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2000-02-09 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD OR COMMISSION: SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: LOCATION: MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: RECORDER: Parking and Traffic Commission February 9, 2000 Beverly City Hail Tina Cassidy, Dennis Tarsook, Bruce Paimer, Robert Mead, Suzanne Lanzikos (for Chamber of Commerce) Tina Cassidy Cassidy cails the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. and explains that there are two items on this agenda for discussion. Site plan review applications have been filed for a new office building on Sam Fonzo Drive and a modified site plan application for a new office/retail/restaurant development at the site of the old Haiku Haiku restaurant on Enon Street. First on the agenda is a site plan review application for an office building for Liberty Publishing. The building would be located on Sam Fonzo Drive on land formerly owned by Aero Manufacturing. Rich Williams from Hayes Engineering represents the applicant, Jeff Rosen, for Liberty Publishing. He explains the site plan to the members. Cassidy asks what the width of the driveway is at the area of the loading dock at the rear of the building, and Williams answers approximately 12- 14'. Paimer states that the Fire Department wants a minimum aisle width of 18' for one way traffic. Williams answers that the driveway can be increased in width by pulling the loading dock back toward the building and moving the driveway out. He aiso states that he will erect a "Do Not Enter" sign at the comer of the building to discourage vehicles from circling behind the building. Members discuss the front entrance to the site, and Tarsook asks how wide the driveways on either side of the island will be. Williams answers that one will be at least 24' wide, and one will be about 12' wide. Members concur that the one-way traffic aisle designed for "drop-off' traffic must also be at least 18' in width, and should be used only for one-way traffic at that size. Williams states that he will recon~gure the driveway to provide at least 18' of aisle width, and will place a "Keep Right" sign in the island to direct traffic entering the site. Parking and Traffic Commission minutes February 9, 2000 meeting Page two Cassidy notes that the last several parking spaces in the parking area to the west of the building are not provided with sufficient aisle width to provide safe turning movements in and out of the spaces. Tarsook concurs with this point. Following a brief discussion, Williams states that he will review the configuration and present revised plans to the Planning Board. Following this discussion, members agree to recommend to the Planning Board that approval of this site plan should be conditioned on the following requirements: That the driveway at the rear of the building in the area of the loading dock be reconfigured to provide a driveway width of at least 18'; That a ~Do Not Enter" sign be erected on the east side of the building to discourage vehicles from circling the building from that direction; That the narrower of the two driveways at the front of the building near the traffic island be a minimum of 18' in width, and that pavement markings in the form of arrows be added to both driveways around the island. Additionally, a ~Keep Right' sign shall be placed in the island to direct traffic entering the site; and That the layout of the last few parking spaces on the western edge of the secondary parking lot be reconfigured to provide adequate backing area (the current site plan shows a space configuration that is too tight to allow safe vehicle movements). Next on the agenda is a revised site plan submitted for the former Haiku Haiku restaurant at 13-23 Enon Street. Attorney Thomas Alexander and his client, John Athanasopolous are present at the meeting. Alexander explains that the owner originally wanted to replace the former restaurant with a new restaurant, and had intended to provide a drive- though lane on the southern end of the proposed new retail building. The owner did not successfully complete negotiations with a prospective tenant that wanted the drive through lane, so he would like to eliminate the proposed drive-through lane from the approved site plan and instead connect the new retail building to the former restaurant structure. The former restaurant would be used for office space, and an existing building at the rear of the lot (which had originally been slated for demolition) would be retained and refurbished as an upscale Greek restaurant. Parking and Traffic Commission minutes February 9, 2000 meeting Page three Following a review of the amended site plan, members of the commission agree they have no issues of concern with respect to this amended site plan. Next, Mr. Don Preston asks to address the commission. He states that he has been researching and developing a plan to make improvements to the off-street parking areas owned and/or operated by the City as public parking. He notes that the City does not currently have a comprehensive maintenance plan for the parking lots, and states his belief that there is much room for improving the appearance of these lots. Members concur that new paving, striping, and landscaping in the lots would greatly enhance their appearance. Preston states that he has contacted City personnel in the purchasing department, and hopes to have estimated costs for some of the work (such as paving and lot striping) soon. He promises to inform the commission as soon as he has some additional information, and Cassidy suggests that it might be appropriate to schedule a special meeting of the commission to discuss the specific issue of public parking lot improvements. Following completion of discussion on the parking lot issue, the meeting is adjourned at 11:25 a.m.