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Planning Board continues hearing on 16 Lavender Street redevelopment into medical offices; parking, lighting and signage remain unresolved
Summary
Applicant Pamela Matthews sought a special permit and site-plan approval to convert two small buildings at 16 Lavender Street into professional medical/therapy offices and a one-bedroom apartment; the board continued the public hearing to Aug. 5 after requesting additional information on lighting, curb stops, parking designation and signage.
The Town of Millis Planning Board on July 8 continued a public hearing on a special permit with site-plan approval for 16 Lavender Street after the applicant agreed to supply additional details about exterior lighting, signage, curb stops and a parking plan.
Pamela Matthews, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, told the board she intends to use the property at the corner of Lavender and Exchange streets for small professional offices serving children and adolescents and to occupy the existing second-floor one-bedroom apartment as part of the mixed use. Nick Fasendola of Lehi Design Group presented the site plan and engineering notes.
The site is a roughly 17,000-square-foot parcel with two existing structures totaling about 2,500 square feet. The applicant proposed nine striped parking spaces on the existing pavement, including one van-accessible handicap stall. Zoning parking calculations require 11 spaces (one for the dwelling unit and 10 based on office square footage); the applicant requested relief and proposed shared parking and staggered staff shifts to reduce peak demand.
Peer reviewer Steven Lee raised concerns about three stalls that require backing into the street and suggested the two long-reverse maneuvers at the rear be designated for employees only; he also recommended additional curb stops for five spaces that abut a grassed area and a plastic fence to prevent vehicles from rolling through the fence. Lee and planning board members asked the applicant to show proposed wall-mounted exterior lights and a photometric plan, to depict any building-mounted or freestanding sign on the site plan, and to note repair of the rear fence.
The applicant and the board discussed hours of operation. Matthews said staff would generally be gone by 7:30 p.m.; the board and applicant agreed on weekday hours of roughly 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The applicant said there would be no weekend operations other than activity tied to occupancy of the apartment.
The public raised questions about potential industrial uses; the applicant and design team said no flooring or industrial operations are proposed and that the rear building would be renovated for three private therapy offices.
The board took no vote on the special permit itself; a motion to continue the hearing to Aug. 5 at 7:30 p.m. carried with members responding "Aye." The applicant was instructed to return with an updated plan showing lighting locations and photometrics, added curb stops, the proposed sign location, a note designating two rear stalls as employee-only, and a note about repairing the rear fence. Peer-review comments on stormwater and MS4 compliance remain under review.
The hearing will resume on Aug. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Building, Room 229, and objecting neighbors and departments will have an opportunity to review the updated plan.
