Holley Place project: Concerns reiterated and public hearing is continued

SALISBURY — The Planning and Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) public hearing on an application to build an affordable housing apartment building in Lakeville continued with a second session on Zoom on Monday, March 22. P&Z Chair Michael Klemens announced at the start of the meeting (which ended up running for four-hours and 20-minutes) that the hearing would be continued to Wednesday, April 14.

Chris Smith, the attorney for the applicant (the Salisbury Housing Committee), opened with additional information in response to questions that were raised during the first session of the public hearing, on March 8.

Among the materials provided were a new rendering of the front of the building at 11 Holley St. and Millerton Road, looking from the west on the latter, that included a utility pole that was not in an earlier version.

There was a rear view of the building at night, adjusted to reflect a modified lighting plan.

Kenton McCoy, a historic architect appearing on behalf of the applicant, said the building design is appropriate architecturally while using modern materials.

McCoy said the plan “references the neighborhood context but doesn’t copy it.”

McCoy said he was waiting for a report from the State Historic Preservation Office as regards the wall of Bicentennial Park, the site of the proposed apartments.

Parking, zoning, fire lanes

Parking emerged as a theme for the evening. There were questions from the commission about how many spaces would be allotted to tenants and how many for the public.

Attorney Daniel Casagrande, representing a group of intervenors, began his presentation with a list of instances where he maintained the application does not meet the town’s zoning regulations.

He said the location is “unsuitable and completely incompatible with other uses.”

Planner Brian Miller, appearing for the intervenors, spoke about alternative sites for affordable housing, particularly the Pope property along Salmon Kill Road in Salisbury and 414 Millerton Road, next to the Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station.

Miller said the Pope site provides “walkability” to services such as a grocery store in a way the Holley Street site does not. He said 414 Millerton Road already has housing in place and has the potential for expansion.

Engineer Dainius Virbickas, appearing for the intervenors, noted what he said were deficiencies in the application as regards technical reports. 

He brought up the question of whether the excavation needed for construction would exceed regulatory limits.

Virbickas also raised the question of whether the fire lanes identified in the application were adequate for emergency vehicles and delivery trucks. (The fire lanes were the second theme of the evening.)

Miller came back for a discussion of parking. He calculated the loss of the Bicentennial Park parking lot would result in a “parking deficiency” of 61 spaces for businesses and residents of Lakeville and would make it difficult for businesses to function.

Miller said, “What you don’t want to do is replace a beneficial use with a less beneficial use.”

Casagrande offered affidavits from businesses near the site attesting to their use of the existing parking lot.

At the two-and-a-half hour mark there was a five-minute break.

Commission discussion

Commissioners then asked questions. Klemens asked about references to residential tenants in the affidavits presented by Casagrande and wondered if there were some apartments that “slipped under the radar.”

“That needs to be sorted out.”

Alternate commission member Jon Higgins questioned the parking deficiency figure, saying he thought there was some double-counting.

Klemens took a moment to ask viewers not to use the Zoom Webinar chat feature to make remarks.

Public comment was about evenly split between pro and con. Items that came up included: handicapped parking; storm water management; the impartiality of commissioners; how fire trucks operate; the need not just for affordable housing but more parking in Lakeville; the “Not In My Backyard” (or NIMBY) phenomenon;  and the economic feasibility of the proposed housing.