By Adam Swift
The zoning board of appeals approved the variances for a mixed-use development with 100 residential units and seven commercial spaces on Park Street at its regular meeting last week.
The developers presented a scaled back version of the plan to the planning board last month, which earned a positive recommendation from that body.
Initially, the proposal for 105-115 Park St. included 120 residential units.
But project attorney Anthony Rossi said that after hearing from residents and neighbors about the size and unit mix of the project, it was cut back to 100 units to include more two- and three-bedroom units. There are 50 proposed parking spaces for the project, with 10 of them which will be set aside for the commercial properties in the development.
Because the project does not meet the city’s zoning requirements for parking, residents will not be able to apply for the resident on-street sticker parking program.
“As far as the area (of the project), it didn’t change, it is more the layout inside, we reduced the amount (of units) to accommodate the multiple bedroom units (the abutters, the neighbors, and the planning board) said they wanted to see,” said Rossi.
Rossi also stated that the current laundry business and convenience store on the site have expressed an interest in returning to the new building.
Traffic engineer Scott Thornton of Vannase and Associates presented a brief overview of the traffic study for the project.
“We did a standard traffic assessment where we look at crash data, we look at site distances, we look at the traffic volumes, we look at transit systems in the area,” he said. “We project seven years in the future, we add the project traffic estimating those trips based on standard industry data. What we found when we added the project traffic … it winds up giving us about 20 trips in the morning and 30 trips in the evening.”
Thornton also noted that the developer will likely go before the traffic and parking commission at some point to request that Ellsworth Street behind the building be converted to a one-way road because of its narrow width.
Some ZBA members did say that they still had some concerns about the size of the project and associated traffic.
“I live in the district, and I know how bad traffic is there in the morning; I have been affected by the construction on Broadway and I see it every day,” said ZBA member Marilyn Vega Torres. “When the school is open, there is a lot of traffic in all the different directions.”
Vega Torres said she understands that the property is currently an eyesore and that something needs to be done there, but that she wished the proposal was smaller.
“This is unique, because it is not really one parcel, it is really three parcels,” said Rossi.
Rossi also noted that 15 of the 100 units will be inclusionary zoning affordable units, making it harder for the developer to be able to afford the project if the unit count faced any additional cuts.