Members of the Revere Conservation Commission voted unanimously to approve an eight- story, 340,000 square-foot building on the Suffolk Downs site being developed by HYM Investments.
The building will be at the corner of Washburn Ave. and Winthrop Ave. and will have a mixed use with 20,000 sq. ft. of commercial/retail space on the first floor and residential units on the remaining stories. The building is part of the masterplan from HYM to construct 3,000 units of senior housing, condominiums, and apartments on the Revere portion of Suffolk Downs.
Jeff Heidelberg from HYM explained that this building initially was not part of the previous application that had included several buildings and roadwork that were approved by the commission late last year.
Chairman Nicholas Moulaison remarked that, “Since the building is within the 100-year flood plain, the Conservation Commission is required to be involved in the permitting process.â€
Moulaison asked about the buffer between the back of the building and Washburn Ave.
Mike Barowski, also from HYM, reconfirmed that there will be a 30-foot buffer between the back of the building and Washburn Ave. and that stormwater will be redirected back onto the site.
Commissioner David Eatough asked whether the residents of Washburn Ave. have been contacted for their feedback.
Heidelberg confirmed that the residents were “involved originally about the buffer zone.†Moulaison noted that there had been no responses since that time from the residents.
Commissioner Joseph LaValle was concerned about the parking. Heidelberg said that there “were 190 spaces under the building and there was an additional lot for the overflow.†He also noted that Revere was more stringent regarding the number of parking spaces per unit than the City of Boston.
Heather Legere expressed her concerns about contaminated drain water from motor vehicle engines and whether this potentially-polluted water would then be discharged first into Green Creek, then flow into Sales Creek, and eventually find its way into the Belle Isle Marsh.
Heidelberg said that the developers have met all of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s rules and regulations. He noted that the retention basins located throughout the complex “were a significant upgrade†compared to what is there now.
In other business, the commissioners approved a Certificate of Compliance for a property at 48-50 Arcadia Street. Commissioners noted that the owner is selling the property, but there is an old Order of Conditions from 1986 that never had been properly closed out. The commissioners voted to close out the old order. In next month’s business, the commission will be reviewing a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection letter concerning stormwater runoff from a recently-approved project at 320 Charger Street
