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Board approves amended plan for 125 Perry Street, adding 8 units and leased parking
Summary
The Lowell Planning Board approved amendments Tuesday to the previously permitted redevelopment of 125 Perry Street, allowing the project to expand from 24 to 32 residential units and to use adjacent leased land for additional parking.
The Lowell Planning Board on Tuesday approved an amended special permit and site plan changes for 125 Perry Street that increase the approved building from 24 units to 32, add a fourth residential floor under a pitched roof and expand off‑street parking by using leased land to provide 68 spaces.
John Geary, attorney for Perry 125 LLC, told the board that the redesign — driven by the developer’s switch to a pitched roof — creates a fourth floor with two one‑bedroom units and six two‑bedroom units. The project’s footprint did not change from the prior approval; the redesign allowed more efficient garage column placement and an expanded leased area behind the site that adds 11 parking spaces and increases the garage to 25 spaces, bringing total off‑street parking to 68 where 64 is required.
Geary said the applicant had recorded a long‑term lease with the trustees of Concord Crossing Condominium that grants control of the adjoining land; board members later clarified on the record that the lease term cited in the application is 50 years with options to extend. Mark O’Hara of O’Hara Engineering summarized stormwater revisions: the project will capture rooftop runoff, add underground infiltration, and provide an overflow routed to an existing detention basin. The applicant will obtain a stormwater permit from the Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility and add a backflow preventer for the grease trap and a concrete curb enclosure around the dumpster pad per staff engineering requests.
Landscape architect Angie Virge described a revised landscape plan with approximately 16 shade trees and evergreen plantings, granite veneer on four Perry Street bump‑outs, dark‑sky‑compliant LED lighting on 15‑foot posts, snow storage strips and a solid 6‑foot safety fence above a retaining wall at the rear. Virge said plantings were selected to screen foundation walls and soften the Perry Street façade.
Board members asked detailed questions about lighting, the main pedestrian entrance, truck turning templates for fire access and bike storage. The applicant proposed an on‑demand bike rack solution (attachments to assigned parking spaces) rather than a separate common bike room; staff said the Department of Planning and Development found this acceptable given the surplus of vehicle parking. Planning Board members requested that the applicant work with DPD staff to accentuate the Perry Street entrance and submit a final lighting plan to DPD for approval.
The board approved three motions — an amended special permit to modify the earlier approval, a special permit to use land of another for parking, and site plan review — each with the same conditions: final stormwater management approval, bike racks provided on request to tenants, a final lighting plan submitted to DPD, and coordination with DPD to improve the Perry Street entry. Each motion passed 5–0.
Discussion versus action: much of the meeting consisted of applicant presentations and technical discussion with staff (engineering, stormwater, landscape). The formal decisions were the three board approvals recorded with conditions intended to assure compliance with stormwater, circulation, lighting and site appearance before permit issuance.
