HVNA Votes on Two Projects

By Michael Coughlin Jr.

Those in attendance at the Harbor View Neighborhood Association’s (HVNA) monthly meeting on Monday, June 5, listened to the second presentation for two projects in the neighborhood and eventually voted on each, supporting one and opposing the other.

The first project brought before meeting attendees on Monday was a proposal on 555 Bennington Street. The plan for this property is to change the occupancy of the existing building from a two-unit to a four-unit dwelling.

Moreover, Attorney Richard Lynds, who made the presentation, said, “We would also be erecting a third level addition and converting the lower level space to a habitable area.” Lynds also mentioned that this project is intended for homeownership.

When Lynds wrapped up the presentation, there were no questions from the audience. However, HVNA Board Member Skip Marcella made some comments stemming from an abutters meeting that was held concerning the project.

One of Marcella’s comments mentioned a concern from an abutter regarding a deck or porch that is part of the project. Though, according to Marcella, details about the porch or deck were clarified by Lynds.

Marcella also commented on the unit makeup of the project in that it includes three-bedroom units. “That was a positive thing that I think had been reported about because I think in the neighborhood, oftentimes we have either the single bedroom or the two-bedroom, which we know, that is not conducive to families.”

Regarding the unit makeup, Lynds indicated that the lower level is a two-bedroom, with the rest of the units being three bedrooms.

With all that said, the 555 Bennington Street project just narrowly got support from those in attendance at Monday’s meeting by a vote of 15-14.

The final project meeting attendees voted on was at 5 Swift Terrace, a proposal that has gone through a few different iterations over time.

Initially, this project was slated to be nine units, then dropped to seven as recently as April, and is now down to five. Moreover, the building is 13% smaller, and setbacks have been increased, among several other changes.

Also, as part of this proposal, there would be five parking spaces, the planting of at least two street trees, and the construction of two roof decks, one fewer roof deck than what was previously presented.

Not only was there a reduction of units, but changes were also made to the makeup of units based on community feedback.

During the last presentation, all of the units were one or two bedrooms; now, there are two three-bedroom units, two two-bedroom units, and one ADA one-bedroom unit.

Unlike the 555 Bennington Street project, there were quite a few questions and comments from residents after David, and Evan Lank of Sharpe Venture Group finished their presentation.

One resident seemed happy about the duo’s efforts to make changes to the proposal, saying, “I really appreciate the effort to incorporate the feedback from the abutters; it’s awesome.”

Although that resident complimented the efforts, they also asked if there would be any affordable units as part of the project, to which the answer was no.

“It’s impossible at four or five units to incorporate it given market conditions,” said Evan Lank.

David Lank followed that up by saying, “What we will say is developers can incorporate more affordable housing with more density. What we decided to do is prioritize lessening the density; that’s what we heard from our neighbors.”

Another resident raised a concern about the number of parking spaces in that there might not be enough to accommodate multiple-bedroom units causing more people to park on the street.

“You’re going to have three bedrooms and three cars, so five parking spots for five units is really not this great giveaway that you think it is,” said the resident. 

While the Lank’s appeared to do their best to make changes based on feedback they heard from residents throughout this process, it was not enough to win support from those in attendance. A vote of 19-12 opposed the 5 Swift Terrace proposal.

Overall, the HVNA had a busy meeting on its hands and will enjoy a bit of a break as they are not scheduled to meet again until August.

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