UPDATED July 21: Although his three-story building on Mass. Ave. in Arlington Heights is almost complete, its developer must rethink its design after having failed to follow accessibility laws, the Arlington Redevelopment Board says.
In a roughly 90-minute meeting Monday, July 15, the ARB in a split vote agreed to reopen owner Darin DiNucci’s special permit so that he can figure out how to include an accessible unit — one in which those with mobility challenges can live independently and comfortably.
Back in 2020, DiNucci had received ARB approval for offices on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors of a new building at 1500 Mass. Ave. However, partway through construction, which already had been stalled by engineering challenges, architect Monte French said he realized he made a mistake by omitting an accessible unit.
State entity enforces accessibility requirement
The developer sought relief from the state requirement at an Architectural Access Board hearing in April. However, that entity denied DiNucci’s request; they determined that the addition of the unit would be “technologically feasible,” would not result in “unreasonable costs” and would bring “substantial benefit” to those with disabilities.
Rethinking site plans
The ARB voted 3-2 to reopen the special permit, allowing the developer to return by Sept. 9 with new plans.
DiNucci proposed replacing one of the commercial spaces on the ground floor with an accessible unit, a concept that had received approval from the state access board.
Another possibility would have been building an elevator and to make one of the upper-level apartments accessible. French said that the cost of that option would be “astronomical” — and DiNucci appeared fed up with the whole situation. “It’s been quite a hardship,” he said. “It’s past [$300,000] between bank costs and loss of rent.”
Voting in the minority, board Chair Rachel Zsembery and member Eugene Benson both wished not to reopen the permit but were still concerned about including the accessible dwelling unit.
Zsembery said she preferred to find a fix that would not eliminate any office space.
Moreover, options like building an elevator require only a permit amendment, not reopening the permit, she said. “A single, very small office unit [rather than having two or more] is barely a nod to this being a mixed-use property,” she said.
Benson noted that plans that the ARB approved back in 2020 included a handicapped parking space, which he said somehow had since “mysteriously” disappeared from the design.
Fox Library reconstruction: 20 apartments proposed
In other ARB business, details about the long-proposed demolition and reconstruction of East Arlington’s Fox Library emerged during the meeting.
Although the town’s official next step is to gather public input, Planning and Community Development Director Claire Ricker said current plans could include the creation of 10 market-rate and 10 affordable-housing units on the third through sixth floors of the new structure.
For their part, library officials seek a larger, more disability-friendly and possibly two-story library on the first two floors to meet local needs. A passage on the library’s website reads, “The post-Covid era brought many changes to our libraries and community including increased foot traffic, new demands on library spaces, and a huge uptick in circulation.”
Watch ACMi video:
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This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Jacob Posner was published Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Updated July 21, to add ACMi video window.
