##VIDEO ID:upgIKXLakeQ## back on the one day this one day that good evening I am Joseph Perera chairman of the zoning board of appeals for the city of Fall River it is 6: PM on Thursday September 19th 2024 we are meeting at one government center in the first floor hearing room curs went to Mass General Law chapter 38 section 20 subsection F I hereby notify all persons in attendance that this meeting is being recorded with both video and audio devices by Fall River government TV Mr Craig Salvador recording both video and audio version if anyone desires to make an audio video or combination recording thereof please notify me now and I will make a public announcement of your intention our recording secretary this evening is Nina Krueger sitting to my immediate uh right present this evening our full uh regular members uh Mr John Frank our vice chairman James Caulkins our clerk Dan dep Ricky sahadi and Alternate members Mr Eric Kelly and M Alexa Alexis andelo welcome Nina have all par oh I'm sorry and also with us this evening uh to my far left is Mr Daniel AGI our director of engineering and planning Nina have all petitions to be considered been properly advertised and all interested parties notified in accordance with the rules and regulations of the zba and Mass General Law chapter 4A as amended yes I thereby declare the September 19th 2024 regularly scheduled meeting of the zoning board of appeals of the city of Fall River open for such business as shall regularly come before it I remind all persons presenting before the board including the petitioners abutters anyone in support or anyone opposed to the petition that your presentation should be limited to 3 minutes questions and responses must be directed through the chair the board's rules and regulations direct the board to specifically look for information which supports the petition's claim as such the petitioner should identify and factually support the basis for the petition I hereby advise the petitioners and all interested person that this is the zoning board of appeals the board's Authority exists personent to Mass General Law chapter 4A and is limited in scope and deals with the use of land as regulated by chapter 86 of the ordinances of the city of Fall River additional permits licenses reviews and or approvals may be required for the specific development Andor use which is the subject of the petition before the zoning board this evening the clerks in the building planning engineering and Licensing departments are competent in the discharge of their duties as clerks they are however not uh lawyers and are not competent to give legal advice the action taken by this board has a real and Lasting effect on the title to your real estate I urge all petitioners to seek competent legal counsel before filing your petitions and after a decision of the board has been made a copy of the ordinance is available at the city clerk's office or from the planning department I remind everyone that the building inspector is the zoning enforcement Authority and you are here this evening because the building inspector has determined that your proposed action is contrary to the city of Fall Rivers zoning ordinances the city Charter section 9 9-18 mandates that all multi-member uh B sorry B bodies developed and accept adopt rules or polic policies for public comment we have adopted such a policy which in short provides for citizen input on zoning boards specific matters at the end of the evening if you have any matters that you wish to present to us there is a signup sheet on the table just outside the back doors I declare that an official copy of the zoning ordinance for the city of Fall River is available at the city clerk's office one cannot rely on the online zoning ordinance and since we still haven't gotten the gabble kidding let's go open up with old business item number 01 uh gab uh T Ramy God bless you K attorney David David M Assad this is for uh 612 614 Alden Street math j20 lot 50 the applicant is Seeking a variance SLS special permit to develop two single bedroom apartments above a pre-existing non-conforming garage the existing four stall garage will be utilized for rental or vehicle storage purposes Additionally the petitioner is requesting a special permit to Wave parking requirements one parking space per unit will be added to the existing four parking spaces designated for the four family Building located on the same lot the petitioner also requests a waiver for the lot coverage requirement m ments in an A2 apartment zoning District this petition was uh previously tabled from our August 15 2024 meeting Council good evening Mr chairman members of the board I'm David Assad I'm an attorney licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I maintain offices at 326 Pine Street in the city of Fall River uh so this particular project um in terms of linear fashion uh in one of the packages I gave you in February Mr Rahi um sent to the building inspector uh through his design engineer uh a set of plans for the rehab of the garage he bought the property in January of 2024 he thought he could make some minor changes but the garage itself was in such disrepair uh he needed a new set of plans those plans were sent to the building department on Fe February 9th 2024 again on February 9th again on February 21st and on uh March where is it and on March 7th 2024 a building permit was issued to build a 24x 48 uh size Garage in accordance with the plans that would delivered to the building inspector the um garage was built after it was built uh Mr Rahi went upstairs and saw that the storage area that they were proposing lent it self nicely to two one-bedroom apartments at that point in time he had a new set of plans done um presented them to the building department building department said no you need a variance or a special permit uh for the purposes of converting or expanding this pre-existing uh non-conforming garage into two uh single family uh apartments one of the issues that existed was the footprint that was originally measured was 48x 24 in actuality it's 48x 20 on the first floor uh the architect added an extra foot on the second floor so there'd be a one foot overhang um over the garage doors the relief that's required to bring this forward or to bring this project to fruition um is to add the second set of stairs on the south side of the building there is a 13 1/2t variance that's required under 886 425 to erect the stairway on the South Side leaving a 6 and 1/2t sidey yard uh we need a variance to Grant um pursuant to 86 425 second paragraph to reduce the requirements of section 861 1481 and I bring this to the board's attention because this is a little known uh piece of the A2 District that apartments in the A2 District require a minimum of 600 squ F feet uh and depending on what your calculation is for the second floor they will be a minimum of 480 Square ft or maybe 520 if we do the 48 by 21 Square ft but in any event they will not be less than 480 Square ft um there will be three rooms there will be a bedroom there will be a kitchen there will be a living room we exclude the bathrooms and the hallways we request a special permit pursuant to 86445 to reduce and a modify um the requirements of 86444 A3 and B1 while maintaining the existing or street parking uh the existing dwelling at 612 has four off street parking and has always had four off street parking spaces the new the garage has four parking spaces or four storage units underneath it the apartments up above being one uh one-bedroom apartments we submit that a one:1 ratio would be good for that one of the issues that came up was we have this we have 12 parking spaces available some of the garage spaces may be rented to people that are not residents of the building if you go to our grid concerning what you can have in an A3 District or private parking it says you can't have more than three and they have to be used by uh the owners or the occupants so we have already excess capacity and one of the things that exists not necessarily on Alden Street but throughout the city of Fall River there's excess parking some of the landlords uh rent garage space rent parking spaces uh and one of the issues that came up recently with me is we were trying to evict someone uh who wasn't paying the uh the rental uh of the garage space and an interesting defense came up that uh we were in violation this particular land not this particular particular but this particular landlord in court hadn't requested permission and one of the defenses was you were Le you were leasing the property without having proper permit being able to rent the properties out so I don't know whether I did Mr Rahi any favors or Not by representing him but I want to make sure that we're here once before the board not coming back several times asking for permission if if uh relief is granted um we I talk about the grant to variant a grant or a variance to use the garage and parking lot area if you're familiar with Alden Street Alden Street is congested you've got the O lb file Mill that's been converted over there's parking there but there's always this need for extra off street parking um and it's one of the things that if someone in the area wants to rent a space or rent a storage uh place in the garage that isn't ATT tenant I suspect he needs permission from the board to do that not necessarily a U-Haul Storage uh facility but just if I want to park my car there I'm not living there but I can certainly pay him to park it but I want to do it properly with with permission um so to accomplish that we need some variances and I need some findings uh for the special permits and one of the findings would be determination that the extension alteration and or change shall not be substantially more detrimental than the existing non-conforming structure in the neighborhood um number two finding that that the reduction or modification of the parking requirements is not inconsistent with public health or safety or that the reduction or modification promotes the public health so having these additional parking spaces and a one:1 ratio would work I thought maybe the aisle was going to be an issue on the parking but as I looked at the plan we have 47.7 ft so the 20 foot aisle for the cars to back up and maneuver or there I don't know whether I really need that relief um and then just to make make sure I had everything kind of covered I asked the board to consider any other relief that may come up during the course of our discussion this evening and that's basically what the project is we in anticipation and I'm not sure whether a site plan review but I wanted to make sure I could represent to the board that we had zero water zero net water runoff so there is this design for a dry well to get the uh water runoff from the garage into a 500 uh gallon um dryw to the uh Northwest Cor property and that's what's before the board I'll be happy to answer any questions and I have Mr here so he can answer any technical questions okay I thank you look it's it's a great looking project it certainly looks far better than than the the red garage that was sitting there I'm glad we're having the opportunity to to get everything out and and get it squared away um have you rented any of these garage spaces yet no okay no the it's sitting there vacant nothing's happening until we get the relief yeah I drove by I mean I didn't I didn't expect to see curtains in the windows or a kitty or something like that no the the the the storage space is still vacant nothing's been done in there until we get permission okay so that's still a wide open space up there there has not been built out as Apartments very good thank you um one of the things one question on on parking it it seems that this row of eight parking spaces on the east side of the property one of them number one would actually seem to impede someone using that that uh garage space on the right side of the garage as you're looking at it if somebody's parked there with their Ford F250 can you actually get out of that that garage space or the general consensus is yes but I'm not sure whether that particular spot in the garage will be used for parking of a vehicle mhm I I don't know if that presents any type of safety or or issue fire safety Etc not not my purview okay I mean is a good use of the space I think you're right on the are these um 18t deep parking spaces 9 by 18 okay so if you got 46 feet there you've you've beat your um your your need for the uh for the aisle I think you're safe on that Dan do you have any comment on this one uh nothing other than you may recall that this was tabled um really for two items one was to make sure that we included the lot coverage relief which has been added to this plan set Y and then also to ensure that through the building permit uh that the existing second floor that was constructed was done so with the permit the initial building permit that we had just generically said reconstruct the existing garage but we were able to go back and the res why I sent the email the copy of the email with the actual plans that had apprciate that so why but why we're on that I mean not the building inspect the building permit exists has not been revoked one of the issues that I think about and I'll bring it to the board's attention because I'd rather be upfront because I don't want to come back on this particular project is the height of it if we go by if we think about uh what the requirement is for a garage we can't exceed 18 ft my suspicion this is probably 22 feet it could be as high as 24 88 and 8 so whether or not we can get a special permit to take care of that in the event there is some issue there in no event is the he is the height of the garage higher than 24 I suspect it's 22 but as a matter is a pre-existing non-conforming structure to begin with but under the ordinance I just under under my request for any further relief I want to make sure that if I can get that relief I eliminate any any uh issue about having to come back to deal with that singular issue that that being the case was it shown at that height on PL if you look at the plan it it says 24 in here but on the building permit plan I don't think it had a building commitment had 88 8 point something and then when you looked at the roof it looked like six and that's where I got to the 22 and I said if it's 88 and 8 it's 24 yep okay yeah with the peak obviously um so how many do you recall the the height it was built to was that was that what was on the plans when I appli the plan y I got called come take the building permit and pay this amount I applied the plan with the height with everything okay so not not that it matters because it's almost an aesthetic the the plans for the garage that the the the building permit that was issued did you have that the windows across the front Etc like that or was it more blocked off no no whatever I apply it's like here on the plan with the with the dresses and the top and everything and all the elevation yeah no that that's fine I mean my my concern was that there was a building permit for the garage that was issued that was my that was my greatest my greatest concern that's been allayed with the information that's been provided anyone else on the board with questions at this point um do you have a bed count on the existing four nothing's happening there but I think what is what's the existing four and one bedroom the existing the existing say two two could be two two each so three of them like pretty much have like one bedroom and uh there's townhouse maybe like three bedrooms inside but that's not changing that nothing's happening there no just trying to get total bedroom says bedrooms eight on the uh building description on the property card no it says four to eight doesn't it well down here says number of bedrooms eight eight oh eight bedrooms yes okay that's that was a question eight bedroom in the building yes there is room another small room but you got to cross the the old building you're talking about old you got to walk into it it's very much like you're going to walk into this room to go to to that room so at most it's four two unit buildings uh two unit two bedroom units the existing four two for a total of eight bedrooms that's it the the sideline setback that's required by obviously the addition of the stairs coming down to 6.5 6 and a half gets it to the side I don't I don't see a particular problem with it because of just the layout of everything that's right next door to it you get a garage and shed next door to it just over the wine um and there are other structures that in the neighborhood that are that tight or tighter to their property lines um anyone else any questions I just question that where where in the garage area you'd say for cars or storage yes what potential storage I mean might be in those units that kind of change the you of that yes so thinking about that the the so the original intent was that there would be parking spaces there when we talk about storage Mr Rahi is a contractor maybe he was going to store some of his wood products there maybe he was going to store his tools there um it wasn't going to be a commercial um I'm going to rent you a storage space and you can store anything you want it's probably going to be if it's going to be anything it's going to be a motor vehicle it's going to be small minor items could be the neighbor's Christmas decorations could be decorations if I didn't have to be careful with my files I would probably say I'm going to store my files there too yeah that those are it it's just whether or not somebody could come in and store fertilizer in there or stir a you can condition it that no hazardous materials and that's what I need that's not the intention the intention is to keep it loc one of the tenants wants to store some of the furniture that that those normal garage storage purp he's not as much as he doesn't live there he lives in the city of Fall River he's investing lots of money there it the intention is not to be just rented out uh without knowing who's there and what's going in there one of the things may be a Wy Jeep but that's nothing I'm looking for a place to put mine um we can do it so you occas you you may occasionally use this for for storage of of building supplies much like with the guys I know like they work construction with me they like they don't want to they live somewhere they don't have like a place to park the van or stuff like them whatever they put their tools they can use it like I can rent it to them and a store like construction tools like yeah compressor stuff stuff like this the one one tenant like asked me for like to rent a garage they want to put like storage for them I told them we do that until I'm going to wait a little bit until I legalize everything then I will yeah I just I just don't again I'm looking for an assurance that a business is not going to run out of this space condition it yeah I have no problems adding a condition to that if a board's inclined to do similar what we had just done on that one on America Street the condition of no commercial vehicles commercial vehicles outside of the building could be could be okay is there anybody here this evening that wishes to speak in favor of this petition anyone who wishes to speak in opposition they're hearing none uh I turn to the board we've got uh special permit um we have to make a determination would be a bipoc if we choose to uh to approve we have variance as to L area we have sideline setback variance re setback variance as well okay I'll make a motion to Grant with the U uh first part not being more detrimental to the neighborhood on the special permit second Motion in second on um the first part of the ocated vote um John Frank yes Jim ckins danyar yes Ricky Sahar yes chairman per yes okay I'll also move that the special permit be granted for two single bedroom units above the existing non-conforming garage and will that also we're also waving the size of the units well that's a variance right that's the size is going to be a variance we got the other special permit has to do with parking and lot coverage right it's going to be a separate no you can do all as well cuz you didn't separate the bifurcated part so you can lump all the special PRS together so that would cover lot coverage parking that will cover parking and that will cover the use of the garage to be rented for storage or does that have that's that's a variance okay that's a variance as well yeah got that Nina coverage parking and the and the extension two apartments to one of the non-conforming use one bedroom to one bedom one we have a second on that second second by James ckins discussion on that if not Ricky sahti yes Dan deir yes Jim ckins yes John Frank yes and chairman Prairie yes okay I also make a motion to Grant variance for the use of the garage the four garage units to be for automobile storage and also let's say miscellaneous Storage storage units non hasmat units non combust hazardous substances yeah I wouldn't I wouldn't restrict it to combustible but nonhazardous and also wrapped into that no um business to be conducted out of no extraneous business right yeah in other words he can do whatever yeah rent that but not not having a uh no commercial business extraneous business second on the variance regarding the um the use of the garage to be available for rental for storage or vehicular or nonhazardous substance storage um John Frank yes Jim Caulkins yes Dan dear yes Ricky sah yes and chairman Peri yes okay and I also move to Grant the variance on the side yard setback and I think that's it right rear yard setback an area rear and side an area an area well rear is already rear is existing but that's fine you just throw them in there area or lot lot coverage no that was Lot coverage was the special special permit okay it's the area of the apartments yep oh sub 600 y can can we agree that they will be no less than 480 Square F feet Yes okay yeah that was the mathematics of it 460 would be the smallest that I think it was 460 or 480 would be the smallest 24 I mean it's consistent I think it's going to be 500 but 480 gets the minimum if we go by the 24 by 48 20 by 48 okay so we'll call it a minimum SI the minimum Department size of 480t each 460 is that what you said 4 480 48 okay and that's the only last variance or correct relief that's all the only relief we need okay and because of the drainage situation coverage you will be you will will be in front of site plan review yes so we have a second on that motion second yeah he just says it will be okay okay we have a motion and a second discussion on that hearing none Ricky s yes Daner yes Jim ckins John Frank yes chairman per yes thank you very much Mr chairman thank you members of the board thank you for listening good to see you we're not done yet may not be as good to see him who he'll be he'll be back item number 02 this is Grand Manor Holdings LLC care Attorney Peter a solino for 289 Bank Street map no4 Lot 29 with the applicant seeking a variance SLS special permit to convert the existing 4unit apartment building into an 8un apartment building waving dimensional requirements Additionally the petition of his request of the special permit to Wave parking requirements the property is located in an A2 apartment District uh and uh an aod Arts overlay zoning District this is uh was tabled from our August 15 2024 meeting and we have a request to table yet again and everybody be nice it's because the attorney's daughter has a birthday today it's not the overriding reason but you can you can hang in I I I'll hang my hat on that trying to be a nice guy a petition has been filed or request to to table form is uh is on file uh a check has already been uh dropped off I just need a motion to table this would be to the October meeting correct yes October motion to table Mr jamy I'll second thank you Ricky Dan motion table in second and we've got the second already Ricky STI yes Dan deir yes Jim ckins John Frank yes chairman Prairie yes may they all be this easy one more item of old business 03 Nathan bourges 64 Woodman Street map a 18 lot 18 the applicant seeks an after Thea variance to construct a 24t by 24t addition waving sidey yard setbacks and lot coverage requirements in an R8 single family zoning District uh this was uh previously tabled at the August 15 2024 zoning board Heating hearing sir hi uh thank you for having me back um essentially we have a I need your name and address please oh sorry uh Nathan bores for 64 Woodman Street um we have a uh excuse me a building on a corner lot and essentially we had originally had a variance that was granted a while back uh that variance is since laps the original variance was for a 24x 14 and we were requesting that we could do the 24x 24 uh we needed a sidey yard setback um which based on the uh plot plan you can see is pretty much in line with the existing uh uh the existing building uh at the time when we met last month uh we didn't realize that I think we needed also some relief for the percentage of coverage so um that's why we're back here again to try to get the relief on that as well well the the original variance for the 24 by14 or 24 by8 actually was issued in 2011 so that is long ago gone away so let me ask you this for the 24x 24 that you built did you receive a building permit for that uh we had been working with the building inspector but we hadn't um actually had the U like the relief that was needed or like the U met with him I guess got the permission to do uh what was there um I was under the impression from the homeowner that this permit like the um the variance that was given was actually not that long ago um but after doing a little bit of a research and meeting with um Eugene bores there on site he had kind of uh brought that part to light and then so we had gone through uh site plan review uh took care of that part but then once we realized uh we were going to need like the old variants would no longer be honored that we go forast that tax that's why we had to go through the process again so okay I'm I'm still confused and and maybe the director of engineering and planning can help me I'm still confused that how something 24 by 24 ft and two stories tall with a zero setback from the sideline got built without a building permit or did it have a building permit I I know you said you were working with the building inspector but I assume there was not just a structure there's probably Plumbing in there uh we haven't done anything like that so it's just a box a show okay so no electrician came in no okay no nothing who did the construction was it a licensed Builder correct yes did it not bother him that he didn't have a building toit to to put this thing out uh so On In fairness uh that was my fault I didn't look into it well when I had met with the homeowner I was under the impression that the homeowner had already had the permit that was pulled um it wasn't until I kind of went into it a little bit deeper that I realized that that wasn't the case and then I had met with um Eugene on the site like three or four different times um and then he had kind of directed me to go through the site plan review process and kind of that's where we're at today you it's kind of I I can't speak to something that was done you know over 10 years ago 13 years ago um personally if I was voting on it I never would have allowed that much of a a setback variance to happen so we're talking about something that's constructed this is an after after the fact variance permit which is difficult to say the least I mean it's there it's there but Dan do you get a weigh in on this do you know anything more about the permit no permit no I I think it's been presented correctly it was my understanding that there was no permit Eugene had left message um with the land owner the land owner came in we explained to him that his zo relief had expired he had not applied for a permit he then filed for site plan review then during site plan review we noticed on top of it that it was bigger than what the original Grant was uh was given and at that point the building inspector would not and could not Grant the building permit correct and directed him to come to the zoning board of appeals to seek relas I think that's correct pretty accurate and um we had to ask for it to be tabled so that the extended lot coverage could be included on the plan if if the board so saw a fit to approve it so that's why the project was tabled from last month I I would offer this that the the variant or the need for variance or special permit where the addition was the extension of the existing line of the building and being no closer to the street line Y um would be something that the board normally looks favorably upon actually the building pulls further away the little angle that's that you see on the building actually it's not up on the screen there but um on the plan that you guys are looking at is isn't this extension and non-conforming well it it is that's why I said it could have been a special permit for but when the original building was it it was before zoning requirements the original building or the original addition that Rel was granted for yeah what's the Vintage of the original structure was a long time ago I I don't know what exactly what the date the house was built but the original relief the original relief I think was also a variance um um I don't think it was a special permit it would have been whatever the building inspector stated it was a variance it was a variance it was a variance yeah so that then it would not be nonconforming it would be conforming V Pro the variance yes I think I'm missing your question but well if it's an extension of a non-conforming it's one thing if it's a additional variance to right so the original variance was not acted upon that's gone yep so now looking at it now then it could have been granted with a special permit an extension of existing a non-conforming single family home it could also be viewed that way now with the exception of the water coverage issue and it's an after Thea file yeah so before you now is a a variance after the fact variance to construct what you see on the plan and the LW coverage issue correct any other questions from the board when was the original variance 11 I think 2011 December 15 2011 older than Peter celino's kid no other questions turn to the uh assemble public is there anybody here who wishes to speak in favor or in support of this uh petition is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition you're hearing none it comes back to the board at this point Mr chairman yeah I make the motion that the variance be granted as presented we have a motion to Grant variance that would include the L coverage as well corre R correct we have a second I second there a motion and a second uh to Grant the variance for the 24x 24 fo addition um what was the what was the ruling and sight plan review did they complete their review or did they kick it back because pending pending going released so everything else has been completed all right so that's set any discussion on the motion they're hearing none Ricky sahti yes danar yes Jim Caulkins yes Sean Frank yes chairman pra no but you got it thank you apprciate it wands a new business a fresh start item number one Nancy Alina Alma I'm sorry and I'm going to absolutely make a mess out of this other name Campa ver Abad care of attorney David Perry 324 King Street map B12 lot 16 the applicant seeks a variance to divide the subject parcel parcel into two lots one lot will retain the existing three family dwelling requiring lot coverage relief the second will be used for constructing a new single family residence uh with a waiver needed for Frontage the property is located in an r42 family zoning District Council uh good morning uh Mr chairman I wish it was morning I'd to start all over again still morning to me I've got a lot more to do tonight um the the the um applicant is seeking to subdivide her property which is which is currently a a three family dwelling sitting in a very large lot she would like to subdivide the property to turn it into to to create a second lot to contain a a single family dwelling on a on on this smaller lot here that's lot one on the plan that you're looking at the single family dwelling would be entirely conforming to the zoning um requirement except that it has would have 56 ft of Frontage I think my applications says 57 ft by accident but it's 56 ft and um in support of a variance I will point out I I had our um I had our surveyor um show that most of the surrounding properties have 47 foot um or 48t Street Frontage and so the lot that we're proposing to create and put a house on wouldn't look any different from the rest in the neighborhood it's not going to change the character of the neighborhood you know the the lot will actually be slightly larger than say the Carol Taylor lot behind it the Machado lot next to that or a couple of lots across the street and there won't be any other um zoning issues but for this um smaller um than required Frontage with respect to lot two where the existing house stands um the only issue that requires a variance is going to be that the existing structures on the lot um will take up too much space under the zoning area y there's zoning code requires 30% coverage and we computed that the existing structure the house itself and the the sheds and the garage that are there will take up something more like 53.6% of the um of the lot I mean none of the structures are going to change none of the existing structures relationships to the neighbors houses or the neighbor structures are going to change you know I'm essentially once this project is done the neighborhood won't look any different there will be another lot with a house on it that looks much like its neighbors in the new lot one and the new lot two will retain its existing and generally I would imagine an offensive appearance to the neighborhood okay any questions on from the board at this point Mr jman I just like to hear from our engineer um again Lot number one there really no issues with that um just the waiver of Frontage um my bigger concern would be the existing three family dwelling and ensuring that that does not get expanded MH uh in footprint or bedroom count oh we certainly accept restriction on that sir and then also that since no relief was granted or requested with regards to parking lot one would have to provide two parking spaces which it does look like they do and lot number two would have to provide a total of six parking spaces so with those two conditions I don't see an issue with it and my guess is including the existing garage they probably already have the six space is that is that a single or a two carar two two St looks like at least by this so long ago yeah actually in the street photo I can see at least two doors so what we may want to require is that site plan interview get filed for both of them concurrently so that we can look at the parking issue on on Lot number two is there anybody here this evening that would uh like to speak in support of the petition is there any one who would like to speak in opposition to the petition they're hearing none I turn back to the board Mr chairman I'll make a motion to Grant make a restriction restrictions yeah restriction of course restrictions for the parking uh on lot two the um I need six on lot too no additional expansion either physically or by number of units of the house on on lot two or number of bedrooms number of bedrooms yeah yes you can live with that Council oh certainly okay what's our sideline 13.2 and 11 okay was it was my own sanity check I should have that memorized by now all right so there's a motion to Grant um also um site plan review on this as well let's put that in the motion as well so you have motion then is to Grant uh on the lot coverage first the separation of the Lots lot coverage um parking parking no no waiver of parking right no yeah no wav of parking provide the parking no expansion of the number of bedrooms uh or number of units on the U the dwelling the three family dwelling on lot two it does one me lot coverage area lot one meets the lot coverage I think so 29% yeah I think in the table on the left corner yeah yeah 29 okay uh have a motion we have a second uh any discussion on the motion before we launch on the motion then John Frank yes Jim Caulkins yes Dana yes Ricky Sahar yes chair per yes thank you very much all good luck with we're grateful thank you so much item number two of new business High Development LLC care of attorney Thomas P Lauren uh 386 High Street map 01 Tom you've changed Lot 25 the applicant seeks to divide the subject parcel into two lots requesting the variants to convert the existing office building into nine residential Apartments waving lot area and lot coverage requirements for lot one the applicant seeks a variance to construct three townhouse units on the second lot waving lot area and lot coverage Additionally the applicant requests a special permit personal into 886-4455 and 86- 444a uh one and two of the city of River zoning ordinance for adjustments for parking uh aisles aisle width and use of the parking space on a separate lot the property is located in an A2 apartment zoning District uh appearing for Thomas pin this evening is David Assad attorney David Assad I'm an attorney licens practice in the common welther Massachusetts I maintain offices at 326 Pine Street in the city of Fall River I was asked by attorney colorin to cover this because he's outside of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts this evening what we have is a magnificent and unique piece of property in the A2 District in the city of Fall River we have an existing building uh that is its use is as I find it non-conforming to the neighborhood but it's been used as commcial commercial office space um in sequential or logical uh order the first I guess order of business would be I got 23,000 Square ft of land A2 District requires 10,000 square ft for the lot the proposition is create two 10,000 plus square foot Lots keeping the sync the existing structure on one lot have a new lot created at upon which three townhouse units would be built the footprint of the existing building uh based on the A2 uh minimum apartment size District uh the calculation is I believe they can get 15 one-bedroom units there what the engineering and what the uh proposed developer is requesting is nine one-bedroom units on that spot providing for off street parking seven in front of the building and 11 in a perpendicular row um on the newly created 10,000 sare foot lot by which there would be adequate parking there would be a easement uh in the Deeds to lot one and lot two whereby the dominant estate which would be the um existing building would have the right to appear to appear and uh use the 11 parking spaces on the other lot the that's step one if we create the two lots we've got the existing building we're changing it from a pre-existing non-conforming use to a conforming use which is Apartments so you end up with nine conforming use apartments in the existing building um the model of the A2 District uh requires a city block to have uh what they want done here um but given the surrounding neighborhood you have this building you have the space inside uh I would submit by special permit that the conversion and the removal of the commercial space into conforming uses would not be more detrimental to the neighborhood uh than what currently exist in fact it would be better so we end up with the nine units in the existing building we have have no request for waiver uh of the uh parking requirement there sufficient width as appears on the um as appears on the plan so a parking aisle isn't really needed for the nine units the parking a or the distance on the second unit appears because it's only 20 ft instead of the 22 feet um so relief would be needed there U the issue about density or number of units on the newly created 10,000 SQ foot lot with the three proposed town houses uh requires action from the board for the purposes of letting those three to be uh constructed there um the lot coverage becomes an area issue that the Board needs to address to let this project go forward um and that's really what's before the board but if you if we do it in sequential order um all of those items can be addressed and are addressed on the plan and with in the petition itself okay uh are the tow houses going to be condos or or apartment my understanding is the right now starting out as just being three rental units it's not right and there will be I I see the easement line so I I strike that my understanding is they're going to be created and probably condominium minded okay which would makes sense so within the condo documents obviously will be the easement to in the master deed there would have to be Master the master deed there would be that in in the condo docks y the um there's you know when you look if you're familiar with the area very much uh there is a uh there's an old metal fence that's going to be remaining there's going to be Greenery parking right now Greenery added to the area uh right now it's kind of spa onig parking so there's going to be some grass there'll be some shrub planting uh try to maintain it as uh maintain the character of the area uh it's kind of a historical area historic building and trying to make it um conform to the lower Highland area so you're going to use the same uh the same sidewalk Cuts one of the sidewalk cuts the one along High Street is going to get reduced there's going to be some added curbing instead of it being I think 26 ft it's getting uh it's getting reduced okay so there's going to be some curbing added to that okay enough to pick up a parking space on High Street correct pick up one space on High Street is the intention so getting back to your trying to conform to the lower Highland area Aesthetics yes we have no idea what these are going to look like it looks like it's going to be a box like the ones that are on dery street right now tucked in sideways so no uh my understanding is these these units uh if you remember when the board granted a variance on uh near the bus station they would be similar to those type of tow houses these all face the street face they all face the street they're all facing their townhouse um design um they're going to I don't don't let me commit the uh the developer but they're going to be a little bit higher end units uh both thetically um and not just uh your standard I'm trying to think which ones uh they may be a little bit better than the ones on the corner of bank and High Street it's it's going to be hard to keep up with that building next door but again yeah no kidding it's probably theing but yeah but again it's just to keep it not nothing's happening to the outside other than maybe um rehabbing it and doing some of the necessary um maintenance of it but inside uh that's where the uh nine units will be developed there's also uh a bottom floor that maybe that may be one of the units but just in terms of the footprint uh like I said you can get 15 units and they're only doing nine do you have any idea what the outside design is going to be roughly for the for the for the new uh Triplex yes yeah it'll actually be uh if you remember a few years back uh the Landers charter school that I did across the street I also had a five of the three family and then uh this board approved the three unit Tri and if you go by there and you look aesthetically so it's got like the uh the stone work on the front the front porch and whatnot so that's basically what it's going to look like it'll have more of a stone front and uh SE Impressions rather than just your your straight your straight vinyl I I want to keep it with the character of the neighborhood thank you um turning to General Public is there anyone here wishing to speak in uh favor good evening Mr chairman members of board my name is Ken F the Executive Vice President brist County Economic Development Corporation I'm here tonight to speak in favor of this petition as reported tonight um as you may know this is actually this is the old well the originally known as the Jefferson Ward house which was constructed in 1840 it's a magnificent structure something that's become you know one of the beacons of that neighborhood um I'm here tonight to support this project a couple for a couple different reasons one certainly there's a need for additional uh rental housing within the city and a conversion of the existing building itself into nine units helps to meet that demand um as you can see the building itself is surrounded by other multifam uh structures uh you have four structures on Rock Street with the exception of one structure being the second from the bottom a single family but all these other uh structures themselves were all granted variances in the past for the different types of activities that are there so you have six units uh five units and a four unit complex there um one of the concerns I had when this was initially U brought to my attention and we had long conversations with the developer here is making sure that not only is the rehab of the building and the preservation of the building important itself put on the condos right we want to make sure that these condos fit within the character of the neighborhood that's being a historic district as you can see from the plan itself there's been a reduction in the width of the driveway entering into into the um the condo complex itself uh the developers also committed to U maintaining and refurbishing the existing monal fence that goes along um U High Street there so you're going to have that fence going to be all rehabed and sort of fallen into disrepair over the years and you can see from the the areas here that are identified as proposed War areas back you the rear of the condos themselves where the patio is as well as on the side here you're going to have different War areas here so there's going to be an introduction of more Greenery into the overall neighborhood itself uh we think that this is a welcome addition to the historic Highlands we also think that uh the fact that you're going to have a mixture of both rentals and Home Ownership opportunities here I think speaks well for the long-term longevity and the maintenance of these units for you know for residential purposes uh clearly you know you're going to have this development here and we're also you know having some preliminary discussions as to much may be occurring across the street of the synagogue because that's a big possible and that ultimately that's probably going to have some sort of Redevelopment opportunity associated with that so this here fills in a little area sort of in disrepair for a for a projected of home ownership use it preserves the historic character of the original building we have a developer commitment here to make sure that the condos themselves are going to be aesthetically pleasing and as a added bonus all the parking for all the units are all off street so I think it's actually a significant Improvement to the area and it also helps address home ownership as well as residential rental within the city thank you okay very good thank you k anyone else wishing to speak in favor anyone wish to speak in opposition you're hearing none Dan I did not go to you where where um where do engineering planning come down on this when I reviewed it with the developer previously we discussed the the hardship portion of the existing unique structure being pushed off to the northeast corner of the building so that's always something to hang your hat on for hardship uh attorney Assad did also bring up to you that that you can allow the conversion of office building to the apartment building by special permit right the only interesting somewhat interesting thing on this for me was that how we're dealing with the parking for the nine unit building straddling that lot line so no relief would have had to have been requested for that if this was to remain in singular ownership mhm um it's only due to the potential of becoming separate ownership that that the relief is needed as a special permit uh so some interesting things that we don't normally deal with we're going to have a discussion later on this evening about the A2 zoning District we've had already three petitions out of five tonight that are in the A2 zoning District that doesn't work hasn't worked for many years these two lots well let back up to the very beginning the two Parcels being created conformed to the A2 District they're both going to exceed 10,000 square feet one's 11 one's 12 they both have 100 feet of Frontage it's the use or the density of use on those size Parcels that the relief is really sought for so um lastly the existing lot coverage is at about 67% when you take the entire parcel and the large parking lot that's underutilized now yeah um moving forward parcel one will be at about 88% that's because of the size of the structure itself and then parcel two will be down at 59% so it's just about a wash overall when you look at the two lots and total lot coverage for the aggregate of the parel themselves so now I have no concerns it's great that they're closing up one section of um some curb opening there because that does provide some potential additional on street parking I don't think on street parking has ever been an issue in this area and the applicant has taken the steps to make sure that they meet the the two spaces per unit requirement Y and the the non-conformity as to setback of the existing building isn't is exactly that it's existing when buildings when impressive buildings were built right along the street um and the new building meets all the the building setbacks for the A2 it does and I appreciate the the amount of setback from from the street um that that's an enhancement I think um I would like to maybe see a twoot jog from the middle unit to the outside two units so it's just to break it up a little bit yeah that's about all you could condition on this for as far as Architectural Review because we don't address that in the zoning bylaw not our purview unfortunately but there is room to to drag that no but the petitioner is receptive to any any critical criticism if that works but yes the A2 district is a problem and I'm glad it's on our agenda tonight to discuss I hope you stay if your if your hall pass allows you to stay my hall pass allows me to stay yes no A2 district has to get changed it doesn't work this is one of the rare ones that you've got enough square footage that makes it work okay Mr chair I do have one question I don't know if if you had mentioned uh bedrooms how many bedrooms per unit the um my understanding is the nine units are going to be one-bedroom apartments yes yes okay and the tow houses will be twos probably actually actually Mr chairman there'll actually be three the plan I have is actually three bedrooms two and a half bathrooms three Townes the Townes will be three bedom okay and you got a total of six uh six parking spaces six right in front for that one okay what do we say AUST approval of the variant as submitted on the plan Mr chairman there uh can we take both of them together they reest for two separate variances correct correct you can do all the variances together but then do the special permit separately special permit and that needs to be bicat as well so your motion Jim is two variances yes I'll second conditions as presented pass the plans I'm sorry did we have a second on that yeah me okay thank you D when I sat down there we always confused us we could never tell our voices all right discussion on the motion they're hearing none uh Ricky Sahar yes Dan deir yes Jim ckins John Frank yes chairman Prairie yes we have the special permit which is bated correct correct so I would make the motion that on this prop proposal is not substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood second okay on the um matter of substantial detriment to the neighborhood not not substantial detriment sah yes Dana yes Jim ckins yes John Frank yes chairman Prairie yes you're on to roll Ricky well therefore the motion is that the uh special perit be granted as uh as presented very good second that please second on the motion Ricky sahti yes Daner yes Jim ckins yes John Frank yes chairman perea yes and this uh this will be site plan as well absolutely yeah both of them both partials both partials I can't wait to see Facebook tomorrow uh we we've received a lot of positive response on this petition um and no direct negative response to to our office I can offer you that I mean let's face it that is an architectural treasure and it's going to stay that way and it's going to stay stay that way it's going to stay that way and that makes me happy you know where I stand with this stuff yeah just concerned about the condos next door looking you can't compete with it but keeping it up to par can't compete but you can you can't compete but you can blend yeah okay is that it you got another one you covering for my whole pass expired Jeff tomman might have you come in the the only question that I do have zoning board of appeals en forces planning board really is the place in the city council to get the A2 District changed I and when you look at it it's just it's a constant you're before the board thank you very much the take DAV okay as presented all right where am I item number three Anton and Ashley Estrella K attorney Gregor a brillant how do you pronounce it brilliant brilliant brilliant oh you get the choice that's okay 736 Brighton Avenue map F6 lot 59 the applicant seeks a variance to change the use of the subject property from a hair salon to a tattoo Pilar Additionally the petitioner was requ question in the special permit to Wave parking requirements of property is located in an R4 two family zoning District Council good evening uh Mr pra members of the board M krugger Mr Aya for the record attorney Gregory brilliant on behalf of Anton and Ashley Estella we're here tonight requesting a variant special permit to change the use at 736 out from the existing hair salon to a family-owned and operated tattoo Saloon uh tattoon Salon I apologize um I'm going to stop by giving a little bit of background regarding the existing use that's there I only have one set of pictures but I think that first uh picture is going to help about to say um this this ha Salon has been in existence for decades and the reason why I gave you that first picture Mr Mr Pera and members of the board is because I want to establish the fact that what presently exists is four stations there was four hairdresses at one point in time there's not now the person is ill and that's why she's selling but at one point in time there were four hairdresses at one time there and if you look there's another picture which I had to take through the window they actually had seven or eight stations back in the old days when they did it for for um the the hair Dyers where people would sit so if you look at it it was a it was a pretty bustling type of hair s on it wasn't a small uh operation it went on for decades and went on for decades and as you can see I also put pictures in there there there's signs in the front of the building for for the hour parking which the patrons would utilize and there was never any problems and the reason why I want to say that up front is because what's being proposed by my clients who are here tonight it's a family-owned business they've been in business for 22 years on Pleasant Street it's just time with the rents increasing in the city of for River and they have the opportunity to build to buy this building to bring their oper a over there it's only Mr and Mrs Estella they both have licenses as tattoo artist okay so what they're proposing to do is there's going to be technically three stations one for each of them and Mr strella doesn't do the amount of work that her husband does but there's going to be three stations one for each of them and there's a third station that do body piercing but that's not a third person that's them so they'll only be two stations utilized at any given time that's it um the prior operation was open 6 days a week they want to open 6 days a week their hours will be from 2: uh in the afternoon till 10:00 at night and every appointment excuse me every client is by appointment only there there there's no walk-ins they don't do any of that they're an established business they've been doing it for 22 years so they don't have any walk-ins whatsoever come in I'm sorry what were the hours again I apologize uh 2: p.m. to 10: p.m. it's and it's the same as they current operation over on Pleasant Street Sunday's closed Sunday's they are closed I apologize six days a week I apologize I designated the days it's Monday through Saturday Saturdays you don't do a longer day like start earlier you wouldn't want to start earlier No 2 o' I asked I may not even be there that might just Beal yeah he's not even sure he's going to do that U that's the way he does it now relative to the neighborhood I took I went out and you know this is just I took pictures of the director butter and a Butters to of Butters and within one block relative to the business uses in the area Mr per memb of the board and as you can see um it's predominantly a business use throughout the area um so our contention is at this point in time and we submit to the board that the the use being proposed is that actually a less lesser of a use than it actually is there they're going from two boots to three only a maximum of two being used at one time and not all those other things and it's never been a problem with parcking um I I've checked to the extent I could check there's never been a problem with parking there doesn't exist one there are pictures I showed you about the 1 hour parking um so at this point in time we don't think there's a necessity to have any or street parking and that's why we are asking for that waiver I will say for full disclosure there is an existing curb cup to the left of the building and it's on one of the pitches that I gave the chairman um if needed I guess you know they could utilize that they're going to go through the entire building it needs a new roof it needs new windows so obviously being new owners with their business they're trying to eliminate the cost of having to do that because again I don't think there is any problem with presently exist and I think they're going to have a lesser use um that being said uh I I again I want to stress as a familyowned business two people they've done very well over on Pleasant Street they built up their business that they're fortunate enough that they only have to have an appointment people don't come in off the street they don't they don't do any of that totally none so I think that uh the use is going to be a lesser use and a good use for the um for the neighborhood U Mr Mrs arella are here to answer any questions that the board may have okay oh sorry no no um was there consideration given to to kicking couple three parking spaces behind the building there there is a curb cut what I'd actually like to do is is put that curve cut is possibly put just a stone driveway not driveway but like for my own car so that would take away from and my wife and I travel together but I could put two um providing that the you know I have to make sure that the uh line is okay and all that but I was told um it would be easier and better for the environment just to put the stones there so that they don't have to worry about the runoff from the um rain consideration of time I'll have engineering way in on I'm just I I mean I frequent a couple of these places down in the down in the neighborhood and there's there's always parking I mean it's kind of kind of interesting considering everything that's going on down there but and and that's his Grand well not anymore but his late grandfather U operated the um auto repair shop in Crosser breing Avenue for a zillion years Mr Shaker um so it was sort of nice coming back to the neighborhood as well cool Ricky you have a question yeah just a simple question you're was now exactly the same on Pleasant Street they're 2 to 10 uh currently they're 2 to9 the reason why I put in they used to be 2 to 11 that was the the actual hours prior to the co um and we used to be there at that time and I'd be there sometimes seven days a week because that's what was the original hours but since Co that's where I reduced the hours from 2 to 9 because I wasn't sure with the mask wearing what that kind of business was going to come in through the door especially it be in night time then we decided to keep things even safer we didn't know it going to work we decided to to to keep the lock the front door locked and by and put you know by appointment only keeping that from coming in because we didn't want to have the arguments with the mask wearing and the dangers that involved being that I had a medical uh degree as a medical laboratory science and working with bacteria and viruses I kind of took that experience and was able to control um the clientele that was coming through the door and if they were okay with the way we were going to do things washing hands Etc to keep everyone safe um we did that without an incident which was really good then I realized by keeping the front door from the outside environment we could control um the the flow you know where there wasn't going to be four or five people coming in the door at the same time being that I was doing everything by myself all the tattooing all the body piercing occasionally I would have to speak to the clients and then my wife has taken that off of me and being able to talk to those people because we do everything by telephone now and it's actually worked really well and I think a lot of that has to do with my um reputation the way she handles the customer through the telephone and a friendliness and a professionalism that we are able to kind of like screen out who we want coming in and who we don't um obviously one of the the bigger fears as a tattoo studio was the type of people that might want to come in you know we weren't sure if we were going to get the the the top of the line the bottom of the line where we going to get the gang members coming in so we when we were able to do that it really felt like safe for us and the fact that we found a place that we can actually move our our business to um provides a much safer environment not only for ourselves coming in and out especially with having money on you um but also for the clientele I I I have built very good clientele base where there are mostly middle class age people from all different types of professions and I feel like I've served my time in that particular neighborhood and the neighborhood is quite dangerous unit it's plry quick as you may or may not know there's a lot of game violence I've treated the neighborhood very well and they've treated me very well back and I just find that it's time for me to kind of like just break out of that and have like a a better professional business you know and like and if you look at the business now I've always kept up to it I always clean the streets I always clean the neighborhood the storefront now is a little uh more uh kidish I could say you know we kind of redid it again for the fourth time and this time I want it to be nothing but class I want to fit into the neighborhood there's not going to be no fancy uh Las Vegas lights and or anything like that I want to keep it very subtle I don't even want the people to even know that I'm there other than people calling it customer over Customer because I want to keep it low on on the tone I don't want to have a lot of people coming to me it's just her and I so we can only handle so much flow anyway and yeah some people get disappointed when they come to the door and the door's not open for them and they got to be buzzing or they got to call it can be inconvenient for some people but it hasn't affected the business at all if anything it's actually increasing because people like that oneon-one with us and that's kind of good and I and I try to assure the neighbors that that's exactly what I plan on doing it's and that's how we got to the 1 hour increase we didn't go we didn't go to the full one when it was 11 was n so we just settled on 10 so postco are exclusively By Appointment yes everything's by and there's there's no walking set either one piercings tattoos none thank you one thing to note is that sorry is that signage will be limited to the size and type of what's there now anything beyond that you may have to come back here if the building inspector determines that that you do I don't know what's there for sign is now well there's two signs there right now but they're not I don't believe they're illuminated but there's two yeah relatively decent size so speak to the building inspector work with him see if you can live within those guys and then be okay with it if not you may need to come back I know there's a salon further down the street a he salon and they have a beautiful sign where it's the the two wooden post with just a sign with like light shining up like it's very subtle nothing nothing flashy my thought was because we have storefront with a uh that that would be like what I want to have we talk to the build inspector was yeah I mean take a good the sign code is is very clear and um yeah there a halfway I I just get concerned over the restrictions you're putting on yourself on the variance of being not till 2 p.m if a very good friend of yours want something in the morning under this you can't do but can we I mean we can authorize that they can do work we can extend those hours we' we'd be appreciated of that Mr cin it's probably not going to be utilized that's it what what hours you operate in are one thing but what hours you're allowed to operate is desire Mr chairman we could amend that the hours of operation the evening 10:00 a.m. till 10: p.m. if it's utilized authorized hours of operation 10 to 10 that would be appreciated Mr than I appreciate that still remaining By Appointment yes bu appointment that won't change nothing nothing like deciding at n nine o'clock at night you need a tattoo good thing is they can't decide at that time because you really don't have the time to draw that stuff up at that moment that's why it's worked really well uh I'm sure you got more funny tattoo stories than I do do do you have anything else uh from engineering planning no I only have one small tattoo I'm not even going to ask want to know I don't want to know uh anything else from the board anyone here wish to speak in favor of the petition anyone wish to speak in opposition to the petition hi my name is Kayla karea I am a butter directly behind the salon before Ry street I'm the property owner not so much in opposition I'm actually really glad that I came and listened to you speak because the signage and everything is a concern as a property owner you know you speaking about keeping it classy and whatnot I appreciate that um I have no opposition to it being turned into a tattoo parlor but as the a butter directly behind it the parking situation if it were to be turned into a parking lot or anything that property is higher than my property I have a pool right on that side of my property so if there off anything like that if it was paved there is a concern that it would undermine the Integrity of my pool and there would be flooding issues and I already have issues with water in my basement because of the water table that's in that area um and I do you know I've spoken to in the past and she did mention that um and I was cutting down some Tre that are were right on the property line she mentioned to me that there's a reaching field back there I'm not sure if you're aware so um I checked with the I did check on that okay so she did this was a couple years ago and she had mentioned don't go past the salon there's no driveway there's a curb driveway you're going to cut that doesn't look like this next for the Chinese restaurant next door yeah just got one little section uh so in response he's not being given permission to construct a d a parking lot in the back of the building that would require a different relief at a different time so right now no additional parking to be added um if he were to decide to let's say put in a cobblestone parking area or a PA area just on the left hand side of the building that would still require some level of Permitting through the city um so for the time being it it was just a question I wasn't trying to push it one way or the other I just asked if they had considered it and um you know as Mr Estella said you maybe just a driveway coming in off off the uh the existing curb cut but not going all the way to the back yeah there's no there's no on street parking issues over there there's plenty of street parking which is great yeah and you're only going to have two customers in there three maximum at a time that's like that's why they they're existing there in the plan so y okay thank you Mr chairman I actually B A he got a parked right on the hallway as a matter of fact um any any other questions at this point uh can we get uh Jim you don't have a tattoo yet do you no no we could work a discount in here or something just an idea um let's go what do we want to do for these fine folks so it's a varians and a special permit yes sir the special permit is to Wave parking so chairman I move we Grant the variance in allowing the operation of a tattoo power from the hours uh of 10: a.m. to 10 p.m. 6 days a week Monday through Saturday Monday through Saturday by appointment only second by by appointment only by appointment only we have a second okay on the variant John Frank yes Jim ckins yes Dan deir yes Ricky Sahar yes chairman per yes and Mr chairman I find that this not be substantially more detrimental to the area and we Grant the special permit waving the uh parking requirements very good second second on that as well on the motion then John Frank yes Jim ckins yes Dan deir yes Ricky sahti yes chairman Prairie yes best of luck to you guys thank you very much there's no second level to that we did vote together than you thank you very much have a good night you item number four leolinda Gomes care of Jeffrey Tallman where are we 165 to 167 Rock street map in8 lot 67 the applicant seeks a special per permit person to 86- 426b of the city of Fall River zoning ordinance to convert the ex existing non-conforming two family dwelling into a three family dwelling the applicant seeks a special permit to extend the existing non-conforming lot coverage to provide two additional parking spaces for the new unit the property is located in an A2 apartment zoning District imagine that big surprise get them while they're hot Jeff go ahead for the record Jeff Tolman from Northeast engineers and Consultants here representing Leah Pinda Gomes uh the owner of the proper at 165 167 Rock Street uh as you was stated there's an existing two family dwelling uh located on the North uh West corner of the property um there's also an existing twoa garage located on the Southeast corner and a driveway uh connecting that garage to to Rock Street on the uh south side of the property um the uh the property itself is 5800 uh 5,850 ft in area uh with 50 fet of Frontage on Rock Street um as you had stated this property is located in the A2 uh apartment A2 district and it's also in the OTS overlay District um based on the regulations within that District the house itself is noton non-conforming excuse me due to front and side uh sidey yard setbacks and the lot itself is non-conforming uh due to Frontage in area uh the proposal before you tonight uh the special permit to convert the third floor of the existing uh structure into an additional apartment converting the uh the structure from a two to a three family uh we did file a special permit pursuant to section 86 426b uh which allows for the extension of a KN inform structure uh by finding uh that the the uh extension is going to be not subst substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood um we do feel that this uh proposal does meet that standard um in the fact that we are proposing an extension to the existing driveway um a 6 uh 60t extension the driveway to provide two additional off street parking spaces which would be to the north side of the uh existing garage um and and also you know note you know I did note that this is in the aod district and section 86 376c um does you know you know mention that there is some um you know relief or waivers granted for multif family development a waiver of standards for multif family development within that District so um I believe if I'm not mistaken too this this property used to be the uh War office of William Kenny um way back when um so the the first floor was operated as an office uh with the second floor uh as an apartment uh so I would argue that you know during that time uh there was much more of a parking demand uh for this particular property but um it's since been I believe converted to the two family dwelling so I'd be happy to answer any questions that the board might have okay Bill Ken didn't get much business so I don't think there's any I had my clothes my first house very we miss Bill my guess is this probably was a three Family Once Upon a Time because that's a fairly large three story lots of Windows Etc so one never knows um you know and the other thing I'd like to add too if you look at the abing property specifically to the north um 175 Rock Street is is a five family on a lot that's smaller than this uh 187 rock is a six family on basically the same size lot and there is a three family um at 371 Pine Street which is on a 34 uh 3,424 ft lot so from a it perspective um this this is in tune with what's going on in the rest of the neighborhood if not it you know has less that thing I agree um and I appreciate the the addition of the parking spaces any questions from the board right now any from planning no I think it's a I think it's a good use again got a we got an two District issue um I think the two additional spaces are somewhat ausy within 11t aisle um but it's better than nothing you just can't if you can pull in you just don't get out that's it so I don't I don't know if they'll actually get used or if parking can be reconfigured somehow but the garage is going to stay right cor to of six spaces maybe we can improve it on site plan review I don't know yeah yeah cuz that's not really it's not really usable it's tight but unless you get two people driving smart cars ideally if they were to eliminate the garage yeah they could make those four spots along that back property line they could uh easily better easier use I don't think it' be that much of a wouldn't really be a heartbreak to see that garage so it's one no it it's it's one special permit or another it's either lot coverage or parking yeah but we can can only act on what was presented so yep all right no questions from the board return to the general public anybody wish to speak in in favor of the petition do you wish to speak in opposition no okay thank you all right converting a three to a two to a three all special permits all special permits and Mr chairman I'll make a motion to Grant a special permit to convert the uh that it is not more detrimental to the neighborhood and that we also convert it from a two family to a three waving the uh blot coverage block coverage okay we have a second on that second motion and second discussion on the motion we weren we weren't cover work oh I'm sorry I'm sorry and the parking is designated on the plan there should be six SPS on the plan s plan I'll have a boss of that um okay no discussion on the motion then on the motion Ricky sah yes stand toar yes uh Jim ckins yes John Frank yes chairman Prairie yes God is that got party here tonight uh item number five David Sauer care of Jeffrey P Tolman 21 Saum street map h08 lot 61 the applicant seeks a variance to subdivide the subject parcel into two separate Lots the first will retain the existing single family dwelling requiring waiver for Frontage lot area lot coverage rear yard setbacks and parking requirements the second lot require relief from a lot area and lot Frontage property is situated in an N4 two family zoning District uh good evening for the record Jeff Tolman from Northeast engineers and Consultants here on behalf of David Sauer uh the owner of the property at 21 sacham Street uh the property itself is which is assesses map H uh 08 lot 61 um is a 8,150 ft piece of property uh that has front on two streets uh has 44.48416800 north side of the property and there's an existing three stall garage uh that uh is very close to the uh the street line on Barry on on the other end of the property um this property is located in the two family R4 zoning District um and as a result the existing house on the property 21 satum street is not conforming due to setback um requirements in the uh the lot itself which has sufficient area uh is also not conforming for Frontage purposes I mean it does have a combined over 100 ft of Frontage but it's not contiguous you know with the uh the split uh being on two different streets what we are proposing is to divide the property into two lots leaving the existing single family dwelling on lot one which would be the original lot of record that would be on sacham street and then reestablishing uh the second lot uh which would be lot two uh on the rear on Baka Street um the plan would then be to construct a new single family dwelling on lot two uh that would comply uh to the applicable uh zoning requirements in the a for district um this is a through lot but under the under Section uh 86 423a um I don't believe we could uh seek relief in that even though every time I read it I kind of the wording is a little uh complicated to understand but uh um I believe you need 50 ft of Frontage uh on both streets in order to utilize that section of the bylaw in which case we would't even need to be here um if we did have the 50 ft uh on satum street so the fact that we don't uh means that we do need relief from this board in order to divide these properties so with that I'd be happy to answer any questions that the board might have Dan I'm going right to you uh for an opinion on this I'm I'm I'm having a little high per with the 2650 ft lot but if it was if it was a complete through lot where the side lot lines lined up y then you can see equaling out the area yeah um but the fact that we're on the lot that's being constructed we see the size of the existing single family dwelling which is not getting any bigger um it's consistent with the lot probably The Identical house to 31 next a um so I don't have an issue so much with the 2650 what I do have an issue with is that it will have no parking at all where it currently has a a three stall garage and a sidewalk that connects it to the structure um so if relief was granted I'd like to see at least one off street parking space um it would have to be done with pavers at this point because no relief that will bump you up beyond the lock coverage requested I think um that's my only issue with it it would be the parking for the single family home that's now being left without any yep with nothing what is the plan for parking for lot two it would need to comply it would need to comply two off sheet parking spots for the for the single family dwelling you're going to try to squeeze them into that 15t setback no the garage is coming down I know that but there's a I'm I'm talking there 15t to the building Envelope as as drawn well that's what the that's what the zoning District allows yeah right the the house would be set back further than the 15 ft um provide you know whe it be 18 20 you're not you're not really representing the building envelope in total well that is the building envelope that okay but the the new house would have to fit within that envelope but chances are it's yeah like you said it's going to be pushed back is not getting relief other than area in front need to meet lot coverage it needs to meet parking it's got to go through a site plan review mhm um correct so so you 500 ft short on area and I know 18 ft short on uh Frontage which you can't change so that's it is what it is yeah and I would just add to I mean the these this is the only through lot between satum and Baka Street uh there is no other through lot on that section of roadway um and I agree the 2650 is relatively small uh but when you look at the two abing properties on either side um it's a very similar sit situation these Lots were created at that size and even the Lots across the street are even smaller um I know so you know it's kind of it's kind of a tight area uh I think there is enough room to squeeze in uh one additional oneof street parking spot for number 21 on the on the West Side um you know that could be done by pavers are there any curb openings on sacham now I don't believe so okay I mean there may be I'm not I'm not 100% certain maybe um I think number 11 might have a driveway if I'm not mistaken but um I don't believe 31 does and I don't believe there are any I'm pretty sure 11 does I'm trying I was out there a couple weeks ago so I mean 31 no extension or expansion of of the structure on number 21 and one off street parking space one pervious either got Cobble stones or pavers or something just so you don't have to deal with the the relief part a curb cut there now I don't know what no he'll need a crib cut that's what I was asking if there was one over there picture doesn't show crib cut yeah I'd be more comfortable if if there were parking space on that one and I don't know how big the crib opening is for the three stall garage but it's got to be about 30 ft so I'm assuming that should be able to close up a little bit M yep members of the board questions yes 11 has a driveway it does yeah yes yeah 31 does not actually Jeff if you if you're getting rid of if they're going to get rid of the concrete sidewalk that little strip that goes from the deck through the rear lot line if you take that off just look at your lot coverage you may be able to do something different with driveway rather than pavers or something but sure yeah utilize that for one least for one spot it's some lot coverage you can use blow that out of there okay coming back to you who else is here from the public wish to speak in favor in opposition is your last shot thank you very much all right what are we doing kids I Mo we Grant the variance to subdivide the two Parcels as um recorded on the plans do you want to include parking yeah let's include parking please I think lot two should be in Conformity with the with a zoning District right get we can condition lot one for one parking space I accept the amendment have to be pervious I'm sure because otherwise we we we blow a lot coverage on that one well well depending on if we can remove some of that sidewalk at the back and I don't know if it's going to be enough that might help you that's that's not a lot but yeah get a really small car walkway too yeah or it would be easier to make the walkway P replace the walkway with pavers and swap it out right you got it do we have a second do we have a second on that motion we have a second in which case John I'm going to you first yes Jim yes Dan yes Ricky yes Joey yes thank you very much thank you thank you that's it just that's it okay let's talk about the A2 Department Zing District let me give let me give you my stick I had to deal with away I dealt with it for 28 years on that side as Jeff has all the same amount of time and it's just something that keeps raring its ugly head and I don't know how many times in that 28 years whoever the chairman was would often say relief zoning relief isn't necessarily the right way to deal with the A2 zoning District but we had to keep coming so in an attempt to limit the amount of times we have to deal with the A2 zoning District because it clearly doesn't work and to promote the ability to create some affordable housing um within the city I think when we look at the A2 zoning District it's the it's the only residential district other than S and some of the larger ones that are out through you know the rural part of the city um everybody starts at 5,000 square ft for the first unit and 1500 square ft for an additional unit some of those zoning districts limit you to three or to six right um the A2 zoning district is is unlimited to the number of units so we do have to have an area calculation that goes with it um in my opinion I would bring it to the 5,000 square ft for the first unit and, 1500 square ft for each additional unit um and then because you've done that I think you'd be able to hold the line a little bit harder on some of the others that come in that don't meet those requirements I think you're being more than generous when you look at and I've looked at the zoning map and you look at all of the areas that is zoned A2 and you actually look at the size of the existing Parcels within them the only Parcels that comply with the zoning District are schools larger commercial buildings and things like that any existing residential property it's not even close they're usually not 5,000 square feet so the way the process works is the mayor has the mayor has to request the city council to act on a change so this discussion tonight there is nothing formal to this other than when I speak to to the mayor I would like to offer to him we have we pulled the zoning board of appeals members and this was what we felt would be appropriate so the process is the mayor would then send down to the city council a request to do this the city council then sends it to the planning board for a public hearing where the public can come in make comments and we we craft what that bylaw is so there are a couple of sections of the A2 one that basic square foot requirement then when we go to and this is funny so everybody tried to to fix this in 2016 so when you go to the actual narrative and text parts of the zoning bylaw all of the zoning districts for residential just call out for single family residence District No narrative section when we get to A2 it has some Direction the first being what chairman Assad brought up tonight with regards to the minimum square footage of a unit right the only place that square footage of unit comes up in the zoning bylaw so so if you're in a g district and you building a three tenement you can make them as small as you want there are standards with with the state requirement and the housing code so I would I would like to see change the table to go to 5,000 for the first unit 1500 per unlimited how many you can get up to I would like to strike section A out of 8648 which deals with the minimum uh 600 foot of the unit uh B just references you to that dimensional table C reiterates what the table states with being 10,000 ft for the first unit and 2,000 square ft so rather than change that we can actually strike that so striking A and C and then changing the table um then we come to again something that we deal with often when the when this zoning ordinance was put into place when it was 1954 originally whatever it comes down to we were dealing with lot coverage percentages at a time when there was not site plan review homes weren't built utilizing mechanisms to infiltrate runoff uh and deal with storm water site plan review that came in 2016 deals with those things so we've been a little I'd say progressive with granting lot coverage relief because of that we know once it gets the site plan review we are handling that increase in impervious area by making them recharge clean water that's coming off of roof areas rather than letting it run into the sidewalk they put it into underground Chambers so there there could also be a discussion about and we're only dealing with with A2 right now and there may be a discussion later on for looking at all of them for lot coverage but let's baby steps right so on that for A2 the A2 currently allows for 30% lot coverage so I would like to see it Go and building setbacks are different I would like to see it mimic the M multif family zoning district for area Frontage setbacks but I would leave the lot coverage at 30% because that is great than any of the other residential zoning districts and we'll see that that I think that'll be the way of controlling some of the density as well we're not waiting parking requirements so they still going to make it fit but if you look at the triplex tonight next to 386 High Street um the building met all the building setbacks um lot coverage if they were creative probably could meet it as well and that's a 12,000 foot lot getting three units not so bad yeah um which is what again the other zoning districts the multif family zoning District which there isn't much of it is 5,000 squ ft500 additional unit maximum of six units I think you're going to find that you really can't do that on Parcels less than that so what I would what I would like to know is and that I could forward do you think it's a wise thing to do uh to reduce the area and if you think being in keeping with the other zoning districts is adequate um this will be vetted again through the city council Y and the formal process of it going before the planning board um and at that time when it's a public hearing for the planning board you're all invited to come to the meeting give your opinions in opposition or in favor um as you're all residents of the city so so tonight then you don't really need um a formal motion I don't need a formal motion but what I would like to what I would like to tell the mayor is so this this kind of a conversation doesn't normally happen it hasn't happened in the past if if the mayor wants to change zoning he submits it himself and then the ball starts rolling um but I think as you're the board that has dealt with it the most I think it would be nice to to give some recommendation um so that he has something factual to to move forward on what will this ultimately do for us not for us but for petitions coming forward would it reduce yes dramatically okay um just about anything that comes before you that's in the A2 zoning District right now or anything that gets constructed never never has to come here right there's no way they can comply because they're just aren't fossils of land that are that are that's what I was looking for so I I I was looking at on the map y so for instance the parking lot behind the TA restaurant where the bordon school was that's an A2 zoning District that is about 30 or 40,000 square ft um but it had a school on it so I think I think granted relief to turn that into apartments at some point 12 or whatever else um they decided to go the route of building a parking lot for the neighborhood which has actually been which has been a good thing but those those partials of a few and far between they're usually schools um tonight the synagogue across the street from from 386 High you know so so there are different ways of of dealing with it I honestly don't understand the science behind coming up with the 10,000 square ft for the A2 District to start with and it was always like that when it was changed in 16 it was I think it was just crafted a little bit differently because the narrative and I I used this before when because it breaks it down on the table six or less units or 20 or more units it wasn't specific before in that narrative portion so it could have been interpreted that because just the way that it was typed and presented if you were 20 units or more you only needed to provide 2,000 ft per unit you got past the the first 10,000 starting point so I think that's why in 16 they tried to make it clearer but I don't think it really did uh so Mr chairman I move the we authorize or the planner to submit the approval of this board for the revision of the A2 and accordance to those uh adjustments as discussed yeah everything you've said then so to be consistent with the m District which is 5,000 sare ft $1,500 1,500 additional unit 50 ft of Frontage 12 foot front yard 10 foot side 15 rear Max height 45 y um which we may want to change because A2 is actually 70 do we want to keep it A2 as 70 or do we want to cut it down I didn't contemplate the height I AG just leave it at 70 or leave it at 45 I I I think it's time to cut it down be honest with you I don't have an issue with that I mean if you look at the lot sizes yeah if we're getting smaller you to be higher I understand so so it's a give and take so we so we'll mimic M entirely except for the max of six units right and we'll we'll leave the LW coverage at 30% of what it is now in the A2 yep okay sounds good sounds second yes it's Motion in a second it was already second byy H it was already seconded by oh was okay oh s then then on on that motion to uh to authorize the planner to take this forward on our behalf our sent to this uh message to the mayor I don't know how we put it but yeah it's just I I sent him a letter requesting him to act y to start the process but so this will give him a starting point for him to go forward with the board's recommendation yes the board's recommendation then on the motion uh John Frank yes Jim ckins Dan yes Vicky s yes Jim yes Dan thank you that's good good item seven I still have nothing for you so okay we can move that along do with my uh my magic agenda do we have minutes Dan what what's the article in the paper on the uh changing was there a changing the Zone in the South oh oh that's that's the H dip the the housing overlay District so when you apply for and that's actually public hearing the planning board now when we have all these Mill buildings yeah and conversions of schools in order to get the tax credits from the state they have to fall in what's been determined to be a housing overlay District so it's not changing the underlying zoning District it's an overlay that allows them to apply for that so there are three Mill projects in the South End of the city that this will now Encompass so that they can go and get potential excellent good all right approval a minutes item number nine we have minutes for the July 18th and August uh 15th meetings Mr chairman of the meetings of the August 15th and move our wave reading of those minutes second wave reading Motion in second that for July and August or AUST July 18th and August 15 to amend that July and August minutes like move approval and leave reading way the reading the second stand John Frank yes Jim ckins yes Dan deir yes Ricky Sahar yes chairman Pera yes have a motion to adjourn made seconded second all in favor I opposed stay here good job welcome to