pages: PlanningBoard/2021-07-26.pdf, 10
This data as json
body | date | page | text | path |
---|---|---|---|---|
PlanningBoard | 2021-07-26 | 10 | develop this area and to bring businesses to the area. She added that WABA and the Fireside had done so much work with the community to accommodate everyone's needs. Mike Van Dine discussed a better location for these types of events, the historic Merchant Marine Building at McKay Ave*. He said these buildings would be made available for the community if the homeless cannot use them. President Teague closed public comment and opened board discussion and potential action. Board Member Ruiz thanked the community members for coming out and for speaking so passionately about this item. She appreciated the efforts all the stakeholders had taken to mitigate the situation. She discussed that since this use was on Webster which was dedicated as a Main street and the ambiguity around the Special Use Permit, she was in support of the Temporary Use Permit with conditions. First, that the permit was nonrenewable, and secondly that they limit the maximum occupancy to 220 from 350 as an added effort to reduce noise and potential exposure to the covid (Delta) variant. Vice President Saheba appreciated all the commentary and the notes that had been distributed. He addressed that this was a challenging situation and that Covid had created new opportunities, some that might be kept and others that would not be kept beyond the time of the pandemic. He agreed that tying things like this to the Noise Ordinance was critical and he brought up a similar situation on Park St and how that was mitigated. He said with where this situation was now, with bookings already scheduled and the desire to keep this temporary space open he was in support of how this was moving forward. He added that it needed to be continuously monitored to ensure that the Noise Ordinance was maintained and if not changes would need to occur. He was in support of allowing this to go through December; it just needed to be managed to ensure that the situation did not continue to be an issue for the neighbors. Board Member Curtis addressed the good that this project had done for the community and had brought a lot of things together with regard to its original mission. However, he believed that when it expanded into a venue with amplified events it had created a real inconvenience to the neighbors to the point that it affected some neighbors emotionally. He also agreed with Board Member Ruiz about keeping the occupancy down due to Covid. He also suggested no more amplified events after October. He believed that the weekend events during the holiday season would cause a real imposition to the neighbors coming home from work and with daylight savings ending soon the value of the park would diminish substantially for daylight events. He didn't think this was something the neighbors should have to put up with through the end of the year and supported ending things in October. He would not approve this going through to the end of the year. Board Member Rothenberg thanked the public speakers and her fellow board members for their thoughtful discussions and comments. She concurred that this was a meritorious Approved Planning Board Minutes Page 10 of 21 July 26, 2021 | PlanningBoard/2021-07-26.pdf |