CITY OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS MAYOR’S OFFICE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOSEPH A. CURTATONE MAYOR GEORGE J. PROAKIS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PLANNING DIVISION STAFF SARAH LEWIS, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING Case #: ZBA 2017-40 SARAH WHITE, PLANNER / PRESERVATION PLANNER Date: November 28, 2018 ALEX MELLO, PLANNER MONIQUE BALDWIN, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Recommendation: Conditional Approval PLANNING STAFF REPORT Site: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway Applicant Name: 395 ABP, LLC Applicant Address: 324 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 4, Boston, MA 02115 Property Owner Name: GE&M Auto Service, Inc. Property Owner Address: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway, Somerville, MA 02144 Agent Name: Richard g. Di Girolamo Agent Address: 424 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02143 Alderman: Katjana Ballantyne Legal Notice: Applicant, 395 ABP, LLC and Owner, G.E. & M. Auto Service, Inc., seek a Special Permit with Site Plan Review (SPSR) to construct a four-story, 23-unit residential building. Affordable units to be provided under Article 13 of the SZO. Special Permit for parking relief and to provide compact spaces under Article 9 of the SZO. NB zone. Ward 7. Dates of Public Hearing: Zoning Board of Appeals – November 28, 2018 CITY HALL ● 93 HIGHLAND AVENUE ● SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS 02143 (617) 625-6600 EXT. 2500 ● TTY: (617) 666-0001 ● FAX: (617) 625-0722 www.somervillema.gov Page 2 of 19 Date: November 28, 2018 Case #: ZBA 2018-40 Site: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Subject Property: The subject property is currently used as a gas station and auto repair/inspection/service station. The locus presents 8,774 square feet of lot area and is found in the NB zoning district. The project site is located on a corner at the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Gordon Street. To the left of the project site is the former Somerville Water Works building which has been converted into a multi-unit affordable housing residence for seniors. Across Gordon Street at the right of the project parcel is an active Gulf gas station. Rear abutters to the project site include the VNA Senior Living Community building and a Somerville Housing Authority residential complex. Residential structures, mostly one- and two-family, on Gordon Street also abut a portion of this property at the rear. An aerial view of the site appears immediately below. Note that, since this satellite photo was taken, the Somerville Water Works project has been completed and now is occupied with residents. Somerville Housing Authority Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Somerville Water Works Gulf Station 395 Alewife Brook Parkway Page 3 of 19 Date: November 28, 2018 Case #: ZBA 2018-40 Site: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway 2. Proposal: The proposal is to demolish the existing gas station and construct a four-story, 42-foot, multi-unit residential building with surface parking. There will be 23 units total. 19 of the units will be market rate and four of the units will be affordable. The landscaped area will increase from 1% to 20% The details of the proposal that trigger the need for special permitting are listed immediately below: Replacement structure Four-story, 42-foot residential building 23 total residential units (19 market rate and 4 affordable) First floor: Units 1 & 2, trash, storage, community room, lobby, bike storage Second floor: Units 3 – 10 Third floor: Units 11 – 18 Fourth floor: Units 19-23 Lot area per dwelling unit (Special Permit) Article 13 of the SZO allows for a reduction in the lot area per dwelling unit by 17% under special permit if the full 20% or more of affordable housing is provided. The Applicant proposes a lot area per d.u. of 848 square feet by exercising the 17% reduction. Affordable housing (Special Permit) In compliance with Article 13 of the SZO which addresses inclusionary housing for projects requiring a Special Permit with Site Plan Review (SPSR), the Applicant must provide 20% of the units in the structure as affordable units. According to Section 13.4.1(c) of the SZO, “[t]hose projects where the number of affordable units to be provided is calculated to include a fractional number not rounding up to the next whole number…in which case a cash payment shall be made for the fractional unit…” In the case of 395 Alewife Brook Parkway, the calculation results in a fractional number of 4.6. Therefore, the Applicant must provide 4 on-site affordable units and the .6 will result in a payment into the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The fractional payment amount will be reviewed and approved by the Housing Division within the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) as well. The units that will be deemed as affordable units in perpetuity will be selected by the Housing Division. Parking (Special Permit) Because the Applicant is providing 20% affordable housing under Article 13 of the SZO, any parking relief can be granted under special permitting as opposed to a variance. Parking relief (Article 9) is needed to reduce the overall parking provided on the site and to provide compact parking in lieu of some standard-size parking spaces. 3. Green Building Practices: The application states that the project will not exceed the stretch code. 4. Comments: Ward Alderman: Alderman Katjana Ballantyne has held numerous neighborhood meetings on this proposal over the course of several months. Page 4 of 19 Date: November 28, 2018 Case #: ZBA 2018-40 Site: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway II. FINDINGS FOR SPECIAL PERMIT with SITE PLAN REVIEW (SZO §5.2) and FINDINGS FOR SPECIAL PERMITS (SZO §4.4.1, Article 9 & Article 13) In order to grant a special permit, the SPGA must make certain findings and determinations as outlined in §5.1.4 of the Somerville Zoning Ordinance (SZO). Also, in order to grant a special permit with site plan review, the SPGA must make certain findings and determinations as outlined in §5.2.5 of the SZO. This section of the report goes through §5.1.4 and 5.2.5 in detail. 1. Information Supplied: Staff finds that the information provided by the Applicant conforms to the requirements of §5.2.3 of the SZO and allows for a comprehensive analysis of the project. 2. Compliance with Standards: The Applicant must comply “with such criteria or standards as may be set forth in this Ordinance which refer to the granting of the requested special permit with site plan review.” Nature of Application: §4.4.1, Article 9 & Article 13 of the SZO Article 9 of the SZO The Applicant proposes a total of 33 legal parking spaces on the plus two (2) additional tandem spaces that don’t factor toward the total legal parking count. The breakdown of the parking spaces by number and type is as follows; Standard spaces: 21 Compact spaces: 10 Handicapped spaces: 2 Total: 33 Additional, non-legal tandem spaces: 2 To provide compact spaces in lieu of standard parking spaces, a special permit is required under Article 9 of the SZO Unit # Existing Bdr Req. Pkg Proposed Bdr Req Pkg 1 n/a n/a 2 1.5 2 n/a n/a 2 1.5 3 n/a n/a 2 1.5 4 n/a n/a 1 1.5 5 n/a n/a 2 1.5 6 n/a n/a 1 1.5 7 n/a n/a 1 1.5 8 n/a n/a 2 1.5 9 n/a n/a 2 1.5 10 n/a n/a 2 1.5 Page 5 of 19 Date: November 28, 2018 Case #: ZBA 2018-40 Site: 395 Alewife Brook Parkway 11 n/a n/a 2 1.5 12 n/a n/a 1 1.5 13 n/a n/a 2 1.5 14 n/a n/a 1 1.5 15 n/a n/a 1 1.5 16 n/a n/a 2 1.5 17 n/a n/a 2 1.5 18 n/a n/a 2 1.5 19 n/a n/a 2 1.5 20 n/a n/a 2 1.5 21 n/a n/a 2 1.5 22 n/a n/a 2 1.5 23 n/a n/a 2 1.5 34.5 spaces + 4.0 visitor spaces* Total: 38.5 spaces *The Applicant is required to provide 1.0 visitor space for every 6 residential units. In the case of 395 Alewife, this equates to having to providing 3.8 (rounded to 4) visitor spaces on-site (23 residential units / 6). As this is new, ground-up construction and the number of parking spaces extant at the existing gas station is unknown, this leaves the total number of parking spaces to be provided on-site at 38.5 spaces. Because the Applicant is providing 20% inclusionary housing under Article 13 of the SZO, all parking relief needed for this new construction falls under the category of special permit as opposed to variance. Of the 38.5 required spaces, 10 are proposed as compact spaces. §9.11(c) of the SZO states that, in circumstances where a minimum of 20 spaces is required, up to 20% of those spaces may be compact. Under the proposal for 395 Alewife, the Applicant may provide up to 7.7 (rounded to 8) compact parking spaces by-right. The remaining 2.0 compact parking spaces being provided require a special permit. Between the compact and standard parking spaces, the Applicant is providing more than one parking space per unit. The Applicant is also providing six (6) visitor parking spaces as required by Article 9. The Applicant is providing two more visitor parking spaces than are required by this proposal.