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PTC Minutes 4 5 16Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES 1. BOARD OR COMMISSION: Parking and Traffic Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: April 5, 2016 LOCATION: Conference Room B Third Floor City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair, Richard Benevento, City Planner Aaron Clausen, Vice Chair, Sgt. Antonio DiRuzza, George Binns, Richard Hutchinson, Capt. Chris Halloran, MEMBERS ABSENT: John Somes OTHERS PRESENT: Greg St. Louis, City Engineer RECORDER: Eileen Sacco Benevento calls the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 2. Recommendation to Planning Board: Site Plan Review Application #121 -16 — construct two -story building containing approximately 80,000 s.f. gross floor area to be used for Engineering, Fabrication, Distribution and Related Office Uses —102 Cherry Hill Drive — 102 Cherry Hill Development LLC. Attorney Miranda Gooding addresses the Commission and explains that she is joined this morning by Peter Ogren and Steve Connelly, principle for the project. She explains that this project has been vetted by the City of Beverly Project Review Team and this is one of the last undeveloped lots at Cherry Hill. Gooding explained that they are proposing to construct a two -story mixed -use building to be used for manufacturing and office space. Gooding stated that this is an exciting project and explains that the company HighRes Biosolutions is renovating the facility to move its World Headquarters to Beverly. Gooding stated that this is a simple site plan in an area intended for this use. She introduced Steve Connelly to explain the plan. Connelly addressed the Commission and explained that this lot is at the corner of Sam Fonzo Drive and Cherry Hill. He explained the location for the proposed building and noted that the lower floor would be used for manufacturing in the upper floor will be for administration and engineering. He explains that the building will be built into the hill and the upper level of the building will be accessible from the parking lot at the top of the site. Access to the lower level of the building will be from the loading dock side of the building. Connelly explained the site plan and noted the location of the roadways in the parking area. He explained that they expect 3 to 5 box trucks per day making deliveries to the site and there would be no conflict with the school located next to the site. He also estimated that they might have 1 -2 trailer trucks per week. He explained that most of the Page 1 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 shipments would be small in size and he further explained that the company builds robotic equipment for biosciences and everything they build is sourced in Massachusetts and is sold all over the world. Peter Ogren addresses the Commission and explains the parking requirements for the IR zoning district. He explained 40,000 s.f. requires 260 spaces and notes that they had previously intended to ask for a reduction in parking requirements but have since decided to provide the full parking requirement. Ogren explains the access to the site on the plans and notes the areas for truck access and notes that the industrial park was designed for buildings like this. Benevento questions why they are adding a driveway and not sharing one driveway with the school which is located next door. Connelly reports that they do not want to confuse the high school traffic and explains the traffic pattern on that site. He explains that the students are supervised during dismissal and the transportation is provided by small vans and taxis. He further notes that there are no walkers to the school or students who ride their bikes to school. He explains that a separate entrance is justified because of the amount of cars (260) and they do not want to complicate the operation of the school. Benevento stated that he thinks a 53 foot tractor - trailer would be in conflict trying to get up that road. Connelly explained that they have one or two a week and some weeks there are none. He further notes that school is in session 8 months of the year and pick up and drop off times are for a short time in the morning and the afternoon. Benevento asks if any trip generation calculations have been done. Ogren states that they have not done a trip generation. Benevento states that he feels that they should do one just for due diligence. Clausen states that this is part of a redevelopment that's been going on for quite some time and it is his sense that the project is not really going to have an impact on current street network and he does believe a trip generation analysis is needed. He also noted that adequate turning is provided. Benevento states that the industrial park was designed a long time ago and now that it is almost built out and a lot has changed over the years relative to guidelines for transportation infrastructure. For example he pointed to City's adoption of the complete streets program that encourages sidewalks for this type of development which were not required back when the industrial park was first constructed. He asks if there are any sidewalks at Cherry Hill. Connelly explains that there are no sidewalks at Cherry Hill. Clausen explained that further up the street there is a sidewalk but there are no sidewalks in the area of Sam Fonzo Drive in Cherry Hill. Page 2 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 Connelly reviews the circulation pattern for the school and its relation to the project site. Benevento asks if there will be signs that indicate no parking. Connelly explained that there are no parking signs and that the road will be a one -way coming into the site. Benevento states that he is still concerned about the conflict point where trucks are entering the site. Capt. Halloran stated that they need to be able to get a fire truck all around the building from both Sam Fonzo and Cherry Hill. He explains the ladder truck would be within 30 feet out front noting the building is set back 30 feet and explains that the fire department tries to get three corners of the building and the truck would have to be on the street. Sgt. DiRuzza stated that there may be a lot more traffic on Conant Street with 260 parking spaces on the site. Mr. Ogren explained that most of the expected traffic will come from route 128, he goes on to note that the hours of operation are staggered and the employees will not all be on the site at the same time. Attorney Gooding explained the presently the total employee count is under 100; however, they do anticipate growth. Benevento stated that the plan should not be based on what the employee count is now in the trip generations, types of use and future expansion of the company need to be considered now. Attorney Gooding explained that they are developing an industrial /office use in an office park and noted that they asked if a traffic study would be needed and it was suggested that they didn't need to do one given this location. Benevento stated that he feels they should demonstrate the traffic impact on the area. Hutchinson asked if the road is designed to take a right out of the driveway, noting that he would discourage that. Binns stated that he is also concerned about the possibility of a right turn out of the site stating that if a 53 -foot truck has to make a left -hand turn if it would project into the school driveway. Ogren states that he does not think the truck would have to do that. Connelly again states that they anticipate 1 -2 trailer trucks per week including UPS and FedEx. City Engineer Greg St. Louis asks if they plan on using turf stone pavers on the site. Connelly explains that he is planning to use them and has used them on other sites for 30 years. St. Louis expresses concern that he doesn't think they will hold up and suggested that they might use concrete. Page 3 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 St. Louis also noted that at the primary entrance there is no reason not to have 15 foot radius. Benevento agreed noting the need to accommodate right turn at a minimum per UPS truck. Ogren explained that they worked on this loading dock and consider the amount of study they did on the site including test borings. Clausen notes that small box trucks are likely to make that right turn. Ogren explains that they have been to the Beverly Airport Commission and they are in support of the project. He further explained that they are in the process of going through the permitting process with the FAA. St. Louis asked if they had submitted drainage calculations for the site. Attorney Gooding explained that they should've been received noting that they have been in circulation. Benevento notes that the City has adopted a complete streets policy which encourages healthy transportation including bike racks to accommodate employees who wish to ride bikes to work. Connelly stated that they would be willing to provide appropriate storage such as a bike rack on the site. It was noted the Conant Street is not a bike friendly street. Clausen explains that the City is making an effort to improve bike access throughout the City. He notes that Axcelis and Cell Signaling have a number of employees who use alternative transportation. Benevento asks if there is anyone from the public would like to speak on this project. Cynthia Modugno of 1 Colgate Rd., Beverly, addressed the Commission and suggested the deliveries to the site could be managed by having them be by appointment only. Jonathan Salt addressed the Commission and noted that the complete streets policy includes walking paths as well. He suggested that a crosswalk is needed at Sam Fonzo Drive in Cherry Hill and this may be a good opportunity to get one. Benevento reviews the items of concern that have been expressed at the meeting and notes the location of the bike racks, fire access needs to be maintained around the building, auto turns should be shown on the plan noting the trucks cannot be exiting into the opposing lane, the impact of the driveway on the school being kitty corner, and the opportunity for a crosswalk at the intersection of Sam Fonzo Drive. He asked Ogren if they could take a look at these items and see if there is an opportunity to provide pedestrian access as well. St. Louis questioned if there is a requirement to provide public access on the site. Clausen stated that there is no requirement for public access. Benevento suggested that the Commission continue this matter until its May 3, 2016 meeting. Page 4 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 Attorney Gooding stated that the project is under tight schedule and requested that the Commission could send a letter to the Planning Board citing their concern as a condition of approval. She explained that the prospective tenant is under pressure to vacate their current space in Woburn. Mr. Benevento stated that he is concerned the revised plans could get whittled down and he wants to be sure that these things are incorporated into the plans. Clausen stated that he would support conditional approval and noted that the changes requested are fairly simple. He suggested that a recommendation with conditions from the Parking and Traffic Commission are usually tied into the approval by the Planning Board and stated that the Commission should feel comfortable with that. He also noted that the revised plans would be submitted to the Planning Board and would have the changes recommended by Parking and Traffic Commission. Benevento stated that he would be fine with that. Clausen further noted that the revised plan would be further reviewed by the Fire Department during the Planning Board review. Clausen: motion of the Parking and Traffic Commission recommend approval of the site plan review for 102 Cherry Hill Dr., Cherry Hill Development LLC with the following conditions: 1. Bike racks will be available on the site to encourage alternative transportation 2. alternative radii asked the on the north side of the driveway to discourage vehicles from right turn 3. clarification that there is adequate room for fire access on three sides of the building 4. revised plans shall be submitted to the planning board 5. traffic signage shall be installed to reduce potential conflicts on site Hutchinson seconds the motion. The motion carries (6 -0). 3. Request for Informal Project Review — 480 Rantoul St. — Beverly Crossing 480, LLC Attorney Maranda Gooding addressed the Parking and Traffic Commission and explains that she is joined this morning by Chris Koeplin, Kristen Poulin, from Beverly Crossing and Rebecca Brown of TEC. She explained that they have requested this informational review of the project and notes that they have not filed a site plan at this time. Attorney Gooding explained that the site is the former Friendly's site and has over 85,000 ft. and 220 feet of frontage on Rantoul Street. She explained that they're proposing a five -story mixed -use building with 90 residences comprised of 62 one - bedroom and 28 two - bedroom apartments. She explained that the ground floor of the site is proposed to be for commercial use. Attorney Gooding stated that all parking required in the CC zoning district of approximately 118 parking spaces will be provided. She also noted that there are seven Page 5 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 street spaces proposed for the retail uses. She also noted that this project will require a special permit from the Planning Board. She introduced Chris Koeplin to explain the site. Koeplin explained that they feel that this is a good location to attract local businesses. He reviewed the area on the plan and noted the locations of the buildings and their proximity to the street as well as the parking areas and landscaping on the site. Rebecca Brown of TEC addressed the Parking and Traffic Commission and stated that the access study included the area of Rantoul and Elliott and up to the Cabot and Rantoul Street intersection. She pointed out that the the proposal includes two site. She also explained that they have done a safety analysis. Brown reported that they looked at crash data records from 2009 through 2013 and stated that there have been five crashes during that period. She explained the majority of collisions are angle collisions that involve left turns. She also noted that rear end collisions are common in areas where there are no turning lanes. She explained that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation project will provide turning lanes and timing adjustments to the light along Rantoul Street. Brown explained that they conducted traffic counts in March 2016 and traffic volumes and explain the process that they used. She also noted that they have considered additional traffic from other developments in the area noting 131 Rantoul Street. She also noted that they found there to be a lot of people walking and biking in the area. Brown explained that they have planned for built conditions out to 2023 in their analysis noting that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation project route IAwill be completed in 2017 and that intersection should have a better level of service due to the changes in the traffic signal timing. Brown explained that there will be 118 parking spaces for residential units and seven parking spaces on the street for the retail use. She explained the peak demand for parking is estimated at 108 parking space. Brown explained the traffic anaylsis found a safe and acceptable level of service and no large increases in delays at the study intersections. Hutchinson stated that Lenox Street is used a lot and should be included when considering how many cars are coming out onto Rantoul Street. Charlie Weir addressed the Parking and Traffic Commission and explain the traffic circulation on the site. He noted the exit location and 118 parking spaces on site noting that there will be one parking space per unit. He notes that they do not feel that they need hundred 118 and suggested that they are looking at perhaps providing more green space on the site with the capability of adding more parking in the future if needed Clausen explained that they were asked to look at the parking and their needs noting that 118 parking spaces is a lot for the site and further noted that the City is trying to limit Page 6 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 large under used parking lots downtown. He notes that the shared use of retail and residential provides an opportunity to look at ways to look at ways to reduce impervious areas on the site and it is worth exploring. He notes that parking usage has been looked at for seven different properties downtown and they have found that .8 parking spaces are being used across these similar downtown developments. Benevento stated that less parking on the site provides better circulation of the site. He asks if they are planning on providing bike racks in the project. Koeplin stated that they are looking at covered secure storage for bicycles. Benevento asked if members of the Commission have any questions or comments regarding the project. St. Louis suggested that they may need to provide five handicap parking spaces. He noted that if relief from parking is granted they will still need to comply with handicap parking regulations. Benevento asked if there was anyone present from the public who wishes to comment on this project. Cynthia Modugno addresses the Commission and expressed her concern that they will have to fill the back parking lot and build a wall noting that the drainage will infiltrate underground. She notes that she has concerns that this will impact her property. Benevento noted that the Parking and Traffic Commission can only make recommendations regarding Parking and Traffic. Dr. Clark of 491 Rantoul St. addresses the Commission and stated that he has been on that street for 34 years and stated the timing of lights at Gloucester Crossing can sometimes be 10 minutes or so noting that the trains delay traffic. He noted the traffic is gridlocked at Elliott Street and Cabot Street three or four times a day. He also expressed concern about business parking on lower Elliott Street and stated that there are no meters and suggested that one hour meters should be installed. He also stated that he agrees with Mr. Hutchinson that Lenox Street is heavily used. He further noted that he is concerned that there will be even more of an increase traffic when the new Beverly middle school opens. There being no further questions or comments regarding this presentation, Benevento thanked them for attending the meeting and stated that he hopes that they received helpful feedback. 4. City Council order #68 — Request for City of Beverly Ordinance Change section 21. 12 (i) - Stop Sign at Reservoir Road and Sohier Road- Sgt. DiRuzza Clausen explained that the Parking and Traffic Commission made a recommendation to the City Council to amend the ordinance relative to a stop sign at Reservoir Road and Page 7 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 Sohier Road before the year -end and the City Council never acted on it by the end of the year and it now needs to be resubmitted to the Council for action. Binns: Motion that Parking and Traffic Commission send a letter for installation of stop sign at Reservoir Road and Sohier Road. Hutchinson seconded the motion. The motion carries (6 -0). 5. City Council Order #67 - Request for City of Beverly Ordinance Change Section 21. 12(D Stop Sign at Overlook Avenue at Echo Avenue — Sgt. DiRuzza Clausen explains that this matter was also submitted to the City Council before the end of the year and was not acted on by the end of the year. He explained that the Commission needs to submit this again to initiate the process. Binns: motion that Parking and Traffic Commission send a letter of recommendation for installation of stop sign at Overlook Avenue and Echo Avenue. Hutchinson seconded the motion. The motion carries (6 -0). 6. City Council Order #70 - Request for Handicap Sign at 19 Grant St., - Councilor Latter Benevento recalled that the Commission approved this request a while ago. Clausen explained that the application was sent out to the resident but it was never returned. He stated that he would get the application and look into this further and recommended that the Commission table the matter. Benevento recalled that at the time there was a lot of discussion on the process issuing handicap signs and there was a proposal to initiate a review process to keep track of them and to be sure that they are being used appropriately noting that people move and they are no longer needed. Clausen stated that he would look into that as well. 7. Continued: City Council order #48 — Request for City of Beverly ordinance change no parking both sides on Court Street — Sgt. DiRuzza Sgt. DiRuzza explains that the request is for no parking signs to be installed on both sides of Court street. St. Louis explained that Court Street is private way and the City has no jurisdiction. Benevento suggests the Parking and Traffic Commission send a letter to City Council indicating that there is no jurisdiction in this matter. 8. City Council Order #72 — Beverly Middle School Project Review and Recommendation — City Council President Paul Guanci Page 8 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 Benevento explained Council Guanci has requested that the Parking and Traffic Commission review Beverly middle school project for traffic recommendations. He questions why Commission has not seen the project before this. Clausen explained that he has not seen traffic plan and explains that the Commission as a body doesn't have authority to review City construction projects which is why the Commission has not seen the project. He also noted that the project is currently under construction and it is a little late to be considering traffic impacts. Binns notes that he is a member of the School Building Committee and stated that the project has been fully vetted by the Massachusetts School Building Authority and members of the Beverly School Building Committee have raised concerns about traffic and parking issues during the process. He explained that there is a plan for traffic circulation on the site during drop off and dismissal times that the School Department has drafted which has been presented to the School Building Committee. He notes that the intersection of Balch and Cabot Street has been discussed but he is not heard mention of Balch and McKay Streets. Benevento questions if they need indirect access to the site or a permit from the Department of Transportation for a curb cut. Binns reported that the traffic study showed that there would be no impact at the intersections that were studied. Benevento asked if they incorporated the complete streets policy in the planning of the new school. St. Louis noted that the Route IAproject includes bike lanes and sharrows and notes that the middle school has bike lanes behind it. Benevento states that he feels some direction is needed noting that as a Commission our mission is to improve traffic and safety. He recommended that the Commission table this matter for more clarification. 9. Continued: Winter, Knowlton, Pond and Cabot Streets Intersection — Councilor Silva Benevento reported that he has looked at this area and he would like some additional time to study it further. St. Louis reported that he looked at 1998 Cabot St. design which shows a larger pump out and suggested that he would sketch something for the Commission to look at. 10. Continued: Review Request for a Crosswalk, Appropriate Signage at the intersection of Essex Street and Peabodv Avenue — Sgt. DiRuzza Page 9 of 10 Beverly Parking and Traffic Commission Minutes April 5, 2016 St. Louis explained that the site distances need to be improved, the vertical grade change is greatest challenge to overcome. He noted that to install an ADA compliant ramp in this section would improve the site distance issue. Sgt. DiRuzza noted that a lot of pedestrians crossing that area. Benevento agreed and noted that if you improve it people will use the crosswalk. Clausen: Motion to recommend to the City Council the crosswalk be installed at the intersection of Essex and Peabody streets complete with ADA compliant ramps and that M UTCD compliant signage be installed with fluorescent yellow -green to improve visibility. Binns seconds the motion. Motion carries (6 -0). 11. Approval of Minutes — February 2, 2016 The minutes of the Parking and Traffic Commission meetings held on February 2, 2016 were presented for approval. Benevento suggested that the approval of the minutes be tabled until the next meeting. 12. New /Other Business — Scheduling Next Meeting and Setting Agenda, Discussion/ Recommendations on Parking and Traffic related complaints /issues /questions, potential City Ordinance Changes Benevento stated that he is crafting a letter to send to the Mayor requesting that the ordinance relative to the Parking and Traffic Commission be amended to include the City Engineer as a permanent member of the Parking and Traffic Commission. He stated that he feels that this would be a good addition to the Commission noting that he relies on the Engineer's expertise in most matters before them. 13. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Parking and Traffic Commission this morning, Binns moves to adjourn the meeting. Clausen seconds the motion. The motion carries (5 -0). The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m. Page 10 of 10