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Developer Joe Falzone asks planning board to clarify Brentwood’s new zoning rules as staff insists commercial mandate applies to first‑floor
Summary
Developer Joe Falzone presented preliminary plans for a 30‑acre parcel and sought clarification about multifamily definitions and whether Brentwood’s 50% commercial mandate can be met off the ground floor. Planning staff and the board said the ordinance requires first‑floor commercial and cautioned that the site’s soils and septic capacity (preliminarily ~120 units) remain subject to in‑ground testing.
Developer Joe Falzone and Christian Smith of Beals Associates presented preliminary, pre‑application questions about roughly 30 acres of property to the Brentwood Planning Board, asking how to interpret elements of a newly enacted zoning district and what the town expects during design.
Falzone identified himself at the hearing: "I'm Joe Falzone, who's gonna be developing the 30 acres," and said the presentation was intended to surface ambiguities so the design team would not pursue approaches that conflict with the ordinance. Christian Smith described early technical work: a professional soil scientist completed wetland delineation sampling and the team is assembling boundary and topographic surveys.
On unit capacity, Smith said early NRCS soils‑based loading calculations put the combined property "in the neighborhood of ... about a 120 give or take units, not buildings." He and staff cautioned that this is a soils‑loading estimate tied to septic planning and could change after site‑specific soils reports, septic loading analysis and decisions about the amount of commercial space required on the first floor.
Falzone questioned whether the local commercial mandate — described in the ordinance language discussed at the meeting as requiring 50 percent of the first‑floor gross square footage to be commercial — could be satisfied by placing commercial uses on the second floor or distributing commercial space differently across multiple buildings. Planning staff replied that the town and the state definition are clear to them: "I believe that our language is very clear that the commercial activity happens on the 1st Floor," a staff member told the board, and the board said the voter‑adopted ordinance language supports that view. The exchange was recorded as a disagreement the parties might need to resolve if the text and intent remain contested.
Other issues discussed included a state‑mandated 25‑foot no‑disturb buffer around an on‑site cemetery (the developer and team said they are aware of and would comply with the buffer), potential wetlands mitigation in a southwesterly corner of the site pending the final delineation, and the need for formal design review. Staff said the town will require review of wetland delineation reports and that an engineering review fee (staff estimated roughly $500–$1,000) would be needed for the town engineer’s review.
What happens next: The developer said he will finalize surveys, wetland delineation and soil testing and return for formal design review. Staff asked that any preliminary out‑of‑meeting discussions be held with both Mark and Glenn (town staff) present so interpretations are shared and documented. If the ordinance language remains contested, staff noted the dispute could be resolved by further administrative clarification or, if necessary, legal adjudication.
