by Frank Schroth

The Planning Board will have a full plate when they meet tomorrow evening. Two key hearings are on the agenda: one for expansion of the Milton Hill House and the other will resume discussion of the Hendries building.

The Milton Hill House is seeking to expand by building a new apartment building, renovating the Henry House nd the Carriage House. Altogether the development will add 30 more residential units to the neighborhood. The developers have been working closely with the neighbors to address their concerns. The development may come a something of a surprise to the community at large. The Milton Village / Revitalization Committee has submitted a letter in which they outline several recommendations. These include but are not limited to a comprehensive traffic study that accounts for the impacts these developments will have on the area and a more thorough design review of the apartment building that will address the “boxy” look of the building and suggests converting proposed balconies to bay windows to mitigate opportunity for cluttered areas facing the street.

The last time the board met with the developers of the Hendries building, Steve Connelly requested that the board close the hearing. The board declined to do that. The board feels that there are still outstanding issues to be resolved and that the public should have the opportunity to comment on them and the solutions proposed. Chief among them is the height and elevation of the building. The board referred a method for determining the height/elevation to town counsel for approval. They were also asking counsel to revisit the FAR bonus. Counsel had previously ruled that the bonus required replacement in kind of a black oak that the developer had removed.

The meeting will be in the Carol Blute conference Room tomorrow evening beginning at 6:30.