The Revere Conservation Commission (ConsComm) held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday evening, December 7, in the City Council Chambers.
Chairman John Shue and fellow commissioners Joseph LaValle, Robert Cassidy, Nicholas Rudolph, and Brian Averback were on hand for the meeting.
The commission tackled a full agenda of business.
The first item taken up by the commission was the request for a Notice of Intent (NOI) by Brothers, LLC, which is enlarging the present apartment building at 451 Revere Beach Blvd. from three stories to five stories. Brothers was required to come before the ConsComm for approval of the project because the extra units will require additional parking, which Brothers proposes to add at the rear of the building.
The building presently has eight apartment units, but the new building will comprise 16 units with a total of 25 parking spaces.
Engineer Rick Salvo appeared on behalf of Nico and Anthony DiCesare, the owners of Brothers LLC, to present the application to the commission. Salvo explained that the “building has seen better days and is in need of an upgrade.”
He said the basic footprint of the building will not be increased, but will be adding two floors “to bring it up to the standard of the other buildings on the Boulevard,” though there will be a small addition in the rear for an elevator shaft.
Salvo noted that the City Council already has held a public hearing and has given its approval to the owners to alter a pre-existing, non-conforming structure. He told the commissioners that the additional parking in the rear will abut the right-of-way of the former Narrow Gauge Railroad and fall within the 100 foot buffer zone of the marshlands behind the old railbed.
Salvo said that in order to mitigate the additional asphalt parking area, the owner will use a special, pervious form of asphalt solution with crushed stone underneath that will address the matter of stormwater runoff to meet the requirements of the Dept. of Environmental Protection. He also said there will be available space to handle snow removal on-site.
“It looks beautiful,” said Averback of the architectural rendering of the new structure.
Ward 5 City Councilor John Powers spoke in support of the project.
“I’m very much aware of the quality of work that this developer has done in the city,” said Powers. “They live in the city and have several businesses in the city. As a city councillor, I feel it is incumbent upon myself to speak either for or against and I’m definitely in favor of it.
“I think it is a positive move for the city. This is an older building that doesn’t look so good,” Powers added.
There were no opponents to the proposal.
“This will help increase the value of everybody’s property on the beach,” said Averback, with Lavalle adding, “This will not contribute to a problem with the environment.”
The commission voted unanimously in favor of issuing the Order of Conditions (OOC), which will allow the project to move forward.
The commission next took up the question of a request for Certificate of Compliance (CoC) at 9 Fowler Ave., where the homeowner had installed a swimming pool without having sought permission from the commission to do so.
After a brief discussion, the members unanimously approved the CoC.
Dave Klimch from Epsilon Assoc. in Maynard next came before the commission seeking a Determination of Applicability by Boston Gas Company (National Grid) for the installation of a new, 20-inch natural gas line on American Legion Highway from Hutchinson Street to Winthrop Avenue. The new pipeline will run parallel with the existing pipeline.
Klimch said that in the past few winters, the high demand for natural gas has resulted in the declaration by National Grid of a Special Winter Operating Condition, which means that the company injects liquefied natural gas into the pipeline to ensure that there is sufficient natural gas for the 32,000 customers served by the pipeline.
The additional pipeline will ensure safe pressurization and will obviate the need for National Grid to declare special operation conditions in the future.
Klimch said that all of the work, which involves digging a trench about three feet deep, will be done within the boundary of the roadway, though the roadway does fall within the buffer zone of the nearby marshland. He said that the excavated material will be placed into a truck and promptly backfilled when each section of the pipe is installed. He added that MassDot and the MWRA also will be overseeing the project.
LaValle asked a question about how the work will be done in the area of Bell Circle, to which Klimch responded that in that specific part of the project, National Grid will use what is known as a jack-and-bore technique.
“I’ve reviewed this and I think it is exempt from our purview,” said Shue.
The commission unanimously voted for a negative determination of applicability, which means that absent some potential future issue, the project will not be subject to review by the local Conservation Commission.
The commissioners then took up enforcement actions with regard to owners who had paved portions of their properties without having obtained the necessary permits.
The first matter involved the two-family home at 6-8 Lynnway.
“I’m new at this and learning as I go,” said the owner, who said she was unaware that she could not dig up her front lawn and install an asphalt-paved patio area. She said she has owned the property for a year and needs to hire a landscape architect to draw up plans for the project.
The commission said she can come back in February with her plans.
Next up was 38 Arcadia St., which also involved the installation of asphalt pavement by the owner, a real estate company, in violation of the requirements of the Certificate of Compliance.
However, Shue reported to his fellow commissioners that all of the pavement has been removed and crushed stone has been put in its place.
“They’ve rectified the situation,” said Shue. The commission unanimously voted to acknowledge that the property has been restored to its original condition in compliance with the Wetlands Protection Act.
The commission then addressed a similar situation at 35 Arcadia St. The new owners, who closed on the property on November 6, said they were unaware that the asphalt driveway installed by the previous owner (who had flipped the property) constituted a violation of the Wetlands Protection Act and the City of Revere’s Environmental Ordinance.
“You own the problem,” said Shue to the homeowners, though he added that the new surface is not prohibited. However, he said that because the work was done without a permit, the Conservation Commission was unable to investigate to determine what can be done to offset the lost water storage on the property created by the newly-asphalted area.
The commission allowed the owners to come back in March with their plans to address the issue.
The commision then took up the violation at 25 Bickford Avenue, which also involved the placement of pavement contrary to the Wetlands Protection Act and the City of Revere Environmental ordinance, where the homeowner had paved his front yard, which lies in a flood plain.
Joe Franzese represented the homeowner, Edward Bomarsi, and requested a date in March to present a proposal for remediation to the commission.
The final matter on the agenda was a request for an Order of Conditions for the construction of two, two-family homes at 6 & 14 Beverly Street at the corner of Oak Island St.
Atty. Lawrence Simeone represented Phil Contreras, the owner of the properties. Simeone told the commissioners that the properties are vacant land at the present time, though six years ago, a prior owner had obtained permission from the DEP for a nearly-identical project. However, that owner allowed the permit, which is only good for three years, to expire.
Phil Ogren of Hayes Engineering presented the matter to the commissioners, telling them that the project essentially is the same as what had been approved by the DEP in 2016. He said the structures will be modular homes and will be placed on piles. He also said that “a lot of invasive species,” including phragmites, will be removed by excavation.
Ogren added that the driveways will be of a pervious material and the water and sewer lines will run up into the structures along insulated pilings.
The members had a number of questions about the project, ranging from the removal of the phragmites, to the installation of native-species vegetation, to the compliance with FEMA construction regulations for storm flow openings and breakaway walls, to test borings.
It was noted that although the property is deemed “isolated land subject to flooding,” construction on pilings is permissible.
The owner of 50 Oak Island St., which abuts the property, who has lived there for 49 years and on Oak Island St. for 58 years, opposed the project, saying that the lot “fills up with storm water every time it rains.
“There are no storm drains working on Oak Island St, and none on Beverly St.,” he continued, “though there are some on Arcadia St. When the water comes down Oak Island St., it crosses onto that lot. It is flooded right now.
“This project does not address the storm water issue,” he added. “We heard about sewage, but the storm water has nowhere to go,” noting that his cellar has been flooded in the past.
City Councilor John Powers spoke on the matter.
“I’m not an engineer, but everytime it rains heavily, I’ve been down there, when water has been 5-7 inches deep,” said Powers. “The people who live there have put up with it for years. Anybody who looks at that lot knows that the lot is a retaining area for water for the neighborhood. In my opinion, this (project) is wrong.”
Shue then suggested that the commission needs more information before making a decision.
“I would like to continue this hearing until our January meeting to give you some time to come up with a plan for extra rainwater storage and to go before the Site Plan Review Committee before we act on this,” said Shue.
The commission voted to continue the matter to its January meeting.
The commission received the following correspondence during the month:
11/3 – Lightship Engineering – Dated 10/24/2022 — Phase 1 Initial Site Investigation Report for 1044 Broadway regarding a release of oil and/or hazardous materials;
11/14 – National Grid – Dated 11/14/2022 — Notification of replacement of gas lines along Rice Avenue;
11/15 – GZA Geoenvironmental, Inc – Dated 11/9/2022 — Notification that a Release Abatement Measure will be implemented at 565 Squire Road to manage excess soil that was generated during construction; and
11/16 – Email notification from the MWRA regarding work that is exempt from the Wetlands Protection Act to rehabilitate blowoff valves near Blodgett Street.
The commissioners also made note of the site visits they conducted in the past month:
November 19 – 651 Revere Beach Boulevard;
November 19 – 6 & 14 Beverly Street;
December 3 – 9 Fowler Ave.; and
December 3 – American Legion Highway gas line project.
