City reviews of proposed new apartment complexes march on

Plans for a new Waltham apartment complex at 1362 Main St. took a step forward this week, as the Zoning Board of Appeals at its Tuesday night meeting voted to draft a set of permit requirements for the developer. 

However, a second proposed residential development at 455 Totten Pond Road butted up against roadblocks at the same May 6 ZBA meeting.

The first proposal, known as West Main Apartments, calls for the construction of a five-story apartment building on Main Street. 

The second project, dubbed The Residences on Winter, is seeking to build 315 rental units — including 79 deed-restricted affordable housing units — on Totten Pond Road. 

Developers for the projects have been before the ZBA in recent months. Tuesday’s ZBA meeting was primarily a progress report on engineering, traffic and safety concerns around each project that had been raised in the past. 

The board sent both projects’ attorneys and engineers back to the drawing board to revise their reports and continue negotiating with various city departments. 

Still, board members voted to take the next step toward approving the West Main Apartments by drafting a formal list of permit requirements.

Because neither development is in an area of the city currently zoned for residential buildings, the developers are using a provision in Massachusetts General Law that allows them to build residential buildings in such locales provided at least 20% to 25% of their rental units are priced affordably. This means, however, that the ZBA has to evaluate and approve all necessary permits, including those required to build in the first place.

The board will meet to review both projects again on June 10.

The Residences on Winter 

Bob Michaud of MDM Transportation Consultants, acting as a peer reviewer, raised concerns about traffic safety around The Residences on Winter. 

Despite a recent safety redesign, the surrounding roads — including the intersection approaching the I-95 entrance ramp — are the site of a disproportionately high number of crashes and crash-related injuries, he said. 

Michaud also said he worried that under the current proposal, traffic from the new development might cause more commuters turning onto busy roads or into areas of low visibility. 

He recommended that the project’s engineers spend more time factoring in traffic from new commercial buildings in the area and updated crash data.

The project’s attorneys and engineers updated the board on their back-and-forth with the City of Waltham about how much the project should contribute to local wastewater and fire safety infrastructure. 

ZBA Chair John Sergi also asked whether developers planned to create more affordably priced rental units. The board previously raised concerns about the pricing of affordable units in both developments, compared to other recent apartments built under the same special permit. 

Attorney Jim Ward of Nutter McClennen & Fish said that the project was exploring ways to increase affordability.

West Main Apartments 

The West Main Apartments proposal, which was introduced in January, has been addressing similar hurdles around affordability, engineering and fire safety. 

However, discussion at Tuesday’s ZBA meeting focused on unresolved issues such as sewage and drainage where the proposed building would overtax the city’s current infrastructure. 

The city maintains that West Main’s developers should pay for and organize any necessary improvements. 

Joe Peznola of Hancock Associates, who is consulting on the project, said the developer could likely build those improvements more cheaply than the city could, because the city is bound to pay contractors prevailing wage.

Michaud also spoke briefly against adding a new traffic light on Main Street, as requested by the project’s engineers, saying he believes a new light will unnecessarily slow down traffic.

At a request from the developer’s attorney, Michael Connors of Connors & Connors, the board voted to request that the city solicitor formally draft a list of permit requirements — the next step in the permit approval process.