Latest news with #PlanningBoard
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Decision deferred on high-rise student tower blocks by Deptford Creek
A decision on whether two high-rise blocks of student accommodation by Deptford Creek will be built has been deferred after councillors voted for a site visit. Greenwich Council's Planning Board discussed the contentious plans—which garnered 294 letters of support and 251 objections—for nearly two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday evening (May 27). Luxury student accommodation business YourTRIBE and development and investment company Redington Capital first applied for planning permission to demolish three low-rise residential buildings in Greenwich Quay and replace them with 20-storey and 15-storey student tower blocks in December 2023. These plans were reduced earlier this month, bringing the 20 storeys down to 17 and shrinking the number of beds from 700 to 598. This reduction in part was because Maritime Greenwich had objected to the plans due to the height of the development and its potential visual effect on the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site. Maritime Greenwich withdrew its objection after the height of the tallest tower was reduced. Cllr Majella Anning, speaking on behalf of Greenwich Creekside ward where the development site is located, stated that the student provision in Creekside would increase to around 20 per cent of the ward's total population if the proposal was approved. She said: 'I am in favour of the provision of student housing in my ward. What I object to is the scale of what is being proposed and the lack of a mixed housing offer, in particular social housing for local Greenwich residents.' Cllr Anning also likened the development to a 'cash cow' and claimed that developers would pay a lower community infrastructure levy in Greenwich when compared to other London boroughs. She also called the height of the buildings 'completely inappropriate' and described them as looking 'ugly'. She added: 'Student-only tower blocks do not offer any relief to the 28,000 people on our Greenwich Council [social housing] waiting list. These are blocks of temporary accommodation, by their very definition.' Cllr Anning's fellow Creekside ward Cllr Calum O'Byrne Mulligan also spoke in opposition to the proposal. He said: 'I urge the committee to reject this application as the scale and mass of the buildings not in a tall building area go against existing council policy. 'I fear that this development risks the intangible strategic asset that we have in the world heritage site and jeopardises protected views, going against our local plan.' Scott Fitzgerald of the Millennium Quay Residents Association (a residential development nearby the proposal site) said: 'The public consultations held by YOURTribe have repeatedly failed to address reasonable concerns.' The concerns he focused on were those of access to the site via Clarence Road which measures 3.5 metres wide, and fears that the site does not have adequate space if an evacuation was needed. He said: 'This development is about short-term economic gain, not long-term community diversity… It prioritises financial return over inclusive, sustainable living and would turn Greenwich Quay into a de facto student dormitory, not a diverse residential neighbourhood.' Another Greenwich resident opposed to the plans, Charlotte Kiddie, said: 'Who benefits from this proposal? Not those on the social housing register, not local residents, not London which risks losing one of only four UNESCO sites, not Greenwich Council, unable to generate council tax, nor even the students who are being overcharged. The only party that benefits in this is the property developer.' Phoebe Juggins, senior planning manager at YOURTribe, spoke in support of the application. She said: 'We expect that through delivering 590 purpose-built student accommodation units, we will free up the equivalent of 236 homes in Greenwich, and will importantly mean that students are living in a well-managed and supportive environment. 'We want this scheme to not only invest in the education of the next generation, but to the local area, delivering £7.3 million annually to the local economy, 43 full-time jobs plus over 500 construction jobs.' Ms Juggins also responded to queries brought up by councillors and objectors, assuring that all the necessary hoops had been jumped through to ensure the development has a robust fire safety and evacuation strategy. Planning committee member Cllr David Gardner asked what students would actually be able to afford this accommodation, calculating that other rent prices offered by YOURTribe in London exceed the maximum student loan for living costs. YOURTribe director Nick Lawrence responded: 'I think it's a misnomer that all students are poor. We are having high demand for our accommodation, and in conjunction with the universities we set the rent.' Cllr David Gardner proposed a site visit because he thought the committee needed to look at 'the impact on the neighbouring development Millennium Quay'. This was seconded by Cllr Olu Babatola, who thought a site visit would help him assess the fire safety concerns raised at the meeting. The committee voted for this site visit proposal, and a final decision on whether planning permission will be granted has been deferred until after a visit has been made.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City Council and Planning Board review zoning changes for ‘higher and better use'
WESTFIELD — The City Council and Planning Board are reviewing zoning change requests to allow property owners more options for use of their properties in Westfield. The requests will be reviewed in the Zoning, Planning and Development Committee chaired by Karen Fanion. Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates presented a request by Alice Wielgus to the City Council on May 15 to amend the zoning map at 14 and 170 Main St. from Rural Residence and Residence B to Residence C for a portion of the property. Levesque said the family is requesting that approximately 8 acres on Main Street, where they sell roses for Mother's Day, be rezoned to Residence C, and leave the approximately 30 acres in the rear, which is in the floodplain, as Rural Residential. Levesque said the family understands there has been interest over the years in the rear portion of the property for ball fields, and they generally like the idea. He said the Main Street portion of the property abuts a townhouse style condominium community that is zoned Residence C, and they would like to be able to utilize the front in similar way for condo development of multi-family townhouses, which he said would also be meeting the need for housing in the state. Levesque said the change in zoning would help them to think about what they would like to do with the property in the future. During the discussion in the City Council, there were questions of where the access to the property would be, both the front and the rear. Levesque said the corner of Noble Street which leads into a farm road would be the most logical place. Councilor Kristen Mello raised floodplain concerns, and said the GIS plan shows it coming up into the building area in the front. Levesque said the stormwater infrastructure would get into a bit of the flood zone. The hearing at the City Council was continued for a review by the city engineer. At the Planning Board on May 20, Levesque said the zoning change to Residence C would be for someone, likely not the family, to turn into housing similar to the adjacent condominium project in the front ten percent of the property, and leave the 50-plus acres in the rear property as Rural Residential. He said after the discussion at the City Council, they pulled the front portion further away from the flood zone, and made a sketch of a potential townhouse style residential project that could go there. Asked whether the access on Noble Street would be for both the rear property and for the housing development, Levesque said that would be preferable, but if not, there would be plenty of access points to the housing development on Main Street. Planning Board chair William Carellas said he was happy that they were not requesting spot zoning, as there is plenty of Residence C in the area, before the Planning Board made a unanimous positive recommendation to the City Council for the project. The Planning Board also positively recommended three other zoning change requests that came before the City Council, and were referred to the Zoning, Planning and Development Committee. The second zoning change request was by Mike Ventrice, owner of TV Realty & Development to change his 17-acre property on Lockhouse Road from Industrial A to Residence C, for future housing development of 25 duplexes. Ventrice said his property is 75 feet from Arch Road, with frontage on Lockhouse where the road is one-way with the one-lane railroad bridge. He said he has a meeting on June 3 with the Traffic Commission to discuss reverting the road back to two-way. Robert McKay of 27 Ridgeway Ave., an abutter on the other side of the railroad tracks, said many years ago, that section of Lockhouse that is one-way used to be two-ways, but he said it was changed for safety reasons to one-way. 'It was nice when it was two-way, but there were a lot of accidents at that bridge.' 'His property is a lot farther away from the bridge. I guess that becomes a traffic issue,' said Carellas after the unanimous positive recommendation from the Planning Board. Also recommended was a petition of Michael Sajewicz, the owner of Arrow Pharmacy to amend the zoning map at 66 Holyoke Rd. from Residence B to Business B (portion). Levesque, also representing Sajewicz, said the purpose of the zoning change would be to extend Business B from the pharmacy on a contiguous piece of property, to allow them to utilize the property for a similar or related use. The house on Holyoke Road, which is part of the property being requested for a zoning change, would remain as residential, and in the future be separated as a residential lot. Sajewicz owns the three contiguous lots. Asked what the plans are for the rear lot, Levesque said the first stop is to get the back rezoned, but there is no specific project at this point. 'In a perfect world … symbiotic uses that would work well with the pharmacy. Looking at it, it made sense to try to revamp the back of the property,' Levesque said. He said right now, they are separate parcels, and the idea would be making it one contiguous property, that would allow for 'higher and better use than what we could do on the property there now.' Also under discussion in both bodies is to amend the zoning ordinance to expand uses allowed in the Industrial A district. City Planner Jay Vinskey spoke at the Planning Board meeting on behalf of Councilor Brent Bean. He said during the last discussion, the board recommended some uses to be added to Industrial A, and that list was proposed to the City Council. He said the only change the Planning Board recommended that didn't make it through the committee was to only allow Commercial A uses in existing buildings in Industrial A, in order to avoid new shopping centers being built. 'I would agree — only for uses in existing buildings,' said Carellas. Planning Board member Richard Salois said one of the biggest concerns he had was that they build a strip mall. 'There is a reason for the use of existing buildings there,' he said. 'I believe back in April, that was not the intention, but to use empty warehouses that could go in a Commercial A district, or conversion or expansion of a building or a portion thereof for the new uses,' said board member Cheryl Crowe. Among the Commercial A uses that would be permitted by-right in Industrial A are neighborhood retail store not in excess of 750 feet; service-oriented stores such as a barber shop or beautician, but not laundry or dry-cleaning; retail service or custom stores, but no booth or restaurant facilities; branch bank, medical or dental clinic. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Lake Norman-area homes with public park, fishing pond approved by town planners
The Huntersville Planning Board endorsed a national homebuilder's plan Tuesday night for a 259-home community east of Interstate 77 that would include land donated for a town park and 10-acre public fishing pond. The board voted 4-2 in favor of a rezoning for the project proposed by NVR Inc., the parent company of Ryan Homes. Three members abstained. The town Board of Commissioners, which has final say, is scheduled to vote on the request June 17. Nine open spaces totaling 23 acres also would include pickleball courts, a recreational field, butterfly gardens, fire pit, dog park, a half-basketball court, a shade structure, splash pad and a playground with swings, Sean Paone, principal of project consultant Bolton & Menk, told the Planning Board. Natural wildlife corridors would cut through the 106 acres east of the intersection of Hambright Road and Everette Keith Road. NVR proposes a mix of housing types: 76 townhomes north of Hambright Road; 75 cottage homes south of Hambright; 99 homes near the southern and eastern parts of the property; and nine larger home lots beside Dogwood Lane, according to NVR's rezoning application . The development would include eight affordable housing units, or those affordable to teachers, police and firefighters. NVR also would extend Hambright Road, its application shows. 'We like to create great communities,' Scott Munday, Charlotte-based general manager of land for NVR/Ryan Homes told the Planning Board. 'We believe this community fits that bill exactly. 'It's highly amenitized, it's highly planned, and we think it would be very attractive to owners,' Munday said. 'And we believe it has a lot of benefits to the town as well.' NVR/Ryan Homes has developed 15 to 20 communities in the Charlotte metro area over the past five years totaling 5,000 lots, and 'each are to this level of detail and plan,' Munday said, referring to Everette Keith Residential. Board members who voted to recommend the rezoning said they liked the amenities and said the development appears to be a good fit with its surroundings. Board members against the rezoning sided with town planning staff concerned that the number of homes conflicts with zoning plans for the area.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Only 4.2% of Ashland's registered voters cast ballots May 20. This may be why
Incumbent Select Board members Joe Magnani and Brandi Kinsman held off a challenge from Carlton Phelps in the only formally contested race in the May 20 Ashland Town Election. Only 548 — 4.2% — of the town's 13,054 registered voters came out to cast ballots on Tuesday. In the Select Board race, Kinsman, the current vice chair, earned another three-year term by topping the ticket with 407 votes, with Magnani collecting 345. Phelps, who also unsuccessfully challenged state Rep. Jack Lewis, D-Framingham, in the state Democratic Primary last fall, got 221 votes. A second contested race materialized in the form of two write-in candidates for a two-year seat on the Planning Board. In that race, Scott Pelletier earned 125 votes, defeating Sambasiva Pemmaraju (87 votes). Those winning uncontested races include the following: Assessor (three years, one seat): Samuel Thomas Murphy, 461; Board of Health (one seat, three years): John Byrnes (incumbent), 460; Board of Health (one seat, two years): Maurice Aaron Krasner, 444; Board of Library Trustees (three years, one seat): Bonnie Mitchell (incumbent), 475; Moderator (three years, one seat): Adam Bennett Shuster (incumbent), 446; Planning Board (five years, one seat): Camilo Espitia, 416; School Committee (three years, two seats): Marcy Diane Culverwell (incumbent), 451; Paul Kendall (incumbent), 410. There were no ballot questions. All results are unofficial until certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Ashland incumbent Select Board members keep seats in town election
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Can't sit here silently': Town officials call for Longmeadow Planning Board member to resign
LONGMEADOW — The town's top board unanimously called Monday for a longtime Planning Board member to resign, joining that board's decision to denounce the member earlier this month. 'No resident of Longmeadow or anywhere should be subjected to this treatment by an elected official,' said Vineeth Hemavathi, chair of the Select Board. Walter Gunn has twice been accused of entering residents' backyards unannounced during his tenure on the Planning Board — once in 2014, according to a police report, and once in January, according to a complaint filed with the Planning Board. Lyn Simmons, the Longmeadow town manager, told The Republican Tuesday she had not heard from Gunn and did not know if he was planning to resign in response to the board's call. The town does not have the legal means to recall an elected official. Gunn could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday. Fabricio and Jill Ochoa emailed a formal complaint to Cheryl Thibodeau, the chair of the Planning Board, on March 16. The couple said Gunn entered their property unannounced in January, claiming he was on a bike ride through the neighborhood. In a video Fabricio Ochoa took of the incident, which The Republican viewed, Gunn asked Ochoa if he 'even speaks English,' after they had been talking for a minute. He also asked Ochoa if he was a resident in Longmeadow, the video shows. The entire interaction lasted 24 minutes. 'The encounter with Walter was both humiliating and disheartening,' Ochoa said in his complaint. In comments after the May 9 meeting, Gunn said he 'was very apologetic with what transpired that night' and 'can't explain' why he acted the way he did. 'I can't sit here silently,' Dan Zwirko, a Select Board member, said Monday night, before voting to endorse Hemavathi's statement. 'To the Ochoas and any other marginalized people, we have your back.' All members of the Select Board supported the call for Gunn to resign. Between 2000 and present day, there has been one other instance when Gunn entered a resident's property unannounced, according to a police report filed in 2014. The resident, whose name is redacted from the report, said Gunn rode his bike onto the property. The resident said he '(waved), ran and shouted to the man' telling him to stop. The resident said the man introduced himself as 'Walter Gunn,' and said 'he has the right to ride on my property,' the report said. 'He said that if I don't let him, he will fight me + hurt me,' the report said. The report continues that Gunn threatened the resident, claiming he had a gun and would use it if the resident did not let Gunn onto his property. Gunn also allegedly told the resident that he had previously ridden on the property on 'many, many occasions,' and that it is 'his property to ride thru or go thru anytime he wishes.' As a member of the Planning Board, Gunn has some latitude in approaching members of the community on official matters, according to Hemavathi. Simmons, the town manager, said she was aware of the previous incident in 2014. In an emailed statement, she said, 'The incident the Ochoas experienced is not one that anyone should ever have to endure. I'm grateful they had the strength to come forward so we can confront it directly and work to ensure every member of our community is treated with dignity and respect.' Mark Gold, one of the Select Board members, said he agreed the board needed to take action regarding Gunn but acknowledged that the town doesn't have clear recourse. Gold said that in 2019 residents requested a change to the town charter to enable the recall of elected officials, except for those on the Select Board. 'I would like to bring that back,' Gold said of the proposal, which did not become policy, 'if that's what people want.' 'I want to make sure the town has recourse,' he said. West Springfield mayor proposes budget focused on road repairs and public safety Spice of life: This restaurant brings Sri Lankan street food to the Pioneer Valley Employees, management of Northampton, Easthampton food co-ops battle over union contract West Springfield gun buyback nets 34 guns Read the original article on MassLive.
