Winter Street development enters final permit stage amid traffic concerns

Plans to build a 323-unit apartment building on Winter Street are moving forward after developer Maple Multi-Family Land East Coast received city approval to begin drafting a comprehensive special permit.

The proposed project at 245–265 Winter St., called the Alexan Winter Street, requires a special permit for residential construction in a nonresidential zone under Chapter 40B of Massachusetts General Law.

The Waltham Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday gave the developer the OK to start drafting the permit. The board has been overseeing the project’s special permit hearing since July.

The approval came as neighbors continue to raise concerns about traffic.

For example, resident George Watchko questioned why traffic consultants did not study the project’s impact on nearby intersections leading to Interstate 95.

Bob Michaud of traffic engineering firm MDM, which the board hired to conduct a third-party review of the project, wrote in a letter that the intersections already experience heavy traffic and that the development would not cause a significant percentage increase.

ZBA members questioned the traffic team’s calculations and expressed skepticism that the project would have no effect on those intersections.

The board requested that Michaud attend the project’s Feb. 3 hearing to explain the traffic study’s methodology in more detail.

Also on Tuesday, board members discussed new concerns from City Engineer Robert Winn about the capacity of two nearby sewer lines in light of this and another proposed development at 455 Totten Pond Road. Winn said the two projects would push the lines to more than 80% of capacity.

Carlton Quinn of Alan & Major Associates, the developer’s civil engineer, said Winn’s concerns appeared to be based on substantial overestimates in the project plans. He asked to meet with Winn and the 455 Totten Pond Road team before the next ZBA session.

The board requested that Winn also attend the Feb. 3 meeting, along with Assistant City Solicitor Michelle Learned, who has previously handled direct negotiations between the city and Chapter 40B developers.

The road so far

At the meeting, project representative Mark Baranski said the developer had responded to most of the reviews required for the permit and agreed to comply with recent Fire Department safety requests.

The Alexan Winter Street proposal has previously faced pushback from neighbors over infrastructure and privacy concerns. Although it garnered support from abutters on its east and north sides after design changes, it continues to face opposition from residents of the Barrington Place condominiums to the south.

Baranski said the development team had met three times with Barrington Place residents since the last ZBA hearing in November and made several adjustments based on those meetings. Changes include shifting the placement of a retaining wall and some garages, surveying nearby homes to safeguard against blasting damage, and retaining previous plant barriers. Baranski said further changes would not be feasible.