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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-03-SPRD-min Ad Hoc Special Permit Residential Development Zoning By-law Committee Minutes Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 7pm Training room of the Public Works building at 201 Bedford Street, Lexington Attendees: Jill Hai, David Trietsch, Scott Cooper, Betsy Weiss, Heather Hartshorn, Richard Canale, Richard Perry, Joyce Murphy, Taylor Singh Wendy Manz, Carol Kowalski Audience: Todd Rhodes (Sustainable Lexington Committee), Charles Horning, Ingrid Klimoff, Bob Pressman Scheduling Discussion: CPAC- last Tues of month & last Weds of month PB – Meets Every other week *1 st or 2nd Tues of every month might be available to all Guest Speaker: Todd Cataldo - Lex resident, SPRD building experience Cataldo: • Used the by-law a few times (SPRD & conventional) • Has not worked in other towns • concern from some people that there is too much density/development w SPRDs Cataldo says the PB can say how many/how big and if the builder doesn't like it, they can build the conventional. Said Grove St was controversial, but the town got 3 affordable units out of it. Encourage the developer to do smaller units. — The PB can do that without changing the law. Hai: Please share what you & I talked about regarding the smaller units and the demand. Cataldo: With the current PB, there is no give & take between some of the board members. Some very bad products have been built through conventional subdivisions. There needs to be compromise from all parties. Bob Creech's slides don't add up, data wasn't even close to my real word numbers on Keeler Farm Keeler Farm: 5 lot conventional; ended up w/8 units & 1 affordable Sellers price: $15M vs $12.5M conventional $920K no greater gross as SPRD vs Conventional Anytime you talk to the neighbors they want big homes in a conventional subdivision and no townhomes. Hai: You mentioned that the smaller units sell first and therefore since there is a high demand, they drive the prices up. Cataldo: The smaller units = 2,200 sq ft. Those cost $ 230/sq ft vs $200/sq ft for the larger units to build. Bob Pressman: Can you tell us how much you profit off the project? Cataldo: No Cooper: Did you make as much/more than if you did the conventional? Cataldo: $ 920k gross more Weiss: If you had done all smaller units, would that have made sense? Cataldo: I'd need higher density, which wouldn't have happened. It would have looked too dense and had a bigger impact on the neighbors. Hai: One of the things that you said was: "what is important on the specific land?" Cataldo. All of these sites are different. The house @ Keeler Farm would have been torn down under a conventual. Murphy: Did working w/the PB take longer than you thought? Cataldo: This project took 9 mo to a year- but we expected it. You're asking permission for something - you're asking for a special permit. Treich: Did the process make the project better? Cataldo: Everybody's comments made the project better. If you're up against a timeline to sell - then it can be difficult. The PB will defer to the developer if they know your background and what you've done. Cooper: What's your incentive to use an SPRD? Cataldo: Faster sellout. Manz: You're willing to go through that process for the results? Cataldo: I will unless the neighbors are dead set against it. Referenced project on Cary Ave. Uncertainty is a problem, but I haven't worked with this current PB, so I don't know if I'd have a problem now. Murphy: Was your Mass Ave project an SPRD? Cataldo: Difficulty w/abutters there. Trietch: Does $ limit you to do an SPRD? Cataldo: Lots of people want to invest in real estate, so that would be a problem 10 years ago, but not now. Cooper: Has there been any negative impact in abutters to townhomes? Murphy: Closest abutter to Journeys End sold @ market rate. Cooper: Aesthetics concern? Cataldo: I don't think so. A home w/a big red "X" on it is more concerning. Trietsch: A negative impact is a neighbor that doesn't take care of their property. Cataldo: No one was opposed having the affordable unit next to their property. People hear a number like 20 units & freakout & say it's too much Hai: What could be done to make the SPRD bylaw better? Cataldo: I think Grove St impacted this discussion. We should let that project complete & mature a little bit before looking at that. Cataldo: More units = more school kids. You can't craft a bylaw to try to curb increase in school kids. Perry: Former principal of LHS came out & spoke against a project because it would increase school kids Hartshorn: I'd like to see less restrictive, not more restrictive Cataldo: Can't make process more predictive. You can run parallel developments & if the SPRD is taking longer, you could always pull it and go w/the conventional. Cataldo: There are some proof plans that are submitted that the PB knows will never be built. Clock ticking on PB to approve SPRD if the Conventional Plan has been submitted for approval. Weiss: Would clarity to the builder in the bylaw for more affordable to be built be good? Cataldo: Yes if it's clear what the density would be, that would be good. Cataldo: The more non-market rate houses you want, the more density you need to give. You don't have that many opportunities to put buildings in, so you should take advantage of doing affordable vs. attainable. Pressman: Can you think of anybody else who wanted to do BHD (SPRD) & ended up doing the conventional? Canales Victory Gardens. But the neighbors dissuaded the developer— not the PB nor the PB process. Cooper: Parallel Paths. Significant expense to do? Cataldo: We did it on Mass Ave & it cost $10K. Perry: It would cost more on a larger site. Trietsch: Proof plan is part of the strategy to get what you want?. Trietsch: We need to discuss hierarchy to list of priorities for our value statement. Canale: Part of the problems when trying to revise the bylaw is that site and context is very important. Kowalski: Remove character in draft value statement. "Character " not precisely definable and can be used against you in the future. Manz: The 9 purposes of the SPRD by-law need to say these don't all have to be fulfilled with every project. Perry: One conflict is we talk about diversity & we talk about open space. Those 2 are conflicting. Pressman: There are specific things that you need to do to increase diversity. Trietsch: we need to create a statement of values as its part of our charge. Hartshorn Agrees that open space contradicts density. Weiss: Should include affordable. If you cut second sentence, you need to include "encourages sustainability". Trietsch: Do the neighbors have influence on squashing projects in Lexington? Singh: Grove St proves that neighbors don't have enough influence to squash projects. Canale: I haven't heard anybody say anything specific that needs to be changed. Hai: Our role includes creating a value statement; then we can discuss if what we have (in the current bylaw) reflects this value Perry: We haven't looked at other towns enough. Hai: I requested Katy Lacy's docs to be put up on our website. Taylor: please add minutes online. Canales Conventional is yardstick to SPRD. Sing: Statement of values needs to include open space + sustainability. Scheduling Discussion: Hai: Tues and Thurs at 8am or Nights when we can Adjourn @8:41 pm.