2020-07-13 Kingsley NarrativeThe following information was mailed to the neighbors. No negative feedback was received.
May 29, 2020
Hello Neighbor,
I’m writing to provide an update to the proposed project at 8 Kingsley Ave.
• Zoning Board and Planning Board meetings were held on May 14, 2020.
o The Zoning Board approved the proposed plans.
o The Planning Board had some concerns with the proposed plans.
▪ The board did not want the maple tree at the street to be removed. I have now
removed this request and am no longer proposing to remove this tree.
▪ The board did not approve the proposed 30’ driveway entrance. Several
options were discussed and I’ll try to summarize them here.
• Regulations require a minimum of one parking space per 1000 square
feet of living area (round up). Each unit is approximately 1685 square
feet, therefore two parking spaces are required for each unit for a total
of four parking spaces. Due to the shallow depth of the lot it is difficult
to meet minimum dimensional driveway requirements to have parking
in front of the house, therefore I believe that garages are the best way
to meet parking space requirements.
• Although the proposed driveway does not meet the minimum
dimensional requirements for an official parking space per regulations, I
believe that the driveway spaces are adequate for temporary guest
parking which helps to minimize potential impact to the neighbors by
preventing off-street parking.
• Although a 30’ wide driveway entrance may be approved by the board,
some negatives were noted. Therefore, I am no longer proposing a 30’
wide driveway entrance.
• Alternate Design 1 maintains the house plan as-is, however requires a
single 15’ driveway entrance. I believe that this design makes it difficult
to enter the garages because the cars would need to make a tight turn
on a small driveway. This design would also limit guest parking in the
driveway because the driveway entrance needs to remain open for each
unit to use the driveway. This may lead to increased off-street guest
parking.
• Alternate Design 2 requires a single 15’ wide driveway entrance, but
only a single car garage for each unit. As written, regulations require
two parking spaces per unit. It was suggested that perhaps the board
could relax this requirement and only require one parking space per
unit. I dislike this approach because I believe that the other designs
which meet the required two parking spaces per unit provide the least
potential impact to the neighbors by minimizing potential for off-street
parking from these units.
• Alternate Design 3 changes the house plan by flip-flopping the design to
have two 15’ wide driveway entrances at the sides of the lot rather than
at the center of the lot. I believe that there are downsides to this design
because the maple tree at the street would need to be removed, having
the driveways at the sides of the lot may potentially cause more
disturbance to the side neighbors, and it prevents direct access from the
houses to the side yards.
• Alternate Design 4 is my preferred plan. It maintains the same house
plan and has two 15’ wide driveway entrances at the center of the lot.
o This design requires the same number of driveway entrances as
Alternate Design 3 while maintaining the maple tree at the
street. The 15’ wide driveway entrances meet the driveway
width requirements. This design also makes it easier for each
unit to pull directly into their garage rather than turning in the
driveway. There are no negative impacts due to two 15’
driveway entrances as there is no parking permitted on this side
of the street and thus there is no reduction in off-street parking
spaces.
o This design minimizes potential impact to neighbors
▪ Locating the driveways at the center of the lot
minimizes potential disturbances to the side neighbors
▪ Minimizes potential for additional off-street parking
• Maintains two parking spaces per unit
• Driveway provides temporary guest off-street
parking
In summary, I am pursuing this project to improve the property while creating the least amount of
negative impact to my neighbors. I will be presenting the updated proposal to the Planning Board at the
June 11, 2020 meeting. Please let me know if you have any feedback, questions and / or concerns. I
may be reached at the address / email / phone below. I will also be at 8 Kingsley Ave on Saturday June
6, 2020 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM if you’d like to speak with me in person.
Best Regards,
John Kowalski
229 Middle St.
Hadley, MA 01035
jwkowalski@gmail.com
413-237-0132
Baseline - Proposed on May 14, 2020Alternate Design 1Alternate Design 2Alternate Design 3Alternate Design 4 - Preferred PlanDescription SummarySingle 30' Driveway Entrance / Two Garages per UnitSingle 15' Driveway Entrance / Two Garages per UnitSingle 15' Driveway Entrance / One Garage per UnitDual 15' Driveway Entrance / Two Garages per Unit - Mirror Image to Original PlanDual 15' Driveway Entrance / Two Garages per UnitDriveway EntranceSingle 30'Single 15'Single 15'Dual 15'Dual 15'Meets parking space requirementsYesYesNoYesYesGarage / Parking Spaces2 per Unit / 4 Total2 per Unit / 4 Total1 per Unit / 2 Total2 per Unit / 4 Total2 per Unit / 4 TotalDriveway Guest Parking2 per Unit / 4 Total1 per Unit / 2 Total Garage access limits guest parking1 per Unit / 2 Total2 per Unit / 4 Total2 per Unit / 4 TotalDriveway LocationCenter of LotCenter of LotCenter of LotSides of LotCenter of LotMaintains tree at streetYesYesYesNoYesDirect side yard accessYesYesYesNoYesUnit AUnit B15'15'DrivewayDrivewayUnit AUnit B15'15'DrivewayUnit AUnit B15'DrivewayUnit AUnit B15'DrivewayUnit AUnit B30'Driveway