Test one, two. >> Good evening. Welcome to the River Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. Could we rise and salute the flag, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Madame clerk, if we could go out of order and take up calendar item number Roll call club the members. Mr. Lemonina >> here. Mr. Lopes
>> here. Mr. O'Brien >> here. Mr. Pelton >> here >> here. Miss Pratt is absent and chairman Tucker >> here. >> Here quorum is present. >> We're going to take an agenda item out of order. We're going to do application A21. on the application of the city of River
requesting variances of Reier revised ordinances. Section 172410 maximum height and 1716260F1 with respect to no accessory structure shall be located within the sideyard setback to enable the appellant to
construct a 145 ft radio tower for the new emergency 911 center located at 65 Eman Street. >> Good evening, Mayor Keefe. >> Good evening, Mr. chairman uh and and uh to your honorable body. I did want to uh just give a brief introduction and also
we have a number of the members of the team uh in attendance tonight to to discuss the project. I do want to um sort of take the air out of the bag right away and and know that I understand through the ward counselor and some of the city council there is a
wish uh there there was a a gentle request to have this uh tabled for or or continued to a following meeting uh just to continue to uh gather more information and answer as many questions as possible. Uh I want to assure everyone that we are we're more than
okay with that. We don't want to make uh create this forced approach. But I do want to make it very clear that this is this is a matter um of importance, a high level of importance for the city of Rivier. Of course, it's a high level of importance for the entire project uh that includes the city of Chelsea and
the city of Winthre. We're already part of a region uh with the ENRECH which includes Winthre and uh the addition of Chelsea uh is is certainly very important to the the entire region. um but is certainly not uh the impetus for
the addition the the singular impetus for the additions to the site. um all of the public safety experts will express the reasons why this um antenna does need to be this high and I understand that the comparisons to a tower in the comparisons to you know people have uh
compared it to the Eiffel Tower u I certainly think that that would be wonderful but I don't think that that's the case and but I do understand and I and especially as a resident of the community as a neighbor uh I do live in that region as well I will see it from my house because I live on the hills uh
in ward for uh so I I I understand the concerns and I want to make sure that we answer everyone's uh first and foremost safety concerns uh the city and no one in this room would ever put uh um children at a learning center in any
harm's way and I just want to make a real brief comparison. We have a number of schools in our community. Some of them happen to be closer to other types of radio towers and that are privately owned and or operated by companies like National Grid or other large
communications companies. Um because they're not newly proposed, they seem to fall under the radar. This um antenna is not going to pose a hazard to anyone in the area uh specifically the children that will be attending the adjacent
school. Um the only real true concern is is it going to be uh possibly something that they may not enjoy looking at and I do empathize with that. Uh but they're going to talk uh the public safety experts are going to talk about the need and I just want to remind the residents
of Rivier and the residents of the entire region because we're not just here to protect the residents of Rivier. We're here to protect every visitor that passes through the city, millions of travelers uh every month and uh every uh public safety official that works in our community and works in the region. And
we always talk about the importance of public safety and how seconds matter. And this is exactly why this project is so important. Seconds matter. and to say that we would take a shortcut on how to communicate to first responders in what
the emergencies are to communicate with firemen that are in buildings that are um in life safety situations and and think that we would have unreliable communications is a non-starter. So we have Whitney Morgan from the the
director of the wreck. We have Jay Mazo who handles the communications for the wreck. We have the chief of police. We have the chief of the fire department. We have Tom Skavski from planning and development. And we have uh some of our technology and communications experts that are on the Zoom. They're going to
answer more questions in depth. We're going to answer everyone's questions. If the viewing audience has questions, they can certainly send them in and we would be more than okay with continuing this to the next meeting. Uh and I will say that we will not be labor the point much
further than that. This ZBA appearance is a matter of courtesy. Okay? It's a matter of courtesy in respect to the residents of our community and the neighbors of our community. Okay? It is simply that we would we would not want to create this forced approach. I'll
reiterate if we can reduce the size and still do it and get the same effect with public safety, we will absolutely do that as long as it's reasonable. And I say reasonable. If someone says it's going to cost $10 million to to reduce
the size by 20 ft, it's not reasonable. If if if they say it's going to be within a reasonable cost, assure I assure you um as being a good good uh tenant and a good uh uh um CEO of the the city, I want to make sure that we we
we we uh we do that. So, I'd like to invite up Tom Scarski. He can state a little. And of course, we have our public safety officials here that'll express and probably reiterate very much the same um uh statements that I've made as as the matter of public safety and
why we're doing this. So Tom, I'm not sure if you wanted to uh address the crowd. Thank you. >> Great. >> Thank you. test. Can you hear me now? >> Great. >> All right. Um, good evening everybody.
Tom Scroski, chief of planning and community development for the city. I'm also the project manager um on the city side for the Mckenley uh redevelopment project. Um I'm going to briefly just go over the general project um program uh
for this this building just to give you all a sense of exactly what we're doing. We've heard a lot of um questions in the community. I think also to highlight the the beautiful building that will be there on Yemen Street uh when this is done in the summer of 2027, which I think will be a signature project for
the city and a a really great project that will um remove a blight from the neighborhood and um really uplift and enliven this corridor um and bring together three really critical municipal uses. um one that serves a key regional function which for the most part I'll be
handing over to Ivan um who is on the call and is responsible for the tower design and understanding um the radio tower height that's necessary and all that stuff that I'm not qualified to speak on and and we'll also hand it over to the public safety professionals that
are here tonight to talk about the wreck and the 911 call center and exactly why this tower is such a critical component of that work but I'll try to give an overview best I and covering everything. Um, so the project is really uh a few different projects in one. Um, we'll
have a corridor in the middle that will separate the historic 1904 building that you see on the left um from the 1924 the the new wing of the building on the right. Um on the left that will be the early childhood center for river public
schools. It will h house eight classrooms uh for prek students in the city, administrative offices. It'll house a flex space um and an indoor gym and play area among other things. On the right hand side, primarily you will have the Metro North regional communications
center serving Chelsea River and Winthrop. Um and in the basement of the building, you will have a few common uses as well as offices for River's retirement board and the parking department. So, here's the elevation what this
building will look like when complete on the early childhood education side. Um, and here's the Metro North Rex side, the 1924 wing. And you can see there the the radio tower in the back. Um, and this is what it look it will look like
in the rear. Um, you see here is the parking department offices and this will be the retirement board. And here's what it'll look like on a front-facing elevation. You can see all the new trees we'll be planting. Uh there'll be trees, shrubs, some, you
know, beautiful green space that we'll be creating as well as a a welcoming space for River students, our youngest students entering the school system and a play area for them as well. Um looking quickly at the site plan, um you can see
here, um is where the foundation of the tower will be laid. Um, and I'll just go briefly through some of the the landscaping work on the site plan. Um you see we're looking to actually formalize the connection that you see between Foster Street and Yemen Street
today that many people use, but we'll um both with landscaping, trees, with lighting, create a really welcoming space that will connect the neighborhood um and connect uh both the the play area, the the welcome area, and just uh
all three of the building uses, I think, in a really clear cohesive way that will be welcoming to all the building's users, uh the employees that will work there and of course the neighborhood. And here you can see what it'll look like uh for from the early childhood um
centers standpoint. Uh the the play space of course the most critical component um outdoors for the youth and the preschool main entry plaza. And again just a brief overview. The Metro North Center will have a training room and an EOC center, dispatch room,
bunk rooms, a fitness center offices all serving Chelsea Winthrop and River. the McKinley Early Childhood Education Center. We'll have eight classrooms, administrative space, and offices. And on the third floor, um where the boxing gym was most recently, there'll be an
indoor playing event space, but one that can also serve as a multi-function room um for municipal and other services. Maybe one day it's an event we'll hold ZBA meetings at or other municipal um functions. And then the city of uh River offices will bring the parking and
retirement offices. Currently, we are renting from uh landlords and we'd like to be our own landlord and save a little bit of money here and and bring all of our municipal services um back under one common campus between city hall and that space. So, just a quick project timeline. We've
already completed asbestous PCB and lead abatement this summer. Um we have bids due tomorrow for oil tank removal. Um and we'll look to get that work done shortly thereafter. There's an old oil tank from its its many decades uh functioning as a school that we need to
remove and remediate. Um we are in the process of completing final designs right now and turning those into construction documents uh with the goal to go out to bid later this year to start construction in the winter of 26 and ultimately open in the summer of 27.
So um that's basic overview of the the building program. Just thought that would be helpful to put everything else into context. So, we're not just talking about the tower, but that is, of course, why we are here. So, I'll get to that now. Um, the tower is in the rear of the building um next to the parking office.
Um, the the tower foundation, as you see it there, will be about 20 ft x 20 ft. Um, uh, 19 by 19. Um, and it will sit on a foundation about 5 1/2 ft deep. The tower itself, I will defer to Ivan
and the public safety professionals on any specifics that I screw up here, but I'll do my best. Um, the purpose is to develop a redundant and resilient emergency communications network. Um, it uses microwave signals, not 5G, which was was talked about previously. This is not a cell tower. This is a
communications center and a facility between um various points that we need to communicate with to have a well functioning regional communication center. So it must achieve certain heights to reach the Winthre water tower needs to be about 110 ft for that. The
Chelsea soldiers home it needs to be about 145 ft for that. And the majority of the antenna and the pertinances will be below 100 ft but there will be two dish antennas planned above 100 ft. Those will be about two to three feet in diameter. Um, if you were to compare it,
a good comparison might be um, anyone that still uses satellite TV and you have the satellites on on the roof of your homes. That's about the scale of what we'll be looking at. And also uh, similar to the uh, actual technology that we'll be utilizing. Again, this isn't a cell tower. It's using
microwaves to communicate. Um, what we are seeking today are those two variances that Ashley had mentioned earlier. Non-compliance with section 172410 with respect to maximum height and non-compliance with section 1716260F1
with respect to no accessory structure shall be located within the required sideyard setback of 10 ft within the RB district. Um, I'll leave it at that right now because I I think what's most important is we hear from our public safety professionals and Ivan, um, who's here to answer any of the particular
technical questions about the tower, why it needs to be so high, what are the decisions that went into this study that helped us determine this height, um, which we spent about six months working on with Introba, the
company that Ivan represents. In June was when we determined the height uh at 145 ft would need variance from the ZBA at which point we applied to the site plan review committee and and that was that's what brings us here tonight. So happy to um take any questions or if if
you want to hear from any of our public safety professionals, I'll defer to you, Mr. Chair. >> I believe the gentleman that's on the Zoom call wants to speak. if they you running the show here, so if you want
someone else to speak beforehand, please do so. >> I think I think they're they'll probably be best here to answer any of the technical questions you might have. Um, so I'll kick it to Ivan. I I don't know if you have anything to add to what I had said, Ivan.
>> Um, you can you hear me? Okay, first off, >> yes. >> So, uh, you know, Tom, you did a great job. Um, I'll just I'll just add um what those microwave dishes are are um being used for um and just kind of give you a
flow of how the communication works. So, a 911 call comes into the center and a dispatcher uh telecommunicator takes the call um uh for uh um for service and they dispatch
through radio um to first responders uh to um dispatch uh personnel. And that communication goes out of the rec center uh through the microwave
uh that is connected to the radio sites, the actual radio sites that uh communicate with police and fire um their radios uh that they utilize uh out in the field.
So that connection is is owned uh by the um uh by the by the wreck. Uh it is maintained and serviced by the wreck and has um full control. It's not a lease
service. It's not depending upon Verizon or Comcast or any other lease service. Um it is fully controlled by uh by the wreck. uh and thus um you're not dependent upon others for service and
maintainability. So I I just wanted to add that that piece to it. >> Great. And I think Ivan will be here to take any other questions you might have. Um but I would like to hand it over to uh Whitney Morgan, the executive director of the Metro North W to talk a
little bit more. Yeah, that's great. >> Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Whitney Mongan. I'm the director at Metro Northre. Um, we'll get into >> Okay, sure. Um, I'm going to have Jamezola come up in a minute and give you more technical aspects of the
antenna, but what I would like to speak about is a perspective of sitting in a dispatcher spot. Uh, obviously before the director, I was dispatching. Uh, and I have been in that spot when the radio has dropped and we don't have any connection with fire or police on scene.
There's been multiple incidents where there's a police chase and the officer gets out and we've lost radio contact or there's been an active fighter uh, excuse me, fire and we've dropped radio service. So, with this antenna, it is connectivity. Jay can go more into that
perspective, but at the end of the day, as the director, my concern is the safety of our police and firemen. That's the utmost because if we lo lose contact with them and another um benefit through the tower is we do have radio channels that has access to the schools um you
know active shooters are sadly prominent in our situations now and we do have radio channels that we can speak directly with them. So not only are police of fire responding but we also can speak directly with the schools. If you have any questions I can answer them. If not
I can have Jay come up and give you all the technical parts. Okay, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi, thank you. My name is Jay Mazo. Basically, our operations dispatch works fine right now, but the if we lose our
fiber, we're on our backup system and our backup system is not adequate enough to maintain inbuilding coverage, street coverage on portable radios. Yes, if our fiber goes down right now, we have lost it many times in the last two, three years due to accidents, poles, cut, car
fires, burning wires, someone cut the wires and we lose it. And it's not like a little fix. I don't if you know about fiber, it's all glass tubes and there's hundreds of them in a cable and it takes days and all them to get repaired and it's a lot it's costly. But anyways,
when we lose our our fiber connection, this microwave, which we're talking about that Ivan spoke about at the top of the tower, will take over and you wouldn't even know it. Flick of a switch and it we're back in communications like we never lost anything. So, it's very very crucial that we don't lose the
fiber and if we lose the fiber, we have this microwave backup and again it serves three different cities uh you know, Riier, Chelsea, and Winthre. And it protects everybody out in the street. Uh the mobile radios will probably work fine with our backup locations, but the
portable radios when they go in the building or street coverage or different parts of the river, they would lose their communication. They may not hear us and we may not we may not hear them. Um you know, years ago when when the police station was built, there was a
site for a tower to go there. It never happened, you know, but every communication center needs a tower. And just because this tower is is massive, if you want to call it 140 ft, it doesn't mean it's got all kinds of power and it's all kinds of radio waves. It's just an antenna to give us the height
for the direction of of the sites. Any else you want? Okay. Um if our police chief or fire chief would like to speak. >> Yeah. Good afternoon. Uh Jim Cullen, uh
city review fire chief. I I think Jay pretty much covered everything. Um I just wanted to say that u there are instances as Jay mentioned where that the fiber has gone down. I remember a few years ago uh we lost the fiber. I got a call on Thanksgiving night and and that fiber was taken down by an accident
that cut the line and um that that fiber was down for approximately a week and um so it's it's definitely something we need uh especially as he spoke about the uh portable radio communication. It's not that powerful when you have the the portable radios. We have uh members in
the buildings, police and fire. you go into a building and you really have to be able to rely on communications and we lose it a lot of times in buildings with as you know there's concrete and steel and it interrupts the signal. So this will be crucial for us and um I'm just uh any other questions. Uh but we're
really in favor of uh of having this tower built and it it's crucial to the uh the communication center. >> Thank you. Hi, Maria Levit. I'm the chief of police here in River. I don't want to echo um what they said. You already heard um I
think the reasons why we are in favor of it. So again, on a on a great day, we're not even using that tower. It's the day that we don't want to think about happening if something's wrong with the fiber and
we don't have that tower. So, police officers have radios in their cruisers. As many of you could probably imagine, we're not always in our cruisers. So, the portable radio is a hugely important tool for us. um going into buildings
here in the city. You can just name off important places like schools, um Amazon buildings, things like that where we need to get in, we need to work as a team. And the only way we can do that is through our portable radios. So, it's a huge public safety and officer safety
issue. If, god forbid, um our communications go down, um it's it's going to be a lot uglier than that tower. Thank you. Um, do you have anything more to add, Tom? Or, um, I know that the wad
counselor um, wishes to speak. Um, this his request for continuence as the mayor and the administration said they're going to honor, but if you'd like to speak, please do so. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members. Uh, Paulenzio, 245 Reservoir Avenue, the wad
counselor from Wad 4. Um, so let me just say for the purposes of this meeting, uh, that could change in subsequent meetings, I'm an opponent. Um, I have all the respect and nobody's a big bigger supporter for, uh, public safety than I am. In fact, my father was a
retired, uh, re firefighter. Uh, we've been talking about the McKinley school now for about two years, and the 145 ft tower was just proposed a few weeks ago. So, this took the neighborhood, the uh
city council, and everybody uh by surprise. Um I believe that the uh analysis for the communications tower should have been the first thing done, not the last. So, we would have would
have had that information prior to making any decisions. Um, two nights ago I uh put in a motion uh to have the uh design team appear before the city council so we could ask uh questions. Uh
we have a lot of questions and we need those um answered uh prior to funding this project. Um we'd like uh maybe the company to look at alternatives to the tower. Maybe we're able to reduce the
size of the tower. Maybe we get uh a second opinion from a different company. Um the visual impact in this neighborhood, this old established neighborhood is going to be immense and it's going to have a a visual impact on
the central business district as you come down Broadway. This is going to be the focal point of what you look at. Um, so taking that into consideration, uh, I ask for continuence to, uh, pump the brakes on this a little bit until we
have a chance to get our questions, um, answered. Some of the neighbors have called and wanted to know if this is going to have a impact on their home values. If you're looking to sell your house and a buyer pulls up to your house and you have a 145 ft tower in your
backyard, uh that's probably not going to be um too good on your curb appeal. Um HUD, uh the Department of Housing and Urban Development has classified these towers as a hazard and a nuisance, and
they could have an impact on people's insurance rates. they could have an impact on people's home loans. Um, so that's a concern for the neighborhood. I've also been contacted by several preschool uh teachers who worry about
the health effects the which may or may not exist uh on early childhood and young children. the radio exposure to radio frequency. Uh it's been linked to cognitive issues, uh sleep disorders,
headaches. U we'd like somebody to come before us and explain what studies have been done. I know it wasn't too long ago, uh that the fire department was up here, I rate, that there was a 5G tower at the central fire station and it was
having an adverse effect on a firefighter's health. Now, is this the same type of tower? Is it different? Uh we'd like that explained also in front of the city council. Um so given that continuence, uh everyone certainly is
excited about a new uh 911 call center and early childhood um uh classrooms and uh space for city offices. It's a great project. It's just that it's like uh when there's a
project, give us the good news and give us the bad news. We got the good news two years ago. We got the bad news two weeks ago. So, we we just like to pump the brakes on this and get some questions answered and I'm I'm sure we'll be able to come to a resolution. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Tom, would you like to speak at all? I know that they did mention that this is microwave and not 5G. I think that that should be stated to put people in the viewing audience at ease that this
is not the same. Um I deal with BGAS all the time for biodirectional antennas for fire department. So I know that is different as well. I think you do have to put the fear factor to rest here >> and and it's an understandable one, but
this is a different technology. I I don't know if Ivan has anything to add in a technical aspect. I can certainly defer to him if he does and we'll offer more um to that effect when we do present to the city council. But not only is it a different technology, but
unlike a 5G tower which is continuously in operation receiving and transmitting signals, this is to function as a backup for those instances when um the fiber is not functioning um for you know whether
there's a car fire or the the line's been cut. some of the instances that Jay had mentioned earlier. So, it it's both different in terms of the type of frequency being re received and how often it's working. Um, but again, I think we'll try to address that better as well. And on the property value
aspect, I don't know much about the property value impacts of a radio tower, but I do know that there have been multiple studies done of the property impacts of being in close proximity to a vacant building. I mean, I've seen anywhere from 8 to 12% decrease in one's
property value. And I I don't want to I don't want to um un you know underell this is 145 ft radio tower. I fully appreciate that and understand that people would have those worries. But we are going to be redeveloping this property that's long sat vacant a blight
in the neighborhood and not just redeveloping it but into something I think that's really going to be a beautiful highlight for the neighborhood that we can all be proud of. Thank you. There is um a motion to continue. Do we still have to offer anyone else to
speak? Okay. So, seeing that this is a public hearing as far as proponents, is there any other proponents that wish to speak? Seeing here, I'll close that side of the hearing. Are there any opponents? >> Please state your name and address for the record, please.
>> Good evening. Steven Damiado, 172 Prospect Dav. Um, I did submit an email in opposition to this. I wasn't sure I was able to make it tonight. Um, I live up on Prospect Avenue adjacent to the reservoir. Uh, I do believe this city
already has existing infrastructure that they could utilize. My son's Spider-Man walkie-talkie can pick up radio signals from all the way in Boston. You can't you can't tell me that we need this gargantuan tower which poses a real safety risk to teachers and students.
And I do have the utmost respect for our first responders. And without them, we're nothing. We need them to be able to communicate. But there's a better way. They could stick a little antenna on the roof. They could zip it up to the reservoir. And guess what? If you stand up there at that reservoir, I promise you, you can
see with your own eyes the two places that this has to reach. So there's really no reason to put this structure this close to our kids and teachers. Thank you. >> Thank you. Are there any other opponents? Seeing here and then I'll
close that side of the hearing. Is there a motion to continue? >> Seconded. >> That's for a roll call, please. >> Shall the zoning board of appeals continue this matter to the meeting of September? Mr. Lemonina? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Lopes? >> Yes. Mr. O'Brien?
Yes, Mr. Pelton. >> Yes. And Chairman Tucker. >> Yes. >> Yes. This matter will be continued. >> We'll have a one minute recess so people could exit the chamber if you want. back in service. >> Back to the regular order of business,
please. First application on the agenda A2514 Hitchum Alum 70 Warren Street requesting variances to enable the appellant to construct a 13tx 14 ft driveway at 70 Warren Street. This was continued from the meetings of June 25th and July 23rd.
>> Is the applicant present in the audience being not present? Is there anyone that wish to speak on this proponent or opponent hearing? And seeing none, I'll close that side of the hearing. Is there a motion on the floor? I make a motion to
deny based on this will be >> okay as the affirmative. Yes. >> Shall the zoning board of appeals grant the relief requested for 70 Warren Street? Mr. Leina? >> No. >> No. Mr. Lopes?
>> No. Mr. O'Brien? >> No. Mr. Pelton? >> No. >> No. And Chairman Tucker? >> No. >> No. The variance has been denied. >> Next application is A2517 Chem's Development Corp. Danver's Mass requesting a variance of section 172410
with respect to maximum bar in the IP district to enable the appellant to construct a sixstory self- storage facility at 195 American Legion Highway. And please note that the applicant has submitted a request to withdraw without prejudice.
>> Seeing that this is a public hearing, is there anyone in the audience that proponents that wish to speak? Seeing here none, I'll close that side hearing. Any opponents? Seeing here, none, I'll close that side of the hearing. Here's the motion to continue to withdraw without prejudice. I'm
sorry. >> Motion to withdraw without prejudice. >> Second. That's for a roll call, please. >> Shall the zoning board of appeals allow the petitioner to withdraw the application without prejudice? Mr. Lemonina? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Lopes? >> Yes. Mr. O'Brien?
>> Yes. Mr. Pelton? >> Yes. And Chairman Tucker? >> Yes. >> Yes. The application has been withdrawn without prejudice. Next application is A2518 Jeremy Cosgrove Crossro 218 Bellingham AB requesting a variance of River Revised Ordinance section
172410A1 front yard parking to enable the appellant to construct a 23x 22 parking pad in the front yard at 218 Bellingham A. Could you press the microphone, state your name and address for the record, please?
>> Good evening. My name is Jeremy Crossgrove, uh, 218 Bellingham A, River. Uh, good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Um, hope to just give you a little bit about our lot, what might make this unique, and what we're asking for, and why. Uh,
so we have a a small Cape. It's a single family, and it's on a 50 by 100 foot lot. I think what makes it unique is the house is pushed all the way to the back of the lot. We're on a hill and um there's really no sideyard or backyard
to speak of. Um so, but what we do have is 60 ft by 50 ft of front yard. Uh so, the hope is to use some of that. That's um 60% of our lot. Uh at the moment, we have a huge concrete pad and inground
swimming pool which we're looking to remove. Um it's a hazard. It's an eyesore. It's a lot of concrete. Um, so the hope is for onethird of that space to be used for this parking pad for two cars. Um, we're a two-car family. The hope is to get those cars off the
street. And, uh, this would return one public parking space back to the street for the neighborhood. Um, as far as the reasoning, we didn't want to do a tandem spot along the property edge. our our uh
site slopes considerably. So, we'd end up sort of with a five foot retaining wall um parking pad if we did this sort of tandem driveway um because we also wanted to use it for our garbage cans because at the moment we're lugging those up five flights of stairs or five
stairs to get out of the yard. Um, so the hope was this pad could be used for garbage cans, an easier access to and from the street, a new entrance to the property. It's the old sort of crumbling brick. It's hard to shovel, dangerous. Um, and then I mentioned the large
concrete pad that's the pool at the moment. We'd be returning 1,200 square ft of that back to green space for the yard, for the neighborhood, plants, animals. Want to do more gardening? Get some trees planted. Um, I think that pretty much covers it. Um,
essentially if we did do the tandem spot along the property line, it uh it points right at our deck and the stairs to the deck and that would be 5 ft and then parking cars on top of it. So, sort of the entrance to the deck sort of be looking up at a concrete wall and the
underside of our cars. So, the hope is to have the sideby-side parking be about one-third of the the pool concrete area we have now. Um, and essentially the benefits for the neighborhood would be that uh we're adding back over,200 ft of
green space. Uh, we will be doubling the privacy hedges um for wherever the for the curb cut and uh we'll be adding back one parking space for the neighborhood uh public parking space. So, thank you for your time. >> Okay. Thank you. Seeing that this is a public hearing, I'll open it up to
proponents. Any proponents? Seeing and hearing and I'll close that side of the hearing. Are there any opponents? Anyone opposed? Seeing and hearing and I'll close that side of the hearing. Any members wish to speak? >> And there's a motion to approve
>> seconded by >> uh standard conditions. Standard conditions of the ZBA are as follows. If the rights authorized by this variance are not exercised within one year of the date of the grant of this variance, the right shall lapse. This variance shall not be valid until
the appellent has recorded this variance and plan in the Sappa County registry of deeds and submits document recording numbers and dates to the city clerk and building inspector of the city of Rier and the appellent must receive site plan review approval prior to applying for a building permit. Shall the zoning board of appeals grant the relief requested
subject to those conditions? Mr. Limina. >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Mr. Lopes. >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Pelton. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Chairman Tucker. >> Yes. >> Yes. The variance has been granted. Next application is A2519 Luigi and Camela Diara 60 Hman Street
requesting a variance of Reier revised ordinance section 1716260F1 with respect that no accessory structure shall be located within the required sideyard within the RB district to enable the appellant to construct a chicken coupe and run within the
sideyard of 128 Malden Street. Is the applicant present? >> Yes. >> You have to step up to the microphone. State your name and address for the record, please. My name is Elena O'Neal. I am their next door neighbor. I live at 126 Malden
Street Street. And I'm here to speak on behalf of their daughter and Camella and Luigi. They want to um put up this shed in chicken coupe which is adjacent to my yard. My whole side yard faces their yard.
>> Okay. Um Dave want to add anything to it or it speaks for itself. >> It speaks for itself. >> Okay. >> And I'm their next door neighbor. I'm the only yard that it actually is adjacent to. >> So you're the director of butter to the >> Yes, I am. >> Okay. >> And I'm here because it's fine with me.
>> Okay. Seeing that this is a public hearing, I'll ask if there's any proponents um being you would speak as a proponent being the director. So >> and and our other neighbor is also here who's on the other side. >> But you have to state your name and
address for Elena O'Neal 126 Malden Street Re. >> Thank you. If there's any other proponents, they'd have to just if you're going to speak on behalf of him, his name and address for the record, please. Good evening. Good evening.
>> Good evening. >> My name is Mash Masoud. I'm their neighbor in the other side and I'm support of what they're doing. Just a chicken coup, you know, nothing else. >> Okay. Your street address is >> 142 Molden Street. >> 142 Molden. Thank you so much. >> Thank you.
>> Are there any other proponents? Seeing here, none, I'll close that side of the hearing. Are there any opponents? Anyone opposed? Seeing and hear none, I'll close that side of the hearing. Any members wish to speak? >> I do have a question. Why are you doing
the sideyard and not putting it in the rear? >> There's no there's no room in your >> There's no room in the rear. That was the question. >> It's right against no room. >> Um just for the viewing public, they said there's no room.
>> Okay. There is a motion to approve. Second >> seconded. >> Um the ordinance does state that there can be no roosters I believe. So there shouldn't be any noise. Roosters are prohibited. So it's only chickens. Um
I don't know if there would be any other restrictions standard restrictions. >> That's why the ordinance. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> CBA conditions are as follows. If the rights authorized by this variance are not exercised within one year of the date of the grant of this variance, the
right shall lapse. This variance shall not be valid until the appellant has recorded this variance and plan in the Suffach County Registry of Deeds and submits document recording numbers and dates to the city clerk and building inspector of the city of Rivier. And the appellant must receive site plan review approval prior to applying for a building permit. Shall the zoning board
of appeals grant the relief requested subject to those conditions? Mr. Lemonina? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Lopes? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. O'Brien? Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Pelton. >> Yes. >> Yes. And Chairman Tucker. >> No. >> No. The variance has been granted.
>> So, it's approved. Next application is A2520 Dana Lopez, 544 Salem Street, Wakefield, requesting variances to enable the appellant to construct a mixeduse condominium building consisting of 80 residential units in one commercial unit
at 76 through 82 River Beach Boulevard. >> Good evening. >> Uh, good evening, chairman and members of the board. My name is Nancy O'Neal. Uh I am an attorney located at 14 Proctor Avenue. And I'm here tonight on behalf of the applicant 76 to 82 Rivera
Beach uh Boulevard LLC and Mr. Dana Lopez uh of the LLC uh who is here with us tonight. Uh the applicant is the prospective purchaser of the 76 to 82 River Beach Boulevard uh property uh which you can see here. Uh, this property currently contains a series of
commercial buildings dating from around 1940, including uh some older bars and restaurants uh and gravel unpaved parking areas to the rear of those structures. As outlined in our August 20th letter, which I hereby incorporate by reference, uh this property is
burdened by a number of challenging conditions uh which complicate construction. Uh the applicant proposes a combination uh of the various challenging lots into one unified lot and the construction of a transitoriented mixeduse building at the
property. Uh this new building would be uh six stories aligning with newer residential buildings along the beach. The building would contain uh one commercial unit to be utilized as a restaurant uh and 80 residential uh condominium units. In conformance with
other buildings in the neighborhood, the proposed building is about 60 feet in height, which is below uh the maximum 140 feet allowed by zoning for this district. Uh and the building is cited towards the front of John River Beach Boulevard. A setback of uh around 18 to
20 feet has been included um towards the side of this building. uh which abotss residential uh a required setback of that area is 20. Um so we're uh conforming generally uh with setbacks
uh along the residential side. Uh what we're here for are variances for uh setbacks including the front yard setback. Uh mainly the setback abuing the park uh to the other side of the property. Uh as well as uh the floor area ratio the allowed here is three.
We're at 3.055. uh and parking uh which I can get into. Uh but overall this building has been designed to fit uh with the surrounding neighborhood on the size and scale uh of similar buildings nearby. So 82 parking spaces are planned for the building with
80 spaces to be dedicated to the condominiums and two spaces to be dedicated uh to the commercial unit for its staff. Uh for the condos with 80 spaces and 80 condos, parking would be provided at a 1:1 spaceto-unit ratio.
And given the property's close proximity to public transportation uh which would be approximately a 3minut walk uh to the Rivera Beach Blue Line station, we believe that the provided parking uh is more than sufficient to meet building needs. Many residents are expected to take uh the train and other options like
nearby buses. Uh so the proposed building is providing transit oriented homeownership opportunities in line with city of River and state housing goals and the building also furthers economic goals for the surrounding neighborhood. So the proposed building contains a
restaurant unit which will bring economic activity and foot traffic to the beach and the property is also extremely close to the Shirley Avenue small business corridor which is known throughout the state for its diverse cultural programming uh and dining options. So the proposed building is
also uh anticipated to bring foot traffic to those small businesses. So overall the proposed building would offer several benefits to the city of River including 80 transitoriented home ownership opportunities and economic development uh for the beach and Shirley Avenue. It's also important to note here
that 10% of the residences or eight condominiums are to be offered as affordable units at 80% area median income. Uh the applicants are a local group uh from the Northshore and they are aware of the community's needs and they are proud to offer an affordable component of the project to the River
community and to meet uh local housing and affordability needs. Uh so this proposed building uh is going to transform a neglected block of River Beach. Uh what is there now is a series of older bars uh and commercial buildings and further to the south of
this pro property uh open excavated lots. Uh so the the goal here is to improve uh this property. Um right now it's a series of bars from the 1940s. Um they those can't stay there forever. Uh this will be a major improvement for that block. Um it'll increase property
values. Um and care has been taken here to site this building in a way that comports with the neighborhood uh nearby residential. Uh so this building overall would improve uh the safety and environmental condition of the property and it would be built to 2025 building
and environmental standards rather than 1940 standards with no drainage um in those very old buildings. Uh so overall this will be a major improvement for that site. Uh and I would also like to note that this project enjoys the support of the city of River which has
submitted a letter to the board uh outlining its support as well as the support of uh the W1 counselor Joan McKenna. Uh for these reasons we would respectfully request the ZBA grant the requested relief and we are happy to answer any questions that the board may have. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Is there any proponents? Anyone in favor? Good evening. Tom Scroski, chief of planning and community development for the city. You received my letter, so I won't blavorver the point, but I will say one quick thing. Um, we are well
below our 10% affordability uh requirement by chapter 40b. Um, and in the last year since we passed our housing production plan, we've actually been going in the wrong direction. we've been going further away from that 10% goal instead of closer to it. And simply
put, every large residential project that we have, if we don't have at least 10% affordable, we're going to keep falling further and further behind. So, anytime I see a project coming in front of the ZBA or the city council that's helping us meet that goal, I'll not only submit a letter, but just adamantly um
support this project to everybody here on the board and anyone listening in the audience. I think it's a huge win. It's a transit oriented project. approximate um to the River Beach T-top and you know a condo home ownership opportunity like unlike anything else we really have
along the beach but the design and all the variances requested are really in keeping with everything else that uh we're seeing along the beach. I think it's really the next step in uh the growth that we've seen for the last decade. So I'm proud of this project. I urge you to support it. Thank you very
much. >> Thank you. There any other proponents? Seeing and hearing none, I'll close that side of the hearing. Are there any opponents? Anyone opposed? >> State your name and address for the record, please. >> Hello. Cory O'Hara, 270 Beach Street.
How are you tonight? Good. >> Good. So, I have quite a mouthful tonight. I'll try to keep it short, but >> we do only allow maximum three minutes. >> Okay, I will try to keep it up to three minutes, but I think what I have to say is very important. Um,
>> it's very well could be important, but 3 minutes is the the limit. >> I'll talk I'll talk fast. So, um, and this is really just out of complete respect for you all and the city and uh, I I just want to start with that and also I want to first state that I'm not
against development. I'm just against I'm just for responsible development and that's why I am here tonight. So, uh, good evening. I'm here tonight not necessarily in opposition to this specific project, but to raise a far
more serious issue, which is the abuse and overreach of the hardship standard that has been has now become routine in these applications to the board. So, I first want to ask if you guys are familiar with the case of Adams verse Broly. Are you guys familiar with that
case? Anyone on the You don't have to answer that. Okay. Well, it's in the applications um that you guys keep getting from the attorney Damrosio's team. Um this is the fourth one this
year that you've received that refers to Adams vers Broly. Um uh and it's important because I I understand that attorneys they will continue to put the uh same language in um applications. It's it's boilerplate legal language. I
get that. Um and they use it to justify variances, but they're using this to justify variances where there's no real um hardship. Okay. And um in Adams vers Broly um in short, Mr. Broly owns nearly
10 acres in denim. And what he wanted to do is he separated four lots and he did some swapping with his neighbors. And what ended up happening is um the MDC uh came in and
they took part of the neighboring parcel by eminent domain and that left Broly with a non-compliant parcel at no fault of his own. And that's where they decided that they found true hardship because it left him with an unbuildable
lot. And so what's happening is that's not what we're dealing with in these applications. So the attorney Dim Bro and his team, they keep referencing this Adams v. Broly case to show that there's some sort of um hardship in these these
misshaped lots. Okay? And that's what he did in this application that is in front of you tonight. Um, so this attorney, and I say this with complete clarity, has taken what was a narrow precedent-based decision and turned it
into a blanket excuse for overbuilding. It's boilerplate at this point, and unfortunately, this board has allowed it become a pattern. So, let's get back to the basics. What's true hardship? It must arise from land, soil, shape, and topography. It must be unique to the
parcel, not common conditions across the neighborhood. It must make reasonable development impossible without relief. And it must not be self-created. No hardship can stem from the owner's own actions or speculative overbuilding.
Let's look at the property at 7682 Rivera Beach Boulevard. In the current application, Attorneyio Damrosio claims that the shape is unusually narrow and warped. the slope is so steep allegedly up to 100% that prohibits the complaint
compliant development and that there may be soil issues affecting the cost in construction. So I went and measured it myself. I used the same uh the the same tools um the mass GIS system that
attorney Drosio used to take measurements. I used those same tools and I took measurements my own. I measured four crosssections. 100 ft, 103 feet, 104 ft. >> Not to cut you short though, but we are not. You're >> I'm getting to my point. I'm going to
get to my point. >> You're exceeding and we'll >> Well, I took my own measurements and that and the measurements basically showed that there is no credible evidence that this lot is unusual. Not in shape, not in slope, not in size, not compared to nearby parcels. This is a
rectangular standard depth lot that happens to be in high in a high demand location. The only thing unique here is that the the project size, not the shape of the land. So, let's be very clear. This hardship claim is not about the land. It's about squeezing a big project
into a regular lot. And this board has been rubber stamping those efforts. You have approved projects with this hardship claim identical to this one again and again without demanding independent verification, compar comparative analysis, or sight specific data. You've accepted legal citations
that don't match the facts. You've let developers maximize profit without putting pressure on with putting pressure on schools, services, traffic, emergency access, and infrastructure. And the longer it goes on, the more clear it becomes that your decisions are
starting to look like policy, not law. You're sending a message that River is a soft target and all you need is a good lawyer with a template. And that's a dangerous precedent to set. The residents of the city are taking note. And here's the hard truth. Either you've been willing participants in this
pattern, knowingly looking the other way, or you've been systematically misled by legalist repetition and an attorney who counts on this board to not verify what's in front of you. I don't know which is worse. But with the level of data and precedent now exposed,
ignorance is no longer your defense. An inaction is no longer excusable. Let me be clear. I don't put all the blame on you, but let's be honest. You're appointed by the mayor and that makes him your boss. So when this for your comments, I'm cutting you off. >> Okay, here's what I respect. Here's what
I respectfully ask before you consider relief tonight. A third party sealed survey in evaluation profile showing any claims. >> You've exceeded your time. Please sit down. You've exceeded your time. Provide data to show what the exceeded your time. Please sit down.
>> I have a right to speak. >> And you had a right to speak. I allowed you five minutes. >> I want to show you. I respectfully ask you before considering relief tonight, >> a third party sealed survey of
any claims across the actual area. is violated. Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record. >> Good evening. My name is Cheryl Queen. I'm at 82 Revier Beach Boulevard. My husband and I have owned the Twist and Shake for 23 years. Um, I want to just
say I apologize. I am very under the weather. I will do my best to speak clearly and concisely. Um, I'd like to first say that it's not just bars um in between 76 and 82 River Beach Boulevard. There's an ice cream shop
there that's a staple of the community. I found out in March that we would be gone as of December. Um, I knew that there was writing on the wall. I knew that I knew the writing on the wall. I knew that they that we were um
eventually the lot was going to be sold. I saw it happening around us. Um I have tried on numerous attempts to reach both the buyers, the planning department to speak to anybody to see if we could have a seat at the table to negotiate being
on that ground level. I have not heard from anybody. Um I would love that opportunity. I don't know if this is the platform, but I nobody's returned my call. So, I thought I would just come here and speak my piece. Again, we have been um part of this community for a
long time. Yes, the lot needs some work. Yes, I'm 100% for development. Just please give me a seat at the table and let me negotiate. That's it. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thank you. Unfortunately, we couldn't request that,
but it's public knowledge. Now, are there anyone other opponents seeing in here? Oh, kindly step up to the microphone. State your name and address for the record, please. >> Hi. Uh, my name is Edund Burn. I'm currently residing at 18 Woodro Terrace
in Len. I own a condominium at 71 which is right next door where my daughter and granddaughter currently live and where I've lived for 20 years. And this year the plan was to move back there cuz I'm retiring and we were going to sell the
house and kind of use that money and we own the condo. We always loved living there. We're going to go back there. My daughter's buying her own house and that was the plan. Then we come back from vacation and I got the letter here and uh the condo that I own. You know, right
now my view is only a side view cuz I'm not in the front. I'm in the back, but I'm on that side where this building will go up. So right now I can see here all the way into Lin Harbor, which is beautiful. That makes what makes it worth it. And you I've been paying taxes
there for 30 years and this was kind of always the plan. And so I'm going to lose the view, which means, you know, I really don't want to live there. Why would I want to look at a wall, you know, and uh I'm going to lose the value, you know, because who's it's got
to lose, you know, probably a third of its value, I would think, without the view because that's what made it. And I just wanted to state that because, uh, you know, the guy that was speaking earlier said it's a win-win for everybody. Well, it's not a win-win for
me, you know. Uh, for me, it's a loss, and I don't think I'm I should be taking the hit because people want to I know progress goes on. I know what happens, and I know I'm not going to stop it, but I just wanted to put that out there. >> Thank you. Just for your knowledge
though, they're not coming here for a variance for height. They could actually go higher by a matter of right. >> So, that's not under our control. Well, at least I at least I would have 20 input view now I get whatever it is. >> Thank you so much. Okay. Are there any
other opponents? >> Seeing in here and then I'll close that side here. Any any members wish to speak? >> Uh the owner of Twist and Shake. Um I'm all for you. I hope they give you a a spot there. I love that place. I did have several questions um that
went and I believe that they were pretty much all answered. Um I will ask Nancy to
just go over their deed spots. So there'll be 80 deed spots for the units with two being for the commercial end. That's correct. Okay. >> And
the commercial space infrastructure would not alter any of the unit sizes due to construction or anything. I asked that question. >> No. So, as part of the finalization process for the plans, a mechanical engineer would be brought in and he
would work out um where the the various pieces of equipment would be, but it wouldn't the changes any changes that would need to be made wouldn't be of any size and scale that would affect >> that was another question numbers. And the only other thing that I would be off
be asking for is our standard conditions so that there'd be um prohibited for any participation in the parking permit program and then also that if the any type of dwelling change i.e. from condominium to residential that they'd
have to come back in front of the board of appeals. Um that's that would be one of the added conditions that there would be any change to the dwelling that they come back in front of us and if the owner is
acceptable to that I would like to know that before we make a vote. >> Yes, that that is acceptable to us. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Any members have any other questions? No. >> Okay. There's a motion to approve.
The conditions of the zoning board of appeals for this application will be as follows. If the rights authorized by this variance are not exercised within one year of the date of the grant of this variance, the right shall lapse. This variance will not be valid until the appellent has recorded this variance in plan in the sepa county registry of deeds and submits document recording
numbers and dates to the city clerk and building inspector of the city of river. The appellent must receive site plan review approval prior to applying for a building permit. The property shall not be eligible for participation in the city of Riiera's residential and visitor on street permit parking program and any
dwelling change from condominium to apartments shall require the applicant to reapply to the zoning board of appeals. >> Shall the zoning board of appeals grant the relief requested subject to those conditions? Mr. Lemonina? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. Lopes? >> Yes. >> Yes. Mr. O'Brien? >> Yes.
>> Yes. Mr. Pelton? >> Yes. >> Yes. And Chairman Tucker? >> Yes. >> Yes. The variances have been granted. There's no further business. Chairman >> motion to return into our September meeting. Thank you.