Re: NINE RIPLEY LLC petition for SPECIAL PERMIT/SITE PLAN APPROVAL for the development of the parcel of land at 9 Ripley Street Hello. We sent the appended letter recently concerning our opposition to the current form of this plan. We would like to make a small correction based on information just received. In the original note (appended) we use a figure of 9350 for the total area of the proposed development. In a letter to Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan dated November 1, Stephen Buchbinder describes certain size reductions that have been effected in the proposal. He details reductions by unit and concludes: >Thus, a total of 1,050 square feet of the original 10,191 square feet >was eliminated, a reduction of a little over 10 percent. Presumably "10,191 square feet" refers to a very early first proposal, and our figure of 9350 is from some intermediate proposal that we saw. It is important to keep clear from which version of the proposal there has been a reduction of 1050 square feet! In any case, it seems that the latest-revised proposal comprises four units of total size 9141 square feet. Therefore, the third paragraph of the note below should be revised to read: >One way to see the objection is to consider floor/area ratio. The >latest version of the proposal calls for four units with total size >9141 square feet, giving a proposed FAR of slightly over 0.464, well >above the target maximum FAR of 0.43 for a lot of this size in zone >MR1. A (further) reduction in area of nearly 700 square feet would be >required to bring the proposal into conformity. Thank you very much. Larry Denenberg, larry@denenberg.com Rachael Rosner, rachael@denenberg.com 31 Ripley Street Newton MA 02459 617-527-7932 >From: Larry Denenberg >Subject: Development of a parcel of land at 9 Ripley Street >Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:12:51 -0400 > >Re: NINE RIPLEY LLC petition for SPECIAL PERMIT/SITE PLAN APPROVAL for > the development of the parcel of land at 9 Ripley Street > >Hello. > >We write to express our opposition to the abovementioned plan for >developing the lot at 9 Ripley Street. We are not direct abutters but our >house is less than 300 feet from the house currently present on the lot. > >Our objection to the project in its current form is based on increase in >dwelling density. The lot currently contains a single-family house. The >proposed development calls for four dwelling units on the same lot. >Although at 19700 square feet the lot is nearly large enough to support >two units, a quadrupling to four units is unreasonable. There is no >precedent in our neighborhood for this many dwelling units on a single >lot, with concomitant increase in cars and crowding. > >One way to see the objection is to consider floor/area ratio. The latest >version of the proposal (that I know of) calls for units of sizes 2850, >2200, 2500, and 1800, total 9350 square feet, giving a proposed FAR of >9350/19700 = 0.475, well above the target maximum FAR of 0.43 for a lot >of this size in zone MR1. A reduction in area of nearly 900 square feet >would be required to bring the proposal into conformity. > >In summary, the proposal puts too many people into too small a space. We >respectfully ask the Land Use Committee to recommend a denial of the >proposal as it stands. > >Signed, > >Larry Denenberg, larry@denenberg.com >Rachael Rosner, rachael@denenberg.com >31 Ripley Street >Newton MA 02459 >617-527-7932