Gardner Planning Commission approves revised Grand Street plan, removes proposed three‑story assisted‑living building

The Gardner City Planning Commission on July 28 approved a rezoning and revised preliminary development plan and preliminary plat for a 10.75‑acre site near Grand Street Elementary and Crow Ridge Middle School that removes a previously proposed three‑story, 90‑unit assisted‑living building and replaces it with single‑story fourplexes.

The commission voted 5‑0 to rezone the site from RP‑3 and RP‑5 to RP‑3 Planned Garden Apartment District and to approve the revised preliminary development plan and preliminary plat, with a condition added that the preliminary plat approval is contingent on the governing body’s approval of the rezoning and associated development plan. Commissioner Combs moved the motion; Commissioner Sosa seconded.

The change replaces the previously approved mix that included 89 compact single‑family lots, 27 fourplexes, two duplex buildings and a 90‑unit, three‑story assisted‑living facility; the revised plan removes the three‑story assisted‑living building and adds roughly eleven fourplex buildings in that location, while a larger building farther north adjacent to the BNSF rail tracks remains in the plan. Staff said the new layout is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and is framed as infill residential buffered from adjacent single‑family neighborhoods.

Staff presented five requested deviations from standard design criteria that were approved with the recommendation: reduced sidewalk widths in some areas from eight feet to six feet (staff said ADA compliance must be retained), reduced parking‑to‑street transition widths in certain amenity‑adjacent lots, reduced exterior lot setbacks for the garden‑apartment building type (proposed exterior setbacks of three feet in some locations), and an increase in allowed building coverage from 40% to 76%. Staff indicated these were the same deviations approved with the original final development plan in 2023 and said they were supportive given the proposed building types and context.

At the public hearing, a nearby resident, Sandra Stewart of 620 East Lakota Street, asked whether the new buildings would be single‑story and whether the development would change her sightlines; staff and the applicant confirmed the new fourplexes are single‑story and reiterated that the three‑story building originally proposed closer to Grand Street had been removed from the plan. Mark Huggins, a civil engineer with Payne & Brockway, and developer Mike Brock answered questions about infrastructure timing and phasing; they said Phase 1 infrastructure was under construction and scheduled to be complete in the fall, with later phases currently projected in 2027 and 2029 depending on market and permitting.

Commission discussion also focused on a procedural safeguard: commissioners added a condition that preliminary plat approval should be contingent on the governing body’s approval of the rezoning and associated development plan to avoid an approval “hanging” if the governing body acted differently. Staff explained that because of how the land development code associates preliminary development plans with specific planned districts, a significant change to the preliminary development plan can require a technical rezoning to the revised plan even when the numerical zoning category stays the same in part of the site.

The commission’s approval was limited to the rezoning, revised preliminary development plan and preliminary plat; the applicant must return to the commission with revised final development plan and final plat for the specific lot and road changes before building permits are released. Staff noted standard conditions related to stormwater and other engineering requirements remain in place.

The item will go to the governing body (city council) for final action on the rezoning and development plan; the Planning Commission’s approval of the preliminary plat is contingent on that governing‑body approval per the condition added during the meeting.