Arlington Redevelopment Board - Jun 2nd, 2025

Meeting held at 27 Maple St. Materials were available from https://arlington.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=2277&MinutesMeetingID=1619&doctype=Agenda.

Review Meeting Minutes

The board approved minutes from their May 19, 2025 meeting, 5--0.

Docket 3849 - 259 Broadway

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says there were a lot of internal conversations about this project, and staff decided it would be best to bring it to the board. Inspectional Services and the Legal department felt that site plan review under the Mass Ave/Broadway Multifamily district was the most appropriate path. This proposal would add one dwelling to a four-unit home, for a total of five. The applicant plans to demo the garage on the properly and install two electric vehicle chargers. The applicants are proposing four off-street parking spaces, and are requesting a 20% parking reduction in exchange for a transportation demand management plan.

(Zeke Brown, Architect) Mr. Brown says the current building has four units: three on the left side, and a large one on the right. They're reconfiguring the interior to provide 5 units that are roughly equal in size. The renovation will require a second stair for egress, and there is only one means of egress currently. They plan to add fire separation and sprinklers.

The whole side of the building is being used as a parking area. There are currently five parking spaces but two of them are in the Palmer Street front yard. They're proposing to demo the garage and shift the parking out of the front setback, but there's only enough room for four spaces. Mr. Brown says they plan to unbundle parking and provide transit passes for renters who don't own a car. There are two short-term bicycle parking spaces. They're trying to minimize changes to the exterior. The building will be all-electric. There are currently two street trees, and they propose to add three more. Long term bicycle parking will be in the basement. The basement stairs are wide, and the applicant will install a ramp so bicycles can be wheeled up and down.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak asks about the location of the long-term bicycle parking.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown indicates a large room in the basement.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak suggests the applicant confer with the tree warden on species selection for the street trees.

(Eugene Benson, ARB) Mr. Benson asks what kind of HVAC system the building will have.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says they'll use air-source heat pumps.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about water heaters.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown indicates a section of the basement where they plan to put water heaters.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about the building's non-conforming setbacks.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says they plan to treat Palmer St as the front yard for zoning purposes. The side yard has a conforming setback, but the rear yard does not.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if the exterior stairs will introduce a new non-conformity.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says the stairs will be outside the side-yard setback, which is five feet.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks about the monthly fee for parking.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says they haven't decided on a rate yet, but it will probably be in the area of $50--100/month.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if they plan to have the driveway repaved.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says yes. Parts of the driveway aren't in terrible shape, but it will probably need to be repatched after construction. They'll paint lines to designate the individual parking spaces.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson thinks the outdoor cargo bike parking space will need to be covered.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says there's an area under the stair case that will be large enough to store a cargo bike. They're planning to put an outlet in the area for charging.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson thinks their proposal meets the TDM requirements for a parking reduction.

(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston asks if the building is currently occupied.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown answers in the negative.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston asks if they've considered enclosing the rear stairs.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says no, but the stairs could be enclosed.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston notes that Cambridge has a lot of reservations about exterior stairs.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says the exterior stairs will allow more windows in the apartments.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston thinks that some of the interior units have an awkward flow. The asks about layouts on the right side of the plans, on the first and second floors.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says that one of the challenges is that there's only one set of internal stairs, which is not currently legal. He wanted the stairs centrally located, so they could serve all units as a means of egress. The side of the building furthest from Palmer St. mostly uses the existing room layouts.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that some of the units have little closet space. She encourages Mr. Brown to look at that.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says there are closets in every bedroom; they're just not shown in the drawings.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston appreciates the additional greenspace the renovation will create.

(Rachel Zsembery, ARB Chair) Ms. Zsembery asks how the applicants determined which was the rear side of the building.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown notes our zoning bylaw, which allows owners of corner lots to choose which side will be the rear yard.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery has a problem with the unenclosed stairs as a second means of egress. She asks if they applicants have been in contact with the historic commission.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says they have sent elevations to the historic commission.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says she has a problem with the exterior stairs, and she'd like to see them enclosed. She thinks the stairs are trying to skirt egress requirements.

(Kin Lau, ARB) Mr. Lau says this is a three-story building which will be fully sprinklered. He believes that one means of egress would be okay and suggests the applicants discuss this with Inspectional services.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says his firm wouldn't want to take liability for not putting in a second set of stairs.

The discussion about egress continues.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks if the third floor apartment has three bedrooms. He says there are three rooms labeled "existing".

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says one of those rooms is a bedroom, one is a living room, and one is an office.

There's more discussion about the layout of the third-floor apartment.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau is fine with the changes outside of the building, and having the cargo bike parking space under the stairs. He agrees that the cargo bike space should be covered.

(Rachel Zsembery) Mr. Zsembery asks if any accessible units will be required.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says he's spoken with the director of Inspectional services, who confirmed that the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board will not require an accessible unit.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if there will be bike racks in the basement.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says they plan to have racks, which bicycles can be locked to.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson says the zoning bylaw requires the bike parking area to be exclusively for bicycles. He thinks the room will need to be partitioned.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak is okay with the exterior stairs. He's seen a lot of rear decks and stairs on buildings built during the early 20th century. He thinks it feels like a familiar think and would be appropriate here.

The chair opens the hearing for public comment.

(Susan Stamps, Grafton St) Ms. Stamps thinks it's great that the applicant is planting street trees. She'd like to see the applicant discuss tree selection with the tree warden.

There are no more comments from the public.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau is uncomfortable with the stairs. He doesn't want the stairs to be added.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston is also concerned about the stairs.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson is fine with the proposed staircase.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak is also fine with the stairs. He says this is a by-right project; if the external stairs comply with the building code, he thinks the board should allow them.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery doesn't think the stairs comply with EDR requirement two, relation of buildings to the environment. She asks if the applicants can look at options for enclosing the staircase.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says he can certainly look at that. One of his goals was to add a second means of egress in the smallest footprint possible. Enclosing the stairs will change some aspects of their construction.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says she'd like the board to collaborate with the historical commission in the future.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says the zoning for this parcel would allow the house to be demolished and replace with a four- or five-story building. He asks why the historical commission is involved. He thought the goal of the multi-family district was to create new housing.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says the historic properties inventory is independent of zoning districts, and the ARB can't remove a historic property designation. With respect to site plan review, she's still looking for something contextual. She says that appendages that are not congruent can erode a neighborhood, and changes have to be contextually considered. She notes that three board members expressed concern with the stairs.

(Zeke Brown) Mr. Brown says the second means of egress will be more of an addition, rather than just a staircase.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says that's what the board is looking for.

The board votes to continue the hearing until July 7th, 5--0.

Board Calendar Discussion

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says a number of people have approached the planning department about site plan reviews for multi-family housing, so the board may need a meeting in August.

The board discusses the proposed meeting schedule. They'll move the July 7th meeting to July 14th, and the August 4th meeting to August 11th.

The board will discuss a retreat date at their next meeting.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau would like to have another joint meeting with the Select Board, to talk about the Arlington Heights rezoning. Or perhaps having a few board members meet with the Select Board.

Open Forum

There are no speakers for tonight's open forum.

New Business

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that town meeting created an Affordable Housing Overlay Committee with Article 41. She's considering finding a designee for the planning department, rather than serving on the committee herself. She knows that most board members also serve on other committees.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery suggests an agenda item for the next meeting, to review committee membership. She notes that Alex Bagnall is the ARB's designee to the Envision Arlington Standing Committee, and he'll be stepping down.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak has two items of new business, both on the subject of middle housing. He recently became aware that Bedford allows two-family homes in all of their residential districts. Based on material from Bedford's town website, it looks like two family homes have always been allowed, but there are layers of additional requirements, so no one ever built them. In 2023, Bedford's town meeting removed the extra layer of regulations, so the general rule is "you can build a two-family home under the same dimensional regulations as a one-family". It seems to have been relatively uncontroversial there, and passed town meeting 137--48.

Mr. Revilak also came across a bill in the North Carolina State Legislature. The bill defines "middle housing" as townhouses, two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-plexs. Municipalities would have to allow middle housing in all districts zoned for residential use, provided the area is served with water or sewer. Mr. Revilak says this is just a bill, and he plans to keep tabs on it during the coming months.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery asks what counts as water and sewer service.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak says the water and sewer requirement contained an enumerated list of conditions, but he can't recall them offhand.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson says he's spoken with James Fleming and Andy Greenspon regarding their home occupation article. He'd like to work with them on the proposal so it could be brought to town meeting next year.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery suggests Mr. Benson check with Jaclyn Munson from the town's legal department.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks if Mr. Greenspon and Mr. Fleming plan to bring the article themselves. He asks if they're trying to circumvent the public process.

(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says that having Mr. Fleming and Mr. Greenspon discuss their proposal at an ARB meeting would be a public process.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak says that Massachusetts town meetings are modeled on direct democracy, and one element of that is that any ten registered voters are allowed to petition the a town to change its bylaws. He values that aspect of town government. While public processes are useful, Mr. Revilak would not like to see that tacked on as an additional requirement.

Meeting adjourned.