[Mike Caldera]: Hello and welcome to this regular meeting of the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals. We're going to take a quick roll call and then we'll get started. Jim Tirani. Jim, I didn't hear you.
[Andre Leroux]: Yeah.
[Mike Caldera]: Andrea LaRue.
[Andre Leroux]: Present.
[Mike Caldera]: Mary Lee.
[Yvette Velez]: Present.
[Mike Caldera]: Yvette Velez.
[Yvette Velez]: Present.
[Mike Caldera]: I believe Jamie Thompson is absent. I don't see Jamie. Mike Caldera present. So we have five members of the board present. I'm going to appoint Mary as a voting member for this meeting. So we have the full five votes. And we have a quorum and we can get started. Dennis, can you please kick us off?
[Denis MacDougall]: On March 29th, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law a supplemental budget bill which among other things extends to temporary provisions pertaining to the open meeting law to March 31st, 2025. Specifically, this further extension allows public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body physically present at a meeting location and provide adequate alternative access to remote meetings. The language is not making any substantive changes to the open meeting while extending the expiration date of the temporary revisions regarding remote meetings from March 31st, 2023 to March 31st, 2025.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Thank you, Dennis.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, folks. So we have a number of matters that my understanding is we have requests or requirements to continue those to our next regular meeting. And so I'm going to start with the ones that were continued in a prior meeting. So I'm just going to double check in each case whether we have Anyone for the applicant who wants to say something? I think in most cases we will not. And then we'll move on to the other matters that we need to continue. So there may, I believe there will be seven items on the agenda in total that are continued for various reasons. But I just want to make sure before we do that. So Dennis, could you please read the first item, Salem Street?
[Denis MacDougall]: Sure do you want the whole item or just the address?
[Mike Caldera]: You could do just the property address. We'll read the full item.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'll just do 290 Salem Street, case number A-2023-14.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, thank you. Do we have anyone on the line for 290 Salem Street? I do not believe so, but I'm just double checking.
[Denis MacDougall]: doesn't appear the representative is on and they sent me a letter or an e-mail requesting to continue.
[Mike Caldera]: All right. So then in that case, we're going to vote to continue in a bunch just for efficiency's sake. So what about 120 Winthrop Street?
[Denis MacDougall]: The applicant's representative e-mailed me a few days ago requesting to continue until the next meeting on February 29th, but also he stated that he was working with the building department to try to perhaps come up with some sort of solution.
[Mike Caldera]: All right. And so that's case number 8.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'm sorry, 120 Winthrop Street, case number 8-2023-21. All right.
[Mike Caldera]: Great. And then the third one that I believe requests to continue is 38 Pearl Street. Is that correct, Dennis?
[Denis MacDougall]: Yep, 38 Pearl street case number 8 dash 2023-23 and talking with attorney Desmond, she. Stated that this would be continued to the 29th as they might be making changes to the design.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, wonderful. So then next, there are several other matters on the agenda. So 694 Winthrop Street, case number A-2023-24. 85 Morton Street, case number A-2023-25. and 65 Burgett Ave, case number A-2023-26. These ones, my understanding is that there was an accidental wrong date in some of the notice that was mailed out, and so these were going to continue just to make sure that the public has been properly noticed. Is that correct?
[Denis MacDougall]: That is correct. Unfortunately, yeah, some of them like I was copying. It's a 4 part. It's like, 4 pieces on the on the postcards that go out and I think I just missed. 1, so we're not sure which notices I'm not sure which notices went out with the incorrect 1. So, unfortunately, we have to continue that into another date and just for those folks who did get the notices. Um, a corrected notice we'll, we'll send out a corrected notice with the actual with the new date and time to anyone who is here. Who is in a butter to any of these projects.
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah, and for members of the public, so this ensures any member of the public that wish to attend has knowledge that we will, in fact, be hearing the case on the date in question. And then it also is helpful for the applicant and what happened just in that it hearing it today would be a procedural issue. So with that being said, Chair awaits a motion to continue case A-2023-14, A-2023-21, A-2023-23, all the way through A-2023-26. Numbers 23 through 26, all 1, 2, 3, 4 of those, and then 14 and 21. So chair awaits a motion to continue those to the next regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals on February 29th. Motion. Do I have a second? Jim seconds. So we're going to take a roll call. Jim? Aye. Andre? Aye. Mary? Aye. Yvette?
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[Mike Caldera]: Mike? Aye. All right, so those cases are all continued to our next regular meeting. Dennis, could you read the next matter on the agenda, please?
[Denis MacDougall]: 66 Irving Street, case number A-2023-22. Applicant and owner Joe Brown is petitioning for a variance in the chapter 94 city of Medford zoning to install a fence over six feet tall at 66 Irving Street, which is not allowed per the city of Medford zoning ordinance chapter 94 section 4.23, 4.24, and 4.25.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, thank you. And it looks like we do have someone named Joe Brown on the call, so I presume that's the applicant. Welcome. Thank you. Yeah, so please go ahead. We'd love to hear a little bit about your project and what you'd like to do.
[SPEAKER_05]: Well thank you for hearing my appeal. The reason I'm looking to put a fence that's taller than six feet is currently I have between my property and my neighbor's property abrovides that I planted 15 years ago. They've well outgrown their space. They're 15 feet tall and just overtaking everything. The properties behind me are elevated to my lot, so the request to have a taller fence is around privacy for both myself and my neighbors, which everyone's on board with in the neighborhood. So it seems as though there's no concerns from the neighbors
[Mike Caldera]: All right. So, yeah, the board, we did receive a letter from at least one of the neighbors indicating their support. And so, Mr. Brown, just so you're aware, What the board is going to be analyzing as part of this case is whether there's circumstances pertaining to the shape, topography, or soil conditions of your lot or the structures on it that create a hardship if we were to literally enforce the zoning ordinance. In cases, for example, where the topography is such that adjacent lots are at a different elevation, that would be one scenario that the board would consider whether to grant a variance. And so we need to also determine that in granting the variance that it would not substantially, but it would not cause substantial detriment to the public good and would not derogate from the intent of the zoning ordinance. So that's the criteria. There's not really a specific form required to the presentation. Some applicants choose to, you know, share some specific details about the project. The board will may ask questions and then we'll take public comment. So that's what to expect. So in light of that, is there anything else you want to tell us about the project or do you feel like what you just shared is pretty much all?
[SPEAKER_05]: That's basically it. But I did want to add that the fence is going to be proposing eight feet tall. The first seven feet would be solid and the last four would be lattice to give it some see-through. So to make it look like it's It's pleasing to the eye, I guess.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, thank you. Do we have questions from the board? So Mr. Brown, do you happen to know roughly, even an approximation, how much higher the elevation of your neighbor's properties are?
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't, but when I, before I put the abrovides in, um, I could tell that, you know, my neighbors were looking right at me, basically, you know, from an elevated perspective. Um, there had been nobody living at this house or in the backyard for over 50 years. So everybody was kind of surprised, I guess, when I bought the house and there were people living back there. So, um, I don't know the exact elevation difference, but, um, it's enough to the point where it's, um, I don't know what the word to use is, but it's easy to see each other looking down on me, I guess, at that point.
[Mike Caldera]: Okay, so it sounds like if the six-foot height were imposed, even if you didn't have the see-through portion, the fence would not provide the desired level of privacy. Is that right?
[Denis MacDougall]: correct even eight foot was still going to allow you know some visibility but um that's i'm not looking to go any higher than that all right other questions from the board actually mike if you want i could i was i got some playing around with some usgs maps and there was some elevation stuff which might sort of give a little bit of a Yeah, show a little bit. It's not precise, but it kind of gives rough ideas because basically it might give a little good idea on this. So we just. I just was. Sent this by someone I'm still.
[Yvette Velez]: It's. Joe, did you take any pictures?
[SPEAKER_05]: I did, I think I sent them to Dennis. But it was kind of difficult with the obrovidees in this place, but I did take pictures from my neighbor's yard and my own yard. So my street is Irving Street, and it runs perpendicular to Austin Street, which is my neighbor's around. And Austin Street is a hill. I'm relatively flat where I'm at.
[Denis MacDougall]: So my arrow is pointing over your house, Joe, correct, I believe? Because this is Alston right here that my arrow is running down. And you're one house in. Yes, yep. And then the neighbors that you're going to put the fence on is 110, which is the second house up on Alston. Exactly. So your house kind of runs, your house runs at 60. And then here is 70, which means this is about 65. So it's probably about a five foot elevation, give or take. Because Alston does run up, going from High Street, it runs straight up. So maybe I didn't send you the photos from that Joe sent. Let me exit the screen sharing. Ah, sorry. We didn't include them. All right. Give me a second. All right, I'm just gonna, fortunately, I'm gonna have to go picture to picture, but I will.
[Adam Hurtubise]: All right, yep, we see it. Okay.
[SPEAKER_05]: So Joe, where is this exactly in the property? Yep, this is a view from my neighbor's yard on the other side of the Abervities. So it's right at the property line looking into the yard. I was trying to get the elevation visible, I guess. I'm not sure if I did a good job of that. But right behind all that is there's another deck between 110 and the property behind them. And it's just straight shot down. When I first moved into the house, everybody was, like I've said, looking for privacy, my neighbors. And they made it a point to point that out, that they relish their privacy as much as anyone. So that's why I planted the abruvites, to make it sort of natural. They've just gone out of control height and width. So this isn't really something that I want to do monetarily wise, but I feel like I'm forced to do it as a homeowner and a good neighbor.
[Mike Caldera]: Dennis, were there other photos you wanted to? Yeah. OK, perfect.
[SPEAKER_05]: So that's my yard looking towards the neighbor's yard. All right. And that is a look, that's a look from the neighbor's yard looking down towards my yard. You know, you can see the observatories in the background.
[Mike Caldera]: Okay, yeah, that does look substantially higher in elevation. Right?
[Denis MacDougall]: Yep. And I have one more.
[SPEAKER_05]: And that's a view from the neighbor's yard again.
[Mike Caldera]: Okay. Thanks for sharing those, Dennis. So yeah, it looks like Jim has a question. Go ahead, Jim.
[kCdGHg1OaMo_SPEAKER_21]: Yeah, just curious to know, why wouldn't you want to trim those arborvitaes and keep them?
[SPEAKER_05]: You know, I've done that many times, the height, but the width, they've gone so wide, they're overtaking my yard and my neighbor's yard, and you can't cut the Albufeira back, I guess, past the green point where there's just like wood, it won't regrow the green. I would love to do something like that, but it's not really possible, I guess. I had an arborist come out and look at it, and he's the one who told me that that's how they grow, unfortunately. But yeah, I mean, these are my babies, to be honest with you. I love them. I put them in my cell 15 years ago. I hate to give them up, but they've just outgrown the space.
[kCdGHg1OaMo_SPEAKER_21]: I know sometimes if you take I know if you take one out, the others will fill in. They'll grow into that opening. I have a lot of them myself. And I was just curious to know if you went that route before taking them out, thinking about taking them out.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I mean, it's a matter of they're just so deep. In addition to the height, my neighbors, they want them down because it's blocking the sun from their garden. They've gotten so high, but I trim them every year and I've always shaped them both on the depth and the height, but they've just gotten to the point now where they're encroaching on the properties just to the point where they need to be removed. I think if I were to remove one of them and let the others go into the space, I think they would just get even wider. work deeper. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
[Andre Leroux]: All right. Uh, Andre. I mean, this seems like a pretty straightforward, uh, you know, there's a top of top of topography issue and there's, you know, the neighbors seem to be kind of an agreement on this. So I wonder if it would be a timely to motion to open the public portion of the hearing.
[Mike Caldera]: Are you making that a motion?
[Andre Leroux]: I would like to motion.
[Mike Caldera]: Do I have a second?
[Andre Leroux]: I'll second.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, we're going to take a roll call of that.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Aye.
[Mike Caldera]: Mary?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Aye.
[Mike Caldera]: Jim?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Aye.
[Mike Caldera]: Andre? Aye. Mike? Aye. All right, members of the public, the public portion of the hearing for 66 Irving Street is now open. If you have a comment, that you would like to make, you can raise your hand on Zoom, you can turn on your camera and raise your hand, you can type in the chat.
[Denis MacDougall]: And so we'll just wait a minute or so to see if any... Or also if you're watching at home on Medford Community Media, you can send an email in to me at dmacdougall at medford-ma.gov. Yeah, thank you.
[Adam Hurtubise]: We're just going to give it a minute. I'm currently seeing a member of the public who wants to speak.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, I do not see any members of the public who would like to speak on this matter. So chair awaits a motion to close the public portion of the hearing and open deliberation.
[Yvette Velez]: Motion.
[Mike Caldera]: Second. Okay, we'll take another roll call. Jim? Aye. Dre? Aye. Gary? Aye.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Beth?
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Mike? Aye. All right, we are now deliberating. What do you think, folks?
[Andre Leroux]: Well, I mean, as I mentioned, I think, you know, there's a topographical issue. The one property is higher than the other. There's nothing they can do about that. The neighbors are, you know, in agreement. It benefits both properties, so I don't have a problem granting a variance on this. All right. Thank you, Andre.
[kCdGHg1OaMo_SPEAKER_21]: Go ahead, Jim. I feel the same way, seeing and knowing now the conditions of the land. and that the neighbors are in favor of it as well. So I'm in agreement. Okay.
[Yvette Velez]: Yvette, any thoughts? I'm in agreement with what everyone else has said so far. I as well, and I want to acknowledge that, you know, he even saw an arborist in regards to trying to keep the greenery and that clearly was not going to be able to work out for them.
[Mike Caldera]: For me, I think it's very straightforward as well. So the topographical issue that will to track from the privacy that a fence is supposed to provide. And so it sounds like the additional height is just to sort of compensate for that. So I think this is pretty straightforward, and it's the standard to grant a variance. So with that being said, do I have any motions on this matter?
[Andre Leroux]: Yeah, a motion to approve the variance for 66 Irving street.
[Adam Hurtubise]: For an 8 foot fence for the 2nd, I'll second that.
[Mike Caldera]: All right, we're going to take a roll call vote that. Hi, hi, Andre. Hi. Aye. Mike, aye. All right, so that's five in favor, so the variance is granted. Mr. Brown, congratulations, you have your fence.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you all, I appreciate your time.
[Denis MacDougall]: And Joe, I will be writing up the decision and getting it to you. Actually, this one might be actually relatively quick because we've had a few tall fences in the last year, so I can make that it's much, much quicker decision to write up. So I'll try to get that in. And then once a member sign it and it's filed, and then, you know, once it's all gone through all that procedures, then you can file with the building department to get your permit.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Dennis. Don't rush. I'm not going to do it until the spring. So whenever you get it to me is fine. Thank you.
[Mike Caldera]: Thank you. Great. So Dennis, can you read the next item on the agenda, please?
[Denis MacDougall]: All the way over to the agenda. I think actually the next item is administrative updates, I believe.
[Mike Caldera]: Great. Okay. Do we have any administrative updates?
[Denis MacDougall]: Yeah, well, we are getting an additional associate member. They just got their notification today, so I'm not sure if they've heard it yet from them. Hopefully, we're going to have them on the next meeting next Tuesday for the 40D, just to introduce them to everybody. We're very excited. It'll make your folks' lives even a lot easier having an extra body to be at these hearings.
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah, that's great. Thanks for the update. So the board will be at full strength at this point. Five members, two associate members. So that's great. Any other administrative updates?
[Denis MacDougall]: I don't think so. So I think just Again, I've apologized to the applicant, so I've apologized to you about her, so I should also apologize to you for the error in the notification. Fortunately, this means next month's meeting is gonna be probably a long one, so. Yeah, that's very sad.
[Adam Hurtubise]: So one thing.
[Mike Caldera]: Sorry, this is for the meeting on Tuesday.
[Denis MacDougall]: I've sat in on a couple of the, applicants meetings on with design with cliff bomer and they've made some changes to the they were when i saw that it was just basically very like sketched out skeletal changes so they're hopefully trying to get us some stuff before i asked them to get it to us by tomorrow so that you all would have some time to review before tuesday even if it's just pretty bare bones so hopefully they're gonna they're anticipating getting something to us so you can sort of see what they've proposed with the discussions with cliff so um i don't Figures it's easier, probably for me to just, instead of like, it's, I think there have been substantive changes to the actual design. So hopefully that will maybe help some of the neighbors feelings on that. So don't want to go too much into detail on this because that isn't on the agenda. It's just more of just an update for you all.
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah, sounds like we expect something prior Tuesday. Yeah, we'll be on the lookout for that. And it sounds like they're on track for the. Planned agenda, which is to go deep into the architecture and then. For us to hear and consider the initial peer review comments so. So we're good there. And actually related to that, members of the board, so we can do this scheduling offline, but just check your email. I proposed some dates for the rest of that hearing, and I'd like to inform the applicants soon. So just conflict check those, please. And then we'll go from there.
[Andre Leroux]: So can we just reiterate what the dates are for the February meetings right now?
[Mike Caldera]: So currently on the books, we have a special meeting for the 40B to discuss the engineering plan and the initial peer review feedback on, I believe it's Thursday, February 15th. And we have our regular meeting on, February 29th. I've proposed a third meeting for the 40B, but I haven't gotten the board's schedules and feedback, so it's not confirmed yet. Yeah, Jim, was there, you have a question?
[kCdGHg1OaMo_SPEAKER_21]: Yeah, I wrote down February 27th for the regular meeting. It's the 29th?
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah, it's the last Thursday of the month.
[kCdGHg1OaMo_SPEAKER_21]: Right, but for some reason I thought I read that the 27, I thought that was odd. Okay, 29.
[Andre Leroux]: Yeah. Thank you. And we have the meeting on Tuesday, right, as well, 40B meeting? The, correct.
[Mike Caldera]: Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, so, but that's in January.
[Andre Leroux]: Right. I'm trying to. Okay, I kind of meant over there.
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah. Yeah, so the 30th is the, Tuesday the 30th is the meeting to discuss Um design and the initial peer review feedback Then thursday the 15th is a meeting to discuss engineering and the peer review feedback The 29th is our regular meeting I've proposed Other meetings for the 40b running through um May and but the board hasn't let me know if those dates work yet. So i'm not gonna state them out
[Andre Leroux]: Right, I do have just maybe a request given the fact that we have so many things on. Next month's regular meeting agenda. I'm wondering if this is just. You know, to the extent possible, whether, you know, Dennis, you and other city staff can just try to tee those up as much as possible. To so that we're not trying to. Problem solve for them. You know, encourage them to line up. You know, support from their butters and things like that.
[Denis MacDougall]: Sure, yeah, that's. That's definitely something we can work on.
[Alicia Hunt]: I'll just offer, so I know there are big things Danielle likes to do, staff memos on stuff, but she hasn't had the bandwidth to do that on very many of the projects. But if you want to take a look at or run through what's on the agenda with me, we could also see if the economic development director or planner should weigh in on any of them or reach out to any of the applicants about the projects so that they're ready to go.
[Denis MacDougall]: Definitely one of them is going to be going before the CD board in between the Salem Street one. There'll be definitely a memo on that, which I think we should help out with that.
[Andre Leroux]: Right. Just things like the fence issue that we had that was last time that get continued, that kind of thing, the extent it could just get worked out at the city level with the building inspector and you guys encouraging everybody to come to agreement, that would be great.
[Mike Caldera]: Yeah, to that point, Andre, so it's important that we give folks the time that they need, but I certainly intend to, in light of the very long agenda next week, err on the side of conservatism, where if it seems an applicant simply isn't ready, we're going to have a discussion early about the likely need to continue. I don't think the applicants will even want us to be spending lots of time on something that's just gonna get kicked out a month anyway. But at the same time, we don't have in our board rules a limit on meeting length, and so I think we'll just have to be very efficient with how we run it, and I'll do my best. And certainly, Dennis, anything you can do to work with the applicants to just make it smooth helps. And Director Hunt, certainly, I would say, I can look through and give you specific ones. But yeah, anything that would be a major project, anything commercial, I think is a no-brainer. And then there might be some other ones where it would be valuable to have Yeah, planners take as well. I'm good.
[Andre Leroux]: Thank you. Yep.
[Mike Caldera]: All right. Um. I didn't see any meeting minutes, so I think the next item is. Meeting minutes is that right?
[Denis MacDougall]: That is correct and I haven't been able to because of the short time in between. To get the meeting minutes, I believe Rachel has actually worked on. Because i'm having rachel do the meeting minutes for the 40b stuff so we might actually have those for The 40b portion of it for tuesday But I don't know if we because they were all in the same meeting I don't know if we want to do them separately or not.
[Mike Caldera]: So I think I can leave that Yeah, so the meeting minutes we can approve You know whenever they're ready in any meeting i'm not worried about that. But um, yeah, that sounds good All right. Um anything else on the agenda dennis
[Denis MacDougall]: No, and just an FYI, I'm literally sending out the invite for the meeting on Tuesday now. I kind of wanted to just wait until this meeting was over before sending another one, just so there wasn't much of an overlap. So I'm hitting send right now, so.
[Mike Caldera]: There awaits a motion to adjourn.
[Alicia Hunt]: Motion.
[Mike Caldera]: Do I have a second? Second. All right, we're going to take a roll call. Jim? Aye. Andre? Aye. Mary. Aye. Beth. Aye.
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[Mike Caldera]: All right. Thanks, folks. See you on Tuesday.