By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

The developer proposing a four-story, 132-unit building at the Paragon Boardwalk site told the planning board this week that unless its special permit is approved soon, the company may abandon the project or switch to an affordable housing project under Chapter 40B.

**CRUNCH TIME:** Residents crowded into the Hull High Exhibition room Wednesday as the planning board continued its hearing on the Paragon Dunes special permit application. The hearing continues on March 6. [Photo courtesy of Susan Vermilya]

The Hull High School Exhibition Room was packed on Wednesday night for the continuation of the hearing on the revised special permit for the Procopio Companies’ plans. The building would front onto Nantasket Avenue, with some units facing George Washington Boulevard. The biggest concern of some members of planning board, Design Review Board, and residents was the “wall effect” along the Boulevard, which some have called the “gateway” to town.

Click here for the project plans and the special permit application.

Michael Modoono, Procopio’s senior development manager, stressed the time crunch to get the project approved.

“If we don’t close on the property, someone else may or may not,” Modoono said. “If we don’t come to a vote, we will have to walk away or come to another alternative that gets built there, like 40B.”

Chapter 40B is a state law that allows developers to bypass most local zoning regulations in exchange for dedicating a percentage of the units as affordable.

“This is crunch time. We need to be very specific on what they can do to fix the wall or these people are going to walk,” said planning board member Harry Hibbard.

“I understand the time constraints, but we can’t put those ahead of the needs of the community,” said planning board Chair Meghan Reilly. “No promises were made regarding time. This getting built on your time frame is not our responsibility.”

Design Review Board Vice Chair Julia Parker said that “we have been specific about it for two and a half years, there are no view corridors.”

Procopio attorney Adam Brodsky said “significant effort has been made [to minimize the wall effect] with the third-floor setback, addition of balconies, and added details of the sloped roof.”

Planning board member Jeanne Paquin acknowledged the work, but said she does not think these changes are enough. since it is still a “contiguous building.”

“It is still a 350-foot wall, no matter how many balconies you put on it,” she said, adding that the design “need[s] to preserve the views and vistas by having something go through the building.”

Brodsky said the view corridor cannot be added to the project because “they need the same density to make the project viable.”

“We appreciate the work that has been done, but significant design and site plan issues still need to be addressed,” said Thomas Burns of the DRB. “I am still concerned with the length of the façade along George Washington Boulevard.”

The hearing on the special permit was continued until March 6.

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