I think that opens it there you go look at that okay welcome to the uh rier planning board public hearings and meeting of uh February 25th 20125 we will take a roll call uh Mr
Abrams president president president Mr castanza presid M M Hoffman pres Mr Rivera here M Simmons here hurling here Mrs tatopoulos and Mrs
Sullivan uh absent okay all right the first item on the agenda is a public hearing with respect to the mechanical repeal of the mechanical parking system ordinance so the mechanical parking system ordinance last
time we had a hearing on it was to repeal it which is to delete it from our city ordinances and um although we recommended deleting it the city council never took action in time so we had to go out for another public hearing so uh
that's where we stand right now um again last time we kind we were in favor of delete deleting this because it was causing problems uh developers were uh uh finding out that the construction cost of the mechanical
parking systems are far greater than they anticipated when they purchased the property to develop it so they were coming in for variances for parking so to proh prevent that from happening we were just deleting it and and if they can't meet a parking requirements
they'll have to go to the zba for a variance from the beginning they zba yes yeah a lot of them have and have been granting variances there's only one mechanical parking unit in use in the city to my
knowledge there is one proposed that was approved on Rivier Beach Boulevard for 54 59 unit condominium okay so that one's still in effect still moving okay yeah uh a lot there were two other ones
that that uh decided that it was too expensive to construct they went to go before the zba instead of having the mechanical parking system they asked for Relief through parking through a variance and they it was obtained
so that's where we stand right now as uh I don't believe there are any other proponents here it looks like there are no proponents nor opponents so opponents hearing none close that part of the hearing before we do that Frank I just
want to make sure that we're all understanding just because there's double negatives right affirmatively to this is to to remove parking structures yes is a fa a favorable vote is to remove
it okay are there any proponents to this here to speak tonight no just myself speaking for the Department who put this in the city are there any speak put this together n so the next public hearing number two
is uh creation of a new accessory dwelling unit ordinance the uh as I mentioned before the planning board already and the city already adopted an Adu ordinance but since then the state has made
changes uh to the regulations the state statute which govern this Adu ordinances for all cities and towns and um what you have before you are the amendments so specifically what they've changed they
say any anywhere a single family house is allowed as of right an Adu can be put in that District so that pretty much covers all our residential districts across the board except our general business except our Highway business and
industrial areas so even apartment districts because single family homes are allowed in apartment districts be eligible and um excuse me cor yeah so I'm just looking at what you just said uh GB is General business yes am I
seeing yes there yes because NB and GB single family houses are allowed NB neighborhood business and general business business is General business mostly on major streets I would
think like Broadway we still we have an inclusive ordinance that allows residential be allowed in in our general business district so on Broadway you build a single family two family or multif family so on Broadway yeah where kind of
congested they're going to be allowed a adus yes yeah can that be revoked that area can that be no because our zoning allows for a single family dwelling to
be built in a GB District but it's really not a single family it's a bonus I know but that's again I I can argue all day with the state on this this is they really don't understand each individual City's ordinance and they trying to you know brush it one brush
across the board and it's it's well I work a lot in Cambridge I work in Central Square and in Harvard Square so you're telling me that in Cambridge where they just outlawed single family homes you can't build a single family home in Cambridge
anymore so you're telling me they're allowed not to do it in their business district because it's called a single family yet we have to do it yeah because we allow it General business district Cambridge probably does not they just did it they used to no more so it
wouldn't apply to them well that I'm just saying can we do the same thing Cambridge did not allow single families they they did it Citywide in the GB District absolutely every yeah yeah yeah I mean it just doesn't seem right uh they have enough
problems right right now with delivery and parking this and that now you're adding to in reality you would never seing a see a single family built in a GB District you know in R yeah nothing comes out of the in orinary you think yeah that's true okay okay so uh the other changes that
were made uh the ordinance we had before did not allow any uh additions to an existing structure for an Adu or construct uh what we call a um an
accessory detached Adu a detached Adu like a an accessory structure in your yard so now the stat you have to allow it subject to certain dimensional controls so the dimensional controls we put in place is if you want to if you have a large a yard large enough where
you want to put an Adu structure detached it cannot exceed 15 fet in height it cannot it has to be 20 foot set back from the rear yard has to be 10t Fe set back from each side yard and 15 ft set back from the street and it
cannot be built in the front within the front yard of a house you know between the house and the street and what's the set back in the rear 20 the Adu yeah and the Adu can I cover
more than it's it's in it's in section 17 2.04 the requirements for detached Aid to use and no uh and and it cannot cover more than 25% of
the yard it's built in for the in the rear yard so if you have a rear yard you want to build an Adu cannot cover more than 25% of that area so the way you figure the script footage of the ad a lot of people have a house say it's 24 by 30 so that would be the square
footage of the house what about the deck that goes out another 20 f is the deck part of the or not no the open deck if they have an open deck in the rear of that house no right now you a house can't be built on a lot if it
covers more than 30% of the lot excluding the deck so but an Adu would be allowed in the rear yard which would be much smaller so most of our rear yards are like 20 30 feet 40 feet some blots are very deep um if you
can meet the 20 foot setback for your accessory dwelling structure and it covers no more than 25% of the rear yard now the rear yard is calculated by the back of the house uh horizontally across the lot line from side to side yeah and into the
rear lot line so anything behind the house from lot line to lot line in the sides all the way to the real lot line we don't have too many uh large Lots like that that exist in R there are some deep Lots in certain sections of
the city where would be applicable but these have to be attached to the house uh Frank anything can attach it to the house also you have to meet the setbacks this this is for a detached structure okay like a garage or something like that but it's a it's a
dwelling unit but you can attach it to the house also but you'd have to meet the regular setback requirements for a principal structure for the house based on the measurements of the lot they could build up
that so yeah as long as it doesn't 00 they can 900 square ft yeah U just one other question you finished you first so if you have um you have instructions from R TV
they want to make sure you you press the red button yeah you got to press the red button if you're speaking into um so in some areas uh we have flood zones still are you allowed to build an
Adu on the ground in a flood zone or do you have to hit above you you that building above the flood zone yeah the way we have it written now no adus are allowed before the 100 under the under the base 100-year flood uh elevation so
if you're in a uh if you're in a Zone that's 4 fot yeah if you're in a FL 100-year flood plane you can't have an Adu the way our audience is written now in the basement it'd have to be elevated above no I'm talking about the rear yard structure not in the basement
oh yeah rear yard would have to be elevated it would be elevated yeah at page two it's giving the the FEMA 100 year flood base elevation the bottom there all right yeah so they'd have to go through the Conservation Commission if they were in
a flood zone and the the first floor elevation would be have have to be above the base 100y year flood elevation for the first floor just like you building any structure are we allowed to
put fire fire code on this on the structure of of a attached Adu in the backyard are we allowed to say it has to be a one hour or 2hour rating it has to be State Building Code requirements state fire code requir
State Building Code would be residential that would be one hour one hour and if it's if it's it depends it's it's a depends how close is the property L it have to
be two hour but you know no uh I'm sorry I don't think there is a fire cat on the wall if if you're if you're within 5T there's a fire coat but if you're 10 it's 15 ft right 15 ft off the side I don't think there's a fire cat no it's the same thing is building a
regular house it's half inch it's half in in other words you can build it with no 3/4 inch no you you be you could build it out of straw if you wanted it there's no fire code I don't believe no I don't uh I wouldn't think I would think that
there because it's a single family nonattached dwelling it's just like a shed it's the building code of a shed it's not the building code of a unit if that if this was a unit within and it
was closer to the sidey yard the fire department I think could step in out of article 9 and it would be at least 1 hour maybe two it would be two if it was within 5 ft of the side yard but this one if it's if it's 15ot off there it's
a shed whatever the State Building Code requires you could call up what's that company that they call up they they adverti from New Hampshire bring it down and they with the track the trailer and they put that's that's that's an Adu yeah yeah if it comp complies with the
State Building Code there allowed do it so whatever the code States they have to comply so the other thing is um which caused a lot of issues with the city council with
everybody here is to State how they're interpreting this they're stating that if you have a two family or a three family you can have an Adu but if you have if you have a two family converting it to a three with an Adu now
you have to have a sprinkler system is it sprinkler sorry is the sprinkler system so let's go back to your example you have a two family you're going to build the third unit yeah so the code says three or more units would have a
sprinkler right is it going to be interpreted that the whole building one two and three is now sprinkled or just the new third unit no all all three units that's a depends how within one structure some cities don't interpret it
that way yeah I don't know how we the Adu was a detached Adu on its own and you had a two family yeah obviously you wouldn't have to sprinkle it but if it was included in the principal structure now you have three units that are required to be sprinkled
okay so that's where we're at now and against again the parking hasn't changed it's um one parking space is allow no that has been changed when I the way the ordinance is written right now if you're within a half mile
radius of a t station or a bus terminal you don't have to provide any parking for the Adu but if you're beyond the half mile one parking space for the Adu but now I talked to uh Tom in my office who's in
conversation with the state and they're saying now they're interpreting a bus stop as meeting that requirement so I mean they don't know yet we have to wait till this thing comes out formally uh in Mar on March
11th so that's why we made this strict as possible half mile radius so I mean uh believe me there there are people that may have a third unit that see this as a now an opportunity to make
that third unit an Adu but when they look at have now they'd have to to sprinkle the entire building the cost of something like that would prohibit it I think
and the submission for a unattached Adu unit to the rever building department will it need plans oh yes will they have to be stamped absolutely an engineer would have to stamp them well an
architect if you architect if you're doing a an Adu one is in a principal structure yeah you'd have to provide Flor plans for each unit so the two family who now becomes a three you would you would need plans for all the units what about the detached
Adu detached would need yeah stamp plans architectural architectural plans yeah and along with the architectural plants because it's 15 ft from the back and uh and it's going to have uh it's going to
be at least 10 to 15 ft from the rear of the house probably so you would need Water and Electric absolutely and so separate water and soore service you need a a certified plot plan also by register Lance svea so do we
want I don't know is can you have overhead electrical in the rear yard to this new unattached Adu or would it be underground no I you would have overhead it would be overhead yeah so the height of this thing can't
be higher than 15 ft so you're going to have drooping wires in the backyard that's true probably going over a pool or some sort yeah I mean there if there's if if there is codes that govern that they would have
to be underground conduit then okay yeah do you know if other towns and cities are much more constrictive or do is just has to be the Baseline throughout the state Baseline throughout
now every city is different too I mean you're applying the same guidelines to every city which I mean when this first came out it was the intent I believe was for more rural suburban communities that have lot large
lots and there were traditionally single family areas and they wanted to provide more housing therefore they would allow an them to build an Adu within the existing structure or detached Adu because a lot the lots of much larger but in a densely populated area like
Rivier where buildings are so close together and we don't have sufficient yard areas it's going to be very difficult for somebody to meet these standards and build a detached Adu question for you so home across street from me last year had sold it
split their lot into three so technically that home could build an Adu and the two lots next to it could build a single family plus an Adu right so that lot that used to be a single family can now be six or more units yeah so for each principal structure built as a
single they can add an to do it by right um what's the rationale for like so say you have a duplex or a townhouse or a condominium that has a backyard or sufficient space what's the rationale for not being able to build a detach Adu
there well that's going to be a that's going to be a problem so right the way our existing audience is written if you were in a duplex or a townhouse you'd not be allowed to have an Adu because you'd be making it a
basically a fourplex you know you add each unit attached would have another unit below so we'll see where the state comes out with that one in their interpretation but to your question yeah I mean if you have a common area in the backyard and in your in your neighbor
wants to build an Adu back there that's no I just meant like say you have like your own space though say you have like it's set up that you have your own personal backyard that's how it's set up like you know one for one like this townhouse has its own backyard or this duplex has its own you know um set yard
why would they not be able to build their own uh detached Adu I guess was my question yeah typically those yards are very small yeah so they would not be able to meet the requirements for dimensional requirements for set that will they be allowed a special permit
for those requirements upon me so if you do not meet the requirements of was it 20 ft from the rear and 15 from the side are you allowed to ask for Relief by the definitely petition the zoning board of
appeals for Relief if it's a dimensional relief request yeah no I just meant like if they did meet the requirements I was just wondering what the you know what why that those specific dwellings were not you know why they were excluded I was just saying you know say they meet
all the requirements why were they excluded from those if there was a specific reason yeah well most uh they have a condominium document usually that state what you can and can't do it I'm sure that would be
covered within that language so I think the next is proponents are there any proponents here to speak to this this evening hearing and see I'm not a proponent or opponent I'm just delivering the okay a message from the
state what the city is supposed to do are there any opponents here to speak tonight hearing and seeing then yeah so I mean we go into our regular meeting next in that the first order of business is the
um recommendation to the city council regarding mechanical parking systems and is there a motion or by anybody on this to favly
recommend uh elimination of the mechanical parking ordinance let me remind you that the last time with was before the planning board we it was favorably recommended to the city council to delete the mechanical parking
uh systems from the ordinance yes if we have vote favorably on that um So based on last night's meeting and prior meetings um some some of the more recent developments were granted the the ability to build as many
units as they did under the promise that they would put in mechanical part correct yes if we repal that those folks would only be able to build the number of units that directly apply with the number of parking space exactly okay yeah I we need someone to make a motion
or yeah we need need a motion to recommend the city council yeah I support the the reping of it okay are we going to v motion by Mr St stamatopoulos is there a second
second who said he Mr Riv Rivera okay Motion in second to favor we recommend to the city council repeal the mck parking ordinance it's on the books Mr
Abrams yes Mr castanza yes Mrs Hoffman yes M Hoffman Mr Rivera yes M Simmons hurling yes Mr stamatopoulos yes and Mr Sullivan
is absent okay now we go on to the uh vote on a recommendation to the city council respect to the new accessory dwelling unit [Applause]
ordinance I mean the planning board is kind of stuck in a situation here where the state is still in the middle of uh formulating the official regulations so my recommendation is that we that the planning board approve it
subject to any amendments that have to be made to uh comply with the state regulations which means that we can either um at the time it goes before the city council and the zoning subcommittee and the city
council with that recommendation will be able to make modifications to bring it in compliance with the state's uh language is are you thinking it's through
still Yes okay yeah yeah so I I can I I'll structure the the the uh the motion which be which would be to uh approve it
subject to comp compliance with any further amendments made by the state this gives the city council the ability and the flexibility to to make
those changes in their final vote can we add in Frank can we add in subject to city and state amendments for compliance sure I think um your your question regarding
the GB and single family is a good one but I we'd have to take that up at a later date under a separate zoning amendment to remove single family dwelling units from the GB District I think it's a good one but you know we put the days of Harry sorry the
days of Harry deluso single family those days are gone you're not going to see that again on Rev Street or Broadway exactly uh so I I think it's you know I couldn't agree with you more so on the motion subject to the city and state
amendments uh to keep this going so the city council can make a final vote do we have a mo we have somebody making a motion to that effect Mrs Simmons hurling
is there a second I'll second that Frank Mr Rivera okay thank you um I believe that takes care of all the business before the board this evening and uh can make a motion to uh
close the meeting do you want to vote on that first Pardon Me Do we want to vote on that first for the adus or just did the recommendation of work yeah you want me to to read it you want a roll call do you oh the roll call yeah I'm sorry I'm
sorry got ahead of myself Mr Abrams yes Mr castanza yes Miss Hoffman yes Mr Mr Rivera yes Miss Simmons hling yes Mrs tatopoulos yes and Mrs Sullivan
is absent thank you uh now all business is finished before the board and we can make a motion to close the meeting adjourn the meeting and toour I just have one item for uh Mr
Rivera to sign the minutes of the January