Uh good evening.

Like to call the November 25th, 2025 meeting of the planning board to order.

Uh please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge Allegiance in the United States.

One nation under an individual liberty justice for all.

My name is Joe Fioli serving as chairman tonight.

Uh members sitting for the planning board tonight to my right Sean Lewis.

Good evening, Bianca Kelson.

Evening, Salon.

And town council rep Jeff Hatch.

Good evening.

Let's see.

One uh we have Jacob Lafontaine from the planning department.

And the agenda for tonight is as follows.

We have uh one item of new business.

Uh it's identity LLC site plan.

It's a public hearing for change of use for 5,154 square foot event space and lounge with a conditional use permit for reduced parking at 357 South Broadway.

Um any any withdrawals tonight?

No withdrawals, Mr.

Chair.

Uh that's good.

So uh we have a couple items a minute, so skip those tonight.

Um just go to that uh first item of new business identity LLC site plan.

Uh is the plan complete?

Yes, the plan is complete.

Mr.

Chairman, at this time I move to accept the identity LLC site plan is complete.

Second uh motion seconds to accept the identity site plan as complete.

Um favor.

It's unanimous, thank you, butters.

Your butters are as follows.

If you're here, please indicate by saying so there 356 South Broadway, CPJ Trust, Samantha 3 LLC, Fernstrom, Upaka, Martinez, Welsh, and Kaltawanich Welch Welsh, Loranger, Piorio, Hanoosh, Duke Realty, and that is all.

Good evening, Mr.

Chairman.

Oh, since we just to be corrected, just since our board is so short tonight.

The applicant has the right that we should suppose to offer him to either come back again next month or continue tonight because if one of us vote against this, it syncs the plan.

So he has to decide whether he wants to go forward or not.

Oh okay.

Well can you repeat that when you set it on one vote?

If one of us tonight, because you need the majority, you need three to one.

Three to one.

Yes, so you're okay.

Okay.

But I just want to make sure three to one is a lot harder to get than five or six or seven.

Yeah, these two are trust cell.

Uh two to two is not a fail vote anymore.

It used to be a fail, but it would be continued if the vote were two to if it was a split vote.

And we do anticipate that Damon will be here.

Yeah, he uh yeah, he said he'd be late.

Okay.

We do anticipate a fifth member we actually are not gonna get him.

He just texted us.

Oh, I guess not.

No, this is this is it.

We have four tonight.

All right.

Well we're willing to continue forward and uh okay.

Put on our best effort.

I like that.

Uh continue.

So good evening, Mr.

Chairman and Board members.

My name is Kurt Meiser.

I'm with Meiser Bram Corporation uh here tonight to represent um identity LLC.

Uh with me from Identity LLC is uh Mr.

Calvin uh Severino and Jocelyn of the former Jocelyn's uh restaurant that was at this location previously.

Um it was it went from Jocelyn's to Bay Rudy's and the cigar lounge.

Um and what these folks are planning to do is to reopen that section of the building um as a uh a lounge in and an event center.

So basically uh there's not much change to the interior portions of the building.

It's just they're just gonna um acquiesce the space that was used as a cigar lounge and uh the restaurant into one open space now uh that they're gonna use for both of their types of functions, which is um event such as uh showers, bridal showers, uh weddings, um possibly comedy nights, uh events like that, or and or they would open it as a lounge where people could go and eat and drink in that same uh I could call it a lounge, I could call it a restaurant.

I could call it a lounge, I could call it a restaurant.

It would be basically that type of uh facility.

Um they currently operate SEVMAR over on uh I forget where it is, it's on 97.

It's at the end uh where they've been for a while.

Uh and they operate that property there, and they're looking to move back into the property where they once were.

So as far as site conditions and site changes, uh there are not any actual site changes proposed at this point in time, other than that they're going to complete the requirements from the previous approval for Babe Rudy's restaurant, some things that were not completed at that point in time, and those items are shown in red on this plan.

Um, and they intend to pick up that ball where it was dropped, and they're gonna uh run that one across the goal line for you folks.

Um the only actual site change that they've made is they've added a six-inch water line that comes off of seed sheet, and that's uh that's in place now.

Uh and that was done for fire protection, and that was done with permits as approved by the town of Salem and the town of Salem's engineers.

So we have asked you for a uh conditional use permit for parking.

Uh we have 54 on site parking spaces uh currently and then they have agreements with uh abiding properties uh immediately adjacent to the north and one to the south, and that's for an extra 10 cars to the north and an extra 25 cars to the south, and that's after 6 p.m.

So when I submitted my application to you for the CUP, uh we stated that there were 90 spaces required, and that's a very conservative number.

When we break down the numbers of the exact square footages that can be used for seating and in spacing, um the two different types of events that they could have there, the numbers come out to actually 72 and 83.

So 83 being the most where there is freestanding occupancy proposed in some spaces of the of the uh of the restaurant or of the center, um we just were a little conservative with our number when we told you 90.

So I guess that's an overview of what we're gonna do.

And if you have questions, I'll be happy to answer them, and maybe we can dig in a little more as we go.

All right, thank you.

We'll hear from the uh planning planning departments uh staff governments.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chair.

So as Mr.

Meisner noted, the proposal is to convert that about 5100 square feet of uh what you approved as cigar and scar lounge and restaurant space to event space and and lounge.

Uh that was last before you and about two years ago, just about this time, uh November of two 2023.

Uh as Mr.

Meisner noted, that plan was approved with a variety of um you know revisions that were supposed to be made to uh bring the plan or bring the site into accordance with the 1985 plan that was originally approved.

So uh this is kind of what was shown to you initially, and the board had made a variety of uh uh requirements to bring it back into alignment with the 1985 plan, including uh this this uh curb cut here onto Seed Street had been added without approvals.

So the board approved it, but requested that the aisle uh travel aisle be reduced to 22 foot and that this area be revegetated, this area be revegetated as well, that this curb cut be reduced, um, that this island here be planted, and um these were some of the photos that were shown to you back in 2023.

I believe the site looks substantially the same.

And uh the these are the areas that were supposed to be improved.

The reason being that the prior applicant uh hadn't completed them.

They did submit a a performance guarantee, but um never actually completed the work.

So again, just to kind of remind the board, they did stripe in, I think they enclosed the dumpster.

So they did some of the work, but they didn't complete all of it.

They've committed to making those modifications.

So again, you can see those modifications in red that were not complete under the prior application.

So those would be done at this time.

So again, converting that space from former restaurant, I think the Phoenician, when it was issued a CO had a 144 seats.

I imagine Jocelyn probably carried that number over.

It's probably buried in there somewhere.

So again, driveways we just talked about, they're going to reduce the curb cut to 27 feet in accordance with 85 and 23 approval.

I won't go into more, they've already re-established the one-way circulation, which was a requirement of the board in 23.

Big thing here is going to be the parking.

So based off of the S the calculation that Mr.

Meisner did, the requirement is 117 spaces based on retail.

You'd also want to accommodate the demand for Hanoosh, even though Hanoush isn't going to be open in the worst case scenario.

So you know that worst case scenario would be a demand of 220 126 spaces.

But Mr.

Meiser and I did look at the calculation earlier, and I do agree with his statement that it would be more appropriate to assess a parking demand of probably 84 spaces.

That's based off the 145 fixed seats.

So you divide that by one per three seats, that gets you 48.3.

And then you would take the balance of the space, the gross floor area that's not dedicated to permanent seating, 2,077 square feet, and you divide that by 150, that gets you 13.8.

So that's about 62.

That is 62 spaces required, plus 10 employees, and then 11 for Hanoush.

So that 84 space demand would be consistent with how we've calculated the prior approval.

I think that was approved with that calculation.

It's also consistent with how we've calculated I think for other lounges that have come in other places of assembly.

So we did that calculation.

I also ran it as a calculation based off a seat count.

I think in their, you know, their I guess their best case scenario for them, but you know, when they have the most number of seats, I think it'd be 145.

So I know there was some discussion about whether or not it were a restaurant or a lounge.

So I took the 145 seats, divided that by two, which is our restaurant demand, and that gets you to 84 spaces once you add Hanochias on top of those 145 seats.

Um and then I also took the gross floor area, the 50, 100 square feet, and I divided that by 75 square feet, one per 75 square feet, which is the restaurant demand, and that ends up being a lower number at 80.

So most calculations, whether or not you look at it as a lounge or a restaurant, the demands right about 84.

Now the concern would be that they have uh 50, I believe 54 spaces on site.

So the applicant has stated that they're gonna address those that deficiency by having off-site agreements.

Uh the application stated that they have uh verbal agreements with off-site properties for 35 spaces.

Um, you know, if the board were comfortable with that arrangement, we would want them to submit that lease prior to occupancy to ensure that they have those agreements.

We'd also want to know where the agreements are.

For instance, if it's across Seed Street, we would probably want a striped uh crosswalk so that we can uh you know get pedestrians, whether those be the employees that park off-site or patrons, uh, so that we could get that those uh that flow of pedestrian traffic across the street.

Uh in terms of landscaping, we this was a carryover from the last one.

They are proposing to uh propose three trees, which is consistent with the previous approval.

They've got several shrubs and flowers.

Just noted that the board could also consider having evergreens planted for year-round screening of the parking.

There's not a whole lot of plant in beds, but you know, maybe in these areas that are adjacent to 23, we could work with the applicant to get you know some kind of evergreen shrub or maybe a rhododendron or something like that to provide some screening of those spaces there.

Uh compliance, we already highlighted the fact that the uh approvals have not been completed in accordance with the 2023 approval included in your packet was a violation notice that had been sent uh in October of this year, uh acknowledging that those site improvements had not been completed.

Uh they'll be required to submit an as built plan uh prior to occupancy.

The board should consider potential impacts to residential abutters.

Um you know, maybe it's a credit to the applicant.

I don't know if they've done proactive reach uh to the abutters, but you'll recall the last time uh this application was before you had a lot of input and a lot of butter participation.

Um I don't see that tonight.

I haven't heard anything at the staff level.

Um but you certainly could make uh you could certainly consider that as you had back in 2023.

Um I had a note here that the applicant noted the occupancy will re be reduced prior to six PM and increased to 320 guests.

Uh and I stated the applicant should specify what what occupancy will be prior to six PM.

I actually see that in the table.

Uh I think they've just they've kind of called the occupancy load the same as the seat count.

So they show 225 as the seat count.

I think that's actually the occupancy that uh that would be required.

I don't think they'd actually be able to fit 225 seats uh in the restaurant base off of N N FPA.

Um so I would just acknowledge that.

Uh I think that's one of the big things, right?

Is uh you'll the board already knows that the fire generally has a an occupancy that's determined based off of NFPA and then we have our occupancy load that's geared uh off of our zoning requirements.

And uh I think that's what the applicant here is trying to do is trying to kinda merge the two so that they can occupy under that total occupancy of uh 320 guests um per NFBA.

So big thing here again is the parking, I would just recommend that you consider parking potential impacts to the abutters.

Your concerns are satisfied, you could grant the conditional use permit and conditional approval, just conditions I can provide if anyone you'd like.

Okay, thanks.

Uh any members of the public like to speak on the plan.

That will go to the board.

Yeah, Mr.

Hedgehog.

Yeah, I've got two questions, Mr.

Chairman.

Uh first is what is the businesses to the north and south.

Um to the south is the uh uh it's a fitness.

Sorry about that.

What's the microphone?

Uh to the to the north it's the uh uh fitness equipment center and uh down to the the south it is the what was the Max loans.

Max loans.

Okay.

Max loans the the loan loan store.

And they're both closed af after six anyway, right?

So if you want to yeah.

Uh one more, Mr.

Chairman.

This one's for um Jacob Condition number five here where it says the post guarantee and yeah, submitted guarantee for opposed act occupy parking study.

What are we studying?

Are we studying the effects of the abutters or we studying the effects of this could this lot specifically?

I think we don't want to.

Because to me, I'm not sure there's a need for that study because we already know what the parking is going to be like there.

So I mean, I hate to see them spend more money on that than they really need to.

Yeah, and and it really be up to the board's discretion.

We have required that in the past with conditional use permits.

Um what we've done in in the past is we've had a scoping meeting before occupancy, and then kind of established what the study would entail.

So in this instance, you're right.

I I would imagine it wouldn't be limited to the subject lot, it would probably be also to study those 35 spaces off site and see what their parking availability is at peak times.

So um, you know, I that would be the kind of idea without really having attended or having the scope in the meeting.

That's kind of what I anticipate we would have we would look at.

And the reason for that condition is because we often require this and without that surety or without that uh you know escrow account, it's hard to get applicants after occupancy to actually submit a post.

So that's that's why it would be prior to occupancy, and then they would have to submit that six to nine months post occupancy, and we would have the count to pull from further from the board.

Nice.

Yeah, I do have um sorry.

I do have a problem.

So the the dumpster that's over um for Hanoush jewelers.

Is there any issue with being able to maneuver around the corner of the building without dumpster being there?

No.

That's been uh that that services out.

There's no problem with getting around the back of that building.

Okay.

Um that's very little used around the back of that building.

Some sometimes they use it for deliveries and that type of thing.

Um public doesn't generally use any of that.

Yeah, uh if I recall correctly, when the last applicant was here, um, I believe that the abutters had mentioned that there were cars parking along that fence there.

There were there were at that time, yes.

Yeah.

So I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't going to be anything back there that could restrict um access around the back of that site.

Yeah, that's fine.

And in the location that it's at, it's fine right now.

It it's pretty um I'll call it.

I mean, you could drive through the you're not driving fast when you go through there, it's behind the back of a building, but you would hope it it there is free access there.

Okay.

Um I think so do we did discuss the off-site parking.

Um do you have any sort of lease agreement drafted with it?

We don't so what they've told me is they have verbal agreements with both parties, and they're in the process of working through I'll call it the legal agreements with them to uh put them in place.

And I I think that's we talked to Jacob about that, and that's why he's saying suggesting uh before occupancy they'd have to deliver those.

Sure.

And just to clarify, the both parties that you referenced are the properties to the north and to the south.

Correct.

Yeah, immediately adjusted.

And Jacob talked about there's a sidewalk out front there.

Yeah.

So it's typically a place where people would walk.

Um, you know, this people well, there's people walk down 28.

I won't say all the time, but they walk down 28.

Um and if you go from one business to another, um it it the sidewalks are set up for that.

Okay.

Um what is what is the difference between this being a lounge and a restaurant?

What differentiates the two?

Well, I would tell you my opinion is there's no real than maybe the way you psychologically look at it, you know.

Uh they're gonna serve food and they're gonna serve drinks.

Um whether you call something a lounge or a restaurant, I think uh they may be interchangeable.

The 99 as an example is I'd call it both.

It's a lounge and a restaurant.

But if this was previously a restaurant at one point in time, why are we now calling it a lounge?

Why are we even revisiting this?

Well, well, maybe I'll let them call if you could go over the phone.

You said this you need for the record.

My name is Jocelyn Severino, 13 Highley Lane, Salem, New Hampshire.

May I?

To answer your question, the name of it was for 14 years was Jocelyn's Mediterranean Restaurant and Lounge.

And lounges is it is kind of a perception thing.

It's like if you're dressed up and you want to go grab a bite and a drink, lounge sounds more enticing than restaurant.

So it's it's just like not a gimmicky word, but kind of I guess I was I was asking more so as far as the use type.

Um, because I I think that we we classify them separately and there's different requirements for a lounge versus a restaurant, if I'm not mistaken.

So it if that's the case, if this has previously been a restaurant and it was approved previously as a restaurant, why are we not going to call it a restaurant again?

This is what the fourth time in uh two years?

Yeah, you you did it if the history was that administratively you can well the board approved conversion from uh restaurant, Zoslins to Puff Lounge, the entire 5100 square feet was Puff Lounge.

And the logic behind that if you look at the site plan exemption request was that the demand was going to be less for the lounge than it was for the restaurant, and they did that based off of our parking calculations.

And they came back and they said actually we want to convert a portion of it back to a restaurant, we want X amount of seats.

That ultimately drove their demand up beyond what was proposed proposed to the planning board.

So now that they're gonna go back to restaurant, they really that that approval kind of they abandoned it essentially when they converted it to a cigar lounge.

Gotcha.

From the staff perspective, the distinction between a restaurant and a lounge would really be that the lounge, at least on the base of the floor plan, I think is we would look at it as a place of assembly.

So uh and maybe they did that at the prior uh Jocelyn's and maybe even uh the Phoenician did it before and whatever it was before that.

But um, because they've kind of abandoned that and they've come back in and said we want to increase our seat count and we want to have a raised platform with kind of this flex space where you could either have tables and chairs or you could remove it and potentially have I'd imagine it'd be like a dance floor or or maybe get live entertainment.

That's kind of what we would look at as a lounge.

I think there's a applicant that you heard conceptually that had you know kind of a a restaurant space and then I had a lounge space, and they kind of calculated those uh separately.

So I think it's consistent with with that application of the ordinance.

I think the you had answered the question.

The clarification I was looking for was that it was previously a restaurant, then a lounge, now back to a restaurant, and wouldn't they be able to be a restaurant again?

Or I say this mentally I think it's I think I'm confusing.

I think it's more like the the the term event center, I think, more than anything that's may I?

But I think it's just it's I mean are we trying to draw the distinction between cigar lounge, like an alcohol, no food.

Right.

What I'm saying is it it was previously disused before.

So why are we hearing it again?

But I think the answer is that because the fact that the use was abandoned.

Okay.

Is why it why it's now back before us again.

That's what I was trying to get at here.

And the seat count is also I think increase so the the Phoenician, I couldn't find the occupancy for Jocelyn's.

Sure.

Ms.

Mrs.

Sabrino might know better than I, but uh the Phoenician in 2002 had 144 seats.

You know, they want more than that, I guess.

I think uh and Jacob and I have had the same discussion a couple of times, and I I think what really happens here is just sort of cleans it up a little bit so it it just makes it official where the cigar lounge was a separate specific use, and now we're just taking it over for the whole thing, and instead of jumping back one uh proprietor, we're clearing out the most recent proprietor.

Cool good installing it.

Okay, great.

Stash.

Um Jacob, was there a crosswalks already there?

I don't think so.

Um you can look at that picture, Jacob.

I I went down there to look for that.

Um the picture that you there's not if there was it's so faded out you can't see it.

Yeah.

But there's sidewalks.

There yeah, there are sidewalks there.

I know that.

Well, there's a sidewalk on either side of it.

I'm trying to figure out in this lights there, so I'm trying to figure out why wouldn't there be crosswalks there already?

Yeah, because it was the lights there.

Well, the town restrape that, Jacob.

Uh see it is pretty faded out.

We in the yeah, well, you could opt it municipal services because if they don't, I think we have required it on there was a conditional use permit on Key Waiden Drive, and that was one of the stipulations is to you know, ensure that there was a crosswalk.

But that's fine.

I think that could just be freshened up paint.

Yeah, and then if the other agreements over here, then they wouldn't need a crosswalk because it's no crosswalk.

Okay.

Yeah.

That one's just a sidewalk because you go from one business to the next.

Yeah.

One thing I didn't know to, and I'm not sure, I'm sure the applicant will know better, but these signs are restricted to Hanoush parking only.

So we would just, if they don't state it now, we would want those to be revised to say, you know, X, you know, 9 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

or whenever their hours are, uh, just so we can ensure that people utilize those spaces.

Okay.

Anything further from the board?

Great.

Right.

So the conditions are recorded.

Yep.

Uh recommended conditions of approval would be prior to occupancy submit staff approvals.

Uh reduce curb cut width to 22 feet and expand plan to median along Seed Street.

That was a carryover from the 23 approval.

Uh three, provide a certified as built site plan.

Four, submit lease agreement for 35 off-site parking spaces.

Five, submit guarantee for post-occupancy parking study to be submitted six to nine months post-occupancy and addressed if needed.

Six, construct all site improvements in accordance with the approved plan.

I also think it'd probably be good to reinforce the occupancy if the board sees fit and that the occupancy will be restricted to 225 patrons uh prior to 6 p.m.

But we didn't really discuss that.

So I'm happy to do that.

Uh eight, any proposed use this is under other eight, any proposed use that increases traffic generation requires further approval from the planning board.

Uh nine.

Is that right?

Nine uh employees shall park off site.

I think that's in your uh uh parking uh uh memo.

Uh no conditional use permit for parking on plan eleven applicant must operate business so that parking lot capacity is not exceeded twelve.

All representations made by the applicant or agents and all notes on the plan are incorporated as part of the approval.

Um six the condition construct all site improvements in accordance with the approved plan that improved that includes the previous um uh improvements that were not uh completed under the previous plan as well, right?

Yeah, so when they resubmitted this plan, it has those improvements.

So uh we'd anticipate that that find out house built will include everything it's been uh a couple of years, so it'd be great to to see that uh those things done.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah, Ms.

Navage.

Do we want to add the uh restriping of the and the changing of the signs?

I think it's a good idea if that board is amenable to it.

Um so that would be probably I'd probably put that in under uh eight part occupancy, uh restrict crosswalk and uh add uh jewelry store hours to signs in left hand.

This is two separate conditions at one.

I think one's fine.

Okay.

So we have 13.

Yes, 13.

Okay.

Mr.

Chairman, at this time I move to grant the conditional use permit for Mr.

Meisner's I'm sorry, for the applicant's letter.

Uh dated October 29, 2025, and further move to uh accept the site plan, approve the site plan for identity LLC.

But the 13 conditions, sorry.

Yeah, the motion second to grant the conditional use permit for the reduced parking and approve the identity LLC site plan with 13 conditions in order.

Any further discussion over that?

All in favor.

That's uh four, a unanimous four.

So good luck.

Who's the second on that?

Thank you.

Sure.

Could be me.

Thank you.

Bye.

So you're um I just have one item under public matters, I think.

So one mall road, uh, this is associated with the casino, which is now rebranded currently a Salem Casino.

They'd like to have some temporary construction trailers here.

They will probably be here for quite some time.

I think they project maybe through the spring of 2027.

Is that to do the floor work?

Yeah, so they they have to do substantial uh work interior to the unit because they have to reinforce the second story and kind of redo everything there.

Um so the um the idea would be that they would have the construction trailers in this area here, and then they'd have to fence this off.

So that would obviously make the that parking supply uh unavailable.

Uh I talked with the the uh construction company earlier today, and I'd asked about sequencing.

So I said, you know, are those only gonna be there during phase one?

Because at phase two it'll be an issue.

You already know they're short parking spaces.

So uh they'd be there on a temporary basis under phase one, and they'd have to be removed prior to phase two occupancy.

That was the way I discussed it with um with them today.

If if I'll have them submit something in write in as well to reiterate that, but if that were to be the case, is that something that the board is comfortable with?

They'll be there through phase one, and that's just the 18,000 square feet that is open now.

Right now, yeah.

Yeah, so they wouldn't be expanding uh you know the floor space or the gaming positions that's long pocket until those are taken out of the space.

Yeah.

I imagine that it's also some lay down space.

It's gotta be.

Yeah, I think so because a lot of steel probably a couple of trailers.

It's hard for me to make out exactly.

Yeah, it's gotta be the the two trailers and then also some lay down space.

Yeah.

Um, but you said that they would be using those trailers during phase one and that they would need to be out prior to phase two occupancy.

Yes, so we would want before they open the next phase, we would want them to be removed.

So I guess the logic would be that under the 18,000 square feet, could they not have those spaces available under phase one, and then that they'd have to be removed from the site prior to the opening of the next phase.

It always looks like there's plenty of parking when I drive by there.

Yeah.

But but then that would mean that it would need to they would need to remove their hope is to move the trailers by phase one occupancy.

Not phase two occupancy.

Because phase two occupancy means that they would be there throughout phase one and phase two.

Well, phase okay, well, phase one is open right now.

So it would be for we would issue the CO for the next phase of occupancy.

Gotcha.

And my discussion with them earlier was that they're hoping that at that point they'll be able to move the construction offices temporarily, you know, to a space inside.

What's the projected date for phase two occupancy?

Um I guess it must be spring of 27.

Uh, you know, because that's what he told me for the time frame for them to be there.

And then I said, well, are they gonna be there during phase two?

You know, when you're occupying phase two, and he said, No, no, we wouldn't relocate them prior to that stage.

So I can get him, I can ask for like a mem, you know, I'll ask for a memo to outline that they'll be removed prior to phase two occupancy.

So my assumption is that'd be spring of twenty-seven.

So I mean I know to us that there's usually plenty of parking there.

Christmas.

I didn't think it would be oh past Christmas.

Right.

So I I mean I can't I know this is what the owners of the casino want and the construction companies want.

What is assignment properties of whoever owns the mall wants?

What what are their comments on it?

I don't know.

But I think they should have a say.

Yeah.

They'll have to submit owner's authorization.

I'm trying to remember they they just submitted a building permit uh a few days, I think the end of last week.

So if they don't already have Simon's authorization, they would need to submit that.

If they have that, I I don't care.

Okay.

Right.

But if they don't have that, no, I have an issue.

Because now they're affecting but the other establishments in the mall.

Possibly.

But the so the reason why the casino is technically underparked is obviously based off of like the casino when it's totally done.

Right now there's not a ton of traffic with phase one, right?

Like I don't think there's a whole lot of shared lot though.

Right.

But there's really nothing else over in that area except for the closest thing is like what the food court, which is around the corner.

So I don't even during Christmas, I mean, I guess we'll see within the next coming few weeks, like how full that parking lot really is.

I mean, personally I don't see that as an issue because the biggest driving force of traffic would be that casino parking over there, and if the casino's not open.

Yeah.

And I mean, and I would assume whoever owns the mall property itself would have the same feeling.

They they would go like this too, but I don't know.

It's all different.

Yeah, I agree.

I mean, that's the only one I want to hear.

I agree with Jeff.

If we get authorization from Simon, then they're gonna be the ones who are the most affected by the parking.

That makes sense.

The board has spoken.

All right, so you're comfortable subject to owner's authorization and a letter that uh outlines the fact that they'll be removed prior to phase two occupancy.

Um aside from that, uh Mr.

Brewbaker asked me again to just highlight that right now.

We have a Salem commuter set commuter census survey open.

So uh it's on our website, uh pretty accessible, so you just click on it and it's gonna ask you a variety of questions.

Uh we've got some pretty good responses.

We'll share those with the board what we've received so far.

A lot of uh it's relative to parking, which is kind of interesting.

So I think you might be might be uh interested to learn what uh some of the responses have stated.

Um so these are some of the questions that it's it's asking.

Um primary mode of transportation, how long uh commute and you drive where you usually park.

Uh I think there was one in here, and I talked about you know, where do you uh do you ever find it difficult to find parking in Salem and and if so, you know, what locations?

So that might be interesting to the board to look at.

But uh I wanted to reiterate that.

I also wanted to acknowledge the fact that we do have uh call for alternates open as uh indicative of the uh the empty seats up there.

So if anybody's interested in participating on the planning board, we'd welcome you to submit an application for alternate.

Um and then I also just wanted to touch, I don't really have anything prepared right now, but I just wanted to check in with you about zoning amendments.

We're gonna meet again on December 9th, and then we're gonna break for the um for the holiday, and my hope is to uh start you know, January revisiting some of the zoning amendments.

Also want to have the RFQ done for the um for the uh uh comprehensive zoning update.

Um so those are kind of my two big goals, but uh for zoning amendments.

You knew that question was coming.

Yeah.

We're gonna meet again on December 9th and then we're gonna break for the um for the holiday and my hope is to uh start you know January revisiting some of the zoning amendments also want to have the RFQ done for the um for the uh uh comprehensive zoning update um so those are kind of my two big goals but uh for for zoning amendments you knew that question was coming yeah I know that um you know uh one thing that we kind of we noticed but we haven't moved forward with is the uh prohibition on cigar lounges proximate to residential properties so I imagine that's something the board wants to revisit yes um so we'll have that prepared for you um it's interesting is this application here abandoned one so um you know you it would I guess help prevent um you know cigar lounges that are proximate to to residential butters uh anything else I know we've talked about the the sign ordinance we've talked about um this Carlson if you want to I know that you have a couple that you could put me on the spot here now I'm forgetting that's okay yeah didn't you have dark skies dark skies yeah that was one uh we're gonna have to revisit or we're gonna have to draft um an amendment relative to residential and commercial districts uh that's a uh law that'll be effective July of 2026 so um we can do that as well um but I can take a closer look too I know uh there was just some recent guidance from I think the Office of Plan and Development about you know some modifications that other communities are making we can take a look at at those ones that we've kind of kicked around or EV charging stations so that we could do that as an administrative process.

We've also talked about um food trucks we could revisit that again uh the depot village advis uh depot village overlay district we talked about making that a mandatory district we could revisit that as well uh we'd want to make sure that we reach out to some uh some of the property owners in the depot and would kind of have maybe a work session bringing them to the table but I think we talked about that uh in the past um making it mandatory so that you have to come in through the depot rather than it be a voluntary overlay um can you give us some data on water yes you asked on uh it's plenty of water because this anchor says there's plenty of water for the record yeah um let it be known yeah so yeah how much water is available how much how much is used like what the recharge rate is of of the lakes or whatever uh you know um so just so we can have that for um data for making decisions okay future development absolutely all right I'll try to uh work on those and I'll definitely get the information about the the water use as well.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

I think that's about it.

I just again would acknowledge that the December 23rd meeting is not going to be held.

Uh great is that it's it motion adjourned second.

All is in favor another four unanimous unanimous