By Gazette Staff
The Zoning Committee of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held its most recent meeting on Wednesday, January 7, via Zoom. Chair David Baron presided over the session that also was attended by fellow committee members Alcurtis Clark, Willie Mitchell, Kevin Moloney, Peg Preble, David Seldin, Kevin Leary, Kendra Halliwell, Purple Reign, Alessia Shelley, and Jerry O’Connor.
Melissa Beltran, Director of Constituent Services for Ward 6 City Councillor Ben Weber, also was on hand for the meeting.
The first matter on the agenda was a request from the owner of 101-103 and 107 School St. to expand the first-floor units into the basement.
The structure at 101-103 School is a two-story, duplex with two apartments on each side. The proposed expansion of the first floor units in each would add three bedrooms, a full bath, and an additional living room space.
The structure at 105-107 School St. is a three-story duplex. The owner is seeking to expand only the first-floor unit at 107 into the basement, which would add two more bedrooms.
Tim Burke, the architect for the project, told the members that the existing basements in these buildings are dry and a “decent amount” above ground. “These are rentals and the plan is to keep them as rentals,” Burke said. “These new apartments would be great for use as family units.”
Burke said the current basement windows will have to be redesigned in order to satisfy the fire codes as a means of egress.
Baron said a letter was received from the Stonybrook Neighborhood Association (SNA) which generally was favorable toward the project. Carolyn Royce from the SNA was on hand for the meeting and suggested that “it would be a good idea to consider making energy upgrades to the buildings.” Clark also urged the owner to consider making energy upgrades as part of the renovation project.
Royce further suggested adding a sprinkler system for the three-story units at 105-107.
“Our main concern is parking in the neighborhood,” said one of the neighbors who was on hand for the hearing. Burke said it may be possible to add some off-street parking spaces that the owner is considering.
Eryn-Ashleigh Bailey, a new member of the JPNC, asked about disruption to the neighborhood from the construction. Burke noted that the impact will be minimal.
The Zoning Committee unanimously voted for a favorable recommendation.
The next matter involved the project slated for 282-294 Hyde Park where the developer, Arx/Urban, is seeking to build a 48-unit, mixed-income rental apartment project on a 12,340 sq. ft. lot that will involve razing the existing two buildings, which Baron described as “abandoned retail space,” on the site. A total of nine variances are needed to enable the project to move forward.
Adam Giordano, Director of Development with Arx/Urban, and Daniel Moll, a principal with Arx/Urban, were on hand to outline the scope of the project and to answer questions.
The property at 282-294 Hyde Park Ave. had been owned by the Slotnick family, where they operated their business, Alco Auto Parts, for almost five decades, and who were well-known for their community involvement and philanthropy.
Moll told the members that Arx/Urban has been around for 10 years and specializes in multifamily and mixed-use projects in the Boston area, of which the firm has completed 25 projects with a focus on affordable housing. He noted that Arx/Urban is a long-term owner and operator of its properties.
“This is our first foray in Jamaica Plain,” Moll said.
Giordano said that 90 percent of the 48 units will be affordable housing for tenants with incomes ranging from 30% to 80% of the area median income (AMI), with the rest at market rate. Moll noted that this range of affordability allows for upward mobility within the building so that if a tenant’s income increases, they will be able to remain in the building as units become available.
Giordano highlighted that the building, which will be fully-electric, will be designed and constructed to meet “peak sustainability” standards. He also added that his firm often seeks to commission local artists to install art on the site.
The building will be six stories high and will consist of nine studio units, 20 1-bedrooms, 14 2-bedrooms, and five 3-bedrooms. There will be 17 parking spaces and 1:1 bike storage. Giordano said his firm has analyzed parking data from its other properties and that 0.3-0.4 parking spaces per unit is the optimal amount for properties located in a Transit Oriented District (TOD) such as this project.
Giordano said Arx/Urban has had 11 meetings thus far with city officials and community groups since September, a brisk schedule that, said Baron, “shows that the city has been shortening the timeline for Article 80 projects.”
Giordano then discussed the changes to the project that have occurred since the inception of the community process, including a reduction from the originally proposed height of seven stories, adding a stepback design for the upper floor, and reducing the overall footprint of the building to increase the rear setback and the width of the sidewalk along Hyde Park Ave.
Giordano also noted that there will be a community room available for neighborhood groups.
However, neighbors from the adjacent streets, including Wachusett, Northbourne, and Eldridge, in the Woodbourne neighborhood district, while supportive of the development of affordable housing in JP, expressed their concerns about the size and height of the building, as well as the effects on parking and traffic in the area.
“Woodbourne is on the National Register of Historic Neighborhoods as a very specific neighborhood designed to be integrated with the natural landscape and the trees,” said one resident. “A building this tall — which will be 65 feet in height in an area zoned for 35 feet — and that has this much mass will change the character of the neighborhood.”
In addition, she said, “It is really dangerous to bike on Hyde Park Ave. and it is pie-in-sky thinking that 17 parking spaces will accommodate all of the cars that will be needed for the tenants, which will result in cars overrunning our neighborhood.
“We’d also like to see a commercial space in this building,” she added. “Hyde Park is a dead zone for commerce.”
However, other speakers had no problem with the size of the building. “This is the right scale for the urban spine of Hyde Park Ave.,” said Halliwell. “We want to see density. It is an elegant design, it’s clean, and it takes the neighborhood context into consideration and applies it to this site in particular. In addition, the proportion of smaller units is good because smaller units are hard to find in JP.”
A representative from the Forest Hills Neighborhood Assoc. (FHNA) spoke in favor of the project and noted that the FHNA supports the project.
Another neighborhood resident spoke in favor of the project because of the affordable housing that it brings to the area. “If we can’t build this type of project on Hyde Park Ave., where else can we do it?” he said.
The committee voted in favor of recommending the project, with only Clark opposed and Preble abstaining.
The last matter on the agenda involved an application from the owners of a second-floor condo at 185 Wachusett St. seeking variances to expand their living space into the attic.
Stephen Daly, the homeowner, said the additional space will create two bedrooms and a bathroom to add separate sleeping spaces for his family’s growing children.
After two direct abutters, the owner of the first-floor condo unit, and the tenants of the first-floor condo unit all spoke in favor of the project, the committee members unanimously voted in support of the application.
All three of the applicants now will go before the full JPNC to seek the council’s approval and then must go before the City of Boston Zoning Board of Appeals in order to obtain their variances.