By Adam Swift
Monday night, the City Council approved two special permit requests that had previously come before its zoning subcommittee.
The council approved a request to modify an existing non-conforming five-unit apartment structure at 465 Revere Beach Boulevard to allow for 11 units with 17 parking spaces.
The council also approved a special permit for a self-storage facility located at 195 American Legion Highway from Arizona-based 1784 Holdings.
At Monday night’s zoning subcommittee meeting, Larry Beals of Beals Associates addressed some of the questions raised about the details of the proposed facility raised at a previous public hearing.
Several councillors had raised concerns about the size of the proposed five-story building across from the Rumney Marsh Academy on the American Legion Highway, the number of self-storage units in the building, and landscaping.
“Through some discussion and some input, a suggestion was made that we should landscape more heavily in front of the building,” said Beals. “The drawings that were presented last time were done by an architect, and if you work with architects, they like to showcase their buildings. The message we were getting at the last meeting was that you would prefer not to see as much of the building.”
Beals said that rather than having lawn and some shrubs in front of the building, the plans have been supplemented with more trees. Beals noted that the need to be out of the flood plain also was one of the factors that generated the height of the building.
Beals said the developer has also committed to cleaning up the property both on and off the site of the proposed building.
In addition, Beals noted that there was room for emergency vehicles to drive around the entire building, a plan which would also enable emergency responses if there was an issue at the adjacent Amazon facility behind the property.
Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky said he loved the project and was glad that there were more trees going up in front of the property.
Councillor-at-Large Councillor Marc Silvestri said he had recently walked the property, and that the developer’s commitment to cleaning up the ditch in the back of the property was something that the city estimates would cost close to $1 million.
“For them to put this into the neighborhood, I am in support of this,” said Silvestri.
Councillor-at-Large Gerry Visconti, who initially had concerns about the height of the building, said he also recently walked the property. “Being able to go around the building with the fire apparatus is pretty important, so I can understand why you are not able to extend the building wider and then lower the height,” said Visconti. “With all of the necessary changes, I will be in favor of this.”
