Somerville Planning Board 08-07-2025

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Meeting Title: Somerville Planning Board 08-07-2025
City: Somerville, MA
Date Published: 2025-08-20

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AI Disclaimer: Summaries and transcripts above were created by various AI tools. By their nature, these tools will produce mistakes and inaccuraies. Links to the official meeting recordings are provided for verification. If you find an error, please report it to somervillecivicpulse at gmail dot com.

Time & Speaker	Transcript
Michael Capuano	okay good evening everybody uh it is 6 0 1 p.m on august 7 2025 this is the regularly scheduled meeting of the somerville planning board i am mike capuano i am the chairman of the planning board with us tonight is our vice chair amelia aboff our clerk jahan habib and our members lynn richards and michael mcneely we have a forum and Sorry, pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Act of 2025, this meeting of the Planning Board will be conducted via remote participation. The video recording of these proceedings will be available on the City's websites, meetings and events page, or by emailing planningboard at somervillema.gov. We have a number of items on our agenda tonight. The very first thing is 59 Bow Street, ZP 2400098 and ZP 2400099 has requested a continuance to the August 21st meeting. The chair moves to continue that agenda item to the 21st, seconded by Amelia. Steve, can we have a roll call?
SPEAKER_05	Sorry, Jahan Habib?
SPEAKER_11	Aye.
SPEAKER_05	Michael McNeely. Aye. Lynn Richards.
SPEAKER_11	Aye.
SPEAKER_05	Amelia Aboff.
SPEAKER_11	Aye.
Michael Capuano	And Michael Capuano. Aye. That agenda item is continued. The other items on our agenda tonight that will be opened, 181 Pearl Street, 199 Elm Street, 379 Somerville Avenue, um and we also have a matter of other business regarding um chapter 91. so before we get started i'm wondering if the clerk can read into the record the notices of public hearing for the uh cases that will be at least opened this evening absolutely mr chair
SPEAKER_19	181 Pearl Street LLC seeks to develop an apartment building in the MR3 zoning district, which requires site plan approval, ZP25-000030. 181 Pearl Street LLC seeks to establish a residential housing use in the MR3 zoning district, which requires a special permit, ZP25-000055. 199 Elm Street. Picker Construction seeks to develop a general building in the MR4 zoning district, which requires site plan approval, ZP25-000031. Picker Construction seeks to include residential development in the MR4 zoning district, which requires a special permit, ZP25-000054. Picker Construction seeks to construct a mechanical penthouse that exceeds the maximum height in the MR4 district, which requires a special permit ZP25-000066, 379 Somerville Avenue, Rick Stone Builders Corp proposes a major amendment to previously approved plans CZC20-000104 to construct an apartment building in the MR5 zoning district, which requires site plan approval, ZP25-000078. Okay, I think we have them all.
Michael Capuano	Thanks, John. um at the discretion of the chairman it takes some agenda items out of order and I would like to invite um the person or people who will be here on the draw seven Park chapter 91 signature to be um unmuted and shared and take that up first
SPEAKER_05	Steve Carey, This is Steve carey and just promoted amanda gall, I believe, as a from the consultant that I think vcr has hired for this.
SPEAKER_17	Amanda Gallagher, hi everyone.
Michael Capuano	Steve Carey, And just as a reminder both both you and anybody that's going to speak after you for this application and all others, please just introduce yourself, your name your affiliation and your address to the record.
SPEAKER_17	Amanda Gall with Weston Sampson on behalf of DCR for the Draw 7 Chapter 91 Beach Nourishment Permit. I am here today to request a signature for that permit application. It's related to the beach nourishment we're doing in Draw 7. We were able to get a minor modification to the previous Chapter 91 license for the park itself, which we were We were required to pull a second license for the beach nourishment, which will be occurring below the high, high tide line. And I do have a plan if it helps. Um, I can share that.
Michael Capuano	Yeah. I'm just kind of curious what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_17	Yeah.
SPEAKER_16	All right. Um, let me know. Okay. I think come in. All right. Let me know if you could see my screen.
SPEAKER_00	Esther Kim, Yes, okay.
SPEAKER_17	Esther Kim, So within the the main park will be making improvements to the vegetation the parking lot. Esther Kim, This is the, so this is the existing conditions, the proposed conditions are is this plan right here. Uh, so we'll be making amendments, um, sorry, improvements to the parking lot amenities, utilities to the dam, um, and incorporating universally accessible pathways that connect to the existing Alfred street extension path. And we'll also connect to the future pedestrian bridge that will cross the mystic. Uh, but the beach nourishment, which is what we are here for today, um, will include cleaning up the debris on the beach, which will include like glass bricks. There's some concrete blocks out there and replacing what is removed with the appropriate grain size material that will match the existing site conditions. We did a preliminary particle size analysis that was conducted during the design and robust sampling program is proposed and will be the responsibility of the contractor. This will include taking samples of six different survey profiles along the beach. And each profile will have three samples taken just to make sure that we're matching the existing beach material. So that will be happening from the high, high tide line, which is this cyan color and below.
SPEAKER_15	So any questions?
Michael Capuano	um this is the first time something like this I think has come before the board in a long time um which is which is fine uh so I I think the expectation of the board is to um Steve is it to is it to approve a signature is it to approve the the plan I could be to approve a signature um in accordance with chapter 91 of mass general law Um, does anybody have any comments or questions for, um, Ms. Goff? Okay. Seeing none. This is not a public hearing. This is pretty straightforward. We would like draw seven to be cleaned up. Um, so the chair moves to, uh, approve the signature pursuant to chapter 91. Michael McNeely, i'm seconded by amelia Steve can we have a roll call. Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_11	Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_05	Michael McNeely, hi. Johanna Beep. Michael McNeely, hi Lynn Richards. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_17	Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_03	Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_17	Johanna Beep.
SPEAKER_03	Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Johanna Beep. Sorry, I lost my agenda.
Michael Capuano	Bring up 379 Somerville Avenue. If the representative of 379 Somerville Avenue can be unmuted.
SPEAKER_05	This is Steve Carey. I'm promoting Anne Vigorito and Will Chalfant, as I see their hands raised. Anyone else associated with the project, please raise your hand. I'm not seeing anyone else. Oh, I do see Elan Sessoon also. I'll promote Elan.
SPEAKER_13	ELAN SESSOON Good evening. This is attorney and Vigorito from 424 Broadway, Somerville joined this evening by will shallow font of calls to design. He is the architect for this project. Also, the developer is here a line says, and Jerry McDonough if there are any questions. uh relative to them answering so a little bit of a history here uh we were before you about four years ago on this project i believe and we were granted zoning relief to construct a building uh this is at 379 some of the lab And historically, it's a little bit before my time, but it was a nightclub called Thunder Road. So I know originally we talked about having that come back. Well, after zoning relief, as things progressed in the building permit stages, things changed relative to Eversource. I'm not sure if the board knows we were before the zoning board of appeals last night for 4 variances regarding this matter. So that's why we're now before you. What I'm thinking is at this time last night, we're going to keep it kind of similar little condensed of a presentation of what we did from last night. It just makes sense. We'll take over. He has a timeline because he was the 1 working on the building permit. And then the issues.
Michael Capuano	And can I can I can I drop the door?
SPEAKER_13	I'm so sorry, Mike.
Michael Capuano	No, that's okay. So it's my understanding that because you now have these variances, I think there needs to be some discussion between your team and planning staff on some suggested revisions. um to do to the transformer shield and alternatives that can be presented to us before we kind of move forward here um i i think we're a little bit premature because we've just gotten this in and i what i'd like to do um Is is see if we can come back now that we've opened you and kind of understand the situation that you're in to come back in a few weeks once you've had an opportunity to discuss with with planning staff. Some some thoughts and and plans on steps moving forward. Because I think we're not at a at a place where we feel ready to take this project up based on. the complexity of the history here.
SPEAKER_13	Apologies. A little confusion, Chairman Capuano. Last night, the had reference the planning board. They didn't say planning staff. So that's why I wasn't sure if it was something, but I appreciate the clarity because we would have reached out this afternoon, but that happens a lot in meetings as they get a little later in the evening planning board versus planning staff. So, will, and I can definitely reach out and probably, I think. We've been working with kit, so I think we'll keep with with kit.
Michael Capuano	Let's be very clear, planning staff is a lot smarter than certain members of the planning board.
SPEAKER_13	I don't know about that. I've seen you folks, you know, make changes when we've come before you and, you know, and you did it on this very building and it ended up being a much prettier building. Maybe that's not the right word, prettier, but it looks a lot nicer, I think.
SPEAKER_02	Mr. Chair, does it make sense to show you like a minute of stuff just so you have a baseline?
Michael Capuano	At this point, I want to make sure everything is kind of vetted through the staff first before we have an opportunity to look at this thing holistically. Fair enough. And before it was Thunder Road, it was Radio Bar. And before that, I think it was Club Choices.
SPEAKER_13	Wow, that's quite the history lesson.
SPEAKER_02	And but so would you like us to continue to the next uh planning board which isn't let's let's let's let's do that and if you need more time um after the 21st obviously we're happy to give you the time that you need okay thank you could I ask a quick question to city staff just on deliverables to them in order to get on the next planning board hearing just so we can understand logistically how that's going to work would we need to because typically we need to get it to you at least a week in advance
SPEAKER_05	This is Steve Carey. I would say reach out to Sarah Lewis and Lexi Payne. Lexi Payne had been the case planner on this. She was unable to attend tonight, and Sarah Lewis had an appointment. But I would say reach out to them for a deliverable. And it is typically two weeks for items for staff review or a week for something the board to review. So I mean, obviously, this is a somewhat unique case. So I would reach out to them, and they can clarify.
SPEAKER_02	Sure. Thanks.
SPEAKER_13	Well, I'm going to be optimistic and I will ask to be continued to the 21st and obviously, if we need a further continuance, you know, we can do so in a timely fashion and not have to come here and ask for it.
Michael Capuano	Wonderful with that in mind, I'm going to move to continue this agenda item to the 21st. 2nd, by Amelia Steve, can we have a roll call? John.
Michael McNeley	All right.
SPEAKER_05	Michael. Hi, Lynn Richards. Oh, Lynn, I'm not sure if we heard you.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	Thank you. Amelia Aboff.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	And Michael Capuano.
Michael Capuano	See you in a few weeks.
SPEAKER_13	Thank you very much. Have a great night.
Michael Capuano	Thanks. We have two cases left, 181 Pearl Street and 199 Elm Street. Let's go in order. Let's go 181 Pearl Street first. So if that applicant and team can be unmuted and shared and all sorts of good things, let's do it.
SPEAKER_05	This is Steve Carey. I see Pablo Picker. I'll promote him to panelist. I see a couple other. I see Paul Miller with his hand raised. I'll promote him to panelist. I also see Curtis Hunter with his hand raised. Not sure if he's a member of the public or a member of the. Yeah, Pablo, should I promote Curtis as well? OK.
SPEAKER_06	Yeah. Yes, please. Thanks. everybody are we are we all are we good you have everybody you need let's see i got paul and curtis yeah got my team good Okay, great. Good evening. My name is Pablo Picker. I'm the owner and developer for 181 Pearl Street. I'll also just make a note that we will also, same team, will be presenting 199 Elm Street. So we're excited to be here, Chair Capuano and board members. Good to see you again. This has been a long process. We started this in 2023 of July. So these are three units. It's a challenging site. It's been quite the journey, but we're excited to present tonight. And hopefully you can appreciate and see the the vision that we've been working on the improvements to the neighborhood to the corner and to the site so I'm going to pass it off to Paul Miller who's going to present and Curtis will be leading the landscape architecture part so thank you thanks Pablo good evening to the board it's good to see everyone again
SPEAKER_18	Paul Miller, i'm Paul Miller principal at neighbor architects were leading the design team on this project and i'm joined tonight by curtis puncher from ground Inc, who is the landscape architect. i'm going to go ahead and share my screen. Okay, we can get started everyone see my screen okay. Great okay. So just to start off with a little bit of context about 181 Pearl Street. This is in East Somerville near Gilman Square. You can see our site highlighted here in red. Gilman's at the kind of end of Pearl Street up near Sarma, the high school, the library. It's an exciting site to be working on at the corner of Pearl and Dana and adjacent to McGrath Highway. It's got a lot of visibility because of the movement across McGrath, and we feel like it's a well-connected site as well and a great opportunity for transit-oriented development. There is good access to bus lines as well as the Gilman Square T Station and many public amenities within walking and biking distance. This is the photograph of the existing site, the former Mudville Pottery Studio that was there. It's since been demolished and is waiting for the next steps of the project. The context is, the immediate context are two and a half story single family and two family homes, as well as triple deckers nearby. There's a gas station across Pearl Street. some larger six unit buildings and larger masonry buildings as you move further down Pearl Street, they get up towards five and six floors. So what we're proposing on the site, which is zoned MR3, three residential apartments, the building's three stories and about 3,600 gross square feet. We kind of at the beginning of the design Christopher McConkey, process. Christopher McConkey, began by looking really carefully at the site, given that it's quite tight. Christopher McConkey, And we really wanted to create something that was a benefit to the neighborhood. Christopher McConkey, Given the high visibility corner. Christopher McConkey, And sort of the lack of. Christopher McConkey, streets amenities like trees and plants at this corner. So we've wrapped both Dana and Pearl Street with a planter that Curtis from Ground is going to talk about in a little bit. We also added a street tree on Pearl Street. And beneath that street tree, a bench which is built into the planter and kind of extends the stoop culture, you know, that we see throughout Somerville. The entrance into the site is off of Pearl Street. We wanted to make sure that anyone could access this building. Ramps are required in the Somerville zoning code and also a zero step entrance into the building. So rather than having a separate ramp and stairs, we felt it would be important to integrate the access into just a single ramp. So this ramp comes off of Pearl Street and leads to a small courtyard entrance into the building. where there's a small lobby with bike parking for residents. We are using permeable paving throughout the site. And it is an all electric building. This is a view of the project from Pearl and Dana Street. The primary cladding material is an aluminum panel in a color called silversmith, which picks up the color of the sky and the neighborhood around it. We wanted to use aluminum as a kind of robust material and use it in a contemporary way. Given the context around the building, the proximity of McGrath Highway, we wanted something that felt kind of robust here. But we were interested in picking up on some of the cues throughout the neighborhood. And so we see this triangular profile that we've selected as a kind of contemporary interpretation of clapboard siding. Here it's run vertical, but you still get the kind of shadow lines across it that you would see on clapboard siding. And as we've carved away balcony spaces for each unit, we're using a mint green color that picks up on some of the plants and the planters and the new street tree. And you see in the foreground, as well as on the site walls, a red brick cladding on the planters on those walls that kind of picks up on the red brick planters that you'll see throughout the neighborhood, as we're showing here in the lower left-hand corner. This is a view from Pearl Street looking towards the entrance. You can see those site walls that I was just describing. and a copper colored metal panel that serves as sort of an accent on this entry sequence into the building. And in a close-up view of that entrance, you can see the bench that I was describing earlier and a close-up of the ramp. Just another view of that entrance off of Pearl Street. And this is the Dana Street facade. You can see the other red brick site wall. We really were trying to be thoughtful about how we treated the edge condition here, given the kind of proximity of the neighbors. So the site wall is designed so that it's tall when it needs to provide privacy and it drops away a little bit when it doesn't need to. I should also say that the property line for 181 Pearl Street runs down the middle of the Dana Street neighbors driveway and our clients felt it was important from the beginning of the project to allow them to keep their driveway and so we're we started our design project from the kind of Edge of that existing driveway just some details on the facade um we um created a break line at each floor that the windows and the cladding are aligned with. And we're bringing color into the material palette with the guardrails and the sashes of the windows. I'm going to hand it over to Curtis from Ground to talk about the landscape design.
SPEAKER_20	Thanks, Paul. Curtis Puncher from Ground Landscape Architects, speaking at 2181 Pearl Street. So 100% of the trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials on this project are native. As Paul mentioned, we are wrapping the building on three sides with planting. sort of soften, you know, soften that pedestrian experience along this section of the streetscape. There are bulbs in here as well. They are, you know, early spring interest. So they do deviate from the native palette, but they're sort of isolated in their seasonality. um elsewhere on the project we do have um permeable permeable paving um planned north and west and there is a sunken um gravel surface sort of plan northeast on the top of the page there um that's to allow light into a lower unit so all of the hardscapes surrounding this building is permeable um and we'll sort of revisit that when we talk about the green score And we are, there is currently no street trees adjacent to this property and we are adding one white oak you see there on on page south on Pearl Street. Go ahead for the next slide. Here's just a closer look on some of the species that we're using again. All shrubs, perennials and grasses are native, as well as the tree, of course. Next slide. Just a quick look at some of the details here, as well as getting into the green score. So our target for the project is 0.3, and we're achieving a score of 0.33. To get there, you know, we're looking at the soil depth greater than two feet and that's achieved in that perimeter planting as well as the permeable paving that's wrapping the north and west side of the building and the species that we are using will will grow more than um well a good portion of the species we're proposing um will achieve a two feet or higher um maturity Um, but there is a, there is a portion of ground cover species that will be less than that. So, um, you know, taking all of those factors into account, that's how we get to that 0.33. Um, and I just, yeah, I wanted to keep it brief because I want to leave room for questions and discussion. Thank you.
SPEAKER_18	Thanks Curtis. So, um, yeah, we're excited to hear, uh, your feedback on this. Mr. Happy to take any questions.
Michael Capuano	Mr. yeah so right now, I will. Mr. Probably open it up to public testimony unless there's anybody in planning board that wants to ask anything of the applicant or of staff. Mr. yeah I mean.
Amelia Aboff	Amelia Bellamy- Thank you, Mr chair, I appreciate the applicants explanation. An emphasis on sort of accessible and universal design in the exterior and access to the building. Could you just take us through the accessibility of the interior of the units for a moment?
SPEAKER_18	Yes. So the ground floor unit is also it's a two level to duplex unit, and we're providing a lift for that unit so that those levels can be accessed. The second floor and the third floor are walk up units, so they would not be wheelchair accessible.
SPEAKER_16	Thank you.
Michael Capuano	Anybody else before I open it up to testimony? Okay. Okay. So what I'd like to do now is open up this public hearing to testimony for anybody that would like to speak in support of the application. Please hit your raised hand button and I'll call on you in the order in which I see you.
SPEAKER_05	This is Steve Carey. Not seeing anyone raising their hands in the audience.
Michael Capuano	Not yet. Going once. Going twice. I'm going to close that portion of the public hearing. I'm going to open it up to anybody that wants to speak in opposition to the application or express concern. Please raise your hand. Okay. Going once. Going twice. Joshua Perttula- Seeing none i'm going to close that portion of the public hearing and bring it back to the planning board for discussion so amelia you had asked a question I don't know if you had any follow up that you wanted to bring up now.
Amelia Aboff	Amelia Bellamy- Now, on that topic, thank you okay.
Michael Capuano	Um, I have a couple of questions. Um, so it's gonna be a three. So first of all, I appreciate you doing something with what's a what's a difficult site to to work on. Um, kind of with the with the corner location, gonna set back from McGrath Highway. Um, it seems like you have a little bit of a um of a boundary issue with the neighbor and and the and the driveway. I can't speak on behalf of them, but if I were them, I'd be very appreciative of the fact that you're working with them to not take away their driveway. So for the three units that you have, can you tell me about the unit mix that you've got?
SPEAKER_18	Yes, they're all two bedroom units. They're fairly compact. I'm going to go ahead and pull up the floor plans here. I'll start with the kind of typical units, the second and the third floor. So as I mentioned, they are walk-up units. It's just a single stair building. And you come out of the stairwell into your kind of kitchen and living room space. Both units have a balcony off of that kitchen and living room space, a covered balcony. And then there are two bedrooms on the north side of the plan as well as the bathroom. So this is the second floor. The third floor is very similar, except it has bay windows. Christopher McConkey, And the balcony kind of centered between those the bedroom and bathroom configuration is the same. Christopher McConkey, The first floor unit is the unique one, as I mentioned, it is accessible. Christopher McConkey, And the first floor has a generous sized kitchen and living room and then down on the lower level, there are two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Michael Capuano	um the other question I have kind of relates to um well not relates to it is somewhat directed to staff um this application as I recall is putting in three units and does not provide any parking is they're not required to um do we have our standard condition about uh residential parking stickers on this
SPEAKER_08	This is Madison Anthony speaking from staff. I was the case planner on this project. I didn't list that as a condition because mobility just didn't list it in their standard condition list for this project for whatever reason. But if the applicant would be open to adding that, I think it would be a great idea.
Michael Capuano	That is a standard condition that the planning board includes when a project does not include parking in a dense residential neighborhood. that's close to transit, which this is.
SPEAKER_06	Sorry, Madison.
SPEAKER_08	I was just going to say, I think if the applicant would be open to it, it's a good idea to add it.
SPEAKER_06	Yeah, I think from the if I may check up on from the beginning of the process. I think we were very aware of the the context of the site close to transit. I mean we're we all know some of the well And that's part of the reason it was very challenging to get everything that we needed. But it's part of the reason that we tried to make those biking, you know, the bike inside, there was versions of this with kind of parking from the bike from the exterior. So we wanted to put an emphasis on safe interior bike parking, geared towards people that, you know, are not going to have cars and won't have, you know, stickers to park in the street. So it was our assumption from the beginning.
Michael Capuano	that's that that's great to hear Pablo thank you because I I actually uh when people talk the talk I I want to make sure they actually walk the walk as well so I'm going to propose that as as an amended condition to um to our standard list and I would ask Madison um and staff going forward um that we have a discussion by the planning board that this should be um in my opinion a standard condition on new development where parking is not being put in. So those were my two thoughts. I do appreciate you guys working kind of diligently on a site that's, like I said, more difficult. I'm not always a fan of super modern designs, but this one, it's a little bit different in a way that I think kind of works. So those are my thoughts. Thank you. Daniel PassamaneckIHL- Was. Daniel PassamaneckIHL- And I apologize everybody i'm kind of getting over a cold, so if I sound like i've been smoking parliaments in the backyard that's not actually the case. Daniel PassamaneckIHL- Anybody else have any. Daniel PassamaneckIHL- Questions or comments of the applicant. Daniel PassamaneckIHL- Okay. All right, well, I was not anticipating moving forward with this one tonight, but it seems like.
Amelia Aboff	Sorry, Mr chair yeah i'm sorry i'm i'm sorry I was just trying to refer back to the submission documents to make sure I had this straight. COB, Bethany Collins, And I think one of the comments that was provided by the BBC and i'm just trying to check whether it's in the recommended conditions for the staff memo was. COB, Bethany Collins, submission of final materials to planning staff for review, and I think, given the more modern palette here, and particularly the use of color as an accent. COB, Bethany Collins, I would love to just make sure that the planning board is going to codify that in our conditions that are a little bit more binding as well. I don't have any major concerns, but I think it would be good practice and I thought that was a good call on behalf of the UDC. I'm sorry, I'm just having trouble finding what that's an existing recommended condition or if that would be a new one.
Michael Capuano	Can you say again what your proposed condition is if it's not already listed?
Amelia Aboff	That material samples, including color samples, be provided to staff for final review before construction. Sorry, I know we have standard language on this.
Michael Capuano	I'm just not... To the extent that that is not already listed in the list of conditions, I support putting it in.
SPEAKER_16	Thank you. Anybody else?
Amelia Aboff	A condition requiring the review of materials prior to submission of an application for a building permit. It was worded on the UDC recommendation.
SPEAKER_18	We were anticipating that. Thank you. Let's put it there.
Michael Capuano	Anybody else? Following public testimony, review of the submitted materials and deliberation of the required considerations outlined by the ordinance, I move to approve with the conditions as amended in the staff memorandum and discussed tonight. The site plan approval to develop an apartment building in the mid-rise three district, seconded by Amelia. Steve, can we have a roll call?
SPEAKER_05	John to be hi Michael McNeely. Hi, Lynn Richards. Hi, Amelia a buff.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	And Michael Capuano.
Michael Capuano	Hi. And following public testimony review of the submitted materials and deliberations the required considerations and findings outlined by the ordinance and move to approve with the conditions laid out in the staff memorandum and as discussed tonight, the request to establish a residential housing use in the Mr three zoning district. seconded by amelia Steve please call. Johanna be.
SPEAKER_05	I Michael mcneely. hi. Then Richard's I Amelia. And Michael, you want to.
Michael Capuano	Right, I believe those are the only 2 votes we have to take on this application. Congratulations. Good luck. Thank you.
SPEAKER_06	Thank you. Thank you board. We will see you in a 2nd, I guess.
SPEAKER_07	Okay.
Michael Capuano	Very similar. 1 99. yeah dude it's same same team just stay on it is the same same team yeah just tell us when to go uh no okay but for the purpose of a clean record please just reintroduce yourselves yes yes yes
SPEAKER_06	Good evening, Chair and Board. My name is Pablo Picker. I am the developer on 199 Elm Street and along with Paul Miller. We are super excited for this project. We have not been working at it as long as the previous one, but we're all very familiar with the area of the context. The site is next to some favorite businesses of ours, not ours, but that we go to and enjoy. And from the beginning, we had a fun time Pablo Carreon- designing this building and thinking about the future of Davis square and the things that are coming and trying to respect our neighbors and the businesses that we enjoy going to and we're we're yeah we're very excited for representing tonight, so I will pass it over to Paul again and we'll go from there, thank you.
SPEAKER_18	Paul Haney, Thanks Pablo and good evening again to the board and thanks for having us tonight. Paul Miller- i'm Paul Miller principal at neighbor architects and i'm joined by Curtis puncher from ground Inc, who is the landscape designer. Paul Miller- i'm going to go ahead and share my screen and we'll start the presentation for one any nine Elm street. Paul Miller- Everybody see my screen again. Paul Miller- Okay, great. Okay, so you can see the site 199 Elm Street highlighted in red towards the bottom of the page. It's on the east side of Elm Street, sort of at the southern end of Davis Square. You can see Davis Plaza up to the north here, and the Davis Square T stop is right next to that. Christopher McConkey, In the foreground is cutter Plaza. Christopher McConkey, We wanted to just quickly highlight a couple of the planning city planning initiatives, these are both from the Davis square commercial area plan. Christopher McConkey, there's a thought of making enlarging cutter Plaza and kind of enhancing it and there's also a thought about reimagining elm street in the core of Davis square as a more pedestrian eyes kind of version of itself. Our block that we're working on was identified for enhancement in Summer Vision and has been zoned MR4. So we're excited to be working in this context of this area that's been identified for enhancement. It's already, we love Davis Square. I happen to live very close by to here, so it's an exciting opportunity for us. And just a quick transit and amenities map here in 199 Elm is at the center. Of course, there's up lots of bus lines close by, the Davis Square T stop, and many amenities in close walking distance. So we feel that this is a terrific site for a transit-oriented development. This is a view of the existing building. It's an existing two-story building that has been used for commercial space um the existing curb cut we're proposing to fill in no significant trees will be removed but the existing building will be removed as part of the project and we've received permission from the historic commission to to remove it here's a view looking north on elm street there's a nice kind of as pablo was hinting at there's a nice um kind of uh run of restaurants along this side of Elm, Revival Cafe is right next to our site, Doc's Inn next to that, and then the former Posto, which is relocated to Assembly, unfortunately, is another great commercial space that we expect to see filled sometime soon. Mem Tea is just across the street. Christopher McConkey- And then, this is a view looking the opposite direction on LM you can see our site in the foreground here five on docs and. Christopher McConkey- So this is our proposed site plan again it's an Mr for zoning district we're proposing a ground floor commercial space of about 1700 square feet, which we feel will create. Christopher McConkey- A. an active streetscape and a real sense of place here, kind of building off of what Revival and DocCenter are already making with their great little courtyard space between those two restaurants. We're proposing three levels of apartments above the commercial space, which will be 10 units total. Those will all be group one accessible units, adding much needed accessible housing to the city stock housing. Christopher McConkey, The building will be about 15,000 gross square feet and four stories tall we're proposing to new street trees. Christopher McConkey, And a new public to new public by cracks. Christopher McConkey, And as I was already saying this is a transit oriented development there's no car parking. Christopher McConkey, required or proposed here there's a large bike room, though, through the residential lobby. Christopher McConkey, which provides long term bike parking for residents. Another important feature of this project is that it will need an electrical transformer, and these are a real challenge on a relatively tight site like ours here. This is a 42-foot wide site, give or take a couple of inches. We want to have a generous commercial storefront, and we need to provide access to the residential apartments. We really didn't want to have the transformer in the facade. It's a Christopher McConkey- it's a disruption to the streetscape, and so it was important to us to find a place to put it on the site. Christopher McConkey- And so, for that reason, and also because revival has this really wonderful mural which will show in a minute on the north facade of their building. Christopher McConkey- And a couple of windows in that facade we wanted to step the building back and create a little courtyard. which you'll see in the renderings that provides access to the building and helps create a sense of place again like kind of building off what revival already has on the northern face of their building um we were you can actually see that mural in the lower right here with the elephant and the flowers and that window will be this window on the lower right will be kind of off of our courtyard now so we're able to preserve the light into cafe on that side. We love these murals along Elm Street. We think that they're kind of the most prominent and our favorite architectural feature of this area. So we in our design, we're interested in kind of building off of the energy that these have and the color. And we also want to make sure that we're tying into the context of Davis Square. You see a lot of brick, a lot of masonry, and of course these kind of small to mid-size commercial spaces that everybody loves throughout Davis Square. Okay, so here's a view of our proposed design from Elm Street. You can see we're picking up on the elevation of Revival next door. That continues down to Dachshund and Posto as well. So there's a clear kind of ground story band here that is the commercial space primarily. We're showing it with folding windows so that it can open up in fair weather like you see in some places in Davis. Revival has folding windows. If you go down to Diesel Cafe, they have roll-up garage doors, and it's just so lovely in the limited time of year when it is fair weather to be able to open these up. You can see, we'll have a close-up in a minute, but that small entry courtyard where there's a door both to the Christopher McConkey, The commercial space and the residential lobby. Christopher McConkey, And let's see so above that ground floor we're proposing three floors of residential apartments, you can see that the building steps twice more at those upper floors to create space for balconies. Christopher McConkey, That feel kind of distinct from each other and that's so that's one balcony per front facing unit. The material palette, we are proposing precast concrete at the base, which would be a kind of charcoal color similar to what you see in Revival. And we feel like that complements the buff colored brick above, which recalls what you see at the Somerville Theater and elsewhere throughout Davis Square. There's a close up there of the ground floor restaurant and the entry courtyard. And we have views, each of these with windows open and closed. This is a view looking across Elm Street, kind of on the oblique, to describe another important design move, which are the stair towers. We wanted to use those to break down the massing a bit and kind of describe what's happening on the inside of the building. So we were clouding those in a bright blue glazed brick. um which we feel like is a nice compliment to the warmer buff colored brick that's part of the main massing and that that move also makes the kind of breaks the scale of the building down more to a human scale where you can see the size of the apartments on the outside of the building i'll also point out the uh the special permit for the um Christopher McConkey- I believe it's describes the mechanical penthouse in the zoning code that's actually the elevator bulkhead and the reason that we need that is because this needs a commercial elevator to meet the code. Christopher McConkey- we're proposing a really beautiful roof deck that has it's a green roof and also amenity space and we're required by code to provide accessible access to that, and that means an elevator. If we're going to have a roof deck that's occupiable, the elevator has to go up. And this is the minimum height of an elevator going to that level. It's about 15 feet above the roof deck. So we've tried to hold it kind of as low as we can. But again, if we're going to have this rooftop amenity, then the elevator just needs to be that tall. This is a view looking kind of south on Elm Street. You can see the other stair tower here. These are existing trees to remain, but just so everyone can see what's behind there, it's a lot line wall, so we can't have any windows, but we are trying to make it as elegant and interesting as we can for the time that it is exposed until the adjacent sites are redeveloped. And then just ending with a close-up view of the courtyard. I think this was the first move in the project, solving for the infrastructure and for this really nice neighboring condition. And I think it really pointed us in a good direction, a strong direction, and informed the design moves that came after. All right, a couple more views here. Paul Haney, And then i'm going to hand it over to curtis. Paul Haney, Okay curtis. Paul Haney, i'll let you describe the landscape design.
SPEAKER_20	Curt Brown, Thanks Paul. Curt Brown, Again curtis puncher ground landscape architects 199 street. Curt Brown, i'm. so as as paul mentioned um we do have uh two street trees on on elm street um there are overhead wires on this part of the street so we have selected hedge maple which are on the city of somerville's recommended species list for this condition um inbound of the sidewalk we do have permeable pavers They are not permeable because it's fairly emitted space. And where there is a setback, we are over that aforementioned transformer vault. We do have permeable pavers in the back of the site where there's a somewhat generous patio for the ground floor tenant, ideally a restaurant. And, you know, The tenant will have a big say in how that site is furnished, but we would like to see planters out there. Those planters would not count towards our green score. Next slide. Our green score is wholly, well, aside from the permeable pavers, the planting portion of our green score is provided for by the rooftop planting. As Paul mentioned, it's a pretty nice space up here. A mix of sort of private spaces as well as a more communal space sort of mid-deck on the north. There are two grills there. There's sinks there and a sort of harvest table. around the perimeter it is a 10 inch soil depth and 100 native species um sort of perimeter planting and then inbound of that you'll see a sort of darker green um those are planters so those will be 24 inches high um or foot Sorry 42 inches high, because they will be acting also as a guardrail. And they will be vegetable planters available for use by the occupants of the building. The rest of the deck is is pretty flexible furniture wise it is it'll be wood decking pedestal mounted. um.
SPEAKER_18	Can I add something here that's important about the roof? We don't have any rooftop HVAC equipment because we're using an integrated heat pump, which has what would traditionally be the outdoor equipment integrated with the internal vertical stack. And so it vents through the facade and allows us to have a kind of fully planted and kind of amenity roof rather than having the rooftop equipment.
SPEAKER_20	yeah that's uh yeah it makes for it makes for a great space okay um the next slide um is again is a closer look at that plant palette um and the next slide is sort of some inspirational issue um sorry images we've been we've been looking at um to sort of inform the the space um So again, with that sort of native palette, a sort of meadow feel to it with the generous occupiable spaces. And then our final slide here is just a look at that green score again. I think our target was 0.3, and we've achieved 0.357, I believe. And again, that is achieved through the permeable paving on the patio at the back of the site. That 10 inch soil depth growing medium for the rooftop and a good portion of our species will grow to at least two feet tall. And that's all for me unless anyone else has questions on that.
Michael Capuano	My question is, I saw something called a teta tot arborvitae. Is that really the name of it?
SPEAKER_20	Yeah, it's a variety of Thuja occidentalis. So it is a cultivar of a native species. You know, it's not the arborvitae, the towering, you know, columnar tree. It's been cultivated to retain a smaller shrubby form.
Michael Capuano	Um, I'll have some comments and things later on. Um, but it's quite a great space that one real fast before I open it. So thank you very much for your presentation. Pablo, did you want to close up?
SPEAKER_06	Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to close with a couple of things that just want to bring to the, um. To the attention of the of the chair, I've seen many of these meetings. What did want to talk quickly about the unit? The units in the building, we have two two bedrooms, three one bedrooms, and three studios. Two of those are going to be affordable, one studio and one one bedroom. We I personally I'm I'm still excited to try to get a site where we can do three bedroom units. I know the city needs that those a lot. Actually, Paul and I had discussions trying to see if we could do that in this site. It was just impossible to make that work from our point of view. I mean, I'm looking forward to the conversation, but it was something that we thought a lot about and we try to approach these really thinking about a mix of. I also want to point out that we've decided to not bring gas into the building. We are going to design, you know, everything thinking about a future tenant for a restaurant, but of course we can't control that. So we want to have that flexibility. But after talking with consultants and kind of seeing where the future is heading in terms of restaurants and the state and, you know, energy and all that, we are going to not bring gas. I just wanted to bring those two points. Thank you.
Michael Capuano	Thank you. Does anybody on the planning board have anything to raise before I open up public testimony? Okay. Seeing none from the planning board, this time I would like to open up this meeting for public testimony. For anybody who would like to speak in support of the application, please hit the raised hand button and I will call on you. I see Crystal Huff.
SPEAKER_05	This is Steve Carey. Crystal, you've been unmuted from our end. You just need to unmute on your end.
SPEAKER_01	Hello, long-time listener, long-time caller. Crystal Huff, they, them, Ward 5. And I am really excited about this project. I really appreciate the accessibility. I really appreciate the compatibility with the rest of what's going on on the street here. I know that there's no back and forth here, but I joined for this presentation and missed the previous one and just want to note that I don't actually know what group one accessible means. If that's the thing that could be answered, even though there's no back and forth. And yeah I am glad that you're above the minimum for green score, I do pay attention to that as a resident I appreciate it and i'm super excited you're not bringing gas pipes in Thank you.
Michael Capuano	Thank you. For anybody else that would like to speak in support of the application, please raise your hand. Going once, going twice. We'll close that portion of the public hearing and open it up to anybody that would like to testify in opposition to the application or otherwise express concern there too. Please raise your hand. I see David Hasek.
SPEAKER_05	David, you've been
SPEAKER_14	unmuted on our end uh you just need to unmute on your end hello can you hear me yes we can hi um yeah so i sent an email today um with three concerns um really the main one is is the story on on trash storage i'm a neighbor um my name is david hossack I live at 16 Wyndham Street, which is on the block. And we have rats. We have already existing restaurants and trash storage outside. And 10 more units plus potentially a restaurant, trash storages are a concern to me. It has Steve Tombson, Somewhere in there, I think it's actually the transit thing it sees like trash that can be stored in the basement and building management will bring it up. Steve Tombson, All I want to say to that is like that's great i'd like it written into like I don't know how this is done, but make that binding that the trash is stored internally and not in the not commercial patio. Steve Tombson, Or the passageway. Steve Tombson, cannot be done, I don't know. Steve Tombson, My other concern was just the same thing with parking. I want the parking thing to be definitely, there's no parking being provided, parking permits not to be issued to tenants. And then what was my other one? I can't really remember. The main one was the trash. Oh yeah, my other point was I sigh at seeing, this is as much the planning board as anything. We have a bunch of limits And, you know, we make decisions, we buy property or whatever, we make our plans on, you know, like looking at what the setbacks and the height restrictions are. And, you know, like, oh, we need an elevator. I just sigh that, you know, this is a routine thing that seems to be routine to me that, you know, you're going to give like permission to exceed like a height restriction at the edge of the property, near enough at the edge of the property. It's frustrating. because you know that's probably great news for the immediate neighbor who can then develop and and that sets precedent and it's less great news for me because like you know then when that happens then like you know it affects like um you understand my lowly like um two and a half floor house um anyway i decide that that kind of thing i know it's inevitable um to be honest um so my main concern is is to do with the trash thank you
Michael Capuano	thank you very much is there anybody else that would like to speak in opposition to the application or express concern going once going twice seeing no more hands raised I'm going to close that portion of the public hearing and bring it back to discussion um by between the planning board the applicant and staff
SPEAKER_18	So, Mr. Chair, may I respond to the concern and answer Crystal's question as well?
Michael Capuano	These do.
SPEAKER_18	I was just going to ask you. Okay. So to start with Mr. Hossack's concern, we're committed to putting the trash in the basement. That's where it needs to go on this project, both for commercial and residential. And this is going to be a passive house certified building, which means it is super tight. There are no rats getting into the basement to uh, pull trash out. Um, and so, you know, we've, we're doing what we can, um, from a building design perspective to solve for the rat problem. Um, and then to Crystal's question, group one accessible refers to an adaptable unit. Um, in Massachusetts, there are two levels of accessibility, uh, group one, which means adaptable. It does still require a fully accessible entrance. Um, Christopher McConkey- You know wheelchair turning space inside but kitchens and bathrooms are not what you would. Christopher McConkey- You would deem kind of day one fully accessible, they can be modified, though they're designed dimensionally to be modified to be fully accessible, where you could say, for instance. Christopher McConkey- or wheelchair underneath the sink and things like that group to accessibility is required for a building with 20 or more units. Paul Cecala, CA OSDS, 5% of the units are required, I believe in a building with 20 or more units and those are fully accessible from the first day so it's a question of adaptability versus built on day one, hopefully that answers the question.
Michael Capuano	Paul Cecala, CA OSDS, Thank you very much. Paul Cecala, CA OSDS, um. Michael Daly- I will have just a couple of questions and a couple of thoughts. Michael Daly- But I would like to open it up to my fellow board members first if anybody would like to ask questions or make them it's a ceiling.
Lynn Richards	Tessie Bailey, hi thanks thanks Michael um I love. loved, loved the design that you did of the entrance and following the kind of lines of revival and creating that opening in such a way that the elephant and the light and I just thought that was exquisitely done. And I say that, which leads me to my question, and you answered it in part, but I want to push a little bit. When you show the whole building on either side, it's just blank walls. um and uh paul i think you said at some point into seat blank wall right there and then it's also on the other side now the other side you said at some point in time somebody may um you know build there um that's the expectation and that may happen um when this building is done that may happen in 10 or 15 years we we don't know So, given how much you emphasized the mural art on Davis Square, and particularly within this stretch of Elm, I'm wondering if you have any plans or could you have some plans to commission a mural on one or both walls as a temporary use, because it's unlikely that this particular wall that you're seeing actually is revival is going to go up. I mean, let's hope revival stays there and yes, it should be bigger, but we're just going to park that for a moment, but certainly on the other wall. So what about doing some public art here?
SPEAKER_18	so what i can say yes i i think that we actually considered just showing a mural on there um at some point as part of the design and um and i should let pablo speak to it further well i i think you i think you hit it um thank you lynn for the comments um we had discussions about this from the beginning and i think in a sense kind of
SPEAKER_06	played it more in this safe way, thinking about the context of, you know, surrounded by MR4 and that at some point, you know, whether we want or not, those buildings would come up. And so we decided to kind of, knowing that we couldn't put openings in them, to kind of accent the building with this staircase in the blue and kind of give it a little bit of that sense of something different, but knowing that it would be covered. know we even had this conversation in prep tonight i mean i i love the idea of commissioning a mural i think it makes no sense to not do that um and i think it's uh you know i i agree with you revival you know we'll see where that goes but that's going to be like that for a while um and same thing with the other side we don't know where what's going to happen so i think it's a great way to engage the community i think it's a great way to um pick up on the context of where this building was inspired from. And yeah, I wish I was an artist. So I love the idea. So yes.
Lynn Richards	Michael, is it possible for us to put in a public art kind of condition in the in the permit, as we've done with a couple of other things?
Michael Capuano	I know we've done that before i'm happy to do it again. You you actually took one of the comments I was gonna make, then I think we're all kind of on the same page. Yeah, I hate seeing blank walls even if they're only going to be there for a few years.
Lynn Richards	I hate seeing blank walls and you just don't know what's going to what's going to happen and we talked a lot about walkability and accessibility and kind of creating a vibrant streetscape but that to achieve that you need a little bit of weird. Right, you need a little bit of weird and. Lynn Segal, The art grid, from my opinion, I find that this building is you know I like the form of the building and how it meets the street I like the permeability that you have on the first floor and whatnot. Lynn Segal, So now we got to add a little bit of the weird and and you guys open the door when you mentioned all of the the murals as soon as I read that a couple days ago i'm just like oh that's going to be my question. Lynn Segal, All right, thank you all.
Michael Capuano	Thanks Lynn who else. Yeah, Amelia.
Amelia Aboff	Thank you, Mr. Chair. Overall, I think this is incredibly well done. Like when I saw that building go on the market, this is sort of almost the best outcome I can imagine conceiving for that site. So thank you guys for a project that is, I think, really thoughtful and tasteful and contextual. I have a couple of really nitpicky points because I definitely will be here at the next meeting. So please Please take these with a grain of salt for consideration. I expect other board members to potentially raise the concern about the unit mix and push a little bit harder on it. And I'll just go ahead and put out there, sometimes when we've been unable to come to a unit mix that included any larger units, we have had applicants then do at least one of the affordable units as a Group 2 accessible unit. And I don't know whether that's something that we might consider here if the group goes down that path. So I wanted to just raise that and put that out there in the first place. I'm wondering on just an aesthetic question, whether you have, I saw the BUDC, this was their preferred option. I'm sure there were sort of a lot of variables there. have you considered putting any kind of detail sort of to define the cornice line like it's it's a beautiful building and i think it's really great and contextual in many respects but i would be just personally very curious to see even like a very light level of detail there to sort of just cap it off and make it a tiny bit more contextual so i wonder if that's something you've looked at or would consider looking at um i would again ask the chair if we might consider condition on materials approval um Amanda Solliday- limited to the accent color for the stair tower I think it's a beautiful concept and I just want to make sure that it's sort of executed in the way that it's shown here. Amanda Solliday- And then last most important question is, I saw that in the sustainability report at the time that was submitted in March, it looked like there was not yet alignment with ever source. Amanda Solliday- On the feasibility of the underground transformers and to your point that is a very sensitive piece of infrastructure in it important. Amanda Solliday- You know design feature in a way you've looked at the facade. Do you have confirmation from Eversource at this point that they'll allow that to be underground here, or where does that conversation stand?
SPEAKER_18	Not from Eversource, but we've had discussions with our MEPFP engineer, and that was their recommendation as well.
Amelia Aboff	Okay, but we're not concerned about the... Sorry, I thought there was a neighborhood comment about stormwater infiltration. We're not concerned about... that becoming a sticking point when we actually get to an advanced stage of design? We're pretty sure that we undercut it.
SPEAKER_18	As far as, yes, from what we understand, and our engineers, Zade Engineering, they've worked with Eversource too on projects with the low-grade transformers. So they're Brett KenCairn, That was their advice, but we haven't submitted, you have to submit a work order to ever source to get them to weigh in on. Brett KenCairn, The transformer and we haven't done that yet.
Amelia Aboff	COB, Bethany Collins, Can I ask the staff just knowing the other case that was on our agenda for today if there was a. COB, Bethany Collins, An issue with that is that something that would. COB, Bethany Collins, come back to the board as a modification to this to the plans that. Or can we ensure it would? Because that does seem like it's enabling a really sort of critical design feature here.
SPEAKER_15	Yeah, OSC did not flag anything about that, which is why I haven't included it. But I do believe that if anything with the transformers were to change, it would have to come back for a plan revision, I believe. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_18	Mr. Chair, can I respond to a couple of Ms. Aboff's questions? Yes. So the cornice detail, we have kept it pretty minimal, as you're pointing out. But I think we'd be open to considering something that felt in the spirit of the building, but had a nod to What you see throughout Davis Square like the thing that comes to mind immediately would be a couple of rows of soldier course brick I think that would look really nice and add a little bit of a texture difference up there. Just for instance as one potential solution.
Amelia Aboff	I certainly don't mean to dictate design it's a it's an aspect of um. more modern buildings that has come up from time to time and i'd love if you would entertain it but i'll leave it to my colleagues on whether that's something that they would um mandate or not thank you i would like to see some rings with some options as well and is that michael before we get to you i just want to make sure paul is is done responding to
Michael Capuano	I believe so, yes.
SPEAKER_18	Okay.
Michael McNeley	Okay, thank you. Amelia, you got my hot question tonight preemptively. So I would just like to second my concern with the Eversource thing and definitely would like some type of ability to review the project again if that assumption fails. I'm sure you picked a really great consultant there, but I think that kind of can have some pretty big impacts to the project if that assumption goes away. Um, I second Amelia's idea of making sure that's a requirement. Um, I also, uh, had some concerns around unit mix. Uh, clearly your team has listened to a lot of our meetings in the past. So I, I think I'd second Amelia's creativity here. If, if there's really no way we can get to a three bedroom, I definitely would like to see some, uh, flexibility on accessibility being combined with affordability. And then on the positive side, I also really appreciate that you guys have thought about the use of gas and Somerville's goals here for... going toward a carbon free community. I know when we were considering a lot of net zero policies, one of the big pushbacks that came along was restaurant considerations. And the fact that you guys are kind of being proactive about this and saying, hey, I think there's a market of restaurants and the like that don't need this, I think is Awesome. So way to kind of lead the charge on this. I think the city should take note of this because, again, this was something that was a big pushback when they were going through their initial drafting of those ordinances. So good on you for all that. And thank you for answering the trash questions as well. I always appreciate you making sure that you've got, it's going to sound like a terrible pun, wasn't intended, an airtight answer to a problem like a trash mitigation of rats. So thank you.
Michael Capuano	Don, you got anything?
SPEAKER_19	Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I'm just going to echo all of what my fellow planning board members have said. The only question that I do have, and thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity. The only question that I do have for the applicant team is that while I'm very much supportive of the restaurant the restaurant consideration, the preferred restaurant consideration for the commercial space. Should that not pan out? Has the applicant team thought about any other commercial uses that they might want to share?
SPEAKER_18	Pablo, would you like to speak to that?
SPEAKER_06	Yeah, sure. I'm throwing this out there with a big caveat. I mean, on a personal end, actually my partner and I run a yoga studio in Harvard Square. And early on, we had talked about potentially seeing if this was a site to incorporate a business like that, that I think, you know, I know the gym around the corner opened up, but I think that we, our studio kind of fulfills a different niche. And so that was one, that is one use that we thought about. We actually explored various options about including the basement. And then it just became a little too kind of overwhelming and kind of silly. And we were trying to have a balance between the resident and the commercial. So I think there could be a version of that. I think our, again, I don't want to make this about us, but that is something that we've thought about. But something similar to that type of business, I think, could work really well here. Chair Max Fennell, Personally, I wouldn't you know I think retail is not so successful. Chair Max Fennell, I feel like something that speaks to the neighbors in the context and but you know I, what do I know I don't I i'm more going from the heart there, but yes we've talked we've talked about that if restaurants weren't something that worked.
SPEAKER_19	Chair Max Fennell, Thank you so much for that response, and I understand that we're we're not thinking of the predict the future here so certainly appreciate your consideration here and that's all I have at this time, thank you, Mr chair.
Michael Capuano	everybody's kind of brought up some of the issues and questions that I had which is um good because it means we're all generally on the same page with where we think um the project can be made a little bit a little bit better um my question I think I did I did I see um if we're not putting parking in do we still have the condition on this the standard condition
SPEAKER_15	And this is kit I don't believe that the standard condition was included in the staff memo that the board received but, similar to the last application I don't think the applicant would have a problem adding it in.
Michael Capuano	yeah let's let's add let's add it in. let's add it in. Okay, so for next time guys I think we're. pretty much on the same page. I would like to see some definition of the top of the building. We'd like to see, you know, condition for the mural. I will just say I think the project's fantastic. I think you guys did a wonderful job. I love the idea of such a large open and green roof space. I think it's going to be a great amenity and a nice way to achieve that that green score. I think we've been pushing for more and more green, you know, roof options in the city over the last couple of years. And thanks for listening to that as well.
SPEAKER_18	So great. Thank you. So we'll come back next time with some options that show the top of the building definition there and a mural.
Michael Capuano	I think I think we're I think we're in a good place to hopefully move forward in 2 weeks. Terrific.
SPEAKER_06	Okay, great. Thank you, Chair. Thank you board. We will see you in a couple of weeks. All right.
Michael Capuano	Jim, we're going to continue this. Jim, we'll continue this agenda item to the 21st. Seconded by Amelia. Steve, can we call the roll?
SPEAKER_05	Through the chair. Sorry to interrupt. Do you want to leave the public the written testimony period for this open?
Michael Capuano	Yes. Yes, I do. I'm going to look at my calendar here. You're 100% right. Slip of mind. Written comment period should close at 9 a.m. on Friday the 15th. Is that what we're doing? Yep. Okay, planning board at some of them a.gov. All right. Can you call a roll on the continuance, please? Yes. Jahan Habib.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	Michael McNeely. Hi. Lynn Richards.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	Amelia Aba.
SPEAKER_11	Hi.
SPEAKER_05	And Michael Capuano.
SPEAKER_18	Hi.
Michael Capuano	See you in a few weeks.
SPEAKER_18	Thank you, everyone. Have a good night.
SPEAKER_05	Thanks for having me.
Michael Capuano	I think those are the only items on the agenda. The only other matter of a business was kind of an open-ended point of discussion that Steve wanted to talk about.
SPEAKER_05	Sure. I don't have any particular item of business for this, but I was talking with Dan Bartman and we kind of conferred internally and thought it made sense just to add this item to planning board agendas going forward just to give planning board members an opportunity at the end of meetings uh to bring up any um questions they have for staff or for each other just on board administration obviously can't be related to any specific project or application before the board um but yeah i mean i think we've sort of been doing that informally um in meetings past but this just sort of formally codifies it as an agenda item um if you don't if there is no points of discussion obviously we don't have to have a discussion but i just um thought it'd be helpful to add it so that we have it on the agenda if there is a topic that a planning board member wants to bring forward.
Michael Capuano	I think that's fine. I usually ask people anyway, but having a formalized, open ended question and wrap session is fine by me. And with that in mind, does anybody have anything to talk about? All right. Um, but nothing else on our agenda at 7 27 PM. Uh, the chair moves to adjourn seconded by our, uh, wonderful vice chair, Amelia. Uh, Steve, can you call the roll? Johanna beep.
SPEAKER_05	All right. Michael McNeely. Hi, Lynn Richards. Hi, Amelia. And Michael. All right. Thank you everybody. Have a nice night.
SPEAKER_19	Thank you.