The Planning Board approved minor changes to the second phase of The Mint, which would add an additional unit and another four parking spaces to the downtown project.

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Representatives for Dornoch II Urban Renewal, LLC returned to the Planning Board on July 20 with changes to the site plan. The number of units would increase from 108 to 109 and another four spaces would be added to the two-level parking deck for the proposed six-story building at the corner of Poplar and Main streets.

After about 30 minutes of testimony, with some questions from Planning Board members, the board gave its unanimous approval, 7-0.

The Planning Board in April approved an amended preliminary and final major site plan and amended minor subdivision, allowing The Mint’s second phase to go from five to six stories and add 16 units for a total 108 in the north building. The original application, approved in 2015, allowed for 208 units with 198 garage parking spaces across two buildings. The first phase of the project consists of 116 units at Main and Monroe streets and was completed in 2020.

John Hague  of Woodbridge-based Greenbaum Smith Rose and Davis, explained that since the April meeting, it came to light that the building on an adjoining property (Block 318.01, Lot 3) had been built to the boundary line. A 10-foot separation is required between buildings and Dornoch’s original site plan also had called for building to the property line.

The building generally shifted toward Main and Poplar streets, closer to the curb line on Poplar, where it was 13 feet and now will be 8.9 feet, according to engineer Sean Savage. There had been a 13-foot setback near Poplar that now will be 18 feet. “There’s still plenty of room for pedestrians to walk along that sidewalk,” he said.

The new plan would be able to maintain the existing footprint but shift the building 10 feet. The change allows for adding four parking spaces and another unit but the variance granted in April would still be necessary, Hague said. The additional parking would reduce the need for a Payment In Lieu of Parking (PILOT) contribution from 64 to 62 spaces.

The preliminary and final major site plan had 245 spaces (113 in the south building and 105 in the north) across the two buildings, along with 11 on the Monroe Street extension, 14 on Main Street and 2 on Poplar Street. That falls short by 64 spaces of the 309 required (280 at 1.25 per unit + 29 for 1 per 200 square feet of retail).

The north building would go from 108 to 109 units and have 109 garage stalls across two levels: 52 on the ground level accessed via Monroe Street and 57 on the upper level off Poplar Street. In this new plan, the second level of parking added seven compact spaces, — three that are 8×18 and four tandem spaces that are 9×16. Tandem spaces would require a variance, as would parking stalls that are smaller and more narrow.

“The situation is simpler than it was in April,” said planner Joel Schwartz, when there were 108 units and 105 spaces — a deficiency of three spaces. Now there will be 109 units and 109 garage spaces. Of the 109 spaces, four consist of two pairs of tandem spaces.

Based on reasonable assumptions that pair of tandem spaces would be associated with two-bedroom apartments, that means 107 of 109 units have dedicated parking spaces and 2 units don’t, Schwartz said. “That’s not at all unusual. It’s about as common for a building of this type to have a tenant with two cars as a tenant to have zero cars,” he said. “It compensates for the fact that, statistically, a couple of tenants are likely to have zero cars.”

The only other difference will be the height of retail space on one corner, which now would have the additional unit above it.

“The intent is to make sure most commercial spaces on the ground floor have adequate height, especially that such spaces reflect a mercantile feeling when you look at the building from the outside,” Schwartz said. The window pattern and everything about the architecture is the same, he said. “You wouldn’t even know an additional apartment is there.”

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