The Town of Needham Planning Board voted unanimously Oct. 7 to close the public hearing on a continuance for the 100 West Street project — a proposed three-story, 189-unit residential development across from Trader Joe’s — subject to final engineering comments from the Department of Public Works.

The applicant team, led by counsel Tim Sullivan of Goulston & Storrs and developer Greystar, summarized revisions they say respond to board and public concerns. Changes shown in updated drawings included a plan to provide 189 on-site parking spaces (a 1:1 parking ratio), removal of interior parking islands to meet that capacity, a one-foot easement to widen sidewalks for a bike lane, drainage revisions and commitments on construction-period rodent mitigation and delivery routing.

The hearing drew substantial public comment about parking spillover onto neighborhood streets, deliveries, rodent mitigation during construction and pedestrian safety at the MBTA crossing. The board and the applicant repeatedly emphasized that final engineering review by DPW and a traffic-improvement plan remain to be completed and incorporated into final permit conditions.

At the meeting, the applicant described parking and guest-management procedures it says will limit neighborhood impacts. The development team said parking demand typically operates at 80–90% utilization in their comparable properties, leaving a projected overnight capacity of about 174 resident/staff spaces and an estimated 15 surplus spaces, with an informal ability to accommodate guest parking. The team said guest parking requests at comparable properties typically run 3–5 requests a day and that the leasing office will require guest registration.

Developers also said they will route deliveries to a dedicated loading area at the rear of the building and install signage to direct vendors there. On sidewalks and bike lanes, the applicant said Greystar will provide a one-foot easement and install an expanded sidewalk segment along Highland Avenue to accommodate a future bike lane, coordinated with the town’s TIP and DPW design work.

On construction controls, the applicant said it will engage a licensed pest-control subcontractor for bait-box maintenance and weekly inspections, require dedicated on-site eating areas for subcontractors, maintain rodent-resistant dumpsters and implement daily site cleaning. The team also said building trash and recycling will be handled internally (trash chute and internal collection area) rather than with open exterior dumpsters at the building’s front.

Planning staff and board members pressed applicants on several points: the 0.8–0.9 utilization assumption for transit-oriented sites, whether employees might park off-site during the day to reduce daytime demand, the visual impact of headlights on units backing up to parking, and exact routing for deliveries to avoid neighborhood cut-throughs. Several residents asked for clearer, enforceable measures to prevent overnight street parking and to limit deliveries to the rear loading zone.

The board agreed to close the public hearing “subject to receipt of subsequent comments from the engineering department” and to issue a draft decision that will incorporate DPW’s final comments before building permit issuance. The board scheduled a vote on a decision at its first meeting in November.

The applicant confirmed it will continue coordination with DPW on drainage, sewer connections (noted as being changed to sewer manholes for maintenance), quiet-zone and signal issues near the MBTA right of way, and final traffic-improvement designs prior to building permit.