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Board approves 141 School Street townhouses; plan includes daylighting section of Town Brook
Summary
The Planning Board approved a four-townhouse project at 141 School Street with conditions requiring sidewalk reconstruction, DPW permits and CCTV sewer inspections. The developer will daylight a portion of Town Brook and convert pavement into landscaped pocket-park area.
The Quincy Planning Board on Aug. 6 approved site plan review and a parking-waiver special permit for a four-unit townhouse development at 141 School Street, subject to 17 special and general conditions.
Attorney Edward Fleming presented the application on behalf of Heritage Companies. The site is a 7,201-square-foot vacant parcel in the Quincy Center zoning district that sits substantially below School Street and gains vehicular access to garage-level parking via an easement over a neighboring driveway off Fourth Street.
Carlos Sculte of Civil and Environmental Consultants said the proposal would build four townhouses with two-car garages at the lower level, yielding nine parking spaces total. Sculte told the board, "We have 9 parking spaces. We have 2 spaces in the garages for each unit at the lower level, and then 1 guest space as well." The design includes stairs from School Street to raised first-floor entries, upgraded sidewalk work, site landscaping, and stormwater chambers to treat and recharge roof runoff.
The project also proposes to daylight and expand an open segment of Town Brook on the back of the parcel, remove surrounding pavement and replace it with landscaping, and create a small pocket park adjacent to the stream. The proponents said revised FEMA flood mapping for the area, adopted in July, lowered flood elevations and now confines identified floodway elevations within the culvert rather than across the parking area.
Michael Kiley, president of Heritage Companies, said the units may be marketed as condominiums or rented as apartments depending on market conditions: "this right now would be either apartments or condominiums. I have made a decision depending on market conditions at the time."
City staff recommended approval with conditions that include reconstruction of the School Street sidewalk, a construction management plan, DPW drain permits and pre/post-development CCTV sewer inspection, staged erosion-control inspections, a recorded stormwater operation-and-maintenance plan, dust and rodent control plans for the construction period, and other standard requirements. The department asked for monuments to delineate public rights-of-way and AutoCAD as-built submissions upon completion.
A motion to approve subject to the department's 17 conditions passed after a second; the board recorded an affirmative vote.
The application will also require Conservation Commission review because of the Town Brook resource-area work and may require Zoning Board of Appeal findings or variances for development in Quincy Center zoning. The applicant said it has reached preliminary agreements with the owner of 20 Fourth Street for the access easement needed for garage access; neighbors contacted were described as supportive in the presentation.
The project team and city staff will proceed to complete the technical submissions and coordination required by the conditions before permits are issued.
