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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2019-03-04 18 - Assisted Living Overlay z83. Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 ELECTED OFFICIALS: Committee on Economic Development and Planning Report of the Meetings of March 4 and 18, 2019 Council Presid Marks.sresid,ent Report Date: March 26, 2019 Vincent J.Piccirilli,Jr., The Committee convened on Monday, March 4, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Louis P. Vice President& Andrews Third Floor Conference Room. Present were Kenneth Woodland chair; and District C Councilor > > Vincent Piccirilli, secretary. Lisa Feltner, vice chair, was absent. Staff present were Caroline Bays Steven Magoon, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Community Development and Councilor At Large planning; and Andrea Adams, Senior Planner. Also present was Councilor Anthony Anthony J.Donato, Donato and members of the public (see sign-in sheet Attachment A). Councilor At Large Susan G.Falkoff, The purpose of the meetings was the consideration of amendments to the Assisted Councilor At Large Living Overlay District(ALOD) in the Zoning Ordinance to make the Affordable A Large t Large Housing Requirement consistent throughout Watertown. The current ALOD zoning is Councilor A Anthony P section 5.11 (Attachment B). The newly passed zoning amendment for assisted living in the R.75, R1.2,NB, LB, CB, I-3 and RMUD zones is for 5% (including services) for Angeline B.Kounelis, projects up to 75 units, and 10% over 75 units. District A Councilor Lisa J.Feltner, Mr. Magoon provided a handout with the background of the ALOD, and the staff s District B Councilor recommendation (Attachment Q. Kenneth M.Woodland, District D Councilor The discussion covered the following points: a) The Brigham House is the only property with the ALOD applied, however this property is owned by the Town and leased to the developer as a public/private partnership using HOME funds. b) Since the ALOD with its 10%requirement was implemented in 1997, no private properties have been developed using this provision of the zoning code. c) The owner of the former Parker School, located in the T zone which does not allow assisted living, purchased it from the Town under an RFP to develop it into office space. He now wants to redevelop it into assisted living, but stated he is unable to obtain lending with the 10%ALOD requirement, but can obtain it for the new 5%requirement. The Committee noted this proposed change is not about any specific property. d) Councilor Piccirilli felt the new assisted living inclusionary zoning developed by the Housing Partnership and adopted by the Town Council, was well thought out and should be applied uniformly, including in the ALOD. e) Councilor Woodland felt that the ALOD should only be applied as currently written. f) The discussion turned on why, and to what types of properties the ALOD would be applied by the Town Council, such as applying it as an incentive for unique properties to be preserved and creatively reused as assisted living, which is a relatively low intensity use. Page 1 of 2 Committee on Economic Development & Planning Report - March 26, 2019 The Committee asked Mr. Magoon to consider these discussion points and bring back some revised language for the Committee to review. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm The Committee reconvened on Monday, March 18, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the Philip Pane Lower Conference Room. Present were Mr. Woodland, Ms. Feltner, Mr. Piccirilli, and Mr. Magoon. Also present was Councilor Anthony Donato and members of the public (see sign-in sheet Attachment D). Mr. Woodland began with a summary of the prior meeting for the benefit of Ms. Feltner, who was unable to attend. Mr. Magoon provided a handout with proposed language change to reflect the discussion at the last meeting (Attachment E). The two changes are: 1. Change the affordable housing requirement from 10%to the revised language of section 5.07 adopted as a zoning amendment in November 2018. 2. Change the purpose of the overlay to make it explicit that it should only be applied in unique circumstances with a compelling public interest. It was noted that the term"Historically Significant buildings"was purposely not defined, as it is sole authority of the Town Council to consider that meaning when voting to apply the overlay to a specific property. There was further discussion on the proposed changes, as well as the process for moving forward. 4 Action Item: Councilor Piccirilli made a motion, seconded by Councilor Feltner, to recommend that the Town Council move forward with an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance for the Assisted Living Overlay District section 5.11 with the proposed changes as presented. Voted 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm. Report prepared by Vincent Piccirilli Attachments: Attachment A- Sign-in sheet March 4, 2019 Attachment B - Current Assisted Living Overlay District section 5.11 Attachment C - Staff recommendation March 4, 2019 Attachment D - Sign-in sheet March 18, 2019 Attachment E - Proposed ALOD changes March 18, 2019 Page 2 of 2 Attachment A ID Y D a v i cA S+o ke-.s 3 law rf a ut N ��►� ADATVs DC OP a-.Mieilt A407o�� �-� Attachment B (e) Signs: For retail establishments permitted under §5.11(b)(i), the following signs shall be permitted: one wall sign for each business located in the building and in the case of a business which has more than a single department, one sign for each department provided such department occupies no less than 550 square feet of the building and provided the aggregate of all such wall signs on the building shall not exceed 500 square feet. For other uses, the provisions governing signs in the underlying zoning district shall be applicable. SECTION 5.11 ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT(ALOD) (a) Intent and Puroose:To encourage and guide the redevelopment of land for residential purposes and to promote its revitalization and value to the community. (b) Permitted Uses: Any use permitted in the underlying zone and Assisted Living as defined in §2.05, subject to special permit provisions under§9.04, 9.05, and 9.09. (c) Dimensional Criteria: Min.Lot Size: 10,000 sf Max.Building Coverage:35% Min.Frontage: 80 ft Max.Height: 3 stories or the height allowed in the underlying district, whichever is greater, provided however that more than 3 stories may be allowed within existing structure. Front Setback: 25 ft Min.Lot/unit: 1,200 sf Side Setback: 20 ft Max.FAR: 1.0 Rear Setback: 20 ft Min.Open Space: 20% (d) Parkina Requirement: For Assisted Living,one space per every 4 units plus one per employee on largest shift. All other uses must follow the provisions of§6 of this Zoning Ordinance. (e) Signage: The provisions of§7.05 of this Zoning Ordinance shall apply. (f) Affordable Housing Requirements: A total of 10% of the units must be set aside as affordable pursuant to the provisions of§5.07 of this Zoning Ordinance. SECTION 5.12 ARSENAL OVERLAY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT(AODD) (a) Name: Arsenal Overlay Development District(AODD) (b) Intent and Purpose: To create a zoning overlay district to assist, promote, and guide the orderly conversion and redevelopment of former US Army Materials Technology Laboratory (AMTL) property in a manner which is beneficial to Watertown. (c) Obiectives: The establishment of the AODD overlay district is intended to accomplish the following objectives: (1) To permit the expeditious and efficient redevelopment of the AMTL property which will enhance the community's quality of life and economic well-being; (2) To provide for compatibility of land uses within the AMTL property and with respect to abutting properties; (3) To promote the preservation of the historic resources and character of the property, including the rehabilitation of existing structures to the maximum extent practicable; (4) To allow for a density which is appropriate for economic revitalization while not burdening the surrounding neighborhoods; (5) To allow for greater flexibility and discretion in planning and design by the Town of Watertown, in accordance with the "Arsenal on the Charles Signage Guidelines", prepared by Sasaki Associates, Inc., dated September 2000, as may be amended; and 58 Attachment C Assisted Living Overlay District (ALOD) request for information Background: In 1997, Ordinance 0-97-033 was adopted by the Town Council for an overlay district to allow residential redevelopment of certain land for assisted living. Since it was an overlay, the underlying use of the land was also allowed to continue, and the overlay provided a mechanism to allow additional uses where it is applied. The overlay allowed flexibility for reuse of existing structures, new buildings, and identified the various zoning requirements that would be required. Specifically, a 10% affordable housing requirement was included and was a separate requirement than the Ordinance's affordable housing requirements. The initial overlay was proposed for the former Baptist Church site and a subsequent map amendment (0-99-79) applied the overlay to the former East Junior High School. Both of these properties were proposing the reuse of existing institutional buildings. Draft Language: If the review process determines that the overly should be amended to be consistent with WZO Section 5.07, the amendment would be fairly simple, within WZO Section 5.11 (f), the current sentence would be modified to reflect assisted living requirements within Section 5.07 as follows: "5.11(f) Affordable Housing Requirement: A total of 10% of theunits must be se aside ask ny__project developed under this section shall.._meet the affordable housinq requirements pursuant to provisions of Section 5.07 of this Zoning Ordinance." Recommendation: The DCDP Staff suggests that the original creation of the overlay was intended to be applied to properties to allow for a unique and often more intense use than the underlying zoning would allow, and was initially discussed for existing buildings. This would allow for greater control of assisted living projects as it requires the application of the overlay through a rezoning process. Under this overlay zone, assisted living redevelopment provides a significant allowance for developers with the primary purpose to create this type of housing with the revitalization of existing buildings, thereby adding value to the community. The current property where the overlay was applied was developed successfully into an assisted living project with significant affordable units within the preserved former school building. Based on the successful application of the overlay for the Brigham House with the requirement of 10% affordability, staff believes that having this separate overlay with different requirements with respect to zoning and affordability is appropriate and should remain in place. Therefore staff would recommend no change to the existing zoning. Attachment D C�rb Attachment E DRAFT REVISED LANGUAGE FOR ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT SECTION 5.11 ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT(ALOD) (a) Intent and Purposes: • To encourage and guide the redevelopment of land for residential purposes and to promote its revitalization and value to the community... • To encouraqe the adaptive reuse of Historically Significant buildinqs and/or former municipal buildings; and • To facilitate voiects that involve public/private partnerships. (b) Permitted Uses: Any use permitted in the underlying zone and Assisted Living as defined in §2.05, subject to special permit provisions under§9.04, 9.05, and 9.09. (c) Dimensional Criteria: Min.Lot Size: 10,000 sf Max.Building Coverage:35% Min.Frontage: 80 ft Max.Height: 3 stories or the height allowed in the underlying district, whichever is greater, provided however that more than 3 stories may be allowed within existing structure. Front Setback: 25 ft Min.Lot/unit: 1,200 sf Side Setback: 20 ft Max.FAR: 1.0 Rear Setback: 20 ft Min.Open Space: 20% (d) Parking Requirement: For Assisted Living, one space per every 4 units plus one per employee on largest shift. All other uses must follow the provisions of§6 of this Zoning Ordinance. (e) Signage: The provisions of§7.05 of this Zoning Ordinance shall apply. (f) Affordable Housing Requirements: A total of 10% o t,\nito mt,�t be set aside a�A&n i proiect developed under this Section shall meet the affordable housinq requirements pursuant to the provisions of§5.07 of this Zoning Ordinance.