Commission recommends 3-year extension for Braddock West DSUP despite neighborhood concerns about flooding and Lodge arrangement

The Planning Commission on June 4 recommended City Council approve a three-year extension of the Development Special Use Permit (DSUP 2021-0027) for the Braddock West site at 727 Northwest Street, with a recorded vote of six in favor and one abstention.

Staff presentation and project status Daniel Wells of the Department of Planning and Zoning told commissioners the extension request keeps the originally approved project approved in May 2021 active while the developer completes project work. "The request is for a 3 year extension of DSUP 2021-0027 which was approved by city council in May of 2021," Wells said. The proposal remains largely unchanged: a mixed-use building with about 180 residential units, including 14 affordable units; ground-floor commercial space and a private/fraternal club use permitted through the DSUP; and underground parking options (staff asked the applicant to identify which parking scenario they will pursue on the final site plan).

What the developer has done so far - Phase 1 site work has been completed, including demolition of existing houses, stabilization of the site and installation of a larger sanitary line to serve this property and neighboring developments. Staff noted the developer has installed sewer upsizing because the existing system lacked capacity. - The developer is exploring an option to add a second level of underground parking but staff supports either parking option as within approved parameters.

Public comments and neighborhood concerns - Herbert Rosenblum, attorney for Lincoln Lodge No. 11, said his client sold property to an earlier developer and claimed the current property owner has not honored contractual commitments to provide substitute meeting space. "We have been circumvented and we have been basically ignored," Rosenblum said, urging that the parties meet to resolve their dispute. - Dino Drudy, president of the West Old Town Citizens Association, and other neighbors opposed the extension or urged caution. Drudy said flooding around the Northwest/Northwest Street intersection remains unresolved and called it irresponsible to proceed with a large building in an area that floods; he also raised concerns about historic loss of affordable housing on the site and how additional height granted for affordable housing should be handled.

Commission discussion and vote - Commissioners acknowledged the outstanding neighborhood concerns but noted the applicant has invested in infrastructure (sanitary sewer and site stabilization). Several commissioners encouraged the developer and Lincoln Lodge to negotiate directly on the lodge matter but said the land-use mechanism for providing a fraternal use in the DSUP is in place and private contract disputes cannot be resolved by the commission. - The commission voted to recommend approval of the DSUP extension. The motion passed with six votes in favor and one abstention (Commissioner Brown said he remained uncomfortable with the project's consistency with the small-area plan and therefore abstained).

Outcome and next steps Staff will forward the Planning Commission recommendation to City Council for final action. The extension preserves the applicant's entitlements while permitting continued design and permitting activity; the applicant continues to refine which parking option it will build and final development phasing will be determined in later site plan and construction permitting steps.