All right. Good evening everyone. I'll call the city council to order at 8:00 on Monday evening, October 20th, 2025. This meeting is being recorded. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much. We have 17 items on the city's agenda and I will ask the
city clerk to please read agenda item number one. >> Minutes of the city council meeting October 6th, 2025. >> Council Brown. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to accept and place on file the minutes. >> Motion made and second to accept and place on file the minutes. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none,
all those in favor? Opposed. The minutes are filed. The vote is 100. Agenda item number two, >> minutes of the joint convention, October 6, 2025. >> Councelor Brown. Thank you, Mr. President. Move to accept and place on file the minutes of the joint convention. >> Motion's made and second to accept and
place on file the minutes of the joint convention. Any discussion on the motion? Councelor Orum. >> Thank you, Mr. President. We're not adjourned yet, so I may offer my appreciation to all the applicants that applied for this position. We had some
excellent qualified applicants. I was trying to make that statement at the meeting, but indeed we were adjourning. So I making it now. Thank you. >> On the motion to accept the place on file. All those in favor opposed. The minutes are filed and the vote is 100.
Agenda item number three. Now it's the time for the public hearing on the petition of Massachusetts Electric and Verizon to install one joint own pole on Beach Street beginning at a point approximately 15 ft west of the central line of the intersection of Beach Street and Clover Hill Street. National Grid is proposing to install a push brace off pole 21 on Beach Street or number
25-1009567. And in addition, we have a communication from city engineer Thomas Derscio regarding recommended conditions for the petition of Mass Electric and Verizon. >> Okay, this public hearing will be taken up in four stages. First, for the public speaking favor, starting with the applicant. Second, questions from the
public. Third, public speaking opposition. And finally, questions from the city council. Those uh speaking in uh either favor public or or questions or opposition, we'll have a threeminut aotment after the applicant uh presents the uh application to the public. With
that, please state your name and address for the record, please. >> Yeah, my name is John Rupia. I'm from National Geogell and I'm here for the petition of um this
there's a poll at the junction of beach and cloth street p number 21. We're going to we are suggesting to put a push brace just to support the pole. Is there any objection? Make sure it's >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. You good? >> No. All right. Anyone else in the public speak in favor? Anyone else in the public speaking in favor? Anyone else in the public speak in favor? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Questions from the public.
Any questions from the public? Questions from the public. Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Public speaking in opposition. Any members of the public speaking in opposition? Members of the public speaking in opposition. Excuse me.
Hearing none, I close that portion of the public. Questions from the city councilors. Council Presiato. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, thank you for being here. Um, >> yes. >> I just had one question. Uh, the tree that is at the cemetery. Um, I saw on
that picture, um, looks like it might be right next to the pole abuing it. Are you Do you guys have plans to remove that tree? >> Uh, not at the moment. >> Okay. That's all I needed. That's all I want to know. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Council Pres. Any other questions from the city councilors?
Questions from the city councilors? Any questions from the city councilors? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Councelor Pillo. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to approve with the conditions submitted by the city engineer. >> Motion made and seconded to approve the petition with the conditions submitted
by the city engineer. That motion's been seconded. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? So the petition is approved with the conditions by the city engineer and the vote is 100. John, thank you very much. >> Thank you.
>> Agenda item number four, Council Roi, the applicant is still upstairs. I would entertain a motion to move agenda items number four and five a little bit later in the agenda until the applicant comes down from the planning board. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I would
agree if we can move four and five down to when the applicant gets here from the planning board, it would be appreciated. >> Motion's made, second to move agenda items four and five to later in the meeting for the arriv. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in
favor? Opposed? Motion carries. We'll move four and five till later in the agenda. Agenda item number six, >> communication from the mayor regarding grant acceptance in the amount of $40,000 from the National Traffic the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded to the police department to support targeted traffic
enforcement initiatives. >> Councelor Irish. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Motion to approve the grant, please. >> Motion seconded to approve the grant. Any discussion on the motion? Councelor Orum. >> Thank you, Mr. President. And I would first of all want to thank the Executive
Office of Public Safety. Our roads, as we all know, if we haven't noticed it lately, are getting very congested. And the more traffic enforcement we can have to calm it down a little bit, will be very appreciated. I know I've had tailgators on my car, and I'm getting to
the point where I felt the same that we need more traffic enforcement. So, this is a great opportunity from this grant. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, council. Any other comments on the motion to approve the grant? Seeing none on the motion to approve.
All those in favor opposed. The grant is approved and the vote is 10-0. Agenda item number seven. >> Communication from the mayor regarding proposed lease agreement with the South Middle Sex Opportunity Council for space at the Walker Building. Council Brown. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to send
this item to the Legislative and Legal Committee. >> Motion made second to send this item to the Legislative and Legal Committee. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? opposed. Motion carries. This is going to LNL and the vote is 100. Agenda item number eight,
>> communication from city solicitor Jason Gfield regarding application for modification of special permit from Raphael Ornov on behalf of Green Gold Group, Inc. to amend the hours of operation at the marijuana establishment located at 910 Boston Post Road East within the Wayside District in proper
legal form. Order number 25-100 9497B. >> Council Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'll move to accept and place on file the communication from the solicitor and move the special permit language to number 17. >> Motion made and second to accept and place on file the communication and move
this item down to agenda item 17. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor opposed. Motion carries. This is going to be filed and moved down to agenda item 17 and the vote is 100. Agenda item nine. Communication from building commissioner William Payton regarding request for
approval of a master sign plan for 910 Boston Post Road East to include an to include an internally illuminated pylon sign located within the Wayside District. Councelor Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to refer this to urban affairs. >> Motion's made and second to refer this item to urban affairs. Any discussion on
the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? This item's going to urban affairs and the vote is 100. Agenda item number 10, communication from attorney Brian Faulk on behalf of Taj Estates of Malro LLC regarding request to purchase stair city stair land adjacent to the proposed mixeduse
project at 163 to 175 Main Street. Council Roi. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to refer this to urban affairs and housing. >> Motion made second refer this to Urban Affairs Committee. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? This item is going to urban and
the vote is 100. Agenda item number 11 >> application for a junk deal secondhand dealer license licensed by Matthew McDonald Furlong DBA EcoATM LLC at 240 East Main Street. >> Councelor Fill. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move to the public services committee. >> Motion's made second for the sign of the
public services committee. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. This is going to public service and the vote is 100. Agenda item number 12, >> communication from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Division of Banks, regarding notification of public comment
period on the license application of Juma Financial LLC, DBA, Juma Grocery and Check Services to operate a check cashing business at 910 Boston Post Road East, Sweet 130. What is the pleasure of the city council?
This is your opportunity to weigh in. Council Vital Ducet, this is in your ward. Any thoughts or comments? The division of banks is looking for the whether or not the city has any comments on the applications. >> Yes, Mr. President. I uh I read the I
read the review of from our commission uh police commissioner and the sister organization of this organization, if you will, um had very little fraudulent. They had some um checks that were cashed u forgeries on
on checks, but it wasn't that many. And he didn't think that any type of practice was their their fault. So it looks like the organization will be fine according to our police commission. >> Okay. So it's recommendation we send a we have no comment letter to the division of banks.
No comment. >> I'll entertain a motion second. >> Thank you very much Mr. President. Motion to submit a letter of no comment to the commission. >> Motion's made second to have the president send a letter to the division of bank saying we have no comment on the
application. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? The vote carries 100. I will draft a letter before October 31st telling the division of banks that the city council has no issues with the petition to have a check cashing
facility at 910 Boston Post Road East. The vote carries 100. Agenda item 13. >> Communication. Communication from attorney Brian Faulk on behalf of FD130 Lazot LLC regarding a request to extend time limitations to December 17th, 2025.
on the application for a special permit for the Glen Fort at Lake Williams Condominium Community to be in the Lazot Drive Olay District order number 25-100 9483B. Councelor Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. So, we did extend the time once on this back in
September. Um, obviously they're having some issues with a lot of other special permits. Um, and I've requested extension on several of them. So, I'm going to move to approve the extension for 1:30 Lazot until December 17th at
1000 p.m., which puts a couple of days past our city council meeting, giving everybody time to do what's needed if it's voted on that night. >> Motion made in second to extend the date for the special permit application to December 17th. Any discussion on the
motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? The motion to extend the special permit to December 17th is approved and the vote is 100. Item 14. Application for a special permit from LI lifestyle fit LLC DBA FRVR athletics for
a proposed gym for physical fitness classes, team strength and performance training, fitness education, nutrition education and training, and the sale of related fitness clothing and merchandise to be in an existing building at 214 Cedar Hill Street. Roi and
>> we'll see how successful they are. Um move to refer this to urban affairs set a public hearing for November 17th and to advertise. >> Motion made second to further this item to the urban affairs committee will set a public hearing for November 17th and to advertise. Any discussion on the
motion? Seeing none those in favor opposed the item carries. It's going to urban affairs going to have a public hearing on November 17th and advertised and the vote is 100. We see the applicant is here. Has he caught his breath? >> I have.
>> You have. Council Rob, are you okay with going back to agenda item number four? >> Mr. Clerk, can you read agenda item number four? Now is the time for the public hearing on the application to amend a special permit from attorney Brian Faulk on behalf of Taj Estates of Malro LLC for a
mixeduse project in the Malro Village District consisting of 67 residential residential condominium units, street level commercial space, 61 on-site parking spaces and residential amenities at 163 to 175 Main Street. Order number 25-100 9554.
>> Okay. This public hearing be taken up the same four stages. First for the public speaking in favor, starting with the applicant. Second, questions from the public. Third, public speaking in opposition. And finally, questions from the city council. Uh again, comments will be limited to three minutes. With that, please state your name and address
for the record. We'll open the first part of the public hearing with a public speaking in favor. >> Thank you, President Oting, counselors, attorney Brian Faul with Mrick 100 Front Street in Worcester. Here on behalf of the applicant, Taja Estates of Malro LLC. Um with me from Taja Estates is uh
Mirage Amed and uh Taj Estates so you know is based in West Bro. Um also with me is our designer Carlos Ferrer from uh MP Design Consultants which has an office in South Bro. Um as was mentioned we're here seeking amendments to a special permit and site plan approval
that was issued in 2019 for what was known as the E on Main mixeduse project 163 Main Street. um due to two separate permit extension statutes that were passed um um during COVID and then at the end of last year, um these two
permits from 2016 2019 remain actionable and subject to the Malro Village zoning uh provisions um before they were amended in 2023. Um we have until January 12th, 2026 before those permits will lapse and no longer be actionable.
Um, so the amendments we're proposing, um, would make the project feasible for construction and hopefully fix a giant eyesore, uh, on Main Street. Um, so we're looking for a short turnaround with that January 12th um, construction deadline in mind. Um, and we appreciate
uh, the council's support in that endeavor. So, moving ahead, this is the current site. I have to say, I almost didn't want to include this photo um, in the slide deck because it really pains me to look at it. Um after receiving permits in 2019, there was some initial demo
work on the site um in early 2020 and that was it. Um the current owner and former developer was not able to advance the project and this is what we've been looking at for the last 6 years. And this is what Taj plans to build a
modified version of that project. Um the project will fill the gap on Main Street with retail space um and a residential front door. Um Carlos here looked at the 2019 project and came up with several changes uh to make the project more feasible from a constructive
construction standpoint. Uh the primary consideration is working with the sites um existing slopes and avoiding doing structural work in the hill u behind the property. Um he also eliminated several building areas um that were spaces that just wouldn't generate revenue uh and
made the construction feasibility uh difficult. So, here's a basic comparison of what we're looking to amend from 2019 plan to 2025. We still keep 67 residential units over seven floors. Um, it's a mix of 31
twobedrooms and then 36 one-bedroom and studios. Um, we're going to be increasing on-site parking from 43 spaces to 61. And that's would be just five short of what's required uh under zoning in this district. Um under the
old zoning. And we do this by splitting the parking between uh ground level parking and then parking on the second floor. Um we'll keep the street level retail. Um but instead of two smaller units, we're going to have one um single unit, 3,000 square ft, which is just a
little bit more than the commercial space in the prior project. and we'll be removing the top floor roof deck um replacing it with units. The roof deck was actually something that was um somewhat controversial and raised some concerns with neighbors and counselors last time around in terms of what noise
might be generated. We have a number of permit conditions in from the 2019 set of permits addressing activity level on the roof deck. That's all gone. We won't have a roof deck. There'll be some private patios that are unique to units um but not an open gathering space for
lots of folks um on the roof. Um and then that because of those changes we bring the total height down from 81 ft to 75 ft. So we reduce the the height by a bit and we also keep the surplus of what's required as private
open space under the zoning. Um if you take away the roof deck we actually are providing a little bit more non roof deck private open space with this proposal. Uh mainly in the form of a flat lawn area to the rear of the property. Um, and this slide here shows
you the rear. Again, the top that's the 2019 version and then the bottom that's our current version um that that lawn area would be available for our residents um to get outside. Um, as a an urban style uh community, we
expect that residents will be primarily younger professionals. Um, as a result, we expect the city's uh the use of city services will be pretty minimal. in particular, school services, which would be probably close to zero. Um, and that leads us to a an estimated projection of
a positive tax revenue to the city of $185,000 per year. That's when you take away uh expected city services. That's the net gain to the city in tax revenue. Um, but that's just the dollars that are coming into city hall. Uh, we're looking at economic benefits to the city.
Turning this is eyesore into something that everyone can be proud of. um will be difficult to measure. Um the main amenity of this building is Main Street itself. Um we're looking to add anywhere from 67 to 90 new residents um who can walk to all the businesses and services
downtown. Um these are going to be customers to support Wellies, to support Pico, Lashu, other downtown businesses. Um and they never have to use their car to go to those places. Getting a little bit into the design details. This is the front of the building. Um you can see in the top
there the private open space on the seventh floor in place of a roof deck. Again uh that's not a roof deck. Those are individual balconies for the units towards the top. You can also see the redesigned city staircase on the right side that leads up to Devon Street.
This is our ground floor layout. So you see I can see it from here. So right in the middle we have our lobby. Um, just to the right is the commercial space, 3,000 square feet. Just on on the far left we have our
ground level parking. That's 17 spaces accessible um right from a garage off of Main Street. And then in between that garage and the lobby is a bike parking area for 22 in in indoor bike parking for 22 uh bicycles for the residents.
This is our first floor. This is the all parking first floor. Um 47 spaces on this floor. Um both the so in the top right is the um at the at the first floor level or second floor level I
should say. Um there'll be an electronic gate both there and then towards the bottom of the ramp leading to Main Street. Um so an electronic gating system so that folks are able to enter and exit without conflict. This is not public parking. This is residentonly parking. So, the folks using this
electronic gating system are going to be the residents, people that use it all the time. This isn't something that members of the public are going to have to learn how to use. This is for residents only. They'll have access to it and control over it. This shows you the building with respect to the green space to the back. Again,
this is a larger green area and a much flatter green area actually useful. Um, the prior version had landscaping on that slope, but it was primarily, you know, landscaping, decorative green space. it wasn't usable as recreational space as this would be.
This shows you all seven of our levels. So on the bottom right is the um the ground level um with the retail and the first portion of parking. And then we work our way this way all the way to the on the very top right is the seventh floor.
This shows you just our five residential only levels. Um the different colors. So the pinkish orangeish color, I can't tell what it is. Some one of those. Um that's the two those are the twobedroom. Um the lighter green are the onebedroom and then the dark green are the studios.
This shows you a height comparison. A little difficult to read, but the top is the 2019 version with the roof deck and the bottom is our version. Um 75 ft versus 81 ft. We're coming down six feet. This shows you the between 2019 and 2025
a cross-section. So on the top is the 2019 version. You may be able to make out we've got massive pins going into the u the hillside as structural support for the building because we didn't just go to where it's open. They kept pushing and pushing and then use the hillside
for structural support. Um if that sounds expensive, it is expensive and that's part of the reason things haven't been going forward with the project. So on the bottom you can see our design taking advantage of what's already there. There were buildings there before that had that had um sellers. We're using those areas. We're not going
further into the hillside. We're going right up to where the old buildings were before. There'll be a retaining wall and some landscaping on that hillside to make it look a lot better for the residents, but it's not going to be providing structural support for our building, which is a which is a big step in the right direction.
So, back to our streetscape view. Um, I think you can tell Carlos and his team spent a lot of time to think through how to make this project better. I think they did a good job of taking what was good about the former project which was sort of a urban ccentric uh downtown
type building. Um but also they took a I mean I think you can tell there they took a look at um the neighbors um um this this fits in well with downtown we think and and matches um existing buildings that are there. Um, so in
terms of our our permitting here with the council, council is both special permit granting authority and site plan review authority in the village district. So we're here to amend both of those permits. The special permit addresses going over the maximum height which is 70 ft unless you get a special
permit. And so we're looking to go to 75 ft. Um there's a special permit provision for um rear lot line setback. A portion of our stair area is um at a zero lot line. And so we need special permit relief for that. And then if you really want to get into the weeds, there's a little piece of this that's
still zone business, 98 square feet that got left over because the maps were done wrong. Um we need a special permit to extend into that area. So those were items of relief that were asked for in 2019 that we're also asking for again here. And then the site plan approval um
handles all the other details the the payment in lie of parking for the five spaces that we're not providing on site and a number of other technical details in terms of the how the stairway is going to get designed and approved um and other aspects of of the site. Um
I'll be providing drafts of the special permit and site plan approval decision as soon as I possibly can so we can get going on review. Um before I was even brought on board with this project, Carlos had been meeting with city department heads to get them up to speed. Um because obviously it's been a
while. Um and so he was meeting with city officials. We've now met with the site plan review committee informally at their last two meetings. I expect we'll be at every one of their meetings until the end of this year uh to go over the details and and u properly advise um the council. Um separately, we filed a
request to purchase a portion of the city stair property. Um that was part of the permits in 2019 and we do still need that partially for building area and also to relocate the stairs. Stairs would remain city property just in a different configuration and rebuilt um
uh to to modern standards. Um you can tell we're moving fast, but it's because we got this January 12th deadline. After January 12th, the the the permits are gone. Um and we're starting over. And quite honestly, I think we might be looking at what we saw on that second slide for quite a bit longer if we pass
this up. Um, I will say from my perspective, since the original developer u stalled on the project, I've been approached by many uh potential um buyers and developers who have looked at this. Um, and I know the city has probably seen even more. In particular,
MEEDC have had a lot of suitors come their way. Every one of them walked. um what you have here, Carlos and and Taja states and and their team um I think is the last best option u to get this project underway. Um and I think they put a lot of thought into this in a very
short period of time to try to make that happen. Um so we're excited about this. I think it's a great opportunity and we look forward to working with the city uh as we move towards um January 12th. Thank you. >> Thank you, Attorney Faul. Uh CPU, you've got a couple communications you want to
read. I Well, I have one for public in favor. We received the city council received a letter from the Marbor Regional Chamber of Commerce, Michelle Mercer, the CEO and president in support of the project, sir. >> Okay. Any other members of the public speaking in favor? If you want to step up to the microphone in the back here
and uh name and address would be perfect. And again, we're limiting speeches or comments to three minutes. >> Hi, is this on? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. My name is Anthony Lawrence and I own 179 Main Street which abuts this
property and I would like to speak in favor of this project. >> Thanks Tony. >> Good evening all. My name is Luis Thomas Aosta. I'm u a business owner here in in the city of Malber. My business service
other business. I'm also uh part of the board of director of the Malboro uh regional chamber of commerce and I'm uh speaking in favor of this project for the reasons that are already mentioned by the um by the proponent of the project and I
I urge the council to to consider that because it's a it's a unique opportunity for us to pursue what we are all looking for which is the development of downtown Malbero. So, this is a project that is
much more um friendly to all the goals that this uh body uh put in place and uh we found someone that is able and available and willing to build it. So, I strongly recommend uh the approval of
this project. Thank you. >> Thanks, Luis. Any other members of the public speaking in favor? Hi, Andrea Pion, 12 Barrett Road, Lexington, Mass. Um, I work for the Davis Companies, uh, west side of Marorrow. I've been working in Marorrow for 37 years. Seen a lot of changes come
and go with this city, but I think this project I'm really excited about. It's been a tough thing to find the right project for that spot. We've seen a lot of things come and go, and this group really seems to have done a good job. They didn't try to fold the exact every inch of the space. They've made it a little bit smaller on sides. I think
they were very thoughtful of adding the parking was been was a huge conversation for folks in the past. So I was really excited to see how much more parking they're putting into the project. So again, it feels right and I know the timing is tough, but I think that's why it's so important for us to make a decision that supports this at this
point because or else it's kind of back to the drawing board and things do get a little bit tougher after that with the changes to the village district. So in support of this project, I think it looks great. >> Thank you, Andrea. >> Hello. Um, my name is Andrew Trumbo. I'm at 169 Beach Street. Um, and I'm here in
support of this project. Uh, I know it doesn't meet all of my goals for what I would hope for a project at this site. It's definitely better than what we currently have there and I I wouldn't want that to continue to drag out for any longer than it needs to given the
fact that this has been in the works for years at this point and we haven't gotten much use out of that space since then. So, I uh support this. Thank you. Thanks, Andrew. Any other members of the public speak in favor? Any other members
of the public speak in favor? Any members of the public speak in favor? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Questions from the public? Any questions from the public? >> What about traffic? >> You got to come up. State your name and
address. >> Yes, you do. >> I'm not good at this. It's okay. >> My name is Dolores Priest and I live on Grajo Boulevard and I have lots of concerns about this. Um, number one, I don't like the looks of the building.
It's too big. It doesn't conform to a small town, which is what I thought Malboro was. But, um, my my one of my concerns is traffic. Traffic is horrible now. And when those two buildings that
are being built now, when all that is occupied, where is all this traffic going? You can't I can't even get out of my condo on Granger Boulevard now. I don't know what it's going to be like when you have
all that. Parking's another issue. I have lots of issues. Parking's another issue. You said I don't know. Um he said that the public cannot park in their parking lot, their parking garage. However, they can park in our parking
garage which limits, you know, us taxpayers to park in that because now some of those people are going to be parking in there. I mean, okay. um schools. He said,
"You can't guarantee that there aren't going to be children in those places. You just cannot guarantee it. What are we going to do?" We have this building across from Wemies. We have this one where the uh funeral home was. We have
that big thing on on Route 20. We have the condos near the the Greek church. We have the place on Link. Where are all these kids going? Where are they going to go to school? I mean, I don't have I have grandchildren in the school system here, but where are they going to go?
Police. Do we have enough police to police all of this stuff? What about fire? I mean, if there's two fires or three fires in town and then a fourth one starts, then what then what do we do? Um, one of my questions though is
what about low income? Are there going to be some lowincome housing in there? that >> um there would not be affordable units in this. >> I can't I'm sorry. I can >> um in the in the Malro Village district, the affordability requirements do not
apply. Um so these would be all market rate um properties >> and like would veterans at least get a step up? I mean, would they be, you know, considered first a veteran if he wants to? Why are
you laughing? I don't This is hard for me. But anyway, my biggest concern is the traffic. When I get come down Granger Boulevard and my one of my granddaughters goes to Asabet and I take a left onto 85, sometimes I cannot take
that left because there are line of cars because there's no right turn that the right turn just kind of disappeared. So you have all these cars sitting and I'm just trying to go to pick my granddaughter up at school. I mean, traffic is a big issue and it's going to
be a bigger issue and parking. I don't know. That's my piece. >> Thank you, Doris. >> Anyone else with questions for the applicant? >> Anyone else with questions for the applicant? Anyone else with questions for the applicant?
>> I think I've got some questions. So, hi everyone. >> Name and address. >> Yep. Hi everyone. My name is Holly Casdorf. I live at 47C Curtis A. Uh I actually live in an apartment that or sorry I live in a condo that is actually like you know got a good amount of
space. I can't imagine like yeah my I and a lot of people came here because we can't imagine that this is going to be good for the community. It's not going to be good for the c culture. It's like you keep calling that that park and that
that spot an eyesore. I I kind of like looking at it. I like that those stairs that go up. I find a lot of charm in that. Um I, you know, of course I'm not a public speaker so I'm, you know, you come up with a hundred things to say and
then you come out here and it is more difficult to articulate. But I'm what I'm trying to say is um all these all these people, they got parking spots in there, right? But when I'm driving to work on Route 20, they're not they're going to be out of their parking spots and they're going to be out on the road
uh just clogging it up more. And that 40k extra I don't know how that 40k extra budget to the cops is going to make that traffic any smoother. Like why like if if we're so like where's the public transportation? You know I I
think I'd be a lot more in favor of this if if it was coupled with uh just some sort of support for people to get from point A to B without having to haul their their big people got big SUVs. They got big pickups and they park them in these tiny little spots and they take
up so much space on the road. And you know, I'm I came out here cuz cuz I love the I love the culture here. I love the people here. I find it to be a a real nice wholesome community. And I don't see that being fostered when we've got a bunch of like when we got all these
crammed apartments, crammed roads, and you know, it's just a stressor just to be out and about. Um and and these so I wasn't sure I came up for a question because I wasn't sure if I'd have a chance to speak uh this is my first city council meeting. I was not sure if I
would have a chance to speak my concerns about this as a citizen as a taxpayer. Uh as someone who is like like you all mentioned earlier, you know, my husband and I, we don't have kids. So we're just we're just paying for y'all's schools, you know. So I'm all I think that's a I think that's a cool like kind of hook
you got there. But I just don't like I I don't see that being like like I don't you know this this just doesn't like if you put yourselves in the shoes of a normal workingass person who who goes to work and comes home every single day and you're out for 40
hours working. You're on the road for two plus hours. How can you imagine that most people would be okay with this? We've already got so many other apartments being built. You all see them. They're taking forever to be built and like I just don't understand how
most of the town can be on board with this. I actually I don't believe most of the town this looks like a pretty full room. I don't imagine it's this full usually. Um so I guess my question is why aren't we why aren't we supporting with more people coming in and our limited road space? Why aren't we
supporting more public transportation? Something more for workingclass people to get around without clogging the roads up more. >> Thanks Ollie. And you did a good job public speaking. Any other members of the public with questions? Any other members of the public with
questions? Any other members of the public with questions? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Public speaking in opposition. Any members of the public speaking in opposition? Members of the public speaking in opposition.
Any members of the public speaking in opposition? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. questions from the city councilors. Councelor Ducet. >> Thank you very much, Mr. President. Uh I know there's a lot of voice concerns by the citizens and I respect that. Uh one
of the points that was brought up is um you got 67 units and 61 parking lots. How is that? Um so, um it will be probably first come, first serve, I would imagine, but um you may be hard to believe not
everyone here is probably going to have a car. um you know, we will have to as a zoning matter um buy five spaces, but it's you know, we're not acquiring any spaces. We're just making a payment for the five that we're not providing on site. Um but with a shortage of just
five from what zoning requires, it's possible that we don't send many cars, if any, um to the garages nearby. I we're pretty close um to what zoning requires. And that's, you know, it's 75 spaces for all the one and two um all
the studio and onebedroom and then one and a quarter for every um twobedroom, which is what the council put in the in the zoning in terms of what they thought would be the correct parking, you know, ratio for this kind of a downtown project. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you, council. Just councelor Naban. >> Excuse me. that. Okay. Yeah. So, so again, you counselors know into the microphone with some authority, right? Don't be sheepish. Speak. People want to hear you. Thank you very much for the
comment, Council Naven. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um Brian, appreciate the presentation. I just wanted a clarification. I'm looking through the from the previously approved building. There are two garage doors. I understand that there's the garage on the the garage door on the left side is
for the additional parking. I'm just gonna get if you >> just walk me through because now there's four garage doors on the front versus the two. Trying to figure out how that works. >> Yep. >> No, I keep going. >> One more.
>> There we are. Okay. So, this is our ground floor. So, you'll see on on the far left there's the aisle going back into those parking spaces. That's one garage door. >> Okay. And then on the on the right side towards the far right, you can see maybe
Carlos can point it out. Um there's another another two garage doors, one for in and one for out on the ramp that will lead up to the second floor garage. So there'll be two there will be three garage doors for the two entrances. We just have two doors for the two lanes um
for the ramp. >> And then to the the door to the far right, if you're looking at the building, that looks like another garage door. >> It's it's not a garage door, >> right? There's that one and then on the right there's three there. >> Council just >> so that that's a utility area. So that's
where the water service, electric service, all that would be done right there. So it's accessible off of Main Street rather than trying to bury it in the back of the building. >> Okay. I appreciate that. Um and then look forward to this coming to urban. Um be looking forward to a conversation about the the difference there or the
trade-offs between the additional parking, the utility room, and then retail space. I understand that going from 2 to one but still maintaining more retail space is great. Um but like to have a little bit of a conversation about what that does for um kind of that part of Main Street where we obviously are looking for additional retail space
as well. So um appreciate the extra parking but kind of like to have a further conversation about that. >> Sure. >> Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Naven. Council of Vital. >> Thank you, Mr. President. >> Um Brian, could you put it back to the place uh to the slide that talked about potential tax revenue? Sure.
If I can find it. Here we are. >> Here we are. So, if everything works out the way you the numbers are, 185,000, that pretty much equals one new teacher, one new firefighter, and one new police officer.
Right there. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Councelor Vital. Councelor Irish. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, good evening, uh, Attorney Faulk. Um, I welcome the building, uh, height decrease from 81 to 75 because I was one
that did not support that increase. Uh my question is when when the owner has purchased this lot, was it considered using the similar architectural design of the front of the building? I understand you're not going the height. I didn't know if that was still a possibility that you could still,
you know, weave in some of the other architectural design from the previous project from 2019. >> Um so, council, so up on the screen now at the top is 2019 and the bottom is 2000 uh 2025. the current proposal. We
we did we did uh attempt to do that to you know as I said try to take the best of what was in the prior proposal um and make it first of all uh feasible as a construction matter and also to be a little bit better of a blend um with
with the um um know the warm block next door tried to you know make those look like um they belong next to each other. Um, so, uh, I don't know if that answers your question, but we'll try to do a little bit of both. >> Understood. No, I understand and I understand it's an undertaking uh, for this project. It was just that the
previous design, some of the windows and everything really kind of mirrored a little bit more of the downtown. U, but I fully understand that is an undertaking of this particular project. >> And if I if I may, I just backed up a little bit. It might get a little bit lost on the lower level in terms of what's a garage door, what's a window.
There are a lot of windows here. Um, you just might not be able to tell because of the dark color. Um I encourage them to put signs and all kinds of people in those windows, but we can only get so much um out of the rendering. Um but there is a lot of it will be an active front beyond just the garage doors and
utility doors. The the dominant um dominance along Main Street is going to be uh both the retail and then the parts of the um lobby and bike area that you can see and see the activity of the residents. >> No, I think the bottom part uh with the 163 that blends in pretty well. I was
more concerned of above the 163 considering the other previous architectural design. Sure. Thank you, Attorney Park. Thank you, >> Council Irish. Council Orum. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I think my voice travels. I probably don't even
need the microphone. Um, I have a question related to the units. You said there's studios and one bedrooms. I heard you just say two bedrooms. Do we have any two bedrooms? >> Yep. So, let me just get the number for you. So it is
backing up 31 two-bedroom and then 36 of both onebedroom and studio. I think we have four or five studios total. Um so it's about about half two bed and about half um one bed roughly. And on the um discussion where
you showed these money savings, non-school cost, did you are you going to have a limit that nobody can have school children in this building? >> Um through the president, we can't do that. Um >> I didn't think so. >> Right. >> But you presented it that way.
>> What we're anticipating is the same. Okay. >> We anticipate the same trend that we've seen with many of the other projects that were mentioned tonight. Um the data that I've seen from the school department shows a very low number of children. Someone mentioned you can't guarantee there will be no children.
That's true. We can't. But 67 units right downtown with limited amenities um will will based on all projections that we've seen just in Malro, not just in other places in terms of this kind of product. We'll have a very low number of children if if any.
>> Well, with the two bedrooms, there's that opportunity. Um, I go by Hosma Street and get stuck there for 15 minutes seeing children going off buses to the apartments that are two bedrooms. So, that doesn't sell to me that there won't be school children in here. I
believe there will be and there will be costs for that. And maybe not just a school another school teacher. It's concerning, you know, especially with 31 two-bedroom units. Um, but again, that's my concern and I just want to make sure it was heard that there could be school
children there. There's a building being built on Main Street right now and I continually get calls. I've been dealing with the local counselor on it because there's no decency to the businesses that exist. Small businesses are being represented
tonight. The chambers here and they continue to park and take spaces for the small businesses that need to operate. I'm going to be asking for a control measure for the people that build this building for parking that they consider
moving away from the site because we're having that problem right now on the other end of Main Street. Not your building, but it's concerning and it could happen again. And I'd like to see during construction a construction setup
where we're not tying up Main Street all the time. and I'll be bringing that to the committees that review this urban affairs as well as our town uh city representatives. But that's concerning and it's already happened. Not with you, but I don't want to see it happening
again. We need control plans to prevent that. Um, the other thing that I had a question on a little easier is are you going to have any electrical charging stations for the cars that will be parked at your location?
>> Uh, yes, there will be. Do you have a number for us? >> There will be like >> just go right to the mic. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I mean, by code, we are required to have like a certain amount of parking spaces with like electric chargers. Like in all the parking spaces there on the first floor are going to have electric chargers on them. Do you know how many
about? >> Uh I think like we have about 10 units over on the first floor. >> Good. That I'm happy to hear that news. I drive an electric car now. So I'm always trying to get a spot down in our back parking lot and it's not always available. Uh there will be other
discussions I will bring up at urban affairs as well as site plan. Um but the concern is if it does get approved. Um traffic obviously was brought up. I brought it up earlier that traffic's getting ridiculous in this city. Um, but
the other issue is parking. We can't ignore the fact that if you have a two-bedroom, there could be two adults living there needing two cars. So, now we're up to 62 cars with 31 twobedrooms. We are not yet there for public transportation. It's unfortunate, but
we're not there. We're not Boston. We're not Cambridge. So, where are they going to park? you know, and it's concerning and it I just don't ask these questions of your present candidate for this property. It was asked for others as well. So, we'll hopefully get some
answers when we uh see this in urban affairs as well as site plan. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Council. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for being here, Mr. uh Mr. Faulk. Um, I do have a couple of questions, but I did
want to follow up uh with Council Orum's um sentiment about the school children um and you know, the ongoing strains that we're going to see on our emergency services if we do have these these units open and available. Um, I did actually want to know about these garage doors
that are going to be at the lower level. Um, are they going to be automatic doors? Uh, are there going to be any warning systems for pedestrians walking by? uh the people in this community are not used to that level of parking structure. Um that's more of an inner city, big city kind of deal. Um and it
seems that we keep prioritizing vehicles over pedestrians in our beautiful walkable city, especially our uh main street. So, if you can kind of expand on on what that situation is going to be like. >> Good. It's a good question. Um and it's a question that came up in 2019 as well because although we didn't have two
levels of parking, we did still have garage doors that were going to be automatic. And so the the existing um site plan decision from 2019 has fairly detailed condition in terms of what that system is going to be in terms of warnings pedestrians. It's not automatic. It's controlled by the
resident when they're coming and going. Um so we have we had that thought through and we've been talking about this slightly different system with the city engineer at a few different meetings now. So he has been on top of that and so we'll be making tweaks to that condition in the 2019 um site plan
approval. Uh but those are those are good good good questions and concerns that it would be you're right it's a newer thing for Malbor although it is fairly common in um in other cities it would be a newer thing for Malro but um we we we are aware of that and we'll definitely um have those conditions in this permit.
>> Thank you. Um I also did have a question about your your backyard for the back of the building. Um that giant retaining wall. Um is are there any plans to do anything with that? Uh improve it in any way or um I'm sure you're going to clear
it somehow. Um and also that the backyard. Um what is Do you know what the total like um length of that is and the width? I I know there's a square footage. >> I don't have the number at the tip of my tongue, but >> it just seems really really tight back
there. Yeah, it's I'm just trying to get to the slide that shows you. Oh, that's not the one. Oh, yeah. One more. There we go. Um, so that's that's the that's the lawn space. >> Yeah. So, the part of the back of that would be the slope going up the hill
that would be landscaped. Um, but the the actual um lawn area, I think Carlo said he thought it was about 5,000 square ft. >> Do you know what that what the depth is though? Like >> the depth? I don't have that. We'll we'll get that for you. It's on the plans. I just I just don't know off the top of my head. >> It just seems like very little usable
green space for for people out there if that's going to be majority slope up there. >> That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Presiato. Any other councils? Councelor Fill. >> Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Attorney Faul. I appreciate tonight's presentation. Um, just a couple quick
questions regarding the uh draft special permit. Obviously, we don't have copy yet, but you had made reference to some of the changes that we'll be looking at just to confirm. So, 70 70 ft is the max. We're going to 75. obviously looking for relief there. >> Um then also the lot lines looking for relief. Um correct. And then just
lastly, the 98 ft is still zoned for business. So we'll need relief for that as well. >> That is correct. And then also in that 2019 special permit, we have relief for lot coverage. We don't show that on these plans because we've got that green space. It is fairly debatable because that is going to be over a building as
to whether that counts as lot coverage or not. I mean, we think it's green space. It's lawn area. It is technically over a portion of the garage. So, we all the same relief that was in the in the 2019 permit we'd be asking for except for, you know, the height coming down and some other calculations coming down.
No, I appreciate it. Thank you. And I'm very much looking forward to reviewing this in urban affairs. It's important that we look at these kind of urban centric, right? Focusing on downtown. We all campaign on it. Now, we're getting a chance to really look at something. So, I appreciate it. Thank you, Attorney Fox. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Villo. Any other counselors? Question from the
counselors? Councelor Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, for people who were not on the council or maybe didn't live in Marbor at the time, I think you need to be aware that this project came after the city council did a major reszoning of downtown to develop
the downtown Marorrow Village. And within that zoning, this building would have been allowed by right except for the fact that they wanted to go higher than was allowed. So, they need the special permit. We allowed many things
by right in downtown that we then changed later on. Um, one of the other parts of the conversation that we had with many residents and many business people was this the look of this
building was one of the things that everybody said fit on Main Street. It is pictured in the design review guidelines. There are multiple pictures of what the
public said would work downtown and this is one of them that was um a sample of what would fit. So um I just wanted to bring that out without going to a lot. I guess my question I were some of the
ones that were already asked, but I want to talk about the stairway. Um because currently you can walk up that stairway all the way to McNeil Street behind. You'll still be able to do that. It will be public. It seems like it's
>> the in the picture the two buildings look closer than they ever were before. So it it seems like it's going to be not as open and prettyl looking. Um, you can also will you be able to stop like you
could before to look down on the back side of that building when there was a building there and the the property? >> Yes, you would be able to that. You're right, the stairs are a little narrower than the kind of switchback system that is going on right now. Um, so there will
be a redesign. The buildings will I mean there's no building there now. The new building won't be any closer than the prior proposal. It's it's the same. Um and there will be a landing that provides um egress for both our building and the and the walker the walker block
as well. Um so the stairs will be both for the public to go from Devons to Main Street and also for egress for both of those two buildings. Um they'll retain that and it'll still be open to the public and you know city property >> and there the public will not be able to use those stairs to then get into the
back o green space behind the building or is there separate private access to that? >> Yeah, that green space is for the residents. That's that's no different than someone's backyard. So it would be accessible for the residents from the stair area. That's how you get into it, but it's not to the public. So there'll
be a separate gated correct entry for them. Okay. Um I think that is all of my questions. I know um you were at site plan on Thursday. Hopefully things will move along. I know
they did have some concerns at prior site plan meetings. Um once they get us their final comments, I guess we'll be ready to go for urban affairs and see where we are. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor Roby. Any other questions from the counselors? Questions
from the counselors? Any questions from the counselors? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing and the entire public hearing. And this is in urban affairs. >> Thank you very much. >> Agenda item number five. >> Now is the time for the public hearing on the resubmission of a proposed zoning
ordinance amendment chapter 650 zoning to add a new section that would create the Ames Village Olay District. Order number 25-1009553. >> Okay. This public hearing will be taken up in the same four stages. First for the public speaking in favor starting with the applicant. Second, questions from the public. Third, public speaking
opposition. Then fourth, questions from the city council and comments will be limited to three minutes. Please state your name and address before speaking. With that, attorney Faul. >> Thank you, President Austin and counselors. Again for the record, attorney Brian Faulk from my rec 100 Front Street in Worcester. Here on
behalf of the petitioner, Malbor North Bro land realy trust, which is an affiliate of Gutierrez Company. Uh here with me tonight is Scott Weiss from the Gutierrez comp uh company. Um this may seem very familiar. Um it should because the council last had this u before them
in September. Um, this is a petition for a zoning amendment to add a new overlay district known as the Ames Village overlay district on the 11 acres at the corner of Ames and Forest Streets. Um, when we were before you last, we had a favorable recommendation from the urban affairs and housing committee and a
favorable recommendation from the planning board. Um, but we weren't able to clear the council's procedure or steps within the required 90 days. Um, so the council didn't take action in 90 days. the zoning amendment didn't take effect and so we were able to refile because we had a favorable recommendation from the planning board.
We weren't subject to a two-year prohibition. Um so we're back before you. Um and we have to redo everything. We had our planning board hearing tonight um at 7:00 and now we're we're having um this hearing. Um so just moving through this is a vacant site in
the A3 residential zoning district. Um site is we think as a transitional area. uh between Avalon multif family community to the south, some commercial industrial uses to the west and um high in our mind is the single family homes
to the north. Um as an A3 and this this aerial gives a little bit better sense of what I was talking about the site being sort of a transition between um more intensive you um commercial uses to the west um intensive multif family uses to the south and then single family
homes to the um to the north. you can see there. Um, it's an A3 property. Um, which means that for the most part, the only thing you can do are single family homes. There are a few other uses, but for the most part, A3 is for single family homes. Um, this this graphic
gives you a sense of what A3 zoning does on this property. Um, there were a number of subdivisions proposed for this property over the years. Most recently, a 21 lot subdivision. That subdivision has lapsed, so um, if there was ever to be done, you have to go back before the planning board. But this is roughly what
uh a 21 lot subdivision under A3 zoning uh would look like at that property. And then this is what we're looking to do with the overlay district. Um we would have our development concentrated along Aim Street and Forest Street,
leaving that existing vegetated buffer um that shields the single family homes from these uh more intensive uses I described. Um giving them that green space and that green buffer. Um, this is the only additional use that this overlay district would allow. This isn't an overlay district with a laundry list
of other uses. It's a singleuse overlay district. You take advantage of the overlay district to do multifamily by special permit or you don't and you just go with A3. So, there's definitely a clear eitheror for the council um which is not always the case with zoning
amendments that come come through here. Um so I'm going to turn now to um Scott Weiss from Gutierre is going to tell you a little bit about um the project and some of the financial impacts and then some of his discussions um with neighbors um before we came forward with
this uh petition. Scott, >> thank you. Brian uh again for the record, Scott Weiss with the Gutteras Company. Um uh so thank you again uh for your time this evening. Uh as attorney Faul uh indicated uh what we're proposing here
are condos uh for sale ownership condos uh what we call age targeted. We've done this product in other locations um that are geared towards primarily empty nesters uh people who maybe want to downsize from their existing home uh
stay in the area keep keep a uh a home in Marorrow. Um as part of that we propose uh very limited amenities within the within the building and the development um to so that it keeps um condo fees down so the the cost of
ownership can can be more more attainable. Uh so with that uh if we skip to the next one uh we did have uh financial projections for this as well and um as compared to the single family
housing development it is uh um uh very much net positive revenue tax revenue to the city. Uh the project would uh generate in excess nearly $450,000 as compared to um single family homes.
It's it's over $500,000 better for the city in terms of economics. Uh to the point of can we guarantee that there will be no children in this development? No, we cannot. Uh we have experience in this type of product in other locations where there are no children. It just
does not appeal as a price point as as uh the type of units and what's available. Um that that's been the experience. However, even if there were a number of children in this in this development that is consistent with or even higher than some of the other um
sort of uh multif family uh developments within the community, this would still be a net revenue positive development to the city uh as as compared to uh the single family housing um uh units. So, moving on to the next slide, and I know
we've we've talked about this before. This proposal, uh, the site has been before the city as the single family subdivision a number of times. It's been before you previously. We did spend, uh, a fair amount of time working with the neighborhood, getting feedback both from
the planning board in their prior reviews, and we modified the proposal to what you see here today. We've reduced the size by 25%. We've consolidated the building footprint from three buildings to two buildings. We've moved the
buildings closer to to Ames and Forest Street, thereby preserving the larger um uh buffer zone in the back of the site. Um uh in fact the planning board earlier this evening asked about the idea of uh
solidifying that within this this zoning uh language to uh assure that those buildings would be within a specified distance from those streets as forest and we have no reservations or no concerns about doing that. Um and then
the site is on a hill. Um and we're putting the buildings on the sort of low side of the property. So we use the hill as a further buffer to the adjacent uh um homes to the north. Um and lastly, we're proposing to restrict uh the Forest Street exit. As you know, as you
may see, there's an entrance and exit off of Ames and Forest and restrict the Forest Street exit to a right turn only. And with that, I'll turn it back to Attorney Faulk. Thanks, Scott. Um, this is a rendering a little bit of um, what some of the buildings uh, might look like.
And I just wanted to leave on this one because I think it helps explain why we're doing what we're doing. Um, so some of the specifics of the zoning um, we're capped at 90 units. That's the maximum number that we could have in the district. So it's not a question of how dense is this going to be. The maximum is 90 units. That's will be right in the
zoning. Um this would require both a special permit from the council and then formal site plan approval. So we're at the very beginning of the of the process high level uh zoning. Um can we do a multif family use and what will be the basic rules and then at the next step we would go into special permit and then
later uh to uh site plan approval in terms of the um the buffers um that we were talking about. So the zoning specifies that there has to be a 50-foot vegetated buffer all along the perimeter of the property excluding Forest and Aim
Street. So everywhere that you see um lot line um that's not Forest and Aim Street, we'd have a minimum 50 foot vegetated buffer. Um we also have a we have to required to have in the zoning four acres towards the back adjacent to the single family homes. Four acres left
in natural undisturbed um condition. Um and then beyond that, we have a 50% maximum lot coverage. Um so we're looking at five and a half of these 11 acres actually having um structures on them. And of the five and a half acres, at least four have to be left completely
alone in their natural uh natural state. Um the contrast that you see on the right is what A3 zoning would do with 30-foot rear setbacks, 15t side setbacks, and no requirement to maintain the existing woods. So even though the lot coverage might be the same, um that
lot coverage is spread out along all these different parcels and there's no obligation to maintain the vegetated buffer versus what we're proposing which is to push it closer to forest and as leave that open green area um undisturbed. Um we also have a provision
in the zoning to um clarify that we have to comply with um soil mana man management um techniques for formal apple orchard um uh properties which this is one and that's going to be right in the zoning as well. Uh so that concludes our formal presentation. We appreciate your time. Look forward to
your questions. Thanks. >> Thank you attorney F. Any other members of the public speak in favor? Any members of please come on up and get you can form a line but go ahead. >> Hello Sawyer. I live at 33 Teller Street. I abut this property. So the
small little V at the top of that picture where the forest is, that is where I live. I've been dealing with this for 20 years. When they tried to do the homes before, it was a fiasco as most of you from city that were there at
the time has heard me before. Um, this is the best planned for the condos. It gives keeps the integrity of the neighborhood. It has green space for the animals and it actually helps with the noise. There's a lot of noise around our
neighborhood now with the fork kicks and everything else going on. So, I think this would be the best plan as long as they keep their their acreage clear, we're we'd be good. >> Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Margaret.
>> Fred Meyer, 125 Sandin Road. I probably live the closest to what's going to be the four-story building there. It's not going to bother me. It's behind me. It's going to be quiet. We're the people that live here and have to deal with whatever we end up building
here. We want it quiet. If we put 23 houses in there, it's not going to be quiet. Um the proposal has been modified many times. 99% of the people like the town houses and don't want regular houses. We don't want walkways behind our houses.
Leave it natural for the animals. They don't have much land left as it is. Um, less noise for the neighborhood. No play no playground equipment. I hear the car alarms from Avalon above me. I hear four kicks which is up over the hill. The the
um the whistles, the screaming, the yelling all the time. Um, this is definitely the best proposal that we have for the land. That's all I got to say. >> Thank you, Fred. >> Thank you.
>> Hi, I'm Beverly Burroughs and I live at 50 Teller Street, but mine is the dead end in back of um, Forkick. though, I've got a different opinion of this, a different view from this, and I'm um in support of the um the condos because I
realize that they're going to be less uh invasive to me as far as being able to see the condos as and um I really appreciate the green space because once if we take that away, we're not going to get it back. And we do have a lot of
animals still running through the woods. some things you'd be very surprised to know what we have in this state and uh to lose that to lose that would be just awful. So I really support the condos and keeping the green space. Thank you.
>> Thank you Beverly. >> Uh John Walters 50 Teller Street. Um I am in support of the condos uh because of the uh preservation of the green space that's there. Uh I have two young kids and I love um being able to tell
them or would love being able to tell them that we got um these this land preserved uh for the future for their future. So uh really would support the um condos for this. >> Thank you, John. >> My name is John Sawyer. I'm at 33 Tele
Street. Um, I'm like to talk about the fact that this has been a 20-year uh project that the developers have looking to build and up until tonight I've been completely opposed to it. Uh, but this is by far the best situation. It impacts
a neighborhood um the best possible way. Um, you know, we've never been against a a land owner, you know, wanting to do something with this land, but it was always about do it right for the for the neighbors. And I think this is I like to for the council to consider that this is the best possible plan that I can I
could see. Thank you. >> Thank you, John. Any other members of the public speaking in favor? Any other members of the public speaking in favor? Any members of the public speaking in favor? Hearing none, I close that portion of the public hearing. Questions
from the public? Any questions from the public? Any questions from the public? Questions from the public? I close that portion of the public hearing. Public speaking in opposition. Any members of the public speaking in
opposition? >> Oh, we do have a correspondence. >> Uh yes, council. The council do receive one communication from Kristen Larson of 5 Kaliber Drive in Malbor who stated she is in opposition. >> Thank you, Mr. Carrian.
Any other members of the public speaking in opposition? >> I'm sorry. >> Christian Kirsten, I apologize. >> Any other members of the public speaking in opposition? I got to get through this three times. Any members of the public speaking in opposition? Members of the public speaking in opposition hear none.
I close that portion of the public hearing. Questions from the city councilors? Questions from the city councilors? Any questions from the council? I was hoping I was hoping the ward counselor might want to speak first, but
that's okay. Um, in looking at the view of the buildings, they appear to be four stories, pretty high. And the question I would have is, has a balloon test been done so the neighbors can see what they're going to be looking at from
their housing units? >> You're correct that they're they're fourstory. It would be a garage level and then four levels of residential above it. We have not done a balloon test. That's something the council is interested in. We could do that as part of the special permit. >> Okay. And another question. Scott may
have something else. I'm sorry. If I if I may through the president, um just in response, we did have uh some architects renderings just showing blocking and massing and using the in respect to the existing grades out there so that we could compare um what neighbors would
see um as a comparison between the single family subdivision versus this proposal. So, we did do those uh renderings and share them with the neighbors. Were they able to see the height of the buildings in those renderings from their house like a balloon test in show?
>> So I in some cases the bu the tops of the buildings are visible um in depending on which exact neighboring property you are from but you could you could tell and see the difference. Yes. >> And the other note I see in the uh
drafts is the conventional housing shows green space. Do you have wetlands on that property where you need to protect the green space especially at the end of the culde-sac? >> No. >> No. We're not aware there are any wetlands. Some of the um blue that you
see there, those are detention basins are for storm water, but it's not wetlands. No. >> Okay. But is that going to be green space around that detention basin? That darker green versus the lighter green around the houses. >> What what you see there, it would be left in its natural state. Um so so yes
>> and that um detention basin for the 90 unit facility where are those detention basins? >> So uh looking at the just the the prior uh single family subdivision plan the blue areas were the planned detention
basins. Uh those were actually construction had started um gez it's probably 18 years ago now or so construction had started on that and those areas were graded out um uh for while the full site hasn't been designed
yet and the engineering fully done. There is uh the thought that one of those basins would continue to be used at the top uh left of the image that you see um which is mostly uh cleared today. It is a little bit o overgrown but it's
not trees and the like in that area. Uh that area would continue to be used and the rest of the storm water would be managed within and under the parking. >> Under the parking you said >> within and under the parking. Yes, that's correct. And in fairness to the
other applicant, I'll ask very similar questions. You say, you know, you're trying to build it so there will be no school children, but you also said there's no guarantee. >> How many bedrooms are you proposing for each condo? Are they a variety?
>> One to two. They're all two bedrooms. >> And how many parking spaces are you planning for 180 two 180 bedrooms? So the the zoning that we is in the overlay district is consistent with other multifamilies that have been done recently. So it's 1.5 per unit.
>> So 1.5 per unit, not per bedroom. >> Correct. >> Okay. So that comes down to what 14 135 parking spaces. And uh the other question I had was in respect to
parking, is it all outside? Are you planning garages? >> So it's a little bit of both. you see surface parking on that concept plan will have that and then underneath each building will be garage parking as well. So, it's a little bit of both. And that, you know, the garage parking in addition to being convenient for the for the um
unit owners um also helps reduce the amount of built space because it's all self-contained under the building versus having more parking towards the back. Back to the children, um you say you're trying to build them. Is it because you
don't provide a playground? Is that why you're saying you don't attract children? >> That is that is part of it. I'll let let Scott speak to it. Um but I can address a little bit. So age targeted, it's the amenities that are put together. They're all two-bedroom. It's not designed to have the types of amenities that people
would want to have kids at. Um there are condominiums and multifamilies that certainly have that. Um this would not be one of them. So the the goal with this is a place for folks to downsize. Um area residents don't have a lot of options to downsize. um and someone who's been living in a single family
home for four years doesn't necessarily want to start being a tenant all over again. So, this is a good option for them and one that we don't see much in the marketplace. So, we call it age targeted because we're not going through the somewhat ownorous and and difficult process of doing age restricted which
makes it very difficult to to buy and sell quite honestly. Um but age targeted in terms of the amenity mix which in in Scott's experience seeing this product done elsewhere um has virtually no children. um it just works out that way because it's not a place that people um
choose to raise children because it doesn't have the amenities that kids would would tend to like. Um and we and again I mentioned at the last hearing data that I've seen from the Mal school department shows newer multifamilies both condo and rental newer ones ones
built within the last 5 to 10 years have very low number of children. Um are there no children? No. There's no one can guarantee that. But the number of children is very very low and marketkedly lower than you would have with single family homes where you can't guarantee but you can all but guarantee
that um with a good good school system new single family homes are going to have families with kids and that the fiscal impact on the city is is significant to the negative. The um question I have too is in these twobedroom units
um obviously as you said you can't guarantee there won't be children but what is the I thought you had a slide that showed the average cost for these units. They're all two they're all the same right twobedroom condos all 90 of them. >> They are I'm just backing up. The
projection there is on this is all value to the city. This isn't necessarily the cost. This is the assessed value. assessed value, but that wouldn't be the cost of a condo. >> No, assessed values are never exact to the cost. >> So, it's usually higher. >> It depends. >> Yeah. No, I mentioned way before you
guys even thought of coming into Marble in the '9s, the issue always became people trying to downsize. Sometimes they're just matching to go into a smaller facility because their house sells maybe almost the same price as maybe what the market is. So, that's
concerning. uh that it may not be as readily available to the present residents. So, it's concerning and it again I brought it up in other projects as well, you know, back when they were building down on Williams Street. Uh but that's so that's just your assessed
value determination to show the cost. And again, there's the zero school cost. I would question that. But um and the other question I had the easy one is are you planning electrical charging stations? >> Yes. Per code now I mean anything new
has to have electrical char. >> How many are you planning for this facility? >> Do you know code on top of your head Scott? >> If you don't don't worry. >> I think it's 20%. New parking areas under the new code are 20%. I believe >> that would be a good amount. Okay. Well thank you for your answers and I look
forward to hearing more at urban affairs or wherever site review. Thank you. Thank you Mr. President. council or council presidential. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for being here again, Mr. Faulk. Um, so originally I was in full support of this project. Um, the 90 unit condos. Um, but
I will admit I was not thinking of the city as a whole. Um, I was really focused on that neighborhood. Uh, and recently I've had lots of discussions with other residents and neighbors and and departments and um um you know the I I feel as though the
green space portion is is great. It's amazing that you know developers willing to do this. Um but it also feels like it's kind of an easy way to sway public opedion. Um because these condos will they will affect our city. it'll affect our neighborhoods, our emergency
services, our school systems. Um, so I I just want people to be aware of that and and and um I just wanted to make that point out because previously I had been in full support of this. Um, but I do have one question about the parking situation. If it is one and a half uh
per unit, um, are there any plans for overflow parking? Where would residents park if there are no parking spaces available in this property? Um there aren't plans for it. I mean that's that's something that could come at at the zoning level. We don't have that. I mean it's something that the council could look at. Um you know the
1.5 wasn't picked for maximum convenience for us to try to get just the right amount of parking. We want the right amount of parking. People aren't going to buy these units if they if they can't get parking. Um but 1.5 per unit we have found has been a a good measure in the industry and not just you know
around in Malro. We have found that, you know, a lot of the new multifamilies and condos, 1.5 is more than enough parking per unit. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Presiato. Councelor Brown. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, and I just
also want to thank um the residents for coming out and speaking as well. um when this was before us, before I was in support and I continue to be in support based on um what my constituents have
said. I just have one question. Um because we went through this all before, have there been any changes or modifications from the previous plan we just voted on to this or is this the same? the all this uh slide deck you
have seen has not changed other than the date. Um and the petition we filed the change is that um rather than filing the original petition, we filed the version that the city um solicitor's office had blessed as being in final legal form. So
that's the version we filed with this petition which is the one that had some tweaks made by legal and through the review process. >> Um thank you attorney fault. So basically um from my understanding that is all of the work that we had already done in urban previously and based on
discussion and has been put in proper legal format by our solicitor. Um that that is what we would be looking at. >> That's correct. We're we're essentially right back where we were in September. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you councelor Brown. Council
Ducet. >> Thank you very much Mr. President. Um, thank you for the presentation. So, just for clarification of this, uh, we're just going to be doing the special permit in this part of the process. Sorry, this is the zoning, right? Not the special permit. That's correct.
>> Once this gets approved, then you come back with the actual special permit. >> Special permit to the council and then after that, if we get a special permit, site planer approval by the site plan committee. >> Right. Right. So, you know, what what you show here as a presentation is
roughly a draft of what would be sent for the special permit, not the final, but you know, what to expect more than anything else. So, I just want to get that clarified. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Ducet. Any other questions from the counselors? Council Roby.
>> Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Councelor Ducet. I was going to make that point once again that this is a zoning change. It has nice pictures for what it could look like, but isn't a guarantee that that's
what we'll see if we approve the zoning change. They'll come back with the special permit with the specificity of all the details. Um, I don't have any questions. I know this you did have your public hearing from the planning board this evening, which is why you were
delayed. So, as soon as we get their opinion, um, we can set up an urban affairs meeting and take this up again. >> And just if I may, I can report from the planning board. They had the hearing tonight. They closed the hearing, but didn't close the record. What they were
looking to get back from us is, and and Scott had mentioned this previously, they wanted to see, can we put in the zoning the maximum distance from Forest and Aim Street that the developed area can be. They were throwing out 200 feet. We think that might be fairly close. We couldn't commit to it because we haven't
actually done it. We'll probably know that number tomorrow because this is not a difficult exercise. We just don't have it now. So, the plan board was really looking just to get that number and build that into their recommendation. So, they're going to take that up at their ne next meeting as soon as we have it. So, as soon as their next meeting,
we'll probably be ready to go. >> Perfect. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Council Obi. Any other questions from the city councilors? Questions from the city councilors? Questions from the city councilors hearing. None. I close that portion of the public hearing. The entire public
hearing and this is in urban affairs. Thank you very much for showing up this evening. >> Thank you. >> If you're ready, you let me know. >> Agenda item 15, minutes of boards, commissions, and committees. Mr. President, >> councel Ducet. >> Thank you much, Mr. President. Motion to
accept and place on file the minutes of the boards, commissions, and committees. >> Motions made and seconded to accept and place on file all the minutes. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Opposed? The minutes are filed and the vote is 100.
Reports of committees. Reports of committees. Reports of committees. Agenda item 16. Order number 25-100 9495. Richard Elementary School feasibility study update. Recommendation of the Urban
Affairs Committee is to file. Councelor Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move the recommendation of the committee which is to file. >> Motion's made and seconded to file the committee's recommendation. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none of those in favor. Motion carries. Votes
10. >> I'll wait to get ready. You ready? >> Agenda item 17. Order number 25-100 9497B. Application for modification of a special permit from Raphael Arnov on behalf of Green Gold Group Inc. to amend
the hours of operation of the marijuana retail establishment located at 910 Boston Post Road East. The recommendation of the urban affairs committee is to approve as amended. >> Councelor Roby. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Move the recommendation of committee which is to approve. >> Motion's made and seconded to approve
the recommendation of the committee which is to approve the amended special permit. I will ask the clerk to read the conditions please. The city council, pursuant to its authority under Massachusetts general law, chapter 48 in the zoning ordinance of the city of Malboro, hereby grants the applicant an amendment to modify condition number eight of the original special permit as
amended by the first amendment to the special permit as follows. One, by deleting condition number eight in its entirety and inserting in its place the following 8 hours. The maximum hours of op operation of the use shall be Monday through Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
All other conditions of the original special permit as amended by the first amendment to the special permit shall continue in full force in effect and are incorporated by reference as part of this decision. And finally, in accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts general law, chapter 48, section 11, the applicant, its successors, and or assigns at its
expense, shall record this special permit in the Middle Sex South Registry of Deeds after the city clerk has certified that the 20-day period for appealing the special permit has elapsed with no appeal having been filed and before the applicant has applied to the building commissioner for building permit. Upon recording, the applicant shall forth with provide a copy of the recorded special permit to the city
council's office, the building department, and the city solicitor's office. >> Thank you, Mr. Okay, you've heard the conditions. Is there any discussion on the conditions or the motion before us to approve the special permit? Any discussion? Hearing none, I will ask the clerk to call the role, please.
>> Council Pillo, >> yes. >> Council Brown, >> yes. >> Council Daven, >> yes. >> Council Det, >> yes. Or >> yes. >> Councelor Vital, >> yes. >> Councilor Preciato, >> yes. >> Council O, >> yes. >> Councelor Irish, >> yes. >> Councilor Roi,
>> yes. And yes, the >> motion to approve the amended special permit carries with a vote of 10 in favor. None opposed. >> Council Naven move to adjurnn. >> Motion's made and seconded to adjurnn. All those in favor? Oppose. The journ.
We are adjourned at 9:29. Have a good evening everyone.