The Zoning Board of Appeals voted last night to approve a special permit requested by FRP Holdings LLC, of East Longmeadow, to allow the conversion of second-floor commercial space into six apartments at 24 Main St.
The ZBA conducted a public hearing on the petition at its April 25 meeting. The ZBA members did not vote that night and requested additional information from the Law Department and a copy of the Planning Board’s decision pertaining to other permits required to address parking issues.
That parking issue was a primary focus of both the ZBA and Planning Board. City codes require two spaces for each residential unit in the CORE district, but other ordinances provide options to fulfill that parking requirement through special permits approved by the Planning Board.
The ZBA can issue the special permit only if the parking accommodations required under city ordinance are satisfied.
FRP Holdings proposed fulfilling that requirement with a shared parking plan, parking buy-back, and use of spaces owned by FRP Holdings in the Thomas Street municipal parking lot.
The Planning Board, at its April 3 session, voted to grant two special permits and to grant a waiver for a site plan. One of the special permits allows the developer to have shared parking, while the second special permit allows the developer to “buy-back” two of the required spaces for a fee of $2,500 per space.
The shared parking will be in the lot of the Rocky’s Ace Hardware store, located at 44 Main St., which is part of the same parcel as the buildings being converted, and has more spaces than required under ordinance. The parking requirement is based upon the square footage of the store. Five of the surplus spaces in the Rocky’s lot will be used to satisfy the 12-space requirement for the residential units.
City Solicitor Susan Phillips responded to the ZBA’s request for an opinion, stating that the five spaces in the Thomas Street lot are the property of FRP Holdings and that the city is currently negotiating with FRP to recover the cost of recent improvements made to those five spaces and is also seeking to require that the private landowner fully insure its property in the lot to protect the city from liability related to use of the lot by future tenants.
“The matter before the ZBA is whether you approve the conversion of the existing building to a residential use,” Phillips said in her communication to the ZBA. “The parking, although unusual, is owned by the developer and the Planning Board was within its authority to act as it did.”
The ZBA voted 3-0 to approve the special permit petition following review of the Planning Board decision, which included 11 conditions, and Phillips’ communication.
