are on the front street. There will be some design changes from the other plan in order to make the plan not exactly the same, but the basic details will stay the same.

J. Clermont: I noticed that there would be one curb cut for the site. And the total parking is 14. It looks like there is quite a bit of open space too.

D. Jenkins: We have five times the amount of open space required, plus two extra parking spaces. There are certain requirements there, and the drainage will need to be taken care of.

J. Clermont: You will have garage under accessing from the back?

D. Jenkins: There will be access to the garage on the front, but the garage door for the car will be from the back.

J. Clermont: I noticed that where you do have the outside parking it looks like there may be an opportunity to add a couple of spaces.

D. Jenkins. Yes we thought of that and we can do that. There are two extra spaces.

J. Clermont: I have no more questions.

G. Zaharoolis. Could you explain the passageway at the back of the parcel?

J. Flood: I think you are familiar with that. In my experience we own to the halfway point of the passageway.

G. Zaharoolis: I think that needs to be looked at more closely and taken care of. There is also a stonewall there, correct?

Ken Lania (applicant's engineer): Currently there is a stonewall there. And we are hoping to utilize those walls on site. That is a new wall that will be upgraded from what is there on site now.

G. Zaharoolis: I didn't quite understand the key. The usable open space look like it is wetlands, is it?

K. Lania: No that is actually grass.

G. Zaharoolis: I think you need to give us a better key. You also have a tank on the site, can you explain that?

K. Lania: That is a tank that will be maintained by the condo association. It will allow for sand and other materials to be removed from run off.

G. Zaharoolis: You mentioned that you will use the four full stories, and there will be how many bedrooms? And where is the dumpster?

K. Lania: Yes we will use the full four stories, with three bedrooms. Also there will be no dumpster.

G. Zaharoolis: What about the landscaping?

K. Lania: We will work with DPD.

G. Zaharoolis: you show sewer and water lines, can you explain those?

K. Lania: The idea is to tap into the sewer line for each unit.

G. Zaharoolis: Have you talked to the fire department?

K. Lania: I have not, but will.

G. Zaharoolis: Have you thought about screening?

K. Lania: We have not talked about that, but we will take recommendations from the Board and the DPD.

R. Lockhart: Are there any side walks there?

K. Lania: I believe there are some on the front.

R. Lockhart: I would also recommend that you work with DPD on the landscaping.

Old Business

Site Plan & Special Permit: 106 Marginal Street, aka 117 Marginal Street

The applicant is requesting a clarification to one of the conditions of approval. The Board approved this project on December 12, 2005 for the construction of 136 condominium and townhouse units.

The applicant requested to continue this issue until the March 6, 2006 meeting.

Subdivision & Site Plan: 86.1 Bernier Street

Matt Hamor is requesting a waiver of fees for the subdivision application for this project.

The Board granted the waver of the Definitive Subdivision Application fee with the condition that the waiver applies only to the present applicant. The Board further noted that this waiver is not intended to set precedent.

Zoning Board of Appeals Legal Notices:

99 ROSEMONT REALTY TRUST (99 ROSEMONT ST, LOT 2)

R. Lockhart: Motion to recommend APPROVAL conditional upon the use of proper flood plan construction materials

M. Burns: Second the motion

Three members voted in favor of APPROVAL (3-0), with J. Clermont removing himself from the vote

99 ROSEMONT REALTY TRUST (99 ROSEMONT ST, LOT 3)

R. Lockhart: Motion to recommend APPROVAL conditional upon the use of proper flood plan construction materials

M. Burns: Second the motion

Three members voted in favor of APPROVAL (3-0), with J. Clermont removing himself from the vote

NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS OF THE MID-ATLANTIC, INC. (99 WILLIE ST)

J. Clermont: Motion to recommend APPROVAL conditional upon the applicant receiving approval from the Historic Board

R. Lockhart: Second the motion

All members voted in favor of APPROVAL (4-0)

VERHEYEN PHILIP E. (216 METHUEN ST)

J. Clermont: Motion to take NO ACTION due to insufficient information provided by the applicant

R. Lockhart: Second the motion

All members voted in favor of taking NO ACTION (4-0)

PRASHANT S. PATEL (494 WESTFORD ST)

J. Clermont: Motion to recommend APPROVAL

R. Lockhart: Second the motion

All members voted in favor of APPROVAL (4-0)

SIERRA H DAVIS (404-406 STEVENS ST)

J. Clermont: Motion to recommend APPROVAL if the third apartment was constructed more than 10 years ago

R. Lockhart: Second the motion

All members voted in favor of APPROVAL (4-0)

KHENG REALTY TRUST (26-28 WOOD ST)

R. Lockhart: Motion to recommend DENIAL due to insufficient information provided by the applicant

M. Burns: Second the motion

Three members voted in favor of DENIAL, with J. Clermont abstaining (3-0-1)

Motion to adjourn:

J. Clermont motioned to adjourn.

M. Burns seconded the motion

All members voted in favor (4-0)

These minutes were approved by the Planning Board on March 20, 2006

J. Clermont: Motion to approve

M. Burns: Second

All members voted in favor (5-0).

________________________________________________________

James Errickson, Associate Planner

Planning Board Minutes

February 23, 2006 - Page 2