Arlington Redevelopment Board - Mar 2nd, 2026

Meeting held at 27 Maple St. Materials were available from https://arlingtonma.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=1588.

Board member Rachel Zsembery was unable to attend tonight's meeting. We also welcome new ARB member Vince Baudoin.

Review Meeting Minutes

The board approved minutes from their Feb 2nd and Feb 9th, 2026 meetings. 3--0--1 (Mr. Baudoin abstained, as he was not a board member during those meetings).

Arlington Heights Neighborhood Action Plan Implementation Committee

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker tells the board that the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Action Plan Implementation Committee has a seat for a representative of the Housing Corporation of Arlington, and this seat hasn't been filled for some time. HCA employee Andrew Wofford has applied for the position.

The board approved Mr. Wofford's nomination, 4--0.

Docket 3673 - 455 Mass Ave

This docket involves facade changes to a previously-permitted redevelopment at the corner of Mass Ave and Medford streets.

(Kin Lau, ARB Chair) Mr. Lau notes that Mr. Baudoin is a new member, and will not be able to vote on this docket. Three votes will be required to approve the changes.

(John Murphy, Developer) Mr. Murphy tells the board that he took the board's feedback from the previous hearing, and updated the rendering accordingly. He asks the board to approve the facade changes.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak thinks the facade changes are okay as submitted.

(Vince Baudoin, ARB) Mr. Baudoin asks about the inclusion of a header over the Verizon storefront window, which was discussed at the last hearing. He thinks the cornice is an improvement, and suggests a minor change to the overhang.

(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston says the project has progressed, and she has no further comments.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau thinks the latest rendering is a great improvement. He shares Mr. Baudoin's concern about the header over Verizon's storefront. He asks if the applicant can address this.

(John Murphy) Mr. Murphy says he can do that.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau asks that a new sign package be submitted, if the existing signs have to be replaced at any point.

(John Murphy) Mr. Murphy agrees to submit a new sign package if that happens.

There's more discussion about exterior materials.

The board approve the special permit, with the condition that the applicant add a header above the Verizon storefront window, 3--0--1 (Mr. Baudoin abstained).

Docket 3881 - 259 Broadway

The applicant is proposing a five story mixed-use building with 14 apartments and ground floor commercial space.

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker tells the board that the MBTA has announced service changes to the 87 and 350 buses. The 87 will run into Arlington Center seven days per week. Ms. Ricker cannot confirm that the 87 will meet the 30-minute frequency requirement until the MBTA releases an updated schedule. She outlines the changes the applicant has made for this iteration.

(Christopher Mulhern, Architect) Mr. Mulhern says this is a five-story mixed use building with retail space on the ground floor and four stories of apartments above. The retail entrance is on Broadway and the residential entrance is on Palmer St. 61% of the ground floor is commercial space. The front hall on the first floor will have a transit display and there will be ramped access for trash removal. They've also provided turn analysis for the parking area and a parking study.

Floors two and three will have four apartments per floor. Floors four and five are stepped back and will have three apartments per floor. Two units on the fourth floor will have private outdoor spaces. The overall building height is 56 feet, eight inches. The roof will have a 37-panel solar array. Mechanicals will be screened and all venting goes through the roof. The siding will mimic residential clapboard and the applicants have discussed tree species with the tree warden. TDM measures provided include cargo bike parking spaces, e-bike charging facilities, and unbundling parking.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak asks about the length of the cargo bike parking spaces.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says he wasn't able to find cargo bike parking standards, and was planning on 5.5 feet.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak thinks 5.5 feet is too short. He feels that 7' is more typical.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says that one entire wall of the bike parking room will be devoted to cargo bike parking. It will be possible to fit two 7' bikes there.

(Steve Revilak) Since bicycle storage will be accessed via an elevator, Mr. Revilak asks if a 7' cargo bike will fit in the elevator.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says the elevator is large enough to fit a medical gurney, and those are 7' long.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak is satisfied with the TDM plan the applicants have provided. He notes that the bylaw requires a 24' drive isle and says that's something the board will have to discuss.

(Rob Peterson, Attorney) Mr. Peterson notes there's a tradeoff between the width of the drive isle and the amount of commercial space available.

Mr. Revilak notes that the applicants are a little under the 50% solar requirement. He acknowledges that the board is asking for a lot on the roof, between venting and mechanicals. He suggests mounting a few solar panels on trellises above those systems as a way to get to 50%.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern believes they can get to 50% by mounting panels on top of the elevator head house.

(Vince Baudoin, ARB) Mr. Baudoin watched a recording of the previous hearing and he thinks the changes are smart. The board is asking a lot for the first floor. He agrees that the drive isle is tight, but the applicant's studies show it is doable. Mr. Baudoin thinks the color pallet is good. He thinks the fourth floor step-back is producing an undesirable effect, but it's a bylaw requirement. He asks where trash will be placed for pickup.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says the hauler will move bins to their truck, and then return the empty bins.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin asks if trash will be picked up from Palmer St. or Broadway.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says he expects trash trucks to back up into the driveway on Palmer St.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin thinks they meet the requirements of the TDM plan.

(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston wasn't present for the Feb 12th hearing but watched a recording of it. She believes the board made a request for a marketing study of the commercial space, and asks about potential business tenants. She thinks the combined spaces are an improvement.

(Rob Peterson) Mr. Peterson says they re-did the commercial space and it's now 1800 square feet. The Town's Economic Development Coordinator told him that's in line with what businesses are asking for.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston asks how far the third-floor cornices protrude.

(Christoper Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern says it's about sixteen inches.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says those cornices render very dramatically. She agrees with Mr. Baudoin that the fourth-floor step-back isn't serving as intended. She asks the applicants to reconsider the cornices.

(Christopher Mulhern) Mr. Mulhern asks if Ms. Korman-Houston would prefer something without the bend.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that would do it.

(Kin Lau, ARB Chair) Mr. Lau would like the applicants to provide six parking spaces rather than five. He indicates an area where he thinks a sixth space could fit. He also asks for a 22' wide drive isle, and thinks that could be accomplished by moving one of the hallway walls. Mr. Lau is okay with the third-floor cornice but suggests bringing out the cornice above the first floor.

The chair opens the hearing for public comments.

(Asia Kepka, 17 Silk St) Ms. Kepka says she's less concerned with the visual and more concerned with the practical. There are fourteen apartments and a business. She's wondering if trash management has been done correctly. She only sees room for ten containers and thinks that trash will obstruct the street. She asks where the loading dock will be and where snow will be put. She says that Broadway is really congested and snow will obstruct pedestrians and vehicle traffic. She asks where food delivery and ride share will happen.

(Amanda May, 261 Broadway) Ms. May is concerned about parking. She expects there to be five to eight more cars parking on Broadway and Palmer St., which isn't a wide street. She thinks that people from the business will park in front of her house, and there will be reduced visibility due to the setback. She thinks that a 22' drive isle is an important requirement. She says she supports more housing, but this isn't it.

(Gerry Leonard, 44 Palmer St) Mr. Leonard says we have a lot where a building can be built, but this is pushing the limits of the lot. He thinks the bonus requirement for the fifth floor is ambiguous. He asks if the commercial space will be valid for the town. He says the apartments will be small and the lack of parking will be unattractive to people. He thinks people will park on the street. He's worried that the bike parking isn't adequate. He'd rather have a four-story building, or the existing building renovated.

There are no more comments from the public.

The board discusses the third-floor cornice. They're okay with leaving it as proposed.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak wants to talk about TDM and parking. Mr. Revilak says that Boston-area traffic is bad, and that no one likes it. The only way address that is by having people drive less, which TDM tried to achieve through a combination of carrots and sticks. Transportation is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in both the Commonwealth and the United States, so TDM is as much climate policy as transportation policy.

Mr. Revilak says that people's housing needs change throughout the course of their life, and that a person looking for a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage will not be interested in these apartments. He expects the tenants to be younger adults, or people downsizing.

The board discusses conditions for the project, which are:

• Adding a sixth parking space. If this is not possible, the applicants will have to come back to the board.
• Widening the drive isle to 22', or as close to that as possible.
• Adding solar panels to achieve 50% coverage.

These items will be subject to administrative approval.

Site plan review application approved, 4--0.

Docket 3892 - 126 & 128 Broadway

This docket is a site plan review hearing for a mixed use building with 28 apartments and 3568 square feet of commercial space.

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says the board previously reviewed this as a proposal for 126 Broadway, which was withdrawn. The applicant has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for 128 Broadway and are resubmitted the proposal for a building that uses both sites. They are proposing 3568 square feet of commercial space, 28 apartments, and ten residential parking spaces.

(Tim Johnson, Architect) Mr. Johnson says he was in front of the board last year. His client has subsequently purchased the property next door, which makes that combined lot size approximately 10,000 square feet. 60% of the ground floor space will be commercial. They plan to use the existing curb cut on Everett St and have a one-way drive isle.

The commercial entrance will be on Broadway. They're proposing eight two-bedroom and twenty one-bedroom apartments, along with new plantings and bike parking. They'll keep three street trees and will plant three more. There will be one accessible parking space, a transit screen, 34 bicycle parking spaces, and a workout room on the ground floor. Each unit will have a Juliet balcony and all units will be serviced by an elevator. There will be a 7.5' step back on the Broadway side of the building, and solar on 50% of the roof. The building will be all electric, with a 10.5' finished height in the commercial space. The overall building height will be 48', using the architectural style the board endorsed for the earlier version of the proposal. The exterior will be fiber cement lap siding and there will be open parking in the rear of the building. They're proposing six affordable units.

(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston would like to understand which bonus approach the applicants are using to get the fifth floor, but she's okay with either one. She thinks the commercial space is 28 square feet shy of meeting the 60% requirement. She also believes they're three street trees short.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says their landscape architect worked with the tree warden. There is a phone pole with a 45 degree guy wire, which limits where they can add trees. They're challenged by the distance between trees.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston asks about their approach to trash removal.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says the trash management plan is on their to-do list. He thinks they'll likely need something larger than the two cubic yard dumpster shown on the plan.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston believes they are also short on bike parking.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says they were proposing 34 but 42 are required. That was an oversight on his part and they can get to 42 spaces.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin says they'll need one bike parking space for the commercial use.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston asks where the bike charging station will be located, and if there will be access from the commercial space to the guy.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says that more of an egress route. It will be a fire-rated hallway and doors.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston would like Mr. Johnson to talk through the photometric plan.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says the exterior lighting is predominantly around the two entrances. There will not be balcony lights, and lights in the parking area will be on motion sensors.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says she saw both a 0.7 and 0.0 at the property line and wanted to understand the different conditions.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says the difference is whether the motion-sensor lights are on or off.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston asks if they're planning to use brick on the ground floor.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson says it will be full-depth brick.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin wishes the rendering were more cheerful, but the choice of materials is good. He thinks the commercial entrance on Broadway is a little short, and even a few more inches of height would be an improvement. He sees a parapet at the fifth floor but not the third, and suggests adding a little more height at the third floor. Mr. Baudoin thinks the applicants have provided three TDM measures but would like to have a discussion about the number of charging stations.

(Michael Cabral, Attorney) Regarding the earlier question about trash management, Mr. Cabral says they're planning to have trash removed once per week.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr Baudoin asks about the tree on Broadway, and suggests adding another one at the corner, if it makes sense.

Mr. Baudoin thinks a wider drive isle will provide for easier maneuvering. He suggests making the transformer less visible, and asks about runoff capture on Broadway.

(Tim Johnson) Mr. Johnson asks if Arlington uses underground transformers.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that 1025 Mass Ave has one.

(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak says the 20' wide drive isle is less than the bylaw requires. The board just asked for 22' feet at 259 driveway, and he'd like to see 22' here for consistency.

Mr. Revilak says that the board cannot give the applicant permission to remove a street tree for the exit driveway on Broadway. That is a separate process, which is outside the board's purview.

Mr. Revilak would like to talk through the bonus provisions. The affordable housing bonus would allow the applicants to add a fifth floor in exchange for providing 50% more affordable units. That's just a height bonus, and a 15' front setback would be required. The mixed-use bonus allows a fifth floor in exchange for providing a commercial use on 60% of the ground floor, and it also allows the building to come up to the front lot line. Mr. Revilak feels the applicants need the mixed-use bonus for this proposal. He'd like to see them focus on that and provide the 15% affordable units that the bylaw requires.

(Kin Lau, ARB Chair) Mr. Lau wants more parking spaces. He's like to see the applicants provide 14 spaces, so they'd be asking for a 50% parking reduction. He suggests removing the driveway entrance of Everett St and widening the one on Broadway. This might require removing the exercise room.

Mr. Lau doesn't think the applicants have provided a large enough trash room, but he thinks that will be achievable by reorganizing the first floor. He's reluctant to grant more than a 50% parking reduction.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin thinks that part of the MBTA Communities zoning was to allow the board to provide options to automobile transportation.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says that the Housing Corporation of Arlington typically uses one-half space per dwelling, so he feels that would work.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak isn't opposed to having a little more parking, but he wouldn't condition the project on providing 14 spaces.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston thinks more parking would be nice, but she wouldn't make 14 spaces a hard number.

The chair opens the hearing to public comment.

(Sandeep Singh, 89 Everett St) Mr. Singh says it seems like some iteration of this project will eventually go through. It seems like these apartments are designed for single people or couples rather than for families with children. Mr. Singh says he has a friend that works for the Arlington DPW, and that friend thinks projects like these are doing to overwhelm the sewer system. There are consequences to these developments. They'll increase demand for public resources and people will sell their homes. These are two houses that are both over 100 years old. Mr. Singh isn't confident that there will be attention to safety. He says there's a lot of traffic on Broadway already, and he's not sure these changes are positive for the community. He would ask about the number of units the developers plan to sell.

(Asia Kepka, Silk St) Ms. Kepka would like to ask the board to be thoughtful. She's very concerned about pedestrian safety. She's seen older people fall down while crossing Broadway, and some people don't have the option of walking. There's a bus stop next to the property, and there's snow that blocks the crosswalks. She's concerned about accessible parking, service vehicles, seniors walking to the food pantry, Amazon deliveries, and trash. She thinks the building will limit visibility and be extremely dangerous.

(Susan Stamps, Grafton St) Ms. Stamps love this project. There are 28 small units and we have a shortage of that. She's concerned about street trees, and the plan seems to be skimping on them. The bylaw requires street trees to be planted every 25' or a payment made to the tree fund. She notes that the removal of a public shade tree will require a public hearing.

(Aram Hollman, 12 Whittemore St) Mr. Hollman says this project is like a nuclear reactor because we haven't figured out where to put the waste. He says it pushes things to the max and there's no room for error. He says it's poor design and he's appalled by the board member who suggested the applicant only provide 15% affordable units, because Arlington needs more affordable housing.

There are no more comments from the public.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says he'll need more than someone's opinion to change his feelings about infrastructure. Water usage is much lower than in the past, and all of these projects are reviewed by the town engineer.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak notes that Director Ricker has interdepartmental meetings to review these projects before they come before the board. He asks if anyone from the DPW expressed concern about water and sewer capacity here.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that DPW had questions about trash and trash removal, but nothing about water and sewer.

(Steve Revilak) Regarding affordable units, Mr. Revilak agrees that Arlington needs more of them, but he doesn't believe that future renters should be responsible for paying for extra affordable units.

The board summarizes what they'd like the applicant to address during the next hearing. This includes:

• Consider planting some shade trees on the property
• Providing 42 bicycle parking spaces
• Adding 28 square feet to the commercial space, so it uses 60% of the ground floor
• Widening the drive isle to 22'
• Consider removing the curb cut on Everett St
• Moving the transformer, or screening it
• Adding a few more solar panels, because they're currently at 46% coverage
• Providing a trash management plan
• Increasing the height of the commercial entrance on Broadway
• Providing additional parking spaces.

There's discussion about parking and curb cuts. Board members agree that this needs to be looked at holistically.

The board votes to continue the hearing to April 6, 4--0

Warrant Article Hearings

This is the first night of warrant article hearings for the spring town meeting.

Article 39 - Administrative Clarification to Accessory Dwelling Units

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says this article will bring the town's ADU bylaw into compliance with state requirements.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak thanks staff for including the Attorney General's document in the meeting materials. He believes the changes proposed are consistent with the AG's memo.

There are no comments from the public.

Article 40 - Zoning Map Change Requirements

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says this article will require first class mail notifications for map changes, rather than certified mail. She thinks this will remove a barrier to citizen participation, and state law has no separate notice requirements for map changes.

There are no comments from the public.

Article 41 - Administrative Correction to Multi-Family Housing Overlay District Standards

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says this article proposes to delete a sentence that's no longer needed.

There are no comments from the public.

Article 47 - Definition of Building Height

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says this article would change the way building height is measured in the flood plain overlay district. It was proposed by ZBA chair Christian Klein.

(Christian Klein, ZBA Chair) Mr. Klein says this article came out a ZBA case where someone was building a new home in the flood plain overlay district. Building code prohibits habitable areas from being located below the base flood elevation, and they were having challenges with building height.

(Shaina Korman-Houston) Notes that the floodplain overlay district is based on the definitions of 2010 Flood Insurance Rate Maps, but those maps aren't the newest version.

There's a discussion about how flood insurance maps are referenced in the bylaw. Another warrant article is proposing revisions to the flood plain overlay district, and the board will have further discussions in the context of that article.

The board discusses wording of the main motion, and votes to strike item (C) from 5.3.20.

There are no further comments from the public.

Article 48 - Residential Parking

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says the purpose of Article 48 is to clarify that certain parking requirements also apply to the multifamily overlay district.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak believes these changes are consistent with how the board has been interpreting parking requirements in the multi-family district.

There are no comments from the public.

The board votes to continue warrant article hearings to March 9th.

Open Forum

(Liz Reisberg, 20 Shawnee Road) Ms. Reisberg has lived here for 35 years, and she has concerns about increased housing. She asks how guidelines are applied and is concerned that new buildings are not consistent with existing streetscapes. She thinks the board needs to focus on the character of the community. She'd love to live in a community where she didn't need a car but thinks it's unrealistic to think that people will move in without them. She thinks people will park on the street. There are cars parked legally and illegally around the high school. There is the reality, and we're inviting more on-street parking. She'd like to see people using cars less.

(Susan Stamps, Grafton St) Ms. Stamps talked with the 126--128 Broadway applicants after their hearing. She says there was a federal LIDAR survey which shows that Arlington's tree canopy has diminished. She had a conversation with the developers and they were interested in what she had to say.

(Christian Klein) Mr. Klein says the town has had a zoning bylaw working group in the past, and it provided a nice forum for people in town to discuss changes to the zoning bylaw. The group mostly looked at smaller things that needed to be tweaked. He asks if something like that could be done again.

(Kin Lau) Mr. Lau says the board will discuss this at their next retreat.

New Business

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says the department has mailed notice to RB Farina, asking them to provide a timeline for replacing the windows. Failure to respond could result in fines.

Meeting adjourned at 22:10.