Published in the September 10, 2020 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – The Zoning Board of Appeals heard more details last night about a proposed four-story, 19-unit apartment building at 581-583 Salem St., near the Lynnfield line.
The project would involve combining two exiting parcels for a combined area of 24,638 square feet. The former Crossfit 128 gym sits on one of the parcels. That building, along with a two-family home on the other parcel just to the east, would be demolished to make way for the new building.
To the west of the proposed site is a WMGLD storage yard. Route 128 is to the north. The proposed site is mostly in the business zone, with a small triangle in the rear that is in the Single-Family residential zone.
The applicant, the Granitz Family Trust, LLC, is seeking special permits and site plan-approval to allow construction of a 19-unit mid-rise apartment building. Attorney Brian McGrail is representing the applicant in the permitting process.
At the board’s request, the first presentation last night was a slide showing the comparative heights of surrounding buildings. John Ogren from Hayes Engineering said that the proposed building would be very close to the same height as an apartment building directly across the street and would be comparable in height to other buildings in the area.
The focus of last night’s hearing was on architecture, landscaping and the civil engineering aspects of the site.
Architect Andy Zalewski discussed the materials that would be used on the exterior of the building. On the upper part of the building, a light-colored vertical fiber cement siding is proposed. The mid-portion of the exterior would feature a pearl gray, smooth-textured horizontal clapboard siding. On the lower part of the building different shades of gray brick will be used, Zalewski said.
The architect also discussed the building trim, the window selection and design, the railing design for the decks and the metal canopies for the entrance doors.
He said that the bathroom and dryer vents will be on the exterior walls but will be hidden on the side walls of the decks. Zalewski also discussed the lighting that would be used on the decks.
Since no new natural gas installations are being allowed in local multifamily construction, heating and cooling will be done by roof-mounted mini-split heat pump units.
At the request of board members, Zalewski said that he would gather material samples and bring them to the Building Department office where members could examine them up close.
Landscape architect James Emmanuel discussed the various trees, shrubs and other plantings planned for the site.
Japanese tree lilacs will be featured in front of the building and some larger trees will provide shade in the rear parking lot. Some existing large maples on the east side of the proposed building would be retained and protected during construction.
Emmanuel also reviewed plans for smaller shrubs, grasses and other plantings along the front and sides of the building.
At a previous meeting, the ZBA had expressed interest in having a public sidewalk in front of the building. Ogren said that there is sufficient width at the front of the building for a sidewalk and he sent a preliminary design to the DPW to get their input. He said that the DPW’s feedback was that they would want a 5-foot sidewalk that matched other sidewalks in the area.
The ZBA had previously asked McGrail to look into the possibility of getting rid of the utility poles and wires in front of the proposed building by placing the utilities underground. But McGrail said that he had spoken to the Municipal Gas & Light Department and was told that it would cost at least $150,000 to place the utilities underground. The cost would be prohibitive, McGrail said.
The attorney said that he plans to go before the Traffic Advisory Committee (TAC) this month to get their input on the traffic impact of the project.
There was no public testimony offered at last night’s hearing, which was continued to Sept. 23. It was agreed that the hearing could be pushed off another two weeks if the TAC’s report is not ready and the material samples have not arrived prior to Sept. 23.