Urban Affairs delays vote on 99-unit Exchange Place over parking dispute

MARLBOROUGH — March 6, 2023 — Marlborough Urban Affairs delays vote on 99-unit downtown project, citing parking. The City Council's Urban Affairs Committee voted 5-0 on Monday to extend the deadline for the Exchange Place site plan to April 27, giving JW Capital Partners LLC more time to defend its parking plan for 57 Main Street. Attorney Brian Falk of Mirick O'Connell described a five-story, 99-unit project with 5,000 square feet of restaurant space, 28 on-site parking spaces against an 88-space zoning requirement, and a $550,000 to $630,000 payment in lieu covering the balance. Chair Kathleen Robey said she would not support a draft condition relaxing overnight restrictions at the Bolton Street lot, arguing the city "worked hard at buying that property" and that resident permits could not come ahead of existing downtown residents. Councilor Sean Navin called the jump from a previously approved 55 units with 83 spaces to 99 units with 28 spaces "a lot." The committee separately advanced Chapter 650 zoning amendments setting the period of affordability "in perpetuity," and voted 4-0 to ask City Solicitor Jason Grossfield to draft additional AMI-percentage language that will trigger a new public hearing.