By Adam Swift
A revised plan for a residential development with one commercial space at 123 Washington Ave. will go before the zoning board of appeals for special permit approvals at its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13. At its December meeting, the planning board approved the major site plan review for the project, as well as recommended approval of the special permits to the ZBA. The original proposal for the project was to convert the funeral home to nine residential units with two commercial units, according to project attorney David Rossi. The revised plan calls for only one commercial space, thus giving the developer the opportunity to increase the size of the residential units. “A little bit over a month ago, we originally had two retail spots on the first floor and we had a design that was more contemporary on the retail portion of it, and the units were smaller units,” said Rossi. “After speaking to the board, listening to their recommendations, we actually made larger units.” The revised plan has one four-bedroom unit, six three-bedrooms that average between 850 and 1,000 square feet, and one two-bedroom that is 700 square feet. “We removed one retail space on the right-hand side, and now have one retail space on the left-hand side,” said Rossi. “Originally, it was two retail spots; by removing one of the retail spots we made larger units throughout the building, we shifted them. We brought the look of the first two floors, we dropped that all the way down to the ground level … to give it more of a residential design, and we also stepped back the building so it’s not as close to the street as it was before.” With the stepped back area, Rossi said there will be room for additional landscaping such as grass or shrubs. Planning Board member Regina Taylor thanked the applicants for the revised design, stating that it was more visually attractive. Rossi noted that there are no solid plans yet for what will occupy the retail space, but said it could be something like a real estate or property management office. “We don’t expect anything with heavy traffic now, especially since we shifted it over to the left-hand side, so it’s not as visible a retail component,” said Rossi. In other business at its December meeting, the planning board continued its hearing on a proposal to add nine residential units over a garage space at 46-48 Library St. to its January meeting. Several board members asked for revised plans for the project, which would connect to an existing three-unit structure on the property. There were concerns raised about the number of units proposed, as well as the lack of windows at the rear of the building in some of the units. The next planning board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 27.