Reappointment of Bryan Thorp, 77 Wentworth Road, to a five-year term as a Regular Member on the Zoning Board of Appeals; said term to expire the last day of February 2031.

Transcript (~12 min @ 56:20)

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▶ 56:20 Ryan Williams: All right. And last but not least, 2 0 2 6 dash three nine reappointment of Brian Thorpe of 77 Wentworth Road to a five-year term as a regular member on the zoning board of appeals, said term to expire the last day of February, 2031. Thank you Mr. Thorpe for coming. The committee does not know this, but I, Mr. Thorpe, um, I did a Hail Mary and put him on the agenda before he confirmed. He confirmed last night and I responded and my email didn't get out to him. And so I had to email him today at when the meeting started and say, where are you? And he said, I know what you're talking about. So I'm very sorry about that. I'm Here. I thank you so much. Wanted to really Appreciate take Kevin, and I figured you guys all wanted to as well. Yeah. Um, so I would love for you to share your experience on the zoning board of appeals. Any, um, thoughts or concerns or issues or suggestions you have for members of the council with the year ahead? Sure. Um, so I'm Brian Thorpe. I live at 77 Wentworth Road. I've been in Melrose since, I think that's something I'm supposed to say since the early nineties, like 91, I think. Um, and we've lived in the same house, raised my family here. Um, I'm a retired architect, was principal architectural firm until a few years ago. Uh, I've been on the zoning board since I think,

▶ 57:41 Speaker 1: I think, uh, 2008 maybe. So I've been on the board, I'm closing in on 20 years. Um, they told me I had to find my replacements and I've just had no luck. Uh, But, uh, um, in that time I've seen a lot of different cases. We've seen a lot of, uh, um, building that has happened in the city. And, uh, um, I'm currently the chairman of the board, uh, uh, chair at this point, uh, for about a year or so now. And, um, I really like it. I think it's an important, uh, um, it's an important role to take. I try to, um, put my architect's hat away. We have a planning board. We have city planners that do that. So we look very, uh, closely and try very carefully to, um, stay in our lane in terms of, uh, um, in terms of zoning, appeals and, um, and whether we accept those or deny those. Um, and I think we have a pretty good group. We've done a lot of, uh, um, uh, I think we've handled a lot of, uh, challenging cases. One of the things that happens, uh, one of the things that you all know is that any 40 b project that comes before us, um, to streamline the process, we are the adjudicating authority, or at least the authority has to re review those plans comprehensively. Um, I have a lot of experience doing construction and managing projects and, uh, um, our board is, uh, very good. And we, um, I think we do a good job at kind of varying out the questions and the details and trying to be responsive to the city. Uh, you know, I think the last, um, year or so has been, um, uh, it's been not challenging, but I think, uh, the city and some people in the city question the amount of the development that's been happening. A lot of those things are kind of not in the control of the city or in control of, uh, you know, because it involves money and things like that. Um, and financing for projects. And, uh, um, so, uh, everything kind of all came before us at once. And so we have a lot of work along the rail corridor, uh, along, uh, Tremont and Essex right now. Um, and I think people look at that and, um, just get concerned with the amount of development. On the other hand, uh, we've just received safe harbor again, or we, we, we, we had it reinstituted, uh, which helps us, uh, in the process, the 40 B process is, um, challenging, uh, in terms of, um, trying to balance the needs of the needs of the state and the community, uh, and the individual neighbors. So, um, we do our best. And I don't really think I have anything else to add. I didn't have a prepared statement or anything. Thank you. Any questions, comments, president?

▶ 1:00:46 Bradley Freeman: Quick, quick comment, and then a question. Um, I had the opportunity to watch a board of appeals meeting recently where you considered the, uh, the gas station on Upham, granting them a variance for, for food. And I was really impressed with just how you discussed that case and the other cases pending that night. So I just wanna thank you. Thank you. And your board members. I just, quick question. You know, it says here, you had about 116 cases come before you. Yeah. How many of those end up being completely rejected versus modified to an extent, to, to, to achieve passage at some point?

▶ 1:01:19 Speaker 1: I would say a, the majority are modified to receive passage. You know, I think, um, we, there, there's a standard that's, you know, written into mass state law about demonstrating a hardship. But, you know, a person buys a house and they're part of the community. Lots of times we have people that wanna stay in the community, can't afford to move out of the community or whole host of reasons. And I think, um, you know, one of our jobs when we're looking at it is to help them. Uh, you know, I have some, sometimes it feels like we have lots of continued cases. Uh, we have to explain to people that if they want to go, uh, and proceed and it's voted and rejected, they can't come back for another three years, uh, to, uh, with the same material, uh, project. And so we encourage them to look for alternatives, I think is the, is the way we describe it. And we have a lot of, uh, people with, um, ideas about ways you can, ways you could, um, adhere. I mean, everything in Melrose is an existing non-conforming, non-conforming lot. Uh, and so a lot of it is, uh, in cases that run afoul are things that want to increase those nonconformities, those become problematic. Uh, and so we work with them to try to minimize those things as best we can. But I really think, you know, we're trying to, uh, I feel like it's important to try to help the community grow and kind of do what they want. And, you know, they've invested a lot of money in the, in the town, so, you know, we do what we can. So I don't know how many we've rejected. There are plenty that come that are ill-conceived that, and, and a lot of them are actually stopped before they even come before us, because the planning department will pull 'em aside and say, no, you can't do this. But, um, I would say that some of the things that the, um, the new, uh, re codification of the zoning, uh, zoning ordinances, um, helped us in terms of streamlining some of that process for those kinds of folks where they want to do something and they maybe wanna enclose their front stoop. Uh, so they have a, so you don't just walk into the house, you know, that technically would violate the setback of the, uh, uh, front yard setback, but, you know, that's not a deal breaker. That's not, you know, you can work with them to try to, um, make that happen for them. So thank you very much. Mm-hmm. Any other questions? Councillor Vanderford,

▶ 1:04:04 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, thank you so much for the work that you do. I've, I've sat in a couple of the kind of more passionate meetings you've had. Oh, great. And, uh, I really appreciate you, as you said. I think that's a great way to frame it, balancing the needs of the state community and the individuals. Um, uh, so yeah, I just wanted to, to express appreciation for everything that, that you've done, and especially with the 40 b um, projects. I think, uh, yeah, I, I think if there are any things people are frequently coming before you with, um, you know, where, where it's not where you need to work with them, I think any, I think for a lot of homeowners, it's kind of like an unknown if they're going into that process. So any Yes. You know, materials that can be made available on the website or, or giving people an expectation or how they could come for you best, I think that might be a direction.

▶ 1:04:57 Speaker 1: So I think, um, what I would say is that the, um, the planning department, I think does a really good job. Uh, Lori and, and Adam, uh, and Maya all have worked with folks, so a lot of times they'll, they will have already, they'll already know what that process is supposed to be like. I don't think that always happens. Um, you know, I don't know how you improve outreach because that's, I I think the, um, the resources are available if you choose to come in and talk to people. Um, it is remarkable. Uh, something as simple as just, uh, knowing that you should talk to your neighbors before you plan a addition or a modification to your house. Um, that would seem to be something that wouldn't need to be said, but I'm surprised. Um, I'm, or I'm never shocked when I find out that, and sometimes the people that come in opposition or, or are as much as anything, just seeking out information because they haven't, they don't, they don't know what's going on. So, um, that's part of what, what we have to do is explain the process to 'em. And I don't mind doing that. I think it's important. Um, you know, the 40 B process, that's a very complicated thing. And, uh, um, we've, um, had it, we, the, for the, I think it was for Greenwood, I don't think it was for, um, um, it's not for Summit, but uh, for, um, Greenwood, we had part of one of our meetings, or for the 40 B project, we, um, went through the process with everybody. We put up a slide deck that basically tried to explain for the neighbors that were there, um, you know, what, what's entailed, what you can deny, what you can't deny what that process is for the housing court. Um, and you know, I think that went a long way to helping that group of people, that information's available in city, you know, in city Hall. Um, so, um, we're trying, but it's a two way street, and you've gotta get people, you know, uh, the, the project on Main Street, you know, obviously that got a lot of people excited, but in the end, that's really a, a good thing because, you know, somebody stops me on the street and ask me a question about it, I can explain the process to them, and then they leave not quite so impassioned about what's happening. They, I mean, I think it's really important too, um, for the residents to understand what we're doing and what we're trying to do. Um, so it's,

▶ 1:07:45 Kimberly Vandiver: Well thank you so much for, for that. And, um, I think that's, that's really valuable. We'll see what the main, as I mentioned in one of the other discussions at the main street, um, project 2 44 is in my wards, so I, you know, we'll see how that plays out over the next month or however long. But, um, I really appreciate your, that you, you and the board have the experience at this point with those types of projects and explaining them, and hopefully we can, you know, work through that as community,

▶ 1:08:14 Speaker 1: Work through it. It's, it's, uh, it's challenging. My daughter lives in your ward, probably then on Derby Street, so Oh, great. Not that far Away, but,

▶ 1:08:24 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, thank you. Thank you again. And I'd like to make a motion to recommend.

▶ 1:08:27 Ryan Williams: Okay. Motion to recommend by Councilor Vandiver. Second. Seconded by, no, just getting President Freeman. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Um, no one's opposed. So that passes. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank You. So you, alright. That's the end of our agenda, uh, not to belabor at all. Motion by unanimous consent to adjourn hearing. No objections. We adjourned. Thank you everyone. Thank you.