Peabody board meet nearly a brawl

PEABODY – All that was missing from Thursday night’s Industrial and Community Development meeting were boxing gloves and a ring.Councilor Edward Bettencourt had to get up out of his seat not once, but twice, to break up some very heated arguments between councilors over the proposed rezoning plans that would affect Peabody’s downtown.Ward 2 Councilor Arthur Athas was involved in both showdowns. He faced Ward 4 Councilor Barry Osborne in Round 1 and Ward 5 Councilor David Gamache in Round 2.Temperatures and blood pressures started to rise when Gamache took to the floor with his views on the controversial zoning changes. Having not attended Tuesday night’s meeting, he had a lot to get off his chest, particularly regarding the public’s reaction.”We are elected to do what’s better for the city as a whole,” Gamache said, noting that not everyone will be pleased by the council’s decisions. “That the community is going against (the proposed plan) before seeing it is absurd.”His comments stirred up quite the reaction in audience members who shook their heads in disagreement. Gamache was on a roll, but quick to call out those members of the audience.”Your concerns are based on the unknown,” he shouted to the audience. “Commercial businesses are not going to come here (downtown). They didn’t come here in the ’70s, and they’re not going to come here now.”Gamache went on to say that the city of Peabody is lucky if the businesses “don’t lock their doors and leave” because there’s “nothing that sustains” them. He favors the proposal, which would allow for limited residential development.”Somehow we have to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the neighborhood, but better as a whole,” Gamache said, adding that the downtown will fail if no changes are made “as it has for the last 30 years.”Osborne, who, like Gamache and the rest of the council, has been against high-rise residential development in downtown Peabody, feels that eliminating the chance for any sort of residential development would do more harm than good. By removing the possibility of any residential development, he said the downtown would be giving up the chance for more culture through artist lofts and the like.”Residents have been told to fear the worst,” Osborne said, referring to the memos previously handed out by Athas and Ward 3 Councilor Rico Mello. “Let’s be reasonable. Let’s, as a council, make decisions of what’s built with our visions of downtown.”Athas shot back, telling Osborne and Gamache that they simply don’t understand what it’s like in the downtown because they don’t live there.”I’m looking for empathy,” said Athas, stating the population and crime issues faced in Ward 2. He said that if they rezone the area to be strictly residential, “it’ll never go back to commercial use.”Osborne, who’s generally soft spoken at meetings, had enough. He and Athas began sharing some unkind words from their seats, causing Gamache, stuck in the middle, to have to move back from the line of fire.Bettencourt was forced to call a recess after repeatedly asking the councilors to calm down and resume an orderly discussion. When that didn’t do the trick, he walked over and calmed them down himself.Gamache followed with a standing, face-to-face, match against Athas. Gamache shouted that he’s lived in Peabody for 47 years, so “don’t tell me I don’t care about the downtown.”Bettencourt pulled Gamache away and off to the side to cool off. The public then had their turn with him, voicing their disagreements with Gamache.The meeting resumed shortly after and all parties seemed to be friendly with one another.Needless to say, no votes were cast.