Planning Board approves Point Breeze phase two
DEVELOPMENTS
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
After seven grueling meetings, the Planning Board approved phase two of Bob Matthews' re-development of his Point Breeze property on Easton and North Beach streets. The development includes a three-story, 28-unit hotel and underground parking.

The new look of Easton Street and Bob Matthews' Point Breeze Hotel, phase two, received 4-1 Planning Board approval on Monday night for a 17,235-square-foot second main hotel building, a smaller hotel building, four cottages and a pair of clay tennis courts over 101 underground parking spaces. Matthews still needs ConCom and HDC permits to proceed.

Planning Board Chairman Frank Spriggs said that the board reached the correct conclusion after nine months of review.

"I thought it was a good decision. We had seven meetings on the project and the applicant had provided all the information we wanted," said Spriggs. "I thought we had let the people from the surrounding area vent out what they wanted.

Spriggs noted that the applicant has met with the immediate neighbors "to do as much as possible" for them.

The board punctuated its approval - Spriggs, Nat Lowell, Barry Rector and Sylvia Howard voted "yes," and John McLaughlin "no" - with stern warnings of a possible return trip before the board if Matthews does not adhere to the conditions of his approval.

Rector, in closing comments directed at Matthews and his island attorney, Sarah Alger, said he expected compliance from Matthews given the amount of effort the board and his neighbors gave to his hearing, which began in July 2007.

"I honestly have to believe that we tried to anticipate these things because otherwise this would be a very fool hardy project," said Rector adding that Matthews and the Point Breeze must be good stewards. "The eyes of the neighborhood are upon you."

Matthews' island attorney Sarah Alger assured the board that her client would comply with the conditions.

"We are really hoping to be good neighbors and work with the neighbors," said Alger. "We want to get up and running and work out the kinks and make sure everything runs smoothly."

Matthews, in deference to neighbor- hood noise concerns, changed the screening room, meeting rooms and bowling alley closing hours from 1 a.m. to 11 p.m. The red barn pool will close at 6 p.m. and the tennis courts at dusk.

Included in the plan are the Maidstone, the 17,235-square-foot three-story hotel building, four twostory cottages along Easton Street, two clay tennis courts over a 101-space underground parking garage, a bowling alley beneath the barn behind the main Point Breeze hotel building and a swimming pool.

The current ground cover of this portion of Matthews' holdings jumps from 16,000 to 24,000 square feet, which rankled abutters and neighbors of the property. Most grudgingly went along with phase one, now under construction. It includes renovation of the existing hotel building, a new hotel restaurant, a 21-person spa, and a 4,091-square-foot addition to the current main building.

"This project represents a much greater intensity of use than has ever existed on this property - a much greater intensity of use," said Selectman Michael Kopko of 2 Harbor View Way at Monday night's Planning Board meeting.

Neighbors will be keeping a watchful eye on the drainage system that is planned for during construction of phase two and after. Steel sheeting has been sunk 19 feet into the ground around the perimeter of the property to contain water until the concrete of the underground garage is poured, cured and set. Collection wells placed around the property, at depths of 23 feet, will keep the site dry by pumping water through a filtration system and into the harbor via outflow pipes at Children's Beach.

Once phase two is complete, upper and lower holding tanks built into the ground will collect runoff from roofs, tennis courts, the parking garage and a pool cabana. That water will be pumped through pipes heading east on Easton Street, down South Beach Street to Harbor View Way and eventually connect with a 48-inch outfall pipe on the Nantucket Yacht Club side of Children's Beach. Some of this water will also percolate into the ground through gravel-packed wells. The lower tank will be connected to the town's stormwater drainpipe on Easton Street so that during heavy rains it could collect that water as well, helping to reduce street flooding.

Some runoff will be filtered and pumped into a nearby wetland with catch basin installed next to it to siphon off overflow into the upper holding tank.

Matthews hopes to do this work in the fall when the town begins upgrading its downtown stormwater collection system so he can lay his pipe and connect to the town's new Children's Beach outfall pipe while the town opens the streets for the project. At the Planning Board's special drainage meeting on April 3, Town Engineer Ed Pesce said the design works and that he would sign off on it.

"The current design is of sufficient status that I could endorse it and see your moving forward given the revisions," said Pesce on April 3. "I am not of the opinion, after a rereading of this, that there are any problems. It is, again, a major undertaking."

Currently, this project is being reviewed by the Historic District Commission and Matthews is expected to file his notice of intent with the Conservation Commission

by Friday. I