Belmont Cushing Village Nears Planning Board's Finish Line

If the year-long review process of the $80 million Cushing Village project could be compared to next week's Boston Marathon, the 184,000 square foot, three building residential/retail project has reached Kenmore Square and is in the last mile of the race heading for finish line.

At last night's Belmont Planning Board meeting, April 9, Cushing Village developer Smith Legacy Partners provided packets to the board and the public of 40 over-sized pages containing its Project Plan, an all encompassing set of detailed technical drawings and schematics that will form the basis of its final submission to the Board, according to lead developer, Chris Starr. 

"Yes, this is it. This is basically what we will be submitting," Starr said of the Project Plan.

"I am very proud of this (plan) because it's a product of collaboration with the town and and what we gained from feedback with the neighbors," he said.

Sami Baghdady, chairman of the Planning Board, said the development located in the heart of Cushing Square has reached the point where many of critical areas of review – massing, height, shadow and traffic, for example – has been covered and the project is now ready to be evaluated as a whole. 

"What was once pieces, we'll see how all this works together," said Baghdady. 

While the project is coming close to being submitted for a "special permit" it needs to begin construction, Baghdady said a number of issues remain unanswered such as a report from a consultant on sewage flow, the financial impact on the town and updating studies and plans for issues such as lighting. 

But while many conditions that would allow Cushing Village to gain approval need to be resolved, "I am still hopeful that we can bring this project before Town Meeting," said Baghdady.

Belmont Town Meeting starts Monday, April 29, and runs through May. The June portion of the annual gathering of the town's legislative branch is reserved for budget discussions.

One such area discussed Monday was creating a standard for mitigating excess noise from the development's roof-top mechanicals.

Working with the developer, the Planning Board's Michael Battista said a new peer review consultant will be hired to develop a set of criteria establishing standards the development team must conform to after the building is complete before the owner can obtain an occupancy license. 

While the Planning Board is adding a noise provision, the developer revealed that a signature design element has been subtracted from the project's face.

The clock tower, which had been a long-standing part of the main building's character, is no longer after architect Peter Quinn discussed the project with Belmont's Historic District Commission's Mike Smith who advised the development team to echo elements from a long closed landmark, the S. S. Pierce retailer, that once stood on the site, in the blueprint.