I I don't like this, guys. Yep. Mhmm.
Ordering in progress. Can I start now? It said reporting in progress.
You're good, mister chair. You can start.
Alright. Good afternoon. We are going to call this regularly scheduled meeting of the city plan commission, which was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, 03/24/2026, continued to today, Tuesday, 03/31/2026. It is 04:52PM, and we will call this meeting to order. Let's do a roll call starting with Rachel.
Charlotte Lipchitz. Lindsey Pattinelli.
Choyan Choyan, manager, car, DPT staff.
Megan DeSanto, legal counsel.
And I am Michael Gazzdaco, chair. Next up is the approval of the minutes from the January 20 and the March 3 meetings. You all should have received these prior to the meeting. Hopefully, you had a chance to review them. I don't have any edits.
any Michael, would also add we were here on the twenty fourth. I just put in a little notice to say that we were here to continue that. So, yeah, I would add that.
What we did, I did say that we started this originally was scheduled for March 24. We were here present in this room on March twenty fourth twenty twenty sixth. It had officially been continued so that anyone that showed up on the twenty fourth was told that it was continued to today, one week later. Also, welcome Lindsay, our new member of the commission.
Tonight will be your first one, and should be an easy one to easy one. We'll see we'll see. Make no guarantees. Now back to the to the meeting minutes, January 20 and March 3 meeting minutes. Let's start with the January 20 meeting minutes if anyone has any edits to the meeting minutes of 01/20/2026?
No. Or if there is a desire to put them forward for approval. Motion to approve both minutes for January and for March.
For both. Look at that. Alright. So we have us a motion on the table. We'll just do a voice vote.
All in favor of approving the minutes of January 20 and March 3 as drafted, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? The minutes pass.
Director's report, I'm assuming we're going to we're we're we're going to wait until next month. Mister Azar is unable to be with us this evening. He had a family issue to take care of. Seems that everything's okay, but,
to be here with us this evening. So having said that, we'll move right into the first agenda item, which is a major a minor land development project reinstatement for case number 23Dash039MA661663, and 665 Plainfield Street.
Sure. Thanks, commissioners. John, are you representing that? I am. Okay.
So commissioners, quick introduction. So this was a project that was before you back in 2023 but expired in August 2025. And it consisted of, development that consisted of three buildings, three mixed use buildings, each four stories with eight units as well as commercial space. So the applicant is before you asking to reinstate that that plan. It was a combined master and preliminary plan approval, and they are asking to have that validity that validity be restarted once the plan is reinstated.
And there are some criteria in our development review regulations that we will be going over, but I believe the applicant has a representative here, and he he can provide some more detail.
Yeah. So before, attorney Gearhee, kicks this off, a reinstatement is probably new for most of us here. It's a little bit different than a land development project because we don't have to make the findings of a land development project or even the zoning that was that was that were made to give the original approvals. There are specific criteria listed out in your staff report that we have to to make mostly, consistently with a comprehensive plan that the zoning hasn't changed, etcetera. I And believe attorney Gary, he's going to walk us through all of that right now.
Yeah. I'm sending the commission, John Garrett. You know, we have the applicant preview, Inc. I think Jeff is here. Is the mic down?
It's remote. We always. We'll get Joanne to help on
that too. We're a little short staffed. Lev is is off today as well, so we don't have technical help either.
Great. Yep. Yeah. I think that's it.
And if I touch it, it'll break. So you don't want me to touch it.
So I don't know if, Jeff Likens can join us, who was the architect on the project.
Is that possible to do We just promoted Yep.
Yeah. It said he should be rejoining.
Webinar as a panelist. Let's see if this works. Mister Lykins, are you
Hello? There he is. Okay. He's he's there. So yeah.
Okay. Mister chairman, so, reinstatement, as you indicated, this you alright, mister chairman?
I don't know that this is the safest thing. It kinda makes me uncomfortable having him drive in. Maybe he can pull over for the duration of his testimony.
If if he needs to testify, we'll have him pull over.
you. So, mister chairman, as you indicated, reinstatement is a relatively new provision passed by the general assembly in 2023. It's the first one that I've had, and I think it's a it's a it's a very good tool. As you know, with development projects, things happen. And, you know, it's things happen, and it takes time to get the process moving.
And it's it's a normally, it's a two two year process in which to have final approval after the preliminary approval is granted. In this case, this approval was issued in August 2023, which frankly seems like just yesterday, and expired in in August 2025. So it's not that it's been hanging around for a long time. Some of you may remember that the general assembly had extended those dates where they didn't expire in 2008 when there was a financial condition, and that extended, I think, until 2015 or 2016. So that they gave a long period of time.
So now there are time periods for which you have to act. You can ask for a continuance if you do it before it expires. However, as you know, sometimes in any event, this project was a little bit off course. It's now back on schedule full speed ahead according to the applicant. So you you the general assembly allowed for that for those types of, reinstatements.
I'm going to separate some extension to show and
alcohol line. Them. They're not extensive.
