Planning Board Hears Drainage Plans for One Howard Project

FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham Planning Board continued their public hearing related to the One Howard apartment project during their meeting at the Memorial Building on Thursday, May 16.

One Howard, LLC—a part of City Realty Group out of Boston—is looking to building a six-floor apartment building with more than 130 units along Howard Street. The proposed plot for the apartments is next to the Armenian Church of the Holy Translators.

Planning Board members received an update on the site’s proposed rainwater system—a previous point of concern for municipal officials, due to the site being adjacent to Farm Pond. Members of the One Howard team told the Planning Board that their investigations into existing infrastructure continues, as they’ve submitted a revised stormwater report to the Framingham Department of Public Works as well as the engineering group Weston & Sampson for a peer review. One Howard’s expectation is that the review will be done in late June.

Findings from One Howard outlined on Thursday showed that the site currently has some faults with its drainage infrastructure. Their proposal for a revised drainage system features just under 7,000 cubic feet of storage placed at the northwest corner of the plot, which they added would be the furthest from groundwater.

Still, legal counsel for the church Anthony Barsamian outlined concerns regarding flooding in the area and the water level at Farm Pond. He told the Planning Board that the church’s bathrooms have had multiple instances of backing up in recent months, even after drains had been cleaned.

Barsamian called on all parties to work towards a solution for the property, which he noted is already in a high-density neighborhood.

“We can’t just have a meeting to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to be your neighbor.,’” Barsamian continued.

“I think there’s going to need to be some serious discussion between the developer and the church to see if we don’t all float away.”

The public hearing on the One Howard Project is set to continue during the Planning Board’s meeting on June 20. At that time, additional details on drainage infrastructure are slated to be presented following the peer review.