Marblehead office plan gains OK

MARBLEHEAD – At the end of another marathon 2?-hour meeting, the Planning Board on Tuesday approved the Warwick Place Realty Trust plan for a three-story commercial and office building at 117-129 Pleasant St.The project will return to the Zoning Board of Appeals April 26 for a special permit. Appeals Board members delayed their vote for a look at the Warwick?s traffic and drainage studies. The Warwick also needs permission from selectmen for a traffic light upgrade at Pleasant and School streets, from a pedestrian light to a full traffic light.The new building will preserve the Warwick Theater façade and sign, but so far there are no plans for a new movie theater.The plan required four favorable votes for approval. On March 8 Chairman Philip Helmes and members Kurt James and Karl Johnson voted in favor of the plan presented that evening, but Edward Nilsson and James Bishop balked. Bishop was not present Tuesday evening but Nilsson joined in approving the revised plans.Architect Kenneth Kao made the Warwick presentation.Developer Erik Van Otterloo will combine the proposed Warwick parking lot with a smaller parking lot owned by the Spirit of ?76 Bookstore to guarantee access to parking for both buildings, with a single parking lot entrance on School Street.Kao also redesigned the third floor of the Warwick building with a setback that gives the building less “massiveness,” in response to a March 8 objection from Planning Board member Nilsson.Kao?s new shadow study, reprogrammed at Nilsson?s request, indicated that the building does cast a shadow on Pleasant Street during the summer, but not on the buildings across the street. Nilsson objected to a former study Kao presented March 8, which showed hardly any shadow on Pleasant Street year-round.