By Adam Swift
Nearby residents raised traffic and health concerns regarding a proposed 34-unit residential condominium development on Winnisimmet and Pembroke streets during a public hearing before the zoning board of appeals last week.
Project attorney Anthony Rossi said he would be requesting the upcoming planning board meeting on the project this month and next month’s continued ZBA hearing on the project be tabled so that the developer would have time to hold a neighborhood meeting.
“I’d like to hear (the residents’) comments, and then we’re going to schedule a neighborhood meeting, so I want to be clear on the record on that,” said Rossi.
The plans call for the existing structure on the Pembroke Street side of the project to be demolished and used as green space, Rossi said. The plan currently shows 31 parking spaces for the 34 units, but he noted that there will be stackable parking spaces, which should increase the count to 59, with the parking going through the building.
“Of course, that may change when we speak to the neighbors,” Rossi said. “It currently shows a four-story structure, which would (require) a variance.”
Rossi said he has spoken with some abutters who are concerned about the height of the building, and that he will continue to talk to them.
“Current zoning allows three stories, and we are proposing four stories, so we certainly would listen to the abutters regarding that concern.
The proposed unit mix includes 28 two-bedroom units, three three-bedrooms, and two one-bedrooms. Five of the units will be inclusionary affordable housing units.
“These were designed to be more condos, because that is what the city really wanted to see, more unit ownership, that’s why they were designed in this manner,” said Rossi.
Pembroke Street resident Arnie Jarmak said he was concerned about the adverse health effects the project could potentially have on abutters.
“I believe that there are 22 units that directly abut that property,” said Jarmak. “Each one of those units, or almost all of them, have a balcony and all of them have windows. If you allow them to build a 49-foot tall building three feet from the property line, you will diminish the amount of light that hits all of these people, and there are adverse health defects from that that are quantifiable.”
Jarmak said the project could also potentially create a “pollution canyon” due to the exhaust from the cars with nowhere to dissipate.
“If you grant these variances, it is going to benefit one man, the man who owns these properties,” he said. “It is going to adversely affect the health of 22 residents who live in these units. It will also adversely affect the health of the people who live across the street.”
Pembroke Street resident Alison Sheppard said she does not believe the project meets the standard for relief under the city’s zoning bylaws.
“There was a prior proposal for 34 units at that exact same site which never got passed,” Sheppard said. “There was also a prior proposal of 24 units at that site which never got passed. With all this talk of adding all these units, if you count up all the units that were on the agenda tonight, that’s a lot of units.
“Do we have the infrastructure, do we have the fire, police, the water, the sewer, the schools for all these people?”
Other residents also raised concerns about the density of the project and its location near a historic area on Winnisimett Street.