Town Garage Property Could in Future be Mixed Development Space

One of the more notable vacant properties in the village could see a serious face lift after the owners of the Town Garage approached the planning board Tuesday night with a proposal to into a mixed-use development.

Once slated for a large parking garage/retail space that had been killed by the village council in 2009 after a controversial courting, 120 Franklin Ave is left in a legacy of zoning limbo–it is currently only able to be made a parking garage under the North Walnut Street Redevelopment Plan, approved in 2006 that would have fused the muncipal lot on North Walnut and the applicant's property.

Planning board attorney Gail Price told the applicant, as well as planning board members, that the council would have to remove the restrictions for the property to be developed otherwise. The planners would be looking for the exemption to allow building in the B-2 zone.

Although just a conceptual discussion, the proposed development would hold eight one-bedroom or studio apartments on two floors–with an affordable housing component–above a 3,000 square feet of retail or office space at the ground level, considerably over the village's recommended density allowance. There would also be a small underground parking garage with eleven or ten parking spaces, said Calisto Bertin, the engineer representing the applicants.

Without the variance, the development would be required to have 14 parking spaces, Bertin said. In terms of density, under normal code, a development like this without variances would only be allowed two-and-a-half units. "That's an issue," Bertin said.

"My client [120 Franklin LLC] has owned the property for four or five years now and wants to do something with the property," Bertin said. "We're looking to do something a little bit more intense than is permitted in the zone."

Bertin cited the downtown area's proximity to nearby public transportation as a reason to favorably view a request for variances. The area features heavy mixed development and also would require a parking variance, not an uncommon request given the locale.

There are, however, significant barriers to getting an eventual go-ahead. The site requires extensive remediation done after contaminates had been found in the soil and underground, which Bertin said was from years prior, when the site was a gas station although other source contaminates have affected the area as well. "That's another expense we have to deal with," he said. Waterproofing the building would have to be done as well as part of the cleanup to accommodate parking.

"The existing building has no place there, we're looking to tear it down," Bertin said, a point Planning Board Vice President Albert Pucciarelli didn't seem to mind.

While much of the discussion on Tuesday night centered on environmental issues, Pucciarelli contended that the current structure was so hideous, it was practically contaminated as well, at least in terms of aesthetics.

Pucciarelli said it's the board's desire to build a street-scape on Franklin Avenue that is more pedestrian friendly and not as segmented, as did other members. As such, members said they favored parking in the back of the lot, as opposed to on Franklin Avenue.

"There is a movement for smart growth," Bertin said, also noting a reference to the that would bookend the lower CBD, adding stories on top of retail at the old Sealfons building. Pucciarelli said having to go through an existing parking lot to access the property was "1970 and not at all what the village had hoped for."

"We could look at rearranging this," Bertin said. The planning board will continue to examine the application after the council considers revoking the redevelopment status. Mayor Killion said he'd get it on the council agenda "as soon as possible".