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Applicant proposes converting 115 Summer Street to daycare; planning board hears presentation on map change
Summary
Representatives presented a zoning map change and demonstration plan for 115 Summer Street to support a downtown child day care (up to 222 slots); board members acknowledged the childcare need but raised detailed concerns about drop‑off/pickup circulation, on‑site vs. off‑site parking and queuing that will be resolved during later site plan review.
Applicant representatives on Nov. 18 presented a proposal to rezone 115 Summer Street from CI (Intermediate Commercial) to a CG (General Commercial north‑of‑North‑Street variant) and showed a general development plan to adaptively reuse the building for a large downtown child day care.
Ray Mazzi introduced the concept: infill within the building envelope, stair towers and egress improvements to meet code, roughly 5,000 square feet of infill and a proposed capacity of up to 222 child care slots with about 35 staff. The applicant said the site currently has underused office space and that downtown lacks sufficient child‑care capacity. To serve staff parking needs the team described plans to secure 20–25 off‑site spaces by agreement in nearby garages and to retain roughly 50 on‑site spaces split between garage and deck.
Board members praised the focus on downtown childcare but raised operational concerns: high turnover morning drop‑offs and afternoon pickups, potential congestion in dead‑end drive aisles, the need for formal queuing or turnaround space, and the relationship between office parking demand and daycare peak hours. The applicant said the daycare model relies on staggered drop‑off/pickup and that final site plan (and any traffic/TPP department review) will address circulation, off‑site staff parking and exact space counts. The planning board did not take a final vote on the map change at this meeting; the item will proceed through the zoning map change and general development plan process with subsequent, detailed site review and departmental analysis.
