Zoning Board member will meet with Hathaway developer privately

The Zoning Board of Appeals and the developers for The Hathaway have scheduled a private meeting to discuss issues that could not be compromised on during the public hearing. 

The workday is scheduled for July 9, when Zoning Board Chair Michael Medeiros and town council Susan Murphy will meet with the developers. This type of meeting is allowed under Chapter 40B, as long as no more than one Zoning Board member is present. Otherwise, it breaks open meeting laws. 

The main issues they will be discussing are building height, traffic and parking. 

“When I look at it collectively, we’ve got significant concerns about the traffic that this is going to impose, we’ve got the building height issue, … we’ve got the parking concern,” said Medeiros. “There’s got to be a concession with the number of units. And [Calhoun] not going to do that, then we know where we stand today.”

The original plans for the project were to have all six buildings be four stories in the front and five in the back to accommodate the grading of the property. 

The designs have changed a bit, with three of the buildings now planned to have three stories in the front and four in the back toward the north east, with the fourth and fifth floors about 40 feet back from the edge of the building. The design for the other three buildings would stay consistent with the original plans.

The developers agreed to a workday because developer David Calhoun of Saxon Partners felt all three members of the Zoning Board were leaning toward denying the petition. 

Medeiros stated that he is not comfortable approving the project as is, and said he hopes they can compromise on the height and number of units, which is currently set at 300. 

“It’s too much based on the size of this lot,” said Medeiros. 

Member Alvin Youman agreed with this, stating, “I could possibly live with the project with the concessions, but not as it stands right now.”

Calhoun responded that if the board denies the project, or imposes conditions he disagrees with, he would bring the case to Massachusetts Housing Authority. The Authority would hold a hearing to decide whether the need for housing outweighs the concerns of the town and can approve the project despite the Zoning Board of Appeal’s decision. 

“If you want to say no to us, deny us, that’s your choice,” Calhoun said, “And we’ll be forced to appeal.”

During the Monday, June 29 meeting, board members and members of the public asked questions pertaining to these topics.

Resident Ed Pacheco said that root issues are being looked at but not root causes.

“The root cause itself is just the size of this project,” he said. “It doesn’t work. The only thing that it works for is the dollars and cents for the developer.”

Many residents brought up that they feel this project is too big. They stated that even with the top floor being set back, the tall buildings would still be visible from inside their houses. 

“The buildings are going to be the size they are,” said Mark Donahue, the developer’s lawyer, “And we need to know if that is going to be acceptable to the board or not.”

The developer plans to have 131 parking spots be “banked,” and wouldn’t be built unless necessary.

The residential opinion on banked parking was split. Some felt that the banked parking would prevent residents from parking on abutting roads. They also stated without banked parking, there is not enough parking for residents or their visitors.  Others wanted the extra privacy from foliage, which would have to be paved over to create the additional spaces. 

Member Halim Choubah proposed that the developer potentially move the buildings southwest to give the abutters more privacy by making the parking spaces one foot smaller. 

Murphy pointed out that if they remove the proposed sports court, they could move the buildings even more southwest.

However, Donahue stated that would be difficult with the grading of the land. 

Traffic is the third main public concern. Thomas Babington, a resident, brought up that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is currently unsure whether to proceed with traffic repairs to Hathaway Road to the New Bedford city line. The traffic study for The Hathaway stated that with all planned MassDOT improvements, traffic would be mitigated. 

A letter to the Zoning Board written by resident James Griffith pointed out that the MassDOT improvement plans for Route 6 are to decrease accidents, not improve traffic conditions. He also pointed out that there are no sidewalks or bike paths along the road and few public transportation options.

Director of Public Works Tim Barber went over some of the impacts on water and sewer in town. The developer requested a waiver from all utility fees, which Barber didn’t recommend granting. The developer would have to pay around $1.14 million in connection and mitigation fees. 

The sewer main at Hathaway Road would need to be upgraded and the largest pump station in town would need improvements to accommodate The Hathaway. 

“I can’t see anything in this project that benefits the town,” said alternate member Walter Faria. “Everything about this project devastates the town of Dartmouth as we know it.”

The next public hearing on The Hathaway will be on Thursday, July 30 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.