ZBA signs off on next stage of Totten Pond development 

The Zoning Board of Appeals this week voted to draft a special permit for a new apartment building on Totten Pond Road. 

The Residences on Winter at 455 Totten Pond Road is one of a number of proposed large-scale residential developments in the Totten Pond Road/Winter Street neighborhood.

The development falls under the regulations of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B, which allows special permits for residential buildings if they provide sufficient affordable housing. Under Chapter 40B, the local ZBA is responsible for putting together the comprehensive special permit.

The building initially came before the board in March. Since then, the board has heard and addressed concerns from city inspectors and third-party peer reviewers about fire safety, traffic and affordability.

At the ZBA’s July 22 meeting, project representatives and the board’s independent reviewers provided updates on building plans. 

The developer agreed with a list of requests from the Fire Department to implement above-minimum fire safety measures and has worked with the city’s Law Department to redesign some units, cutting down on bedrooms to reduce the cost of the project’s waste infrastructure.

Bob Michaud of MDM Transportation Consultants, who the board hired to study the project’s traffic safety and impact, reported that the developer had made “substantial improvements” to its traffic designs. 

Still, given the building’s distance from key businesses like supermarkets and its low parking space-to-unit ratio, he recommended the developer consider alternative transportation for tenants, suggesting it join the local 128 Business Council, which offers its members shuttle service around town.

Michaud also recommended the developer set aside funds to monitor parking lot usage, as well as drivers’ safety at the nearby Totten Pond and Third Street intersection — which sees an above-average number of crashes — as the building gets closer to full occupancy. The board voted unanimously that Michaud work with Assistant City Attorney Michelle Learned to draft up a plan for such a study.

Finally, the topic came round to affordability, which has been a contentious issue in previous meetings.

Affordability is calculated as a percentage of Waltham’s area median income. Chapter 40B requires the project to offer 25% of its apartments at levels affordable for households making 80% of Waltham’s AMI. In previous projects, the board determined that percentage was not sufficient and required some units at 60% AMI. 

Waltham veterans have also been invested in the affordability of this project since June, and have requested a rental preference for low-income veterans in up to 10% of affordable units, in accordance with a provision in the recent Affordable Homes Act. The developer is currently partnering with David Hedison of the Chelmsford Housing Authority to reserve eight of the building’s 79 affordable units for veterans in his program. 

Hedison administers a number of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, which cover the difference between 30% of a formerly unhoused veteran’s current income and their total rent. Hedison intends to house eight veterans in the building who’ve already received intensive support and now require fewer services and want to live in their community.

Members of the board praised the VASH voucher plan, but some still found the proposed affordability options insufficient. “The building owners need to provide affordable housing, not supplement [veterans’ rent] with taxpayer benefits,” argued ZBA clerk Matthew Deveaux.

Project co-counsel Jim Ward said the project will additionally offer five of its affordable two-bedroom units at 60% AMI and preference for veterans in 10% of its total units. He said, especially in light of higher-than-expected sewage costs, the project would have trouble offering further affordability measures without becoming uneconomic.

Neighbors weigh in

Gang Xing of 300 Winter St., an abutter to the proposed building, told the board neighbors were already experiencing higher traffic volumes in the area after the construction of nearby apartment building The 305.

He asked the board to consider the area’s lack of speed bumps or bike lanes, plus the sudden jump in population from other proposed developments — like one at 245-265 Winter St. — in its traffic assessment. He also expressed concerns about privacy and light pollution on his property.

He asked that the developer hold a community meeting for neighbors to express concerns, which ZBA Chair John Sergi recommended to the project’s legal counsel.

Dan Bulger of 20 Rich St. expressed his “vague support for more dense housing,” saying that some of the problems expressed at the meeting related to lack of infrastructure in western Waltham were short-term. But he said that the influx of residents to the area allowed for the tax income to support more long-term solutions.

The board agreed to revisit the project at a special meeting on Aug. 14.