Planning Board Meeting, April 2, 2020 - Overlook Acres, LLC
On Thursday April 2, the Planning Board will meet to continue the public hearing for Overlook Acres, LLC. The meeting begins at 7:00, and Overlook Acres is the 3rd item on the agenda.
What follows is part of the presentation materials for the Planning Board meeting, as pertain to the site layout. Following the presentation materials, there is a list of changes that have been made to the site design since the last planning board meeting on February 5, 2020. Following the list of changes, there are details on how to participate in the meeting, either by attending the online Zoom conference or by submitting written comment to be read during the meeting.
The new plans for Overlook Acres include the following modifications to the original proposal (as understood through my conversation with Pavel Espinal):
The unit count has decreased by 10%, from 324 originally to 290 now.
Building 5, the commercial building on the corner of Barnes Road and Highland Avenue has become a 1-story commercial building only. The 2 floors of residences has been eliminated.
Building 2, along Barnes Road has become a 3-story residential building. In addition, the building has been split, separated by a “connector”. The connector contains the elevator access and stairways. The “connector” is flat roofed, between the two peaked roof residential sections.
Building 4, further along Barnes and Clark Street, has also been split into two residential sections with a “connector” between.
Building 3 has been moved out of the wetlands.
Building 1 , which is near the isolated wetlands has been moved as much as possible, and now only disturbs a small part of the wetlands, which will be relocated. They couldn’t move it in any more without changing the layout of Cedar Road. Even though Cedar Road is a paper road, its layout was set some time ago. To change it, the developers would need to go to Land Court.
More underground parking is being created, bringing the underground parking from 96 spaces to 236. The surface parking has gone from 411 to 249.
The driveway access to Barnes Road has been redesigned to force a right hand turn, and is exit only. The way the driveway curves should divert car lights from windows in the houses on Barnes Road across from the driveway. There will also be added plantings to shield the lights.
The park is larger at 3450 square feet. This is comparable to the playground at Winter Island or at Gallows Hill Park. There is also a linear park along the length of Barnes Road from the park to the driveway. This is comparable to Leslie’s Retreat Park.
The retaining walls are now terraced, which reduces the height of each wall section to under 10 feet, in keeping with the zoning.
The trash area remains in the same relative location. At the last Planning Board meeting, someone asked why all the trash was in one area, and the reason given is that it cuts down on the noise from the trash truck. The truck only needs to go to one location, on the Cedar Road side of the property, instead of going to each building and coming closer to the existing neighborhood.
One thing that I remember from the Planning Board meeting was the remark that this design does not utilize the existing contours and elevation of the land, to build a neighborhood that is made up of smaller buildings. Instead, it creates 5 flat pads on which to build very large buildings, by removing lots of rock. This new design does not address that particular issue.
Instructions for joining the Planning Board meeting using the Zoom online conferencing platform:
Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, §18, and the Governor’s March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place, this public hearing of the City of Salem Planning Board is being conducted via remote participation. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but the public can listen and or view this meeting while in progress via the remote participation platform Zoom, through any one of the following ways: • Go to the website link www.zoom.us/j/592188032 or • Go to the website link www.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID # 592-188-032 or • Dial toll-free phone number 877-853-5257. When prompted enter meeting ID # 592188-032. Those only dialing in will not have access to the direct video feed of the meeting, but can follow along with the project materials available for download at www.salem.com/planning-board/agenda/planning-board-agenda-april-2-2020. Members of the public attending this meeting virtually will be allowed to make comments if they wish to do so, during the portion of the hearing designated for public comment. The Board Chair, with the assistance of City Staff, will provide all participants in the Zoom meeting an opportunity to speak and indicate whether they would like to provide public comment. Members of the public will alternatively have an opportunity to fill out a form with their public comment at www.salem.com/planning-board/agenda/planning-board-agenda-april-2-2020. All written comments received through this submission form prior to the close of public comment, will be read aloud and entered into the record.
Additional, specific information and general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and/or parties with a right and/or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the City of Salem website, at salem.com/planning-board.
A few things to keep in mind: If you plan to join the video meeting through zoom, go to Zoom.us and download the application onto your computer. Zoom is free, and can be used by anyone. It only takes a minute or so to download the software. When you join the meeting, you will be able to see everyone on the Planning Board as well as those presenting projects. In addition, the presenters will share their materials and diagrams, so you will see everything being presented. You will not be seen. Those on the Planning Board can see the login information of everyone who has joined through the videoconferencing platform.
If you choose to call into the meeting, you will not have video at all, but you can hear everything being said. Your phone number will appear in the list of meeting attendees, visible only by those on the Planning Board.
When it comes to the public comment time of the meeting, they will probably start with those on the video conference. Each will be allowed to speak. Then they will go through the phone attendees.
If you choose to submit your comments in writing, please use this form. All public comment submitted using this form will be read into the record during the public hearing.
On March 19, the Planning Board held its first meeting using Zoom. The meeting was recorded by SATV, and is available to view online at SATVONLINE.ORG. You can search for “Planning Board” to find the meeting. If you watch, you will get a feel for how the meeting will proceed. This is what you will see if you join the video conference. At the 1 hour mark, the meeting is opened up to the public. They did have a few issues with using Zoom, but were able to get comments from those on the video conference tool and those who phoned in.
These are extraordinary times, but I see so much benefit to the use of tools like Zoom. It enables residents who can’t attend meetings in person to still participate, making our city government more accessible to everyone. I hope we continue to utilize tools like these when we are back to meeting in person.
