Planning Board approves 80 Clay Street site plan with Quincy-local leasing preference, developer to fund water-main work

The Quincy Planning Board on Aug. 6 approved site plan review and a parking waiver for the continued public hearing on the proposed 80 Clay Street development, subject to 17 special and general conditions.

The board's action clears the project's site plan review under Quincy zoning ordinance title 17 section 9.5 0.1 and a special permit under section 5.1 0.17 for a parking waiver, with conditions including construction management requirements, inspections and recorded long-term stormwater operation and maintenance obligations.

City planning staff told the board the developer agreed to fund $75,000 to finish the replacement of a 1916 water main in Wentworth Street and pledged an additional $25,000 to help with repaving. City staff read the commitment into the record as part of the department's recommended conditions for approval.

The applicant's team described minor design changes made since the earlier hearing. Jesse Johnson of Weston & Sampson, the project's civil engineer, said the plans now "have the ability to add an additional 10 parking stalls if needed," and showed revisions that widen an existing curb cut, revise driveway radii and add wayfinding and banner-style signage. The team also added an infiltration BMP to route clean roof runoff into on-site recharge and proposed a six-foot screening fence along property limits to screen abutters.

Betsy Collins of PBD Properties, representing the applicant, described the tenant selection approach the project will use. Collins said the project will include a tenant selection plan that will seek a local preference and that "we will request the maximum ... that we get the maximum of 70%." She said that local preference applies to the initial lease-up pool and defines a local as someone who lives in Quincy or works in Quincy, and that federally subsidized units (up to eight) would be exempt from the local preference rules.

Union and trades representatives attended the hearing. Patrick Mulkerin, president of the Quincy Building Trades Unions, asked who the contractor would be; Dana Angelo of Affordable Housing Services Collaborative identified the contractor as NEI Contractors.

The department's recommended conditions — read into the record — require the applicant to obtain all applicable findings, variances and special permits from the Zoning Board of Appeal as needed; file a construction management plan before building permits; obtain DPW drain permits; perform pre- and post-construction CCTV sewer inspections and a water-flow test; permit staging and erosion-control inspections; record a stormwater operation and maintenance plan at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds; submit as-built AutoCAD files; and take other measures listed in the 17 conditions.

A motion to approve the site plan subject to the 17 conditions passed after a second; the meeting record shows the board voted in the affirmative.

Planning staff and the applicant said the conditions and the infrastructure funding commitments will be coordinated with the Department of Public Works before permits are issued.

The applicant and city will continue permit-level coordination required by the conditions, including DPW inspections and submittals prior to building permits and occupancy.