##VIDEO ID:WINyMEoR6yM## e e through the chair you're live on hcam TV I only see four people right now is that right John that's what I've got yeah you Vic Mike and Lucia are we expecting everybody I didn't see any emails I haven't heard anybody not coming Rob is now signing on okay we at least have five [Music] quum Parker just joined too so now we have six and Karen seven all right I'm going to start by uh reading the remote meeting script and uh we'll jump into our agenda pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2023 this meeting will be conducted via remote means in accordance with applicable law this means that members of the public body as well as members of the public May access this meeting via virtual means participants May access this meeting through the remote meeting link as posted on the meeting agenda and through the town's online calendar when required by law or Allowed by the chair persons wishing to provide public comment or otherwise participate in the meeting May do so by raising their hand or otherwise signaling their intent to speak this meeting will be recorded pleasee take care to mute your microphone unless you have been recognized by the chair we will now confirm attendance of members please respond with present if you are on the call Alise mayosi present Lucia Lopez present Matthew Rona present Michael King present Parker hap present Jane Moran Karen Wills present vicaso prti present and Rob Benson is obviously here uh so uh just staff John gich I saw on present and Lori St John present all right great so if anybody sees Jane join just uh somehow give me a hand wve or something let me know um so I'm going to jump right into our our agenda one second Rob um do we want to just announce to anyone out there that 37 East Street and zero Benson Road have already requested a continuation if they're here for that they might want to jump off yeah uh I think John just did it for us but if anybody's on the call for zero Benson Road or 37 East Street which is Labor's Training Center those hearings are going to be uh postponed for tonight the applicants asked for continuance to the next meeting so um if you're here specifically for just those agenda items we won't be talking about them tonight and through the chair just to uh clarify that the Benson Road actually continued to December 2nd they didn't even want to get into November they wanted some more time okay thanks I think I just closed the agenda so I'm I'm pulling it back up sorry as I'm clicking around here accident accidents happened oh you're looking for that by next meeting you mean the next regularly scheduled but not not the NBTA meeting right okay yeah I think next meeting is uh kind of off schedule which will be next week which will be the MBTA meeting kind of just dedicated for that all right we're back in business so Wilson Street uh just to go by one uh I'm G to just go through the genda w a Wilson Street road damage discussion um they are not ready to have the conversation tonight they um I guess this title engineer surveyor um needs more time to respond uh to feedback from was the par par group that provided that did the the review so we're not we're going to uh this isn't uh an item we need to officially continue but it's going to be on our uh an upcoming agenda so the first thing for us to really talk about is Bond reduction request for Chamberlain whan is anybody from Toll Brothers on the call I am yes hey Ted how are you doing okay sorry about last week there was some uh travel delays or last meeting excuse me all right would you like to give uh kind of a description or overview of what you're looking to have done sure uh so wh and chamblain subdivision is one U that we purchased and forgive me if I don't have the year right but I think in 2022 um with the roads essentially fully complete through binder course um we have constructed and uh sold believe 28 of 29 homes with in the subdivision um we are preparing to apply top course to the roads um there are some other an punch list items that we need to complete um however uh we we've completed a significant amount of the bonded work and would like to request a reduction um from its current amount um to the amount put forth which I believe is $176,000 um and I guess I'd add to that this was reviewed by the town's uh engineering consultant um I believe he had some recommendations that we uh are accepting of so his his revised total was sorry 28 you're mute sorry yeah I that's the number I was looking for is the 28932 from the peerreview consultant is there any questions from any of the board members go ahead Matthew I I think we're about to get that but um the applicant was accepting of the peer revieww is that where we were settling setting settling yes that that works for us no questions then Rob all right I I think everything from my point of view I think everything's in order here because of uh our peer review consultant did the estimation so I don't I don't think there's really much to discuss or pul H in so um I'd like to entertain a motion that the planning board reduced the bond amount of the Chamberlain wh and subdivision project from 425,000 to 28932 so moved second thanks Matthew thanks Vic all right roll call vote Alise MOSI yes Lucille Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes vicaso prti yes and Rob Benson is yes and did anyone see I don't see Jane yet so so it passes and uh that is uh it's all set thank you the next thing on our um agenda is also from Toll Brothers teda you uh I'll keep rolling all right great um so uh Newberry Glenn subdivision off of blueberry Road um is under construction we have completed through binder course on the first six lots of that subdivision we continue to work and should PVE the next handful of lots um here in the coming weeks um but would like to get lot release on those first six Lots so that we can start construction on the homes um so I filled out I believe forms K and G um and submitted to you uh that that describe that that included a an estimate of a bond which was reviewed by pair or par excuse me um and while their number is significantly higher than the estimate I submitted uh I am accepting of that number and if that's what the board chooses to do I'm willing to close the bond for that amount who the chair go ahead John we have par on if there's any questions from the board I also just want to point out that I did change the thing that's on your screen right now we got a revised one from par just before the meeting so this is the revised one it was over $3 million for the remaining work now it's down to 2,686 so I just wanted to call that out in case anyone had reviewed the materials beforehand um could you give me the exact number John 2, 686,000 okay is there any questions from anyone on the board through the chair go ahead Lucia um in terms of the process does the bond come in first before the form K assigned so I think we need to modify the language of the when we get to em motion um that's from the packet so my understanding is we've already done the form K but we can't release the form we shouldn't release the form K to the applicant until the bond is in place through the chair go ahead John uh so the motion includes a uh to establish the bond and then endorse the form k for these Lots so I think what Rob is talking about is that since this is an existing subdivision there's certain steps that a subdivision has to go through in order to release the Lots but since this subdivision has already been built out that process has already been for the most part done aside from establishing this bond for the New Roads so it's really just kind of a formality of establishing the bond amount and then once they and then in the motion it says uh the board will endorse The Form K contingent upon submission of a appropriate performance guarantee or Bond okay so the language in the motion is correct correct yeah okay just the amount needs to be added yep any other comments from uh the board or or yeah through the chair go ahead Karen um I was just reading on the on the materials that we got so you can see it where it says has completed work on the roadways associated with the completion of the subdivision um what I'm not really sure what that actually means because I know there's only a partial Road through there that's only paved and I'm not sure what that is in proximity to the rest of the lots and the rest of it's just all dirt going through so for for those for those on the call I live on blueberry the construction is happening a couple couple houses away from me but um but I'm just I'm just kind of curious as to what what does that actually mean that they completed the road because I know there's not a completed Road I know there's a partial Road through the chair I can answer that yeah go ahead they can either finish the road or provide the bond that allows that provides the money to the town to finish the road should the developer abandon the property okay yeah so it's one or the other they either finish the roads or or provide a bond okay thank you John Y and I would also point out that we're requesting release for six Slots of the 20 within the subdivision I my intention would be to come back for the next portion once the binder is complete in front of those and and hopefully reduce that Bond at the same time um which should be fairly soon but wanted to get these six moving okay if there's no uh more questions or comments uh I'd like to entertain a motion that the planning board uh established the bond amount for Elwood Farms 3 at 2, 686,000 further I move that the board endorsed the form k for lot 6A 7A 8A 9A 45a and 46a as shown on the approved subdivision plan contingent upon the submission of an appropriate performance guarantee or bond in the previous determined amount to the principal planner so moved thanks Matthew second thanks I'd like to entertain a motion I mean um a roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Ranka yes Michael King yes yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes vicaso pry yes and Rob Benson is yes thank you all for your time I appreciate it thank you so approve anr Plan 9 Legacy Farm North 67 East Main Street uh is the applicant on uh Dan BM for the applicant all right Dan if you'd like to give us an overview of what you're uh trying to do uh very good uh my name is Dan Brer I'm a lan surveyor with Hancock Associates in malor um this plan uh is a little different compared to most that you see um uh it we're doing it as an anr plan because we are we are effectively changing some lot lines but we're really just creating math for the perimeter of the original lot and the land that was abandoned uh between the lot and Legacy Farms Road North so the the main property um where where the house is which is unshaded is the description of that that is the the boundary of the original lot back when Frank land Road still existed in front of it um the two hatched areas we have two different types of hatches that are running about 45 degrees different from each other the um the 45 degree hatch that's closest to the lot that that original lot is the half of the road closest to that lot uh what technically happens when a road is discontinued is the ownership of the uh uh the ownership of the road basically uh returns to the uh the abutter from the center line of the road and to make things a little more complicated uh there are uh two record owners um to that original lot which is the um Roger and mesit trust and then the Maryland J mesit trust which each owned 50% now across the street from where Franklin Road was there's a small parcel there that we labeled as single T Farms LL single Farm LLC now we're for um and there's also two other pieces of single ter Farm LLC on the east side of Legacy Farms uh Road North uh so the piece that's on the West Side uh it gets the other half of Franklin Road plus it also gets half of um I just got to move my plan down here so I can see it Peach Street uh so that's the other type of hatching is the portion that they're getting uh so effectively this plan shows two lots shows the original lot for lot nine plus the area that was abandoned to the center line and then on the other side of the lot that that lot remainder there was called e1a so just to keep things as clear as mud uh we named that new parcel uh lot E1 A-1 uh and so what we've listed on here is the area uh area of the the lot the area of the discont excuse me the discontinuance and then the total area for the two Parcels um and I'd be happy to answer any questions are there any questions from any of the board members being just an anr plan I I don't um an uh an approval not required uh modification of the laot lines I don't have a lot of questions um if if I don't if there's no other questions from the board John do you have do you have anything to add before we get ready for a vote no this is uh pretty standard um boundary plan kind of a thing uh it doesn't have any Frontage or lot area issues so um it appears to Warrant an endorsement from the board and I realized in the memo I did not put motions for this or the next item so if the board is looking for a motion it could just be that uh the board uh mov to endorse the anr plan yeah thanks John um I'd like to entertain a motion that the board endorses the anr plan for nine Legacy Farm North 67 East Main Street moved second thanks every roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes vica South pry yes and Rob Benson is a yes all right thanks Dan thank you Mr chairman thank members of the board take care so 24 Chestnut Street um what do we uh is the applicant on for 24 Chestnut Street yes I am here hi hi hi Rick I'm thinking this is just purely an administrative thing but uh could you give an overview could you give just a brief introduction of what you're looking to have done here sure I I would agree I believe it is Administrative uh as the board I think is aware the subdivision has been approved um the way your sort of procedure Works in town is once it's approved we then need to go to the select board to get the street name approved the building department to have Street numbers issued and that then all needs to be put on a set of myar plans which then need to be presented back to the planning board for your endorsement so all that has happened the name has been approved the numbers have been issued the myar um and the form I forget the name of the E maybe um um has been submitted and so at this point I think we're just looking for you to endorse those plans all right John do you have any additional information here nope is there any questions from anyone on the board all right I'd like to entertain a motion that the board endorse the definitive subdivision plans for 24 Chestnut Street so moved thanks Matthew second thanks Parker uh roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes vicaso pry yes and Rob Benson is a yes all right we're moving right along where go ahead can I just interrupt so with this uh subdivision plan and the form K board members are going to need to come into the office and sign because I can't do this on your behalf I can do the anr but I can't do the other ones um so I just want to give you all a heads up that we're open until 7 o'clock tomorrow and open until 2 on Friday so please stop by buy and sign these things when you have a chance please good thank thanks for the uh thanks for making it known that we all have that we have to come in and sign it all right moving on to item uh one six in our agenda uh meeting minutes for September 23rd and October 7th any comments questions Matthew go ahead are these I I didn't see them in the folder I still don't see them do we have either yeah it looks like they're not in there I know that the October 7th were not ready yet but I thought the 23rd were so we'll have to do them next meeting did those go in last we last meetings maybe let's see nope all right so I think we're going to uh skip over proving meeting minutes uh all right let's let's jump to do we need to do anything to continue zero Benson Road or yes vote to continue and then vote to extend or vote to continue and extend the decision deadline for both okay so zero Benson row we want to we want to continue the hearing to December was it 2nd uh yeah I believe [Music] so and decision deadline to December 16th all right Let's do let's let's try to get this so I'd like to entertain a motion to continue the public hearing for zero Benson Road to December 2nd and extend the decision deadline to December 16th thanks Karen thanks Matthew all right roll call vote Alise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes VI South pry yes and Robenson is yes all right 37 East Street which is also known as Labor's Training Center when do we want to uh extend the public hearing to move the public continue the public hearing to to so the public hearing to uh November 4th and then the decision deadline to I want to say the 11th but I just want to make sure yes uh November 11th which is a holiday but that's okay all right and sorry Rob that's just for the stormm waterer management permit not for the site plan site plan doesn't need to have the decision continued all right for the storm water management uh plan I'd like to continue the public hearing to November 4th and the decision deadline to November 11th so mov thanks Parker second thanks Matthew all right roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes Vic South pry yes and Rob Benson is yes so next on our agenda is sorry Rob to the chair did did we just do the storm water management permit or did we do both we just did the storm water management permit okay so we need to continue the hearing of the site plan just not the decision okay I'd also like to entertain a motion to continue the public hearing for the site plan permit is that the right word permit um is fine for the site plan to November 11th I mean November 4th November 4th so moved second thanks roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Luc Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes viao pry yes and Robenson is yes sorry about that I could should have been able to get that all in one vote but uh we got it done all right so item four on our agenda we're kind of flying through here but this is 48 to 52 Main Street in six Cedar Street major project site plan and storm water man management permit uh so at this time uh we don't have a per review uh completed at this point so what I'd like to do is have the applicant introduce the project give John an opportunity to provide staff uh review potentially schedule a s sidewalk so let's let's open it off by giving the applicant uh an opportunity to introduce the project who's uh speaking for the applicant I'll be speaking for the applicant my name is Neil bham I'm Council for the applicants from the law offices of Jerry C Efron uh I'm joined here by several people uh including two of the ownership group uh John Parson of uh SVN Parson commercial sitting across from me if you can see and Brandon Giblin of uh of Giblin Properties Incorporated uh uh we're we're going to go through a little bit of a pres presentation including having some of our engineers and and others uh present we promise efficiency and that we will be through this through this very very quickly but uh by the application uh we're proposing uh we're proposing the demolition of the existing structures on the on the property addresses that you've identified and the construction of a new three-story mixed use building that will include retail on the first floor and 60 residential units on the second and third floors now in leading up to uh the decision to file these applications we we did a lot of due diligence meeting with Town staff and others but including the then building inspector uh Chuck kadlick and at that time we asked Chuck to take a look at our plans and to give us his opinion as to whether or not the project that we're proposing was something that would be as of right or not and on April 25th 2024 he uh sent me an email which I have and which has been made part of the file in which he he uh confirmed that he agreed with my view of the world which was that the plan complied with section 210-20 point1 of the hackington bylaw uh and that the project was as of was as of right uh I'm also pleased to uh to note that uh during the course of the last year that we've been working on this project we've been before the historical commission uh and the historical commission has now issued notices of release with respect to both of the property addresses that are at issued here uh if I could I'd just like to introduce uh the team who who will be presenting today uh and each of them will just be a few minutes and and I imagine we're going to get through this quickly but we're going to lead off with Brendon Giblin who I've already introduced and he's sitting to my right uh after Brendan uh we'll we'll uh Eric uh debru of bowler engineering is going to quickly go through a review of the site plans Sean Kelly of Chapel engineering is going to do an overview of the traffic study that we commissioned and then Matt MVA who's sitting with me here also of bowler engineering will discuss the landscape design finally our our uh Richard Ranken of Ranken Associates will discuss discuss the agricultural design so with that I'm going to turn things over to Brendan great Neil thank you so as Neil mentioned Main Street crossing is a joint venture between myself as principal from Brendan properties and John Parsons of Parson commercial group uh both John and I are local business owners operators and developers we've developed a a number of projects both together and in individually throughout the state as well as outside of the state um for this particular site as as local developers we feel a tremendous responsibility for the Redevelopment of this site um it's a prominent location on the corner of Cedar and Main Street and professionally we feel as though it's a great opportunity to enhance what is already a beautiful streetcap so our approach to the development was to create a project team that that shared a similar vision with us um and partner with professionals such as bowler and and ranking Associates that are are really tops in their fields so early on WE engaged bowler in ranking and and created um you know what was our feasibility study just to be certain that what it was that we were designing fit kind of squarely within this downtown business district um on on on all levels so early on our conceptual plans were were confirmed to to kind of meet that criteria um and then Rich really got started formulating um the plans which we'll be presenting with you tonight um our vision was for the design to fit with a lot of the architectural details and and really kind of you know mesh in with um some of those details you know from the from the street skate so John and I look forward to the rest of the presentation um at which time that concludes we're we're open to any remaining questions but um at this time I'll turn it over to to Eric from bowler to run through the Civil thank you Brandon again for the record Eric the bru bowler engineering we can perfect thank you so we'll just take a quick minute to orient everyone to the existing site I'm sure we're very familiar with it but the site is effectively at the northeast corner of Cedar in Main Street fully within the downtown business district it's comprised of about 1.35 Acres across two uh fully developed Lots the northwest corner lot is an existing residential lot and the second lot is the former hopkington hopkington drug property with the associated parking uh there are four existing curb cuts that serve the existing site one off of Main Street and three off of Cedar that one off of Main Street serves the upper parking area of the the drugstore there's two off of Cedar that serve the drugstore and one at the residential property just for some context as the presentation goes along there's about 15 ft of gray change through the existing site and for reference the existing Main Street driveway is about 15t higher than the Cedar Street driveway um the proposed project we're essentially proposing to demolish U the entirety of the site and again what we're proposing is uh a building that's a a three-story mixed use building compris about 6800 feet of retail and 60 residential units Rich if you're able to uh switch the slides perfect um so again site access under the proposed condition we're providing two driveway locations one full access on Main Street and that serves the parking for the retail as well as shared public spaces at the very far end of of that Main Street parking lot is access to the parking garage for residential parking we've also Consolidated the driveways on Cedar Street and provide a full access drive at the mo most Northerly corner of the the site and that provides access to the residential parking at the lower parking garage uh from a parking compliance standpoint uh we were required 100 spaces where we're providing 122 U and the thought process there is that that additional parking would be provided for shared public parking off of Main Street the the existing site's very well served by existing uh sidewalk infrastructure from a pedestrian standpoint uh so we're proposing accessible Pathways not only to the front retail portions along Main Street but also a path into the amenity spaces within the courtyard which I think Matt will get into in a little bit more detail very high level on storm water management and utilities under existing conditions the existing site essentially just sheet flows either untreated into Cedar Street or is captured by a couple of catch basins and then again untreated and sent into the municipal storm water system we're proposing to capture that storm water it through deep some Hood to catch basins through a treatment unit before then discharging it um so from a treatment perspective we'll be significantly improving storm water for this property then we're also able to provide additional Green Space so we are reducing impervious surface uh which provides two benefits we can obviously give back some green space two amenity spaces and and screening and buffering but also reduces Peak runoff rates um for a storm water perspective so in the end a much better project from a storm water management treatment perspective um and then obviously the utilities on this property are very well served by existing infrastructure um we will be providing brand new connection points but from Main Street we'll have new water service for fire and domestic and then new sewer gas and electric for coming off of cedar for for the other utilities so again we just wanted to leave it very high level obviously it'll be the project will be peer-reviewed and at this point I'd like to turn it over to uh to Sean Kelly to discuss uh traffic considerations for the project thanks Eric uh good evening Mr chairman and members of the board uh for the record Sean Kelly with Chapel engineering um I'd like to just give again a brief overview of the traffic study that we conducted um and I'm sure we'll be going over it in more detail as as as the project advances go up a slide so um again as I'm sure you're aware that the project is located at the intersection of of Main Street and Cedar Street uh Route 135 and Route 85 um they they're both state numbered routes um but they're both under local jurisdiction so there's no um Mass do involvement with the project um our study area that we looked at for our assessment included the intersections that we felt would accommodate uh the majority of traffic that's the intersection of Main Street with Cedar Street and Grove Street uh the signalized intersection of West Main Street with Main Street and Wood Street uh and then the the two driveway intersections that would serve the project uh we looked at traffic volumes we looked them on a daily basis uh we looked at the weekday morning the weekday evening and the Saturday midday and and those are the time periods that we typically drill down on because it's the busiest time for both residential traffic as well as commercial traffic uh we looked at crash data U very low crash occurrences typically in the area uh particularly at the driveways that exist today um at Main Street we're looking at um around one crash per year and then on the Cedar Street driveways a little bit higher about one and a half um looked at vehicle speeds no issues with ECT to sight lines uh with respect to the traffic itself we rely on data that's published by what's known as The Institute of Transportation Engineers so the the it and what the it does is it develops rates that tells us how much traffic a project will generate based on its size um and there really there are two components here there's the the residential component and then also the commercial component as you can see in the in the morning evening and Saturday the the residential component generates anywhere from about 30 to 45 vehicles per hour um that's ins and outs uh the retail pretty low generator in the morning only 16 trips and then about 40 on the on a Saturday and and during the weekday evening now some of those retail trips are passed by in nature they're already traveling along the corridor so when you then that typically is 25 to 35% uh when you net all of that out what it tells us is that this project um during the the busy peak hours um is expect to generate about 41 new trips in the morning um about 60 um in the evening week evening then about 76 on a on a Saturday midday so it's about a car a minute um typically it's you know about a car entering every other minute and a car exiting every other minute uh next slide um I I think one thing that's important to keep in mind here is that you know this isn't a um a virgin undeveloped site you know it has historically housed a fairly large Pharmacy and what we did is you know we ran the trip generation for the pharmacy that has been on the site historically just to kind of give an understanding as to how much additional traffic um is expected based on what has historically occurred on site um and Ju Just Not to overstate the trips we actually applied a high 50% pass by to the pharmacy trips so these are um half of what the it would say unadjusted and as you can see um you know on a weekday level it's about 60 trips total over a 24h hour period during the busy commuter hours it's it's essentially a wash you know four more trips in the morning one more in the evening um on a Saturday it actually does less traffic than a far phy would would generate on a daily basis and again those those peak hour volumes during that midday are still you know fairly consistent so um in comparison to what was typically out there when this project um project site was a pharmacy it's not a whole um lot of difference during the busy hours last slide so so really our recommendations are focused primarily on access um we're recommending that the the two existing driveways on Cedar Street the northern and southern driveways that that feed into the existing parking lot both be closed and would sidewalk across them and that the the the driver would be relocated as far north as possible um where where the residential home is today um on Main Street the driveway today is already as far um East as possible it's at the Eastern property limit which is where it wants to be um we recommending gets maintained in that location and then really the last recommendation is to bring the existing or proposed driveways U into conformance with mutcd design criteria including painted center lines um stop signs and painted stop bars and ensuring that sight lines again are are maintained in both directions and that's really kind of a high level overview I'll I'll turn it over to Matt mvin now to to go through some of the landscape architecture thank you Sean uh again Matt MBA with Bower engineering for the record uh landscape architect for the project I know we already saw this slide but I'll just dive into a little more detail on on how we're treating it from a landscape standpoint one thing you'll notice is that our building uh in the proposed condition is pulled away from the corner a little bit from Maine and Cedar uh more than it was before that allows us for some green buffer that surrounds the building between the back of the existing sidewalk and the the face of that building so we've included uh ornamental uh vegetation in there upright Street trees along the Cedar Street Edge and then we're also providing a significant buffer along the northern Edge to our our Northern AB butter there that will include some Evergreens uh arborite and lower growing materials as well uh but really trying to to create some green along the back of the sidewalk here in the downtown while still creating that that Urban Corner uh that that the the architecture really provides for and and Rich will get more into that detail uh in a moment but we're also trying to engage the street on Main Street uh into our retail you can see at the lower edge of the the sort of c-shaped building uh there is a covered uh colonade so to speak and we'll get into more detail there but that is that is open to the air uh with with roof line above uh and and that accesses out onto the street directly so there's there's some seating at the corner uh there's access for pedestrians into the retail spaces at a few different locations along that that edge uh and as as Eric mentioned earlier get got to keep in mind that the grade is dropping along Main Street along the face of our building and then continues to drop along Cedar Street so underneath that colonade is where we have pedestrian level space that stays at the actual level of the retail uh and engages with the street in that way so we we deal with the grade uh creatively around that corner but but really trying to bring a strong presence to that street corner the courtyard space will be uh a mixture of of seating opportunities for residents and and patrons of the retail along with a fire pit feature and some decorative landscape uh for seasonal interest year round uh and and for buffering from the the parking area that you see our one exposed parking area to the the sky above is just those those few spaces uh that are in there all of the other parking on site is covered and really hidden from view uh and and that parking even is is really back behind the uh the lower the southern wing of the building uh so there really won't be much parking visible from the street so that's the idea essentially behind the the landscape we're providing for multiple shade trees we've got over 20 25 evergreen trees ornamentals uh uh 200 shrubs 80 grasses Ground Covers perennials variety of of materials that'll that'll help to provide that that seasonal interest and and U year-long Beauty so we're excited about it and uh glad to answer any questions that that come up but I'll turn it over to Rich to run through the architecture thank you Matt uh members of the board um for the record Richard Ranken Ranken Associates with Prov providing the architectural service for the project uh as was mentioned our team worked hard over the last year to create a project that meets the requirements of the zoning bylaws and one that we hope will be a catalyst for future development within the Town Center uh during that time has been discussed we met with Town engineering uh the building inspector hington fire the historical commission and so on and we've worked to pay homage to the architectural vernacular of this of this historic town of hington and an effort to create a mixed use building that fits into this prominent Corner within the Town Center uh we'll get into a little bit more of some of that U homage if you will in upcoming slides uh we started to create uh an animation that traverses Westward on Main Street U beginning at the Town common and ending at the intersection of Maine and Cedar streets uh This was done to show the context of the existing Street streets uh and relative proportions of the buildings within it uh we start with a view of uh the uh Presbyterian church and let me just get this done for you hopefully it's fairly smooth we've had some issues uh with zoom but uh start off at the at the Presbyterian Church P Masonic Lodge middle sex bank bills the town hall um pass some restaurant storefronts Barber Shop a twostory mixed use building and the central public house next door and then our building that makes its way to the corner and and around down Cedar Street um as you can see uh the height of the building is uh you know with our with our facade and cornis uh is is similar to that of the adjacent mixed juice building up the street uh this is due with some assistance from the declining grade down Main Street um but hopefully it gives a flavor of what life is like without the drugstore and what it could like could look like uh and the scale of the building relative to the existing buildings on the north side of Main Street uh we think it fits very well and especially under the first floor retail component which engages the and activates the streetscape along with the transparency at the uh arched entrance way that allows uh interesting views into the into the Courtyard area and and breaks up that uh the massing of that facade um additionally as been discussed we've got that wider setback at the street C line which was uh you know installed as part of of the realignment work at the corner there and uh it's been landscaped effectively um again some facts and figures I'll go through these quickly uh the building 75,000 squ feet on three floors including 16 6800 ft of retail at a lower level of parking that is partially below grade uh we do have 60 residential units planned and made up of the studios one two and three bedroom apartments uh in total there's 89 covered residential parking spaces and 33 public spaces uh for a total of 122 uh starting with the lower level we have a controlled access off of Cedar Street accessing 53 assigned residential space including accessible spaces we do have two circulation cores which provide vertical connectivity to the upper floors uh there's amenities including bike storage for tenant use and and maintenance and mechanical spaces uh for building operations additionally we have areas allocated for the storage and removal of trash on the first floor we have retail spaces shown here in purple violet um our Courtyard the 32 spaces of uh of public parking including accessible spaces uh this level also contains 36 residential uh parking spaces undercover uh the plan indicates in yellow the covered walkways that allow public access to the retail space and also the main elevator course uh visible in this plan as has been discussed is that generous landscape buffer with the public space amenities between the existing curb and on both Maine and Cedar streets uh second floor contains 28 residential units of varying configurations and the circulation CES in EG stairways um the third floor let get it up contains Sor uh contains 32 units similar to the second floor uh the main street view shows the efforts that we made to adjust the massing of the building this to to create the sense that the building was perhaps built over time time and that by breaking down the facade into smaller distinct elements we reduce the over overall perception of size um the building's focal point at the corner with the distinctive elements of brick and pronounced Cornus and pyas serve to Anchor the project uh got recurring facade elements with arched windows pilasters accentuated fores and brackets that serve to add Rhythm to the length of the facades uh and then in between we have T in for portions with larger windows and Juliet style balconies set back in an effort to reduce the building bassing and create a more fitting scale we've carried similar treatments along the Cedar Street elevation which Falls away dramatically as one proceeds down North on on Cedar Street um we have two levels of parking or sorry two levels of apartment units over retail uh and a parking level and a lower level of residential parking the evening View shows activation of the street with a focus on merchandising opportunities at the retail level along both Maine and Cedar streets with period accent lighting uh this this show shows our proposed exterior materials consisting of a rusticated masonry base storefront brick veneer composite siding and trim uh and accentuated cornices and bracketry these materials are similar on the Cedar Street elevation uh this represents the north elevation which is adjacent to e Cedar and this East Elevation is adjacent to Central Public House with its two wings and Central Courtyard um during our meetings with historical we we got feedback it was uh it was received very positively which was uh uh very very uh well received on our end as well uh there's a desire from some commission members to bring elements from the town's existing vernacular and former buildings from the past to the project were possible so the following slides are kind of response to those requests um first we Shi fuse from two Factory buildings that were once driving forced to to the economy of the Town um one the DT Bridges and Company boot manufactory the other the Tompson Boot factory they were large buildings within the town with elements included rusticated Stone bases and detailed tilters and and bracketry and the use of lap siding um another building we took uh we took uh inspiration from is the town hall with its masonry pilasters arched windows and detailed corus treatment um additionally we intend to use period architectural lighting fixtures on the Main and Cedar facades to accentuate the architectural features of the building and lastly you look to toward some iconic architecture of a former high school at 85 name to draw cues from the use of brick and and again the arched windows and and stone based materials uh follow of which we hope addresses some of our historical uh commissions concerns and and the desire for historical precedence um with that uh it really concludes our presentation at this point we'd be glad to answer any questions that you might have um that the development team uh together looks forward to moving the forward project through design review and addressing any comments along the way uh and we thank you again for letting us present thanks Richard so I think what I'd like to do now is uh John if you could give a staff report and um as the next step sure thank you um so I'm GNA start off by saying uh this corner um of downtown is going to be a really important corner Corner um you have anchors in downtown you have when you have an intersection that's your downtown the corners are your anchors uh right now we've got two gas stations a vacant Pharmacy and an existing Pharmacy um so this is going to dictate and I'm not saying this development necessarily or the design or anything like that but what goes in this place is going to dictate what hopkinton's downtown looks and feels like into the future so I want the board to really and I know I don't have to tell you this but I just I feel like I have to otherwise it's going to you know sit in my head I want the board to really think about it consider that and just really kind of put it in that cont of like this could really set in motion what hopkinton's downtown is for the next 15 20 30 years and beyond that um that being said you know it's mixed juice it's residential to get downtowns activated you need to put people downtown so residential is always one of the things that you want to do retail on the ground floor is also something you want to do to bring foot traffic in to have a larger tax space um to give the people who are now living downtown some someplace to go something to do uh so that's why this type of development is is an a byright use in our zoning because that is the type of development that Hopkinson has decided uh they want in their downtown so um I just kind of want to put that out there for the board to consider and just think about um it would replace a on story Pharmacy SL convenience store slash um stationary store so you'd have some more uses in here than we did before you'd have uh more people you know walking around using it and making it more active giving it the downtown a better feel um and then you know pedestrian access traffic impacts all these things really need to be considered with this type of development it's it's significantly larger than what's on there currently uh like I said it's the first Corner in downtown to really kind of be redeveloped so we want to make sure that all those things are considered so that you have that precedent for any future developments on the other Corners um and then you know finally the design of the building is also important and the plane board has has a say in that so the facade the materials the architecture all of that I want the board to really think about and consider um as they review this and and talk to people in the community about it and talk to the uh applicant and the applicants team um all those things are really important to consider which I know you know but I kind of have to say it it's my job um so that's those those are my comments I'm not going to go into the fire department and health comments you have those in your memo those are a little bit more technical a little bit more detailed um but in terms of just planning principles uh being the planning board this this is a type of development that can potentially transform downtown because it's something we don't have um you know it's it's new it's modern it's bringing people to downtown um and and I just want the board to to think about it in that context um and where they want where they want downtown to go and what it what they want it to look like in the next 15 20 years uh because this this will definitely impact that thanks John so what I would like to do is typically um part of our outline is a s sidewalk and I think I'd like to try to schedule a s sidewalk and I'd almost uh if you noticed I didn't open the public hearing at the beginning I'd almost if there's pressing questions from the board that's that's okay we can take those questions but ideally um we haven't had a peerreview consultant start the work on this so I was thinking we we could schedule the S sidewalk and then we could get into the meat of the discussion open the public hearing at the next meetings not uh not the one in um when we talk about mvta next week but the one after that get into the meat of the discussion but if there's any pressing questions from the board uh I'm I'm willing to uh you should voice those now while uh they're fresh in your mind go ahead Matthew thanks um for a lot of reasons John mentioned very excited about uh prospects here um I and I appreciate the slide that shows the inspiration uh for the architecture um one of the things that jumped out watching the animation was kind of the jump from what's currently there and it uh to the start of the building and it did look modern um and more contemporary um it did look I was wondering so the the brick on the on the corner looks a little bit more in line with a lot of the inspiration that was shown Town Hall Etc um but the intention is for the rest of the the building to be as it's shown right now with the um like the vinyl siding or whatever that is is that true or are you looking to try and blend that in more with the adjacent buildings or the historic context yeah I I I think right now that the thinking is is that you know the corner is is is special and and we were going to utilize a masonry veneer on that portion and then really the rest is it's really a a a lap siding or a cabber siding of a composite nature um you know to look to look real but it's it's actually composite so that it holds up to the weather for uh for a long time very low maintenance and then the same with the the trimwork it's it's it's a composite material that uh that's going to hold up we've got some fores to build so they may have to be uh you know preformed at some level but yeah that that those are the really the main uh finishes on the exterior that we we were planning currently and know we understand you know that that you brick and and stone and so on you know may be desirable and then I think there's some discussion that we can have with regard to that yeah Rich I think also worth mentioning is it's a little difficult to render some of the actual details you know but like that cornis detail really is a blend with that building to the side the solid surface the historic lighting you know it's difficult to to make a rendering look as soft as maybe it is so you know would would certainly look forward to kind of doing a zoom in on some of those different cross-sections to kind of explain the the thought process but not much of building or any of the building is meant to look um in a contemporary nature yeah and I you know as as we go forward you know this is you know there's a lot of a lot of detailing to do in this building uh going forward certainly and uh these tend to evolve as uh you know until they're built we're still designing so it's it there's there's certainly room for uh more detail and detailing of the building as we as we move forward thank you look forward to seeing any updates as we talk more about it Elise go ahead thank you um I live in downtown town right near this so I appreciate how much detail you guys have put into this um I'm probably in the minority here but I actually like a more modern look in downtown um but um I I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say in future meetings about the details you were just talking about with Matthew um my question is about parking I like that you guys are adding more parking than required but um have you like given any thought are there going to be certain parking spots that are blocked off is each unit going to have like an assigned spot I I'm more worried about overflow parking going into like the smaller streets like I live off Walcott Street and if there's ever a big event in downtown the parking goes all the way down and I was just curious um if you had any plan or thoughts on overflow parking the res the residential parking units will be kind of deed restricted to specific units so we've got a kind of a a residential component of parking um that will be addressed and then the remaining parking is is intended for not only public parking but also for that you know retail um retail tenant mix so will there be like designated guest spots for the residential units there will be we do have additional spaces Beyond what's required by by Zoning for for the retail not not a lot but I I I my my recollection is is in the six to eight spaces um that would be utilized for you know potential visitors and so on um spaces too which you know they they're they're certainly only for use by uh by the those who need accessibility but we do have Extra Spaces within the covered parking uh assigned to the residential for for guests okay thank you while uh if anybody's queuing up any more questions while that's happening uh I'd like to schedule a site walk um typically we TR we uh we try to get a consensus we typically try to do these Saturday morning what is uh before we do that when when is this going to be on the agenda next John uh November 4th if if the applicant would like to continue to the next meeting absolutely yes please so that gives us this Saturday or the following Saturday so it gives us the 26th or November second does uh one of those days work better or worse for board members from memory I think the Saturday is slightly better if we can keep it early no but it the 20 the Saturday the 26th or Saturday November 2nd is any preference 26th is is better my daughter's got on a away game on the second I believe anyone else I can do either all right I can do either as well uh I never know my kids sports schedule till like the Thursday the Wednesday or Thursday before they play Au basketball and the schedule doesn't come out till Wednesday or Thursday for the weekend tournaments so I'm always not sure uh but let's shoot for can uh I'm not sure who who would be is would somebody be available for a s sidewalk uh on the applicant's behalf on the 20 Saturday September 26th available certainly for the 26th and likely for the second but we'll make sure that we've got uh if not me or John second we'll be able to be there uh typically we try to do these in the morning so they we can have the rest of the day 8 is 8:30 or or 9 o' work 8 a.m. is great Parker you'd like8 anyone else have a preference I'd prefer nine my daughter has 8 a soccer yeah I coach 8 a.m. soccer too for my son I'll bend to the will of the board I prefer 9:00 am because my boys are 14 and they don't wake up at 6:00 am anymore uh so does 9:00 am on Saturday September 26th work yes it works for me works for me all right and the applicant does that work for you guys yes it does all right we uh we obviously know where the site is uh where would you recommend us Park like we park on the street probably right in the larger lot the upper one near near Central Public House uh probably come in on the Cedar Street side it's open yeah okay Cedar Street side through the chair I'll also just mention there's the public parking lot behind 2535 Main Street yep next to muffin house yeah I also have a question um before we kind of wrap this up if I could please who uh Kathleen um we have haven't opened the meeting this for public comment yet okay we were hoping to save all the public comments for next week John do I have to open the public comment to take a comment so excuse me the public hearing was open back on September 23rd when we opened the hearing and it was just continued so the public uh the public comment period is open so people can submit emails and letters it's up to the board if you want to take comment in the meeting Kathleen uh I was just concerned prior to the meeting that we'd have a a lot of public comment and I didn't want to have that okay no problem tonight and tomorrow but no no you can go ahead there's uh it doesn't look like there's hundreds of people on so feel free introduce your name and address and ask your question thank you thanks for your time um Kathleen reel um I own the property at8 Cedar Street um so I'm really just the the a butter towards the northern northern end of this property this being proposed um and I just had a question regarding um first of all I wanted to know a little bit more about the um underground parking is it completely enclosed or is it kind of an open underground parking are there like I guess open sides to it or is it completely underground yeah the goal is to have it open um with uh you know security grills at the lower level and whatever guard rails and and and you know safety measures on the on the mid level uh obviously you know in the evening when cars are driving and parking we've got to deal with uh with the headlights and those kinds of things as well so um it's a it's a work in progress with regard to exactly how we're going to screen the parking from the exterior but that's something we have to work on yeah it's just 8 seater street is probably about 2 feet off the property line um and there is a residential unit in that building so I just have some concerns about that because I originally thought that the when turn the Historical Society um meeting you would said that all the entrances were going to be on Main Street and now they're saying they're on Cedar Street so I just I just wanted to kind of clarify that um and also I just I just had some issues about some you know water you know any kind of water control any kind of you know drainage that type of stuff but that's probably down the road a little bit we're GNA get into we're gonna have a peerreview uh consultant that the town hires to review this project for that exactly and so we're gonna have a lot of discussion about that topic uh okay and I think we're gonna have that over at least maybe probably start at the next meeting and um really to to get into a lot of depth of that right now would be we're going to talk about it again so I'd prefer not to dig into too much of that yeah I understand I understand I know it's say PR preliminary right now um and just you know the proximity of the building where I am at 8 CA street is like I said about two feet off the property line so you know it's very close so I just want to make sure that it's something that you know is going to reduce the value of my property so understood okay thank you thanks for your time Mr chair if I may um just in response to um Kathleen's question we are certainly sensitive and and would welcome the opportunity to kind of work with you we've kind of pre-developed a screening plan along that side with kind of your property in mind um so if there's any additional questions you can steer them towards John and I and we be happy to meet with you and see what else we might be able to do but um the the thought is there to to make sure that that we're being a good neighbor he thank you through the chair go ahead Karen yeah I just had a quick question so I think you guys indicated you had something like 6,800 square feet of retail how many how many shops do you think are going to fit in the 6800 square feet I'll I'll deal with that Brandon um we are not sure right now we're thinking it's going to be maximum three most likely two yes it sounded pretty small to me so I was just I was just curious so okay thank you you're welcome all right I I'd like to just um so we're good on on the S sidewalk 9:00 am for the 26th I had a couple things I don't want to dig into too dig into tonight but some things off the top of my head uh I think it would be good for the applicant to do I think there's software that does this I'm hoping you guys have have software that does this so it's not a big effort but a kind of a shade analysis for any uh adjacent properties like what impact is this building GNA have on the abuts in terms of shade and like uh their house being blocked from the Sun at various points in the day another comment I have is this drawing shows the the street on both Direction on both s uh both Corners with no uh telephone polls um what's the reality going to be when it's uh actually built is is it going to be like this I I don't think that's the case I think there's going to be telephone polls and I know where you're proposing one of the driveways there's I think two telephone polls right now on Cedar Street how is that all going to work out um and I agree I think some general comments about the building materials I think anything like this downtown in such a high-profile area it's going to be super important and I I think you guys have done a good job so I'm not saying you gota I think like from my point of view it looks good I think the town wants it to look really good and so um I'm not an expert on that I know we have a design review board and everything that helps with that uh I think the proposal here is but I think that's important so uh just keep that in mind um those are the only things I had to leave kind of leave with at this point in the meeting um does anyone have any other comments or I'd like to continue this uh at this point if we can through the chair go ahead Lucia um I think in terms of the S sidewalk what I'm hoping we can get a feel for is what uh as a pedestrian what you're going to see because I think Kathleen has a very good point as a direct butter but that gets me thinking too about the pedestrians walking along what I thought was underground parking but really seems to be you know sort of at grade um and so I think as we walk if someone can give us an idea of what we're looking at or what we would be looking at given this proposal I think that would be helpful I think uh as the way as I understand it the the site the site as it exists today the the grade elevation change from like the lowest corner to the tallest cor spot to the tallest corner is 15 feet so when they're saying the heater Street side is the lowest side so that entrance would be the underground parking but really on that side it's at street level and it's if you're on the side in the air the Central Public House it's considered underground because that side is so much higher that's how I'm uh that's my understanding um but yeah I I think that will for us all to kind of understand the grades and how that will impact the site uh on a s sidewalk it' be good for us to just uh see it in person good yeah I think we we potentially could put together some site sections that might help uh explain that a bit all right terrific so if there's no like we're going to get into the meat of this at our next hearing on November 4th so unless there's any more immediate questionss or comments I'd like to entertain a motion to continue the public hearing to November 4th and the decision deadline John what would be a good date for that so the site plan doesn't need a decision deadline okay U because it's 90 days after the close of the public hearing and the storm water management permit uh believe we agreed to October 28th already but um obviously need to continue that so so November 12th okay let me let me see for the next meeting all right let me let me make let me try to make a motion here if I make a mistake uh before before anybody uh uh moves the motion John just can affirm I say it correctly I'd like an entertainment motion to continue the public hearing and sto storm water management uh permit review to November 4th and continue the storm water manage and extend the storm water management permit deadline decision deadline to November 12th so you're continuing the hearing of the site plan and stormm Water Management permit yeah then decision deadline of this of the storm man yep yep yep moved thanks Michael second all right terrific uh roll call vote Elise smosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes vicaso prti yes and Robenson is yes so we will see you on November 4th um so our next meeting is uh so to continue with the agenda I don't uh I don't know if we have anything to talk about zoning board of appeals or other notices we typically don't discuss those much uh so unless anyone has anything related to that we will our next meeting is next Monday to talk about MBTA communities and then we'll have a regularly scheduled uh planning board meeting on November 4th so we've got kind of three weeks in a row here um so hopefully we can work through uh some of the agenda uh some of our items at those next two meetings and uh I don't what is our what is our meeting schedule for December into like January 1st so December we have a meeting on the 2nd and on the 16th and then we have not scheduled the 2026 meetings yet so I will put that on an agenda to um the schedule all right so those are the only two minutes so we're going to have uh before the end of the year we're going to have uh MBTA communities on the 28th November 4th uh uh November is that the 20th no no uh November 18th then December 2nd then December 16th so we've got four more four more meetings before the end of the year uh so November 18 special town meeting so we so no meeting that night so we've got four more meetings before the end of the year all right Rob is the goal of next week's meeting to finalize everything we need for special town meeting given the timing we are in a time crunch yes um I don't think we have time to kick the can further down the road but um John maybe you have more uh I mean you could continue to the fourth but that's the last opportunity to make a recommendation unless you schedule another meeting so I mean it would be it would be in the best interest of me and my sanity to finalize it next week but I understand if there's some more conversations that need to happen so um it's really to open the hearing get get feedback have the board discuss the three options and then try and figure out a path forward that the board would look to do uh on those options you know one two or all three hopefully not all three but one or two sending them to town meeting and then we'd have to craft the the actual motion language to identify which one and then you know town meeting would choose the the language depending on which option they would want to go with I know the zba had an issue with too many people trying to dial into a zoom call um I know we l of cover yeah I talked to I talked to it and they set me up with the uh there's one license that we have for a webinar style so that's what the meeting is going to be like it's just going to be the board members uh visible and then the public will be you know the the audience I guess for a lack of better term uh they'll still be able to to raise their hand and comment they just won't be visible on the screen until they are allowed to be visible uh and that's just that's a function of allowing more people onto the call excellent thank you all right we're getting we're at the time of the meeting uh where I'd like to adjourn for this evening does would anyone like to make a motion so moved to BU Jour second all right thanks Matthew thanks Parker roll call vote Elise mayosi yes Lucia Lopez yes Matthew Rona yes Michael King yes Parker hap yes Karen Wills yes viasa prati looks like Vic yes there you are and Rob Benson is yes uh thanks everybody uh we got through quite a bit in the expedient manner so that's always good um I'll see everybody uh next Monday thank you thanks everybody byebye e e