Lee — After roughly three hours of testimony and deliberation, the Lee Planning Board approved a special permit for a mixed-use project at the town’s West Center and Canal streets.
The June 23 measure follows several open meetings the group held with property owner Jeffrey Cohen, who is also at the helm of the Eagle Mill project currently under construction across the street, and its nonprofit developer, Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire (CDCSB). Proposed within the town’s Smart Growth Overlay District, the approximately $40 million, 84,000-square-foot project will include 69 units of multi-family housing, parking, open space, retail space, and community areas within a larger three- to four-story L-shaped primary building and two smaller buildings of two-and-a-half stories each. A daycare center may also possibly occupy the complex, and some Eagle Mill parking spaces may also be used for this site as that project is across the street.
During the special permit process, changes were made to the original special permit filing to incorporate more open space areas; decrease the West Center Street-facing building side from four stories to three stories and a patio; taper down the south end of the project in view of existing residences; define the 74 parking spots to include six smaller spaces for compact cars; increase the height of deck railings; and add facades to reflect the historic nature of the town.
One sticking point for the Planning Board was the position of the project’s driveway as proposed across the street from the driveway of the Eagle Mill project. According to project architect Nick Elton, his team employed a registered traffic engineer who reported that situating the driveways across from each other rather than spaced apart is safest since there would be less area of interference with the traffic flow on Main Street. An enhanced crossing or a flashing light for pedestrian crossings could also be added for safety.
In compliance with the Planning Board’s previous request for detailing the proposed landscape plan, Hartland Designs principal Rebekah Lamphere offered a presentation and illustrations covering what is anticipated for the project’s plantings, with an eye toward privacy, shade, and the use of native greenery. Select Board member Gordon Bailey, who attended the session, questioned what entity would be responsible for maintaining the plantings and grounds, replacing failed greens, and ensuring the playground equipment is adequate for the number of children living at the development.
Elton also proposed including a picket-type fencing between the railroad tracks and the property. Robert Fournier, project manager at SK Designs Group Inc., described the floodplain drainage aspects of the development that will accommodate three underground storage systems as well as the utility portion of the proposal to be all electric.
Planning Board Chair Buck Donovan brought forward correspondence opposing the housing development as “too large for our area” and having a “detrimental impact” on the community by adding to an already overburdened infrastructure, increasing traffic and noise pollution, and damaging the environment. “The type of housing being proposed is simply not in keeping with the character of our town,” he read, adding that the project would alter the area’s aesthetic by replacing existing greenery and open spaces with a “monolithic” high-density housing development.
The letter listed two full pages of signatures by residents on streets neighboring the proposed project.
During public comments, speakers voiced concern over potential traffic snarls and drainage issues, while one resident said the town’s residents should vote on whether the project moves forward. Canal Street resident Josephine Caropreso questioned why the three-story development must “be so big” and said it looked like “a hotel.”
Cohen argued that Lee’s master plan allows for such a structure to be created on this site and that the town has a problem providing affordable housing, which this project could help alleviate. Additionally, a 100-room hotel had previously been entertained for the site and another developer might be able to construct a project on the tract that doesn’t involve implementing affordable housing.
With Planning Board member Daniel Blaisdell the lone “no” vote to the special permit and the group’s five required findings, the dais approved the special permit by a vote of four to one. Though troubled by the size of the project and added residents, members reasoned the project would still provide much-needed affordable housing relief in accordance with Lee’s Master Plan, benefit an underdeveloped and “kind of rundown corner” of the downtown district, invigorate commercial activity, and add real estate taxes to the town’s coffers. They noted the revised plan incorporates facade details reflecting the nearby historic brick buildings.
The group found that no undue traffic congestion or impairment to pedestrian safety would result from the development since a consultant stated the entrances to Eagle Mill and this project being directly opposite each other is safer than offset driveways and a secondary route of egress/ingress is planned as well. Civil engineering studies led those voting for approval to find that public utilities won’t be unduly burdened by the project and the school district has capacity for the additional children the development will attrack.
“As I vote tonight, I’m voting as a lifelong resident of Lee,” said Planning Board member David Forrest. “And I’m voting from my heart and my head. I truly feel that we need this project. We need more projects like it.”
