The status of the large black oak on the Hendries property remains to be determined. The board wants an independent report on the health of the tree. To that end an RFP for an arborist to inspect the tree is being drafted. The board expects responses to that on the 29th and will make their selection at their January 13th session. If the tree cannot be salvaged, the board will continue to review the current building design. If the tree is healthy, the developer will need to factor the tree into his plan.

There was progress. The developer, Steve Connelly, had his civil engineer present their determination of the building height in accordance with the board’s instructions from previous session. It required establishing the median average grade of the plot. The building as currently designed will have a height of 74.5 feet. This is just under the current code restriction of 74.8 feet. The average median grade of the property which slopes from the back to the front was calculated to be 29.8 feet. The board accepted the plan and agreed with the height.

Mr. Connelly did not bring his traffic engineer to the meeting as he wants to know what the final determination will be on the building’s design (i.e. resolution to issue of oak’s health). Mr. Whiteside, Chairman of the Planning Board, remarked that “Speed is not our goal; but we do want it to move along. There is a snail-like quality to the movement.”

The board had also been expecting a presentation from Paul Sullivan who is managing development of 36 Central Ave. regarding changes to materials for the building at that location. According to Mr. Whiteside, Sullivan seeks to substitute a plastic material for stone in some of the building facing. As the board understands it he proposes to paint the plastic a “sail cloth” color. The board had put this on the agenda at their previous meeting which Mr. Sullivan attended. A number of residents were on hand to discuss the change but Mr. Sullivan was not. He had gone to France. The board expects him to be present at their meeting on the 13th along with building samples. Should he fail to appear again the board will not entertain the request for a change.

Other business included but was not limited to:

• The board agreed to final wording on an article for town meeting that addresses the height restriction on accessory buildings. There was a loophole in previous zoning that was partially addressed at special town meeting. The issue was defining an explicit height for buildings such as garages within a certain distance of abutting property. The height is set at 21′ above the average grade of the building footprint and the revised language includes side yards which were inadvertently not specified in the previous revision.
• The owners of the Milton Hill House made a presentation to the Milton Village Revitalization Committee proposing another apartment building of 36 units. This building would be located just down Eliot Street (toward Central Ave) from their current building. They have purchased the lots of the Hendries house and a couple of multi-family homes.