Thank you. Uh, welcome to the March 30th hearing of the Boston Parks and Recreation Commission. I will open the hearing and start introductions. My name is Kathy Baker Eclipse. I am the interim commissioner for the parks department and I will pass it to uh,
Commissioner Ballinger who is next on my screen for introductions. Uh good morning Jean Ballinger uh from the South End. >> Sandra Couts from Roslandale.
William Eperson Jamaica plane. >> Oh, Commissioner Washington, do you want to introduce yourself? >> I just unmuted. I see Washington Lewis from Adapan. >> Thank you. And um I will let staff introduce themselves. >> Uh Carrie Marsh Dixon, um parks
commission. >> Hi, Jill Zick, interim chief landscape architect. >> Thank you. Um so I think we have one item on the agenda today, um which is a vote to approve 135 145 Dudley Street adjacent
to General O. Gordine African-American Veterans Memorial Park in Roxbury. Um so are there um representatives from the proponent here? >> I'm sorry to interrupt, but um Associate Commissioner Dave Quley has joined us,
but David, could you change your name on your screen, please? >> I'll do that. Sorry about that. >> And do you want to introduce yourself? >> Dave Quley, associate commissioner. Jamaica plain mass. >> Thank you.
Um, are there uh representatives from the proponents? >> Yes, Madam Chairman. Uh, I'm Mitch Fishman, uh, MLF Consulting, and, uh, I am the permanent consultant, and I've brought
with me today, uh, Dan Cruz, who is the, uh, vice president from Cruz Corporation, and Michael Fontaine, who is from the architectural team, uh, and Katya Posidalo.
Daldo, she is the landscape architect on the project. Uh, I thought I would give you a small introduction, have Dan uh, Cruz talk a little bit about where the project is, and then have Michael and Katcha walk you through the plans. Uh,
and, um, Carrie, uh, do you have the plans up or should we put them up on the screen? >> Be able to share your screen for your presentation. >> Okay. So Michael um why don't you give me a second and then
and Dan and then we could share the screen then you could go with that. So uh as uh as Jill Zik identified in her planning or uh parks commission memo uh this project had been in front of the
parks commission uh on June 5th 2023. The project has been undergoing uh design changes uh as well as a change in uh to affordability uh since that time and uh we're now back
in front of you uh to discuss the updated plans as well as responding to uh two of the issues that were raised at the June 5th 23 meeting. uh namely uh the question about incorporating pet
hygiene uh areas or accommodation into the plans and then our response to um the request for support for Gordon I probably pronounced it incorrectly but Gurdin Park which is actually the
trigger that puts us in front of the parks commission as it's within 100 ft of the project. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Dan and um then we'll put the plans up. >> Thank you, Mitch. Uh good morning. I'm
just going to give you a little quick synopsis of of the process we've gone through and where the project is right now. Some of you know this, but we responded to a request for proposals from the mayor's office of housing back
in October of 2018. We received our tenative designation in July of 2019. From that point till now, we've been working on the project trying to advance it to a closing. We've run into a few
design obstacles, if you will, because the access point that we were originally using was coming in off a warrant between the courthouse and the Boys and Girls Club. That didn't work out. and we changed to coming in off of Washington
Street next to the Hurly uh wire and cable and the police station. That too unfortunately did not work out. And so now we're on our access point is on Dudley Street. The project is proposed
in two phases. It's 170 units of mixed income mixeduse uh development. We have 60 units of affordable rental which we consider to be phase one and that be the building directly across the street from
the Gordine Park. All right. Um and again that's 60 units of affordable rental housing. And then on the site as well, there's 110 uh condominium uh building of which 20%
or 22 are affordable. Uh 11 at 80% AMI, 11 at 100% AMI, and then 88 markets. We also have about 6,000 square ft of commercial space, which is in the phase one rental
building. We have one tenant to date. It's the NAACP. As part of our um community give back, we've we decided to give them 10 years of a 10-year lease
uh at zero rent for that office space and basically it's about a th00and square feet. And we think it's it's it's going to be nice because it's more visible for them. Right now they're in the Washington Park Mall. For those of you who know where that is, it's a
basically stone edifice. You can't see any sing. You can't see any sign that they're even there. This way they'll be prominent right in Nubian Square. So that was really something important that we wanted to do. We're also gifting them
$50,000 um over 10 years, 5,000 a year to use uh for in their scholarship pool. We are hoping to start construction in
three months. July 15th is our target date. Um we've been working with design review of with Mo with planning department. Um we've met with all the abutters the
courthouse. We've been intimately uh involved with the negotiations because as part of the site and you all probably know this is that site is one parcel. It includes the courthouse, it includes the police station, it includes
our site and it includes the library. And so that whole parcel is over 250,000 square feet of which we're subdividing just under 70 69,8 865 something 8 something
um and but as part of the legislation that the city years ago and I don't want to digress too much but years ago the city ran the court system and they struck a deal with the state to take
over the Boston courts um because they the the getting to be too expensive. And as part of that deal, the courthouse got to determine their site boundaries. So even though we're
going to own the site via a lease and uh for one building and fe simple sale for the other, we can't subdivide that site without the courthouse signing off. And so that's part of the process we've been going through with them for a very long time.
And those of you who know the site know that there was a former police station there and part of that building is still up. And so that's created some real issues for us from just a site layout standpoint that you still have a partial wall up. And anyway, we won't get in
that detail, but so we've worked with them very closely. We've met with the Boys and Girls Club. We've met with the library. We'd met with the police station. So we tried to make sure that we communicated with all the abutters. And so now come full circle. We finally
have all of our financing for the phase one which again is the rental. We also have to build the full infrastructure as part of phase one. Even though the it's 125 unit uh garage of which 110 of those
spaces are allocated for the condo but you can't build the foundation the infrastructure in pieces. So, we're going to build as phase one all of the infrastructure and then put the rental building on top of it on one side and
then we'll come back and build the 10story 9 story plus two levels of garage uh on the other side of the infrastructure. Uh that's it in a nutshell. Anybody have any questions? You know, be glad to
answer them. But it's basically kind of an overview of the project. Michael, you want to put up on the screen? Thank you. >> Yep. >> I do just want to note for the record that uh Commissioner Pierre has joined us.
>> You can enlarge that. That'd be good. All right. Does everybody see my screen here? >> Yep. >> All right. Excellent. All right. Michael Fontaine from the architectural team. I'll give a brief run through our slides that we had prepared.
All right. So, as uh Dan has already noted, here's our um location, which is sandwiched between um the library, the courthouse, the police station, Gourdain Park to the northwest, and uh the bus
station to the north. So, it's a very busy site that we have here. And the current um conditions is uh a parking lot which is occupying most of
um uh the footprint where the old police station used to be. And um in the uh in the back corner is where the uh some of the foundations for the old police station remain as Dan was referencing. Um that is uh um a big piece of the
puzzle um to uh connect our building um and with the terrace of the courthouse behind. Um here is a perspective of the site um we're looking uh at Dudley Street. Uh
from this angle you see the um condo building to the left with the condo plaza and um to the right is the rental building and then the uh entry rental plaza is um at the corner of Washington
Street and Dudley Street. and then um uh interspice with mine. Uh I'll go over um uh Katya's slides as well. So I'll toss this one to uh Katya for a uh brief overview of the overall
landscape plan. >> Yeah, sure. Thank you. Katya Padlo, Verdant Landscape Architecture. Um I will run through the exterior plazas and spaces that you see on this plan without getting into too much detail. On the far
western end of this plan, you see what we call the west plaza, which has the main entrance into the apartment building, uh, on the front edge of the building there. And there's several contained plant beds and some new street trees that'll be out there. Um, a number
of new bike racks and, um, benches as well as one of those dogway stations, which you'll see in more detail in an enlargement. But the streetscape along um our the frontage of our building on Dudley Street has already been recently improved with a wonderful storm water
planter and street trees. Um one of which we're going to need to replace um as a result of having to build this curb cut in access into our garage from Dudley Street in lie of any other location on the southern side of our building. We had to remove it. We're going to have to remove a tree. So we're going to have to do that unfortunately
and replace it with another inkind, you know, elm tree. um the rest of those will be preserved and we've been very careful to um keep the utility lines that will be accessing this building away from the tree existing tree root systems as much as
possible. And then in the northeast portion of the building, you see the um this is where the condominium at main entry is um a larger plaza space we call Nubian Plaza, which links up um and aligns with the plaza that's out in front of the newly renovated library.
Um, and you see the trees that are in front of the library. We're continuing the row of trees in front of the library into our space um to continue the theme and um create an elongated plaza space that is unified for this whole frontage.
Um, that's the summary there. And then in the bottom right hand corner, oh well, we have a ADA accessible uh sidewalk system that right now doesn't exist. there's there is a set of steps but um to provide ADA accessibility we're developing I think it's four ramps that
are required to span the I forget how many feet um from the Nubian plaza up to the courthouse level at the south south end of our site um so where you see the words fenced dogard in the bottom right hand corner of our space this is up uh
one's one level essentially um and it would be flush and accessible to the courthouse plaza sidewalks. Um, so if you were to come off, you know, towards the our southeast, there's Warren Street, there's some a treed uh park setting,
plaza setting out in front of the courthouse. You can continue to walk and access um this area and even walk around the the this north tip of the courthouse and into the southwest area where they have their parking uh parking lots. In any case, what we're developing here is
a enclosed fenced dog yard which is accessed via our second level upper garage level um interior space. And there's a bike room at this location as well. And it would be fob entry, you know, for the residents who live here uh
to be able to access this space from the courthouse plaza areas. You would be able to get in through the fenced area unless you had a key. Um, and if you lived inside the court or the condominium building, come down the elevator easily. And Michael will show you that in a moment. Um, I think you
might have an access diagram. I'm not sure in this package, but um, you can come straight, you know, in an accessible manner through the door that accesses through the garage out into this space very easily. Um, and we're proposing, you know, a couple boulders
in some gravel areas and a dogway station. Um, and it will be composed of synthetic lawn like a dog uh dog or what do you call it? Pet lawn pet synthetic lawn that has like an envirill additive to help keep the odors down.
Um, there will also be hose bib located on the building. It's not noted on this plan, but it's in our plans in general so that it can get, you know, dogs can get water and it can also get washed down. Um, and several trees and some uh ground cover plantings. Um that's the
summary of the whole plan. And just to conclude, I guess on the south end in the west of the building. This is the loading area where we have transformers and generators and move in move out and um excuse me, not move in, move out,
trash uh trash and service um at the back of our lower garage area. Um >> can I interrupt you a second, Dan? Uh maybe you should intercede here about the pet uh requirements in both
buildings. >> Yeah. Yeah. As I mentioned um the 135 Dudley uh the building to the west, if you will. Uh, the rental building will be owned by an LLC that'll be controlled
by John Cruz, who's the owner of the Cruise Companies. As part of our management operations, our buildings are uh are we don't allow pets in the
building for a host of reasons. Um, but there'll be no need for a dog park for the residents and the 135 Dudley Street. 145 Dudley is a condominium and so the owners at that
point can buy, they'll manage, and we assume they'll have pets. Uh, and thus the the fenced in dogard, but 135 Dudley will be pet free. Thank Thank you, Michael. Keep going.
>> Yeah. So, the following pages u may be enlargements of the various areas that I've already run through and showing some of the materiality of those spaces including in this Nubian plaza an exciting water wall um as a main feature and backdrop to the space. Um and then
on the next page, what are some of the other exciting things in the other plazas? >> Right. So yeah, we're going to go uh we're going to go clockwise just to give a little more detail from how uh Katya described um at the uh condo plaza here. This is as Kaja was saying a
continuation of the library plaza to the right. Um also in this view you get which was the biggest design change since the prior presentation which was the uh vehicular entry to the parking garage along Dudley Street. As Dan said,
we could no longer um access plan South via um uh Warren Street in the courthouse. So, um we've been uh working to um get a uh um well positioned entry
um here along Dudley Street, which didn't harm either uh plaza in front. Um and then uh and then uh anything you want to add further to this one, Padia? >> Uh just a variety of seating opportunities, you know, not just
regular benches with arms, you know, ADA universal access style benches, but also those cast concrete twig benches. The library has some cool um the star- shaped one on its front plaza area >> at its front doors. So, we thought we'd match um the company in style with those
twig benches down here to further unify the plaza space. >> Yeah. >> All right. Um and then here is a uh rendering from uh from that side uh noting um noting the water feature and
um the entry into the condo building as well as the beginning of the ramp system. um that'll provide uh um the access um without uh without the existing stairs only that are currently there.
Um moving on, here's one more enlargement of that area um with the uh vehicular entry from Dudley Street and then the uh continuation of the um plantings from the library. Um, now we rotate to the southeast
corner and here's um a largement of that dogard um triangle. And this this is what is uh really uh fitting into the uh uh west line of the library as well as
the existing terrace. And we're dealing with the existing foundations as Dan mentioned um of the courthouse as well as a existing room of the courthouse. Um so this is really being pieced in uh exactly uh with the current site
conditions. Anything else on this one, Tata? >> Not not much to add, but you know, we're providing another bench here um so someone who brings their dog out here can sit down, relax for a little bit. Um, we're also very cognizant of safety concerns that the courthouse had so that
we're not planting tall shrubs to block views and provide security issues for the courthouse. >> Thank you. >> Uh here's a more schematic rendering of that area. Doesn't have all the uh
landscaping detail in, but it shows um the view from that way. And then this is a um larger rendering from the uh existing courthouse plaza on Warren Street south of the library. And
you get a sense of the uh pedestrian circulation that can occur going between the buildings. Um this doesn't include uh the latest landscaping revisions in here uh which will fill in some of uh the back plaza
on our property. But this is the view from from the courthouse entry. And then continuing clockwise, we get to the uh rental plaza um across the street from uh Gordino Park on the corner
Dudley and Washington. Um this is uh part of um when we had to uh um uh move around the uh garage entry. As uh Kaka mentioned, this is where we uh the only
available area to have our um delivery entry and uh trash pickup, move in, move out. So, this is um uh designed uh right adjacent to the police driveway here. So, that will bring you further into uh
into the uh west side of the site as Kaka said. Um any further detail here? >> Uh nothing remarkable really. Well, actually there's a beautiful um overhang on on the architecture at the top corner
of the building. You can just see it in a dash line. There's a bench underneath there so people can wait underneath at the apartment entry and where you know we have unit paving that frames the building. So it's going to be a really pretty entry area. Um and you know plenty of bike parking and planters.
um you know, blue bike station accommodated along the curb line there. You can see that it's fitting around an existing mast arm or light pole. Um that's why it's there's a space in between some of the modules. >> Yeah, I think that's it. There there
there are dogway stations in all three of these corners of the building. >> That's it though. Thank you. >> Yep. And we're working with the uh existing crosswalks here. We're working also to uh um relocate the electrical boxes which are partially blocking the
crosswalk across Dudley Street. And then um south of uh the existing tree uh this space in the building is that NAACP office as Dan mentioned which will have a nice street frontage along Dudley Street.
And then um here's just uh one of the schematic renderings uh looking back at the building uh that shows the police station to the right and then our new uh uh delivery vehicular access.
Um another rendering um looking in that same direction. And uh I don't think we need to go into detail about this, but we do have um uh internal in the site is another um uh
outdoor area for the residents uh the courtyard above the uh um parking decks between the two buildings. So, um we're um working to finish the refinements of um the uh exact programming, but this
will all be accessed internally from the uh from the second floor of the two buildings. Um it will include uh an overlook um to the condo plaza to the northeast uh above the um water wall.
Um so, this will be up there. And then finally we have uh the latest uh building elevations looking in each direction. We also had included in the uh packet um uh more site context. Uh this doesn't
include uh the landscaping but it includes uh the buildings positioned um within the uh um existing surroundings here. uh showing showing how we had to uh cut into the south facade of our uh
project uh for the notch of the uh north tip of the courthouse. Um and uh the view uh from the library plaza here showing uh how Kaga described the one continuous uh plaza this is now
creating. Um, and then minus the landscaping on our site here, it does show the um the nice access from Gordine Park um to the um plazas we're creating within our site.
And finally, we had made a couple shadow studies. Um uh one was uh this was September. Um the taller building is on the right. So that doesn't have um as much impact um to the Gordine Park um
area because this is uh at 9:00 a.m. where we'd be casting the shadows. So the uh um the low lowrise rental building um does not have as much of an impact um in the wintertime
um with the low sun angle. This is uh December 21st, so as bad as it would get at 9:00 in the morning. Um showing the um uh predicted uh shadows onto the park
and >> that was it. >> Um and and just to clarify, the the shadows move uh off towards Dudley in the late morning afternoon. So the most impact that it would have would be at 9:00 and we demonstrated that. Uh Dan,
maybe we could finish up with the question about support for the park that had come up at the earlier uh park meeting in 2023. >> Yeah. And and a couple of things, one is Haywood Fenel, who you probably know if
you're involved with the veterans and John Cruz are very close. uh their personal friends and we've supported the veterans on numerous initiatives. Unfortunately, this particular project because it's been around for some eight
years is has a financial gap that we have to fill ourselves. And those of you who uh know rental affordable housing, typically developers aren't putting uh cash in
because the return is limited. It's not like a market rate deal where you have an upside and so you put in cash to take the risk. So typically when you look at the structure of these deals, there's no additional cash. Yeah. You're taking the risk. So in this case, we have to put
money into the deal to make it whole because it's been around for so long. So there's not additional money uh to make outside contributions. Although, as I mentioned, we will be making the $50,000 contribution to the
NAACP. Um and we're also making a $50,000 contribution to Youth Build. For those of you who don't know what Youth Build is, an organization that helps troubled youth um find an opportunity in the
construction field. Um they actually have their offices right up the street from where we were on John Elliot Square, right on Center Street. And so we've committed uh providing them $50,000 as well. In addition, we're
going to hire apprentices from their organization. It's important, especially when young people are starting out, um, that you give them, you know, hands-on experience. And that's usually the most difficult time for folks to get
a job because they have no experience and you're asking someone to bring someone on who basically hasn't worked in that arena before. So, we've agreed to take at least one apprentice from every major trade on our job um all the
way through the 36 or 42 months that's going to take to build it out. >> So, that concludes uh our presentation. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um Carrie and Jill, do you have any comments?
Uh I don't um Jill who is our acting chief landscape architect does um did provide a memo for the commissioners if that court to summarize the issues in that memo. >> I just um had a couple of questions. Um thank you for the presentation that was
actually really helpful. Um with regard to the street tree that you're having to remove to accommodate the driveway access. Um, is it safe to say that you haven't been through the tree hearing or the tree removal hearing process? >> That's right.
>> Okay. Um, okay. So, that that'll be something that we'll have to schedule for that. Um, and then are there any other outstanding I I think you can, my
guess is that you can do um the driveway curb cut and um kind of relocation. Does that require a PAC process? >> Yes. Yeah, we're currently Yeah, our civil engineer U
Jim uh Jim Kimo from O'Brien is in process discussion. I guess he's already reached out to Todd to to >> Okay. Yeah. I just wasn't sure because most of your streetscape is built already. So, I just wasn't sure like what might trigger a PAC process. So, I
was curious to understand that a little bit better. Okay. Um, and then with regard to the comments that I had in my memo regarding the pet relief, um, I think in your presentation you covered some of the questions that I
had with regard to like it seems like the space has access to water. Um, it seems like there is uh an accessible route to the dog facility through the future building. understanding that um 145 Dudley is not being built right now.
It's just 135 which is the rental which does not allow pets. >> You got it. That's correct. >> Okay. Helpful. Okay. Um I I don't think I have any additional
questions so I will end there. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, we'll open it up for questions from the commissioners. Uh, if anyone has a question, please go ahead. >> I do have a couple of questions. Thanks,
Commissioner. Um, any concept whatsoever as to when the phase 2 project might go forward? >> We're hoping within 12 months. the the infrastructure itself is going to take
about eight months and then we'll start to put the rental building on the podium which will be another 13 months. We're hoping in that period sooner than later that we then can start to go up
with the condo building. Initially they were three months apart but because of a of funding snafu um that's been delayed a bit but the eight months of infrastructure gives us time to regroup and see if we can put back
that final piece of financing. We have most of it. It's a large project, uh, $104 million. Um, and we're close, but we still need, uh, two sources out of about eight in order to to make it
whole. >> Okay. Thanks, Mr. Cruz. The outdoor space, um, that sort of is between the two buildings um, on the sec second floor accessible, when does that get constructed? Is it part of phase one or phase two?
No, it it it's part of phase one because we're building all of the garage. >> Okay. >> So, that should be part of of phase one. The the the issue for us is going to be is how you kind of cordon off the space where the second phase is going to go.
We've got some ideas of how we're going to approach it, but that's going to be the the little bit of a balance for us, but we'd love to be able to give them that space in the first phase. >> Okay. So that space becomes available for both the rental properties and the ownership properties.
>> Correct. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Um relative to the sensitivity of the park across the street and the fact that it's um it's honoring v veterans of the community. Um, and I guess as opposed to both the
proponent here and and the city, are there other precedents for discouraging people um who eventually will move into the ownership part of the development who have pets um from making use of of that
property. And I and I realized, Commissioner uh people are welcome to bring their pets into a typical parks and recreation property. What makes this different is that it's honoring veterans from the community and so there therefore there's a heightened sensitivity
and I wonder if this precedent that you have in the park system for other similar locations where um bringing a pet to relieve themselves is discouraged is someformational signage perhaps and is there anything that the building
manager can do to educate and to continue to inform folks that um bringing their pet to that property would be would be discouraged. >> Well, from the management standpoint, we'll be putting together like our
condominiums do a owner's packet and we'd be more than happy to put in that package language that addresses the park issue. the reason why it, you know, we want to honor it and to totally
discourage people from bringing their pets over there. So, that's not issue. It's just at the end of the day, and I know you know this, people do some crazy things. You know, I I I live right around the corner from the park. I drive
by it every day. And some of the stuff that even goes on there now, I I you know, if you ask me, needs to be addressed. it needs to be addressed. Um because it is uh a tribute to veterans, people have given their lives for this
country. And so that's a whole there's some other issues there. We'd love to work with you all and other people, you know, the the police, the courthouse to really address some of the issues that go on there because I see them every day u coming through there at
night and it's just unfortunate. So, we've got to figure out a way collectively, everyone who has a stake in that, um, how h how we address those issues, the lawyering and the disposal of stuff. It's just it's unfortunate to
say the least. >> Okay. Well, I think uh that's Thank you for that. And um your participation in trying to improve that situation, I guess, from multiple um perspectives uh is would be would be
terrific. So, thanks for that. >> And I will just thank you for that question, Commissioner Binger. Um, about the parks um that are dedicated to to veterans and and those who have lost their lives. Um, we don't have any
spaces where we prohibit dogs except play spaces um and some some ball fields because of the pet waste issues. Um, but I know from there are some other um sites that are memorials that um
the dog use is a flash point for the for the community. There's a there's a a tension there between the memorial space and the the community's um like deep embedment in the community of using that space as a dog space. And um it is it is
problematic. Um, so I think we would um I I have a question, but I think I think we do have some experience and with these types of spaces where there are conflicts and um don't have don't have easy solutions for them. Um so um I'll
open up to other if there's other questions from other commissioners. >> Um yeah, I had a couple of questions. Um, someone mentioned, I believe, a tree well for green infrastructure, um, purposes, and I'm wondering, uh, what other features will be in place to
reduce storm water and to reduce heat. Are you going to be using permeable pavers? Um, I did see some pavers in that second story plaza that were mostly light colored. Um, so I wondered if that area has real grass, plastic grass. But may you talk a little bit more about
what features you're using to deal with storm water heat. >> Yeah. So the existing storm water planter that's on the streetscape is a storm water planter designed by others installed already. It's wonderful that we're we have that out front. So water from the sidewalks on Dudley Street flow
through little curb openings into that planter. Um we do have some permeable paver specified around the building at the edges sort of framing um the building along the uh streetscape. So, that's a component of the design. Um, and then just the fact that we'll be
planting some trees. Right now, there is one honeyloust tree on our site, >> but no other trees. So, I I don't remember the total number of trees we'll be planting, but I think trying to contribute to the tree, the urban canopy is uh important and that's what we're trying to do where we can
>> in these plaza spaces. So, I think the added trees will benefit and help with climate resiliency. Thank you. Um my other question has to do with traffic. This is a pretty busy intersection and I wondered um how many
cars you expect to have on site and what that'll do to the level of service in that intersection because I drive through there fairly regularly and it's it's not bad now, but I can imagine it could get very busy with a bunch of cars.
Uh and and listen, we wrestled with that because as I said, we've had this is our third access point. But when we do our traffic studies, as you know, you know, we do them for all these projects. I think at the peak hours there was like
18 or 20 cars that would be generated from our site per hour. And so that was the good thing that it was considered by our traffic consultants, HSH, to be minimal at best. But you're right, I
said I I used to come through there every single morning and you would back up from the light on Washington and and Dudley all the way back to the police station, right? The police station's
exit, not not the entrance, the exit. And so right before the hurly um it seems to have gotten better. I don't know why. Um but like I said ours will not have significant impact as it
relates to traffic flow. Um and again I said at the peak hours um it's it's not going to be a lot more traffic. We can't minimize we can't make it better. So, but um our our development will not be
causing any more stress on it than it already is. >> Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. >> Any other commissioners have questions? >> I don't have any questions, Kathy, but I do want to express appreciation for the team's responsiveness as well as the
thoughtful considerate design, especially in regards to the pet relief station. So, thank you for hearing us and addressing the concerns. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um, I have a couple of questions. Um, thank you for for clarifying that the
the rental building will have agreements that will have no pets, that that will be no pets. Is that um an administrative um decision or or will that be codified
in and the in a deed or in any other uh legally binding agreement? >> No, I mean it it is an administrative decision. We tried years ago. We have about 1,200 units primarily rentals and it just got
to be people were and and people are people like that but you know they'd be bringing pitbulls and >> shepherds and then other residents would write about being concerned about their safety and it just got to a point. But
if you see most rental buildings do not allow uh animals for that very reason. They don't want the liability. And so it's not a deed restriction as it relates to a covenant some ways, but it is our
policy as cruise management company that just for the safety of our residents and the concerns that have been expressed. It's it's it's just a petree space. And that way people don't have to don't have to worry about, you know, being
confronted by an animal they not may not. Some people are just are scared of dogs. I mean, you know, it's a phobia and I'm not I'm not I love animals. We have we had three dogs, so I know, but um it it just works out better uh in in the
management of our properties. >> Yeah. And I assume that that's written into the lease that there's there's >> Oh, exactly. Okay. I think I'm just um wondering, you know, when and if uh Cruise Companies is no longer managing the the rental properties. >> Oh, don't say that.
>> Would that continue into subsequent ownership? >> We typically don't sell real estate. Um and this is a project in perpetuity. So if we own it in perpetuity, chances
are we'll we won't fire our own management company even when they mess up. So it's um yeah and all the property and we we have one our oldest building is 52 years old and we're still the managers
there. So it's just we don't third party our own assets. >> Okay. Um that's helpful to to understand. Um, so you said that you're going through the PIC review right now.
Do you know whether there's a pedestrian easement already for the sidewalk parcel, the side the sidewalk width that is on private property, is on your property? >> That's a good question. I don't know the answer to that. Yeah, I don't know if anyone else on the team knows the answer
to that. I I >> Yeah, I I don't. Again, we're just starting to your question. We're just starting the PIC process. As Katya said, Jim Camo Bryant is the one handling that for us. He's reached out to Todd Limeman
to begin the water and sew the PIC process. We can ask him um and get back to you, but uh I I we I don't know the answer to that. >> Okay. How do you So, the sidewalk drains to
the existing uh sidewalk storm water planters. Is that right? It's not capturing roadway water. >> Correct. >> That's right. >> How do you plan on protecting those uh storm water that storm water planter during construction so that it doesn't
uh get clogged and and uh and stop functioning? >> That's a good question. We show tree protection fencing um at the I guess it's granite curbing that's there now. So either right inside or right outside the granite curving there would be tree protection fencing
um to protect the whole areas except for occasional when they and Dan correct me if I've got this wrong but I had thought that when they needed to have access in between some of the trees to do something they would put down like plywood or something if they had to move
the fencing apart to get access over in between trees. But um for the in general the tree protection fencing surrounds the entire um stormwater planter zones that's inclusive of the trees and the bark mulch in the you know the whole width of
those areas. where it where will there be um erosion control um on your site such that runoff does not runoff from the site does not enter into the storm water.
>> Yeah, I think that might be shown on O'Brien's um site prep or erosion control plans. Uh it's not on my plans. I don't know the nuance of that. It's a good question. Um I guess Carrie and Jill
looking for some guidance to Jill Jill still um about whether that is something that would be reviewed during PIC or whether um there's
there can be some um follow-up documentation submitted or whether there that's a proviso So yeah, you know, excuse me, I'm remembering there's also a CMP in place that's been submitted and I by Howard Stein and they
may have included something of this sort. I don't know for sure. Um, but it shows the tree protection as well as maybe some of these silt fence kinds of things. Yeah. >> Yeah. I think it's really the silt fence
I'm most concerned about where that >> understood. Yeah. Yeah. >> I don't know when that would show up. either in PIP PIC or the CMP or during I don't know. >> Yeah, I would imagine that there should be details as part of the
as part of the PIC review. Uh I know office of green infrastructure will be reviewing those plans as one of the many reviewers on PIC and considering that this is you know within the public right of way and probably
under the jurisdiction of that office um I would imagine they'd be really interested to understand how that's being protected through construction but um but that's certainly something that we can also follow up on during that review. Yeah, I think I'm most concerned about the um the office of green
infrastructure looking at those since I think this that was a project of theirs and I think uh maintaining a working system there is clearly in their interest. So maybe we need to add that as a proviso that they need to sign off on on that. Um
if that sounds okay. I saw a couple of nodding from Commissioner Quilly maybe. Um, let me see if I had Yeah. And I think my other question was about the tree. Uh, okay. So, >> I just talked to the engineer and he
said as part of his plan, there's a sediment and erosion control plan in his documents. Okay. Um, can those be submitted to the parks to
>> absolutely >> Carrie? Would that be a proviso as well? Okay. Okay. Um, opening up for comments and questions from the uh from the public. Um, if you have a question or comment,
please raise your hand and we can call on you. I am not seeing any raised hands. Um, so I think I would entertain a motion at this point. Motion to approve with the proviso that the sediment and erosion control plans
are submitted to the parks department for review and that the project goes through appropriate review with the public improvement commission. >> Seconded. >> You uh so if I can have a vote um all in
favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose say nay. Any abstensions please state your abstension. All right. Hearing none. >> It's an old one, Carol. >> Yeah.
>> Uh, hearing none, the motion is passed. And so I think I thank you very much for uh for the presentation for being responsive to our comments and um hope that uh can have some new members to the
uh friends of uh just Oak Gordine Park. Uh that's a very active friends group and I think they will appreciate having new neighbors that um can support their work as well. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. So that was the only item on
our agenda. So I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> All right. Thank you so much for your time. >> Happy spring everybody. Happy spring. Have a good one. Thanks.