Planning Board

City of Lowell - Planning Board Planning Board Meeting Minutes Monday. November 20 6:30 p.m. City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall City of Lowell, 375 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA Remote Participation Optional via Zoom Note: These minutes are not completed verbatim. For a recording of the meeting, visit www.ltc.org Members Present Chairman Linnehan Vice Chair Frechette Member Cheng Members Absent Member Lockhart Member Gallivan Member Dolan-Wilson Others Present Peter Cutrumbes, Assistant Planner A quorum of the Board was present. Chairman Linnehan called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM I. Minutes for Approval 11/6/2023 Minutes Motion: Motion to approve the minutes by G. Frechette, seconded by T. Linnehan. The vote was unanimous (2-0). Member Cheng was not present at the November 6 hearing and could not vote. II. New Business Special Permit – 9 Central Street 01852 Masis Staffing Solutions, LLC has applied to the Lowell Planning Board to open a professional office in the ground-floor of the existing building at 9 Central Street. The subject property is located in the Downtown Mixed-Use (DMU) zoning district. The proposal requires Special Permit approval from the Lowell Planning Board per Article 12.7 of the Lowell Zoning Ordinance. Please note the legal ad did not run for this proposal, requiring its continuance to the February 5, 2024 meeting. On Behalf: None In Support: None In Opposition: None Discussion: None Motion: Motion to continue the matter to February 5, 2024 by T. Linnehan, seconded by C. Cheng. The vote was unanimous (3-0). Special Permit -- 44 Lundberg Street, 01852 Edilson A. Forte has applied to the Lowell Planning Board to split the existing lot into two lots and construct a new single-family home on the newly created lot. The subject property is located in the Traditional Single-Family (TSF) zoning district. The proposal requires Special Permit approval from the Lowell Planning Board per Section 5.1.1(7) to reduce the required frontage. On Behalf: J. Geary, the applicant’s lawyer, and M. Hamor, the applicant’s engineer, appeared on behalf. The applicant, Edilson Forte, was also present. J. Geary stated the property is currently owned by the Oliveira estate. J. Geary noted that E. Forte is a well-known mason in the city. J. Geary informed the Board that the property was previously granted Variances by the Zoning Board of Appeals. J. Geary summarized the application and subsequent materials, including a site plan and landscaping plan. The Planning Board application is to allow the lot to be subdivided with reduced frontage. J. Geary stated that the minimum frontage is 70 feet, but that each subdivided lot will only have 55 feet of frontage. He also noted that most houses in the neighborhood have less than 50 feet of frontage. He also provided an exhibit demonstrating that most lots in the neighborhood are of similar size to the subdivided lots (5,500 square feet). J. Geary stated that the project helps meet the Master Plan goal of providing more housing in the city. M. Hamor provided a brief presentation discussing the Site Plan. Both lots would be 5,500 square feet. The lot with the new house will utilize an existing curbcut for its driveway and provide two new shade trees. In Support: William Faulkner (47 Lundberg Street), spoke in support of the project. Linda Oliveira-Brusso, the daughter of the owner, spoke in support. She noted that her uncle lives next to the site, and was concerned that the house will not be built close to him. She stated there will be about 30 feet between the two houses. In Opposition: None Discussion: G. Frechette thanked Attorney Geary and Dylan for discussing the neighborhood lot sizes and frontages in their presentation and comments. He noted that both the lot size and frontage are very consistent with the neighborhood, and that the proposed new build will be well setback from the existing homes on either side. G. Frechette asked M. Hamor about the size of the existing curbcut. M. Hamor stated it is 9 feet wide. C. Cheng concurred with G. Frechette. T. Linnehan asked about the Engineering comments regarding the existing trees on the site. J. Geary said the intent is to keep all the trees, but it depends on their root systems. One of the tree’s roots may come close to the foundation. T. Linnehan noted that Engineering also asked about moving the driveway to accommodate one more space. J. Geary said they do not want to be closer to the existing home on that side. T. Linnehan stated that he was in favor of the project. Motion: Motion to approve the Special Permit with the following conditions by G. Frechette, seconded by T. Linnehan 1. The design and scale of the house presented at the meeting will stay the same  2. If trees on site need to be removed, the applicant shall submit a landscape plan to be approved by DPD. The vote was unanimous (3-0). Special Permit -- 730-732 Lawrence Street 01852 Gladys Cruz has applied to the Lowell Planning Board to convert the existing structure at 730-732 Lawrence Street from a two-family to a three-family. The subject property is located in the Traditional Mixed-Use (TMU) zoning district. The proposal requires Special Permit approval from the Lowell Planning Board per Article 12.1 for 3 dwelling units on one lot. On Behalf: Hooshi Afshar, of Taj Engineering, spoke on behalf of the applicant. He noted that the applicant is the new owner of the building. He stated that there was a third unit built in the building a long time ago, and that this proposal is to legalize the unit. He noted that each unit has two means of egress. He stated that the existing units are low-income, with one sponsored by CTI and one sponsored by LHA. He stated that there is only one car between the two units currently. He confirmed that, as the unit is pre-existing, no significant work will be taking place on the exterior or interior. H. Afshar said that the Building Commissioner noted that the third unit has existed as built for some time. H. Afshar briefly went over the floor plans. He stated that low-income housing is much needed in the city, and that the unit will not have an adverse impact to the neighborhood. In Support: None In Opposition: None Discussion: T. Linnehan confirmed that they received the email from the Building Commissioner. However, he noted the email stated that the owner will also have to add emergency lighting and receive a Certificate of Inspection. H. Afshar stated that the applicant is agreeable to this. T. Linnehan also discussed comments from the fire department, which requires emergency lighting and CO2 detectors to be installed on site. He noted that the project does not need a sprinkler system. H. Afshar reiterated that the current owner recently bought the building and wants to make sure the unit is legalized. C. Cheng asked about the Variances for min. lot area per dwelling unit and min. off-street parking the project requires. H. Afshar said they are going before the Zoning Board next week. C. Cheng expressed concerns about the parking requirement. He stated that he understands the current renters only have one car, but that there could be different occupants in the future. G. Frechette said he is familiar with the property, and is well-aware of the fact that the unit has existed illegally for a while. He noted that the area is congested parking wise, but that the building has a tendency to attract tenants that do not drive. He said it has been functioning illegally as an apartment for quite some time without issue, and that he thinks its a good idea to legalize it. T. Linnehan said he will let the ZBA address the parking variance. He said he gives the applicant credit for legalizing the unit. He believes that future tenants will know that there is no off-street parking. Motion: G. Frechette motioned to approve the Special Permit with the following condition, seconded by C. Cheng. 1. The third unit must be fully compliant with City Code as noted by the Building Commissioner’s comments The vote was unanimous (3-0). III. Notices IV. Further Comments from Planning Board Members Rourke Bridge Replacement G. Frechette discussed his role on the advisory committee for the Rourke Bridge replacement, where he attended a meeting on November 15. He said that the project is on schedule, and the 25% design submission is complete, with the environmental assessment coming up next. The project will then be advertised to be procured next year as a “Design-Build” project. He said the goal is for a shovel to be breaking dirt for the 3rd quarter of 2025 with a completion date of 2028. The project has an escalation clause of $190 million. He also noted that there will be a slight adjustment at Old Ferry Road to meet the bridge. There is a public meeting scheduled for 12/6 at 6 PM mass.gov/rourke-bridge-replacement-project. V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn by G. Frechette, seconded by C. Cheng. The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 PM.