From: 	"Greg W. Halsey" <GWHalsey@tigheBond.com>
To:	Jean Fraser <JF@portlandmaine.gov>
Date: 	7/7/2015 5:47 PM
Subject: 	FW: Public comments -  Proposed  Neighborhood Center - 1342 	 Congress Street

Jean,
We have provided a response to the additional comments in red in the email below.
I will send you the executed JCA Stormwater Maintenance Agreement and the Parking License Agreement with the Dentist in a separate email due to the file. The remaining temporary construction easement and stormwater maintenance agreement with Justin Johnson are currently under his review and we are awaiting his signature. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Regards,
Greg Halsey, P.E. | Project Engineer
Tighe & Bond | 177 Corporate Drive | Portsmouth, NH 03801 | 603.294.9233

From: Jean Fraser [mailto:JF@portlandmaine.gov]
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2015 12:32 PM
To: Greg W. Halsey
Subject: Public comments ‑ Proposed Neighborhood Center ‑ 1342 Congress Street

Greg

I have had two recent public comments regarding your final submission:

1.  The property owner next to the dental offices‑  she has written to ask a number of questions but her main concern seems to be the 6 ft high stockade fence.  I spoke with reviewers and we think that fence is necessary but could/should be lower and I said that I would raise that with you. The Applicant has worked hard to provide both substantial landscaping and a wooden fence to buffer the proposed development from their residential neighbors.  The proposed 6' tall cedar stockade fence was also recommended by the City Arborist in the Staff Memorandum prepared for the Planning Board Workshop. The fence will enhance the vegetated screen while providing an appropriate aesthetic appearance for the residential area that typically has 6' tall fences between properties. However, the Applicant will review the request to decrease the height of the fence to determine if a fence shorter than 6' will provide the appropriate screening required given the project's location abutting the residential properties.

2.  The attached letter arrived today from Margaret Gaertner on behalf of the Libbytown Neighborhood Association.  Her main concern (starts on second page) appears to be the front elevation‑  she mentioned this to me before but I told her the architect was still working on it.   Could you please forward her letter to the applicant and the architect, as it would be good to have some kind of "response" in the PB Report.  We are very appreciative with the feedback provided us from the Libbytown Neighborhood Association in their letter to the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine dated June 30, 2015. With respect to the concern raised regarding the elevation of the front façade of the community hall, and the desire for additional embellishment, we offer the following. The form of the community hall is being carefully designed to consider the appropriate scale at both a vehicular and pedestrian level on the north corner of the site while responding to internal program demands. Its architectural expression is principally achieved through its cladding and fenestration materials and layout as well as the graphic nature of the building's sign, all of which are being constantly refined through the design process. The exterior elevations submitted as part of the Planning Board submission graphically represent these qualities but don't offer the experiential perception of perspective and the relationship of this form to its context ‑ the surrounding neighborhood and adjacent structures. We are glad to continue to update interested parties as we progress in this endeavor and are confident that this building's expression will be an enhancement to the community.

I will be in touch next week as I finalize the report.
thank you
Jean