good evening and welcome to the zoning subcommittee of the rier city council for March 10th 2025 please rise and salute the flag 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 Li Justice for All Madam clerk roll CL the members councelor agenzio here here councelor greo SAA here here councelor hero here here
councel noeli here here and um chairman I'm sorry chairman zambuto here here Quorum is present first item on tonight's agenda is a zoning ordinance further amending the zoning ordinances of the city of Rivier repealing the definition
and use of mechanical parking systems any councelors no any members of the audience thank you Mr chairman Council um I've talked about this repealing this ordinance a few times now so I'm not going to belabor the point
but in a nutshell I'm just going to say that the developers are exploiting the ordinance to get their approvals and then Dodge having to install the stackers by way of waivers from the zba therefore the policy's feeling its original intent to ensure adequate
parking in effect it's being used as a loophole but what I do want to speak to tonight is the argument that I heard during the last meeting which is that the one building in the city that has installed these stackers will suffer a decrease in property value due to it
becoming a non-conforming structure if this ordinance is repealed the argument is meritless and is merely a distraction from the bigger issue here that developers aren't delivering on promised parking which undermines public trust and neighborhood livability property
values are not solely dictated by conformance to current zoning it's influenced by a mix of factors location market demand functionality and how the property Stacks up against other properties in the area non conforming structures do not inherently tank value
especially if the structure remains functional and marketable we have a ton of properties in r that are non-conforming and their values are not decreased as a result Somerville for example um at least 20 to 25% of its
housing stock is non-conforming yet values are Skyhigh to due to demand we're very much like Somerville in that uh proximity to Boston and also our demand for housing here so in contrast I would argue that if the stackers function and provide parking which is a
reare commodity in the city they could actually boost the property's value and appeal we often see that a uniqueness in a property actually increases the value but the bottom line here is speaking from an appraisal point of view claims of property values whether increasing or
decreasing need to be backed by evidence through by way of appraisal so without having any appraisals these are just mere assertions therefore the argument falls short and cannot be given any consideration I hope that you this committee will favorably vote on this
repeal and give a favorable recommendation to the city council thank you thank you councelor Kelly I'll try not to take offense because I was the person who offered that suggestion and uh I didn't know I needed to back it up
with evidence but uh what it does uh in my mind is the favorable developer gets the relief and the others don't so that's a you know that's a whole another issue that we need to deal with uh in zoning
on all these boards but uh uh I I don't believe I'm going to have the votes to stop this even though I think my argument does have Merit uh but uhe leadless to say anybody else uh have
anything to add to this is noted well I think I have somebody in the audience wants to speak Marshall rusa 29 rney Road sorry yes um I've done extended research on this you did name an address
for her I did sorry did you get her name did you get it I I think you were speaking okay thank you I'm sorry go ahead continue um this is a problem throughout the country I've done some research they're highly dangerous when they're tenant operated
if it's operated by someone who's trained to do it I read about someone losing their leg in California somebody losing their fingers in another I think it was Chicago look at the safety irrespective of of the property
it's the tenants we're protecting I appreciate it we we've had all this debate for months on uh and we know if they're operated uh without uh strict rules and regulations they could be very dangerous but that's
neither here than there but thank you very much for your input uh okay so in in that case we'll uh take a a roll call Vote with the conditions of the planning board which just to confirm the planning
board issued a favorable recommendation theity to ad this that might somebody vote for it whatever so shall the zoning subcommittee offer aable recommendation to the full city council to uh approve the ordinance repealing mechanical parking definition in use councelor
agenzio yes yes councel green OAA yes yes councelor hero yes yes councel noeli yes yes and chairman zambuto no no the uh mechanical parking ordinance repeal has received a favorable recommendation will be forwarded to the full city council this
evening than you next up is a special permit application of Joshua of recycling 12 for a long drive requesting a special permit from the Rivier city council so as to permit a contract your storage yard use within the Ted District at 12 for a long
drive name and address please good afternoon Niles Welch on behalf of the applicant um Joshua recycling 136 Prospect d r um I come here to today uh for the application for special permit for occupancy at 12 forong Drive um by way
of background um my client last appeared here before the city council on January 27th um where there were a number of issues that were raised uh by the city council um with respect to the way in which that property and location was being managed
uh specifically cleaned up um I do have an update to provide um The Zing subcommittee today um there has been extensive um um under um cleaning and refurbishing and decluttering of the location um we were
fortunate enough actually to have the uh local Ward counselor councelor McKenna was uh generous enough to come visit the site and did a complete walkthrough with uh with myself as well as the landlord um I won't speak for the counselor um however I do believe the feedback that
we received was generally very positive um seeing how the location's been cleaned up uh it's been decluttered and it's been maintained since the last time that it was officially uh inspected by the city um and I'll say as the council has stated we would we just want to see you succeed uh with with a Words which
was extremely um grateful to hear that and being supportive towards fostering economic activity for everybody in the city um and just by way of background in terms of the operation this business operates in the junk waste removal
business um they go out they collect uh was materials at other locations and then they time permitting deliver those materials directly to the appropriate dump site it doesn't come back to 12 for a long drive in some occasions um the
materials are brought back to if it's after business hours they have about 10 um open top containers stored there in order to store those materials temporarily until those materials are then taken away to the appropriate dump site that in its entirety uh is the
scope of the Enterprise at 12 furong Drive um there are zero materials currently being stored on the ground um and we're currently working actually to um ensure that there are no materials being stored or no storage anything being stored anywhere in closer
proximity to The Back Fence area which abuts the sales Creek which um has come up in a number of different um occasions with u local conservation there is no evidence currently of any dumping of materials going on um I have consulted with the
landlord um regarding some abutting tenants um it's my understanding that there is an abutting tenant at 14 furong Drive uh that is is is not going to be there much longer as my understand uh is going through an eviction process um and so we are hopeful that some of the
issues related to the way in which the property is being managed maintained on the day-to-day basis um um that in and of itself um if a new tenant goes in would uh inherently enhance uh the location as well well um so again we're
currently working to address all those issues um I would say in large part as far as the the the overall uh uh cleaning up and decluttering um that is mostly complete um as the ward counselor um um was with us when we walked through
the uh location La uh last week um but we are going to be doing some follow-ups as well with the Conservation Commission in order to ensure that any concerns that are uh being addressed by conservation are being remedied um both in the short term and in the long
term thank you thank you for your presentation um I guess we'll take audience members First Council McKenna thank you Mr chairman so I worked the per perimeter with um uh everybody and found the uh
site to be very very very clean um uh there's no open containers all the open containers are G um 60 ft from the creek it there's nothing um he had a motor vehicle there and it was about I don't know maybe 5et
over the line and I told him he had to move it because of the oil um this is construction uh recycling it's not oil or uh liquid based so it's construction so he does have um open uh dumpsters
that he's going to put the recycling uh construction stuff in but it's way it's 60 feet from the creek and that was the biggest concern um he did he cleaned it up I mean it's it's it looks beautiful
it really does I mean it's so clean um and even inside I went inside we got some he's going to get some new doors so uh the property is's going to be in really nice uh condition so I approve this tonight um and for the FR before my
um the last uh when he came up here I was kind of rough with him but I he really did do a great job so thank you thank you Council McKenna as always you uh you get the best out of everybody and the other night I didn't think there was
any chance you'd ever approve this so they've uh they've gone way out of their way to get you on board so any counselors Council Nova salowski thank you Mr chairman Mr chairman uh I know this location I've driven by it before
uh I have a concern number one I would like to put a uh a limit of that 60 ft in the agreement that they don't put anything back there within that 60 feet of the uh of the creek but I have a
concern it's nice now I'm concerned about the future and I I just have a serious serious issue and I'm I'm leery I'm very leery about uh letting this go through and uh you
know with all due respect to councilor McKenna I know that's her award and but you know I I've seen things happen before and they get out of control and I I want to know what would happen if they did get out of control you know then we
have to go through inspectional services and go through the whole rigar to try and get them to clean it up again so you know I'm I'm on the fence right now I I it's I'm not sure yet answer his
question so uh with the walk around I told him that I would come down every three months to inspect his property and I will do that um and uh where the there is a fence that blocks the uh Creek and
he does have a shield on it so no no debris can go through that fence it's a chain link F fence so he has a mesh over it so nothing can go through through that onto the creek but I did say that I would come down every 3 months just to
make sure he's doing the right thing so thank you counselor you want to add to that I mean I I do and you know my question is is that fence budding the creek directly or is that the 60 foot easement I'm call it an
easement but 60 foot easement before the creek you know so I'm I'm just very cautious I'm was there so this property doesn't have anything like that it has a couple of trucks and
um maybe 12 dumpsters and Ashley um the clerk just said it was 25 ft from uh the creek but like I said it doesn't abut the creek it has there's a hill then it levels off then there's the fence so um
it would take a lot what to um put something in the creek you'd have to throw it over the fence and I don't think they're going to do that they don't have the the kind those kinds of materials so thank you uh since there's no other councilors that want to speak uh you want to read
the conditions uh into the record the conditions for the special permit if approved were submitted by site plan review as follows all property own owned by the applicant including parcels 6-120
b-9 6-120 b-10 and 6-120 b-11 which are adjacent to the natural resource known as green Creek shall not be allowed to store any materials or equipment within 25 ft of the bank of green Creek no material
shall be stockpiled on the site there shall be no hazardous materials stored on the site as determined by the rier fire department and Board of Health and is characterized by the Department of Environmental Protection there shall be no unregistered or junk vehicle stored on the site a 6 high chain link fence shall
be installed in the rear of the property at least 25 ft from the creek Bank to prevent any further impact to the adjacent natural resource area the parking and storage area in the rear of the building shall consist of permeable material an operation and maintenance plan for the use of the site shall be
filed with the rier Conservation Commission building department and Board of Health prior to the issuance of an uency permit the final site plan shall be reviewed and approved by the site plan review committee and fire department prior to the issuance of any occupancy permit a final stamp site plan showing
the location of all dumpsters and parking on the site shall be included in the occupancy permit and the applicant shall perform all Cleanup of the site and along the banks of green Creek and provide erosion and sediment control measures as well as fulfill all conditions in compliance with the
Conservation Commission order of conditions Mr chairman if I may Council novaski just um first of all did you say no unregistered vehicles on the property within that yes okay um question through
you to the journey is there going to be a a gate in a fence around the property to stop anybody going in to dump illegally currently there is a there is fence there is fencing around the
property although I I'm not there there are there are points of Ingress at the front facing part of the property that people can walk into the yard at this point so we can certainly take a look at that yeah I I think it's a good idea because now what's going to happen someone's going to go in and do some
illegal dumping and you guys are going to get blamed for it and then but you're going to be responsible for cleaning it up and I'm just trying to be a little proactive and trying to avoid that we can certain took a look at implementing some mitigation measure to prevent that
from happening good thank you okay uh on the on the permit with the conditions as read shall the zoning subcommittee offer failable recommendation to Grant the relief requested to the full city council
Council agenzio yes yes Council GRE OAA yes yes councelor Haro yes yes Council noeli yes yes and chairman zambuto yes yes the special permit has received a favorable recommendation with conditions thank you to the body thank you
sh next up is the special permit application of necd 375 Broadway requesting a special permit from the Rivier city council to enable the appellant to expand an existing non-conforming use in structure for the conversion of a 5unit structure to a
six-unit structure at 30 Campbell Avenue good evening name and address for the record good evening Nick D 375 Broadway one moment please thank you uh city councilman and women uh I here tonight requesting a special permit I am looking to add a
two-bedroom apartment to an existing 5unit structure at 30 Campbell AV as well as adding four parking spaces I purchased the distressed property back in August of 2024 since then I've addressed a lot of the exterior concerns I've abated the
asbest I've added new vinyl siding I've done the windows I've removed the trash and now I'm looking forward to addressing the interior concerns this is today's state the two-bedroom apartment that I'd be requesting to add is not going to alter
any of the existing exterior structure it's not going to change the height and it's not going to change the existing footprint where the two-bedroom apartment will go now is in the third floor unfinished space that's already dormed out adequate ceiling height great Dormers and a great space for a moderate
720t two bedom apartment and this being the unfinished space that I am looking to finish as well as the floor plan now in the current state it is a five unit structure with two existing
parking adding this sixth unit I'd also be looking to add four additional parking spaces which came to a pleasant surprise and and was very welcomed by The Neighborhood meeting that the uh ward council and I had prior to this meeting um and also by doing this sixth
unit it will trigger code upgrades that I'll be happy and welcome code upgrades such as sprinkler systems Central fire alarm system proper egresses things that should have been addressed a long time ago that went untaken care of and things that would just make me feel better
doing so even though it's going to be uh a big expense but it's just going to make me feel better about the property and the biggest thing as mentioned the biggest concern to the neighbors and ab Butters was the parking so as I
mentioned it was only two parking to begin with um currently there's two vacant units so we're not seeing that overflow yet assuming I were to rent it as a five unit as soon as I move in the tenants I we would expect the Overflow which would go out to overlook and
Campell so as you can see the four and then I can show you on the plot plan where the additional four units would be going parking spaces sorry and that is where the how the four additional spaces will be utilized so as
mentioned I'm looking to add a moderate two-bedroom apartment in an existing space that's currently unfinished in doing so I'll be adding those four spaces and bringing um the property up to code making it safer for residents tenants First Responders and really
attracting a great client tell of tenant which is really important to me as a landlord and property manager thank you for your time I'd be happy to answer any questions or concerns thank you very much uh councilors Council novski thank you Mr chairman Mr chairman
um Nick and I have been working on this for several months and uh we did have the community meeting and down at the uh Rivia police station community room and uh three actually three residents came in and they were all in favor of it uh
the one resident that we had a problem with actually called me the other day and wanted to apologize for when she came up to speak here against it and she was under the impression it was a different building so um it was explained to her
in a different way and she didn't understand it and but now that she knows it's really not adjacent or buting her property uh she has no problem with you know with what's going to happen and uh she was actually kind of pleased knowing that there was additional parking going
to happen on it but the building has been upgraded and I've been watching the upgrading over the last six or seven months and I know people that have lived in the building and they're very pleased there and they were uh I think Paul is still there yeah she and um I hear from
her almost every day not necessarily on this but on a couple other things but um I have no problem with it I think it's going to be a bonus for the neighborhood and um I'm looking forward to uh hopefully the council uh passing this and endorsing it in the committee thank
you thank you counselor you've obviously won over the ward counselor but you certainly want us all over I believe because this is the kind of rehab we want uh and you added four parking spaces you added sprinklers you brought everything up to
Cod you couldn't ask for a better uh project not I'm biased but the I you certainly won me over uh conditions conditions submitted by site plan review are as follows one the property shall be brought into
compliance with building Electrical Plumbing and fire codes for all units the fire plans shall be approved by the site plan review committee I'm sorry the final plans not fire and the plans must be reviewed and approved by the fire department for fire suppression systems
shall the zoning subcommittee offer fail recommendation to Grant the relief requested subject to those conditions councel agenzio yes yes councelor grosa yes yes Council hero yes yes Council noeli yes yes and
chairman zambuto yes yes the special permit has received a favor recommendation good luck thank you very much um next up we have uh the special permit application of edin edin Bala 48 Derby Road Rivier Mass requesting a
special permit from the Rivier City C Council to enable the appellant to raise the existing non-conforming structure and construct a new four-story mixed use building within the same footprint consisting of a two-story restaurant on the ground and second floors and two residential units on the third and
fourth floors one apartment per floor at 63-64 Rivier Beach Boulevard good evening name and address please floring Lua 45 Malcolm Road Boston so um I don't if you recall we
what we what we have here is we have the property at Nick Nick's Pizza because I understand everybody knows Nick where Nick's Place is so um we proposed to um demolish the building and replace it with with a new structure uh four story
tall uh the first two stories um being a new restaurant and the top two two stories being in a one bedroom apartment each the biggest uh our biggest problems to close so people can see yeah the the current zoning um requires a
minimum um lot of 25,000 Square ft and our lot is only 1159 sare F feet so um we're really really tight for for all the dimensional require um um dimensional requirements
especially setbacks and uh and parking and that's why we we came to you to to ask ask for a special permit for um um relief on the special on the on the setbacks and the required par parking we are a little bit over the f as well and
um that also will require a a relief uh from the from the council so um I can answer any question that you might have I can show you some more any councilors councel
arenia thank you uh Mr chair chman um currently Nick's Pizzeria does not have any parking for their establishment now so that won't change and the residents will be parking on Ocean Avenue yes okay do we know do we issue parking permits
for Ocean Avenue is that that's the DCR so that isn't a concern of ours so I don't know if they have a permit parking system I'm I'm not sure that but it is DCR property yes okay thank you I'm I'm all said councelor Gino
SAA thank you Mr chairman um how many apartments is this going to be two apartments just two one bedroom one bedrooms yeah two one-bedroom apartments and it's how many floors four two one bedroom apartments four floors yes the first two floors of the restaurant and
the and the two above it above it yeah but that makes three floors ground floor ground floor okay perfect thank you yeah any other counselors Council noski thank you Mr
chairman um through I'm I'm guessing there's going to be an elevator in it for the restaurant yes just for the restaurant yes yeah we we're not required to have for the for those two residential units Oh I thought because we're under sorry I thought it was the whole building if it was more than three
it had to have a elevator if it was more than three dwelling units ah yeah so it's going to be a regular elevator or just a lift a a regular elevator so we'll go from the basement serve the basement the first floor and the the restaurant yeah he's going to
have storage down below yes all the way there'll be no parking under there at all there is there is no room not even one or two spaces for him just just the like I said the footprint is 1100t there's just way to get anything in there okay thank
you anybody else Madam clerk conditions please conditions submitted to the city council from the site plan review committee one the applicant shall con confirm with DCR any and all conservation easements that may
have been placed on this property by the former Metropolitan District commission and uh prior to proceeding to design review with the c plan Review Committee and Rivier Beach design review board two a sore connection and water connection permit must be obtained from the DPW for
new construction on 64 Riv Beach Boulevard the city engineer and DPW superintendent must review and approved to the proposed sore service and water service plan as well as storm water management Plan Three the building design and materials plan as well as the
landscaping and streetscape plan shall be approved by the Rivier Beach design review board in the city of Rivier site plan review committee and four the proposed restaurant shall include accommodations for outdoor Cafe seating on Rivier Beach Boulevard subject to the
approval of the DCR shall the zoning subcommittee offer a faval recommendation to Grant the relief requested subject to those conditions councelor agenzio yes yes councelor Gros SAA yes yes councelor hermo yes yes councel noeli yes yes and
chairman zambuto yes yes the special permit has received a favorable recommendation no further business this committee will stand the jour for