July 31, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

44 (Pages 170 to 173) Page 170 1 great if it was on a nice hot, sunny day and the 2 ground is great -- 3 MR. ANDERSON: Yeah. 4 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: -- and there 5 are no issues, but if it's in the middle of winter 6 and it's been snowing, if it's on a rainy day and 7 it's been rainy and firefighters have to get back 8 there, they're on uneven -- as I understand it, and 9 you could correct me if I'm wrong, they're on uneven 10 ground, they're on a slope, even though it's sloping 11 toward the building, it may not be a steep slope but 12 it is a slope, and it's a long building so they've 13 got to park at one door or the other and then go all 14 the way around the building to get to the back -- 15 MR. ANDERSON: Yeah. 16 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: -- should that 17 happen. That, to me, seems like something we should 18 plan better for. 19 MR. ANDERSON: Okay. I just -- yeah, 20 that's -- it's back to the code issue and how the 21 fire chief, who we're waiting for him, the fire -- 22 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Mr. Anderson -- 23 MR. ANDERSON: I'm sorry. 24 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Thank you. 25 MR. ANDERSON: Waiting for the fire Page 171 1 official to come back from vacation before we can 2 speak with him about how we would go about operating 3 here and see if he has any concerns, but as Larry 4 indicated, we are exceeding the code requirement for 5 access to the sides of the building and that's, you 6 know, that's -- you know, that's the paramount thing 7 here, so... But that explains the slope so you get 8 a better picture of the top of the hill. 9 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: No, I 10 understand, I understand that the code is the code 11 as it is now and I know that the code as it is now 12 will govern with regard to this particular project, 13 but if we are aware at this point of a flaw or a 14 concern and not a single tree has been taken down, 15 nothing has been built, if we can address it now, I 16 think we should, and the last thing that I would 17 want, as an elected official and a member of this 18 Planning Board, to have had this conversation in 19 public and five years from now, that exact thing 20 happens and nothing was done. So that is my 21 concern, it is one of several questions, but that is 22 something that I would have to have addressed 23 satisfactorily before I would be comfortable moving 24 forward. 25 Mr. Chair, I don't know how you capture Page 172 1 that or Ms.

tions, but that is 22 something that I would have to have addressed 23 satisfactorily before I would be comfortable moving 24 forward. 25 Mr. Chair, I don't know how you capture Page 172 1 that or Ms. McGovern, I don't know how to capture 2 that but -- 3 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: We're going to wait 4 for -- 5 MR. KLEIN: The fire chief. 6 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Mr. Plocker. 7 MR. PLOCKER: Yeah, I just want to 8 confirm, and Mr. Anderson alluded to it, a member of 9 our team did attempt to reach the fire chief, he is 10 away on vacation, and we definitely will be having 11 this conversation with him and we will be happy to 12 revisit after we do. 13 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Okay, so we will 14 revisit this once we have the information from the 15 fire chief, who will hear the questions that have 16 been asked and will respond to that. 17 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: Much obliged. 18 Thank you very much, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Appel. 19 Sorry, I forgot for one second. 20 All right. Accessibility, it seems 21 like you've done a great job making all of the 22 buildings accessible. I have a question about folks 23 that are mobility challenged getting around the site 24 or getting off site, and that question really -- I 25 know that there are some sidewalks, Mr. Anderson Page 173 1 testified to that yesterday and I believe the 2 sidewalks do connect with Warner. Are we FHA or ADA 3 compliant with regard to the slope for those that 4 are in wheelchairs? 5 MR. APPEL: I can only talk about kind 6 of the building and the surrounding of the building 7 -- 8 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: I should have 9 asked that to Mr. Anderson yesterday. I'll come 10 back to him later on, you don't have to get out of 11 your Chair, just don't go anywhere. 12 All right. The COAH units -- and 13 again, I've taken notes through your thing so I'm 14 going to jump around a little bit. The affordable 15 units, it looked to me, and I looked quickly, that 16 most of them, if not all of them, were on the 17 shorter side of the building, in other words, the 18 hallway's not equidistant. 19 MR. APPEL: That is correct. 20 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: Okay. And you 21 just gave some testimony regarding square footage. 22 Now, there was a question asked earlier, followed up 23 by our mayor, with regard to the affordable units in 24 comparison to the market-rate units and the original 25 answer provided to Mr. Cardoza was that they would