Peabody close to acquiring land

PEABODY – The city is well on its way to acquiring the site that was once set to become a housing development called Scouting Way.Mayor Michael Bonfanti and his Community Development team met with representatives from Eastman Gelatine Wednesday morning to finalize their plans with the transfer of a hefty check.For years, the local company has owned the 40 acres of land between Summit Street and Forest Street, but just recently came to realize there?s no longer a need for it. Rather than selling the land to a developer, Eastman Gelatine decided to offer the lot as non-developable land to Peabody for two installments of $275,000.?We are happy to work out this agreement,” said Ed Hurley, President of Eastman Gelatine. “This is just a continuation of a positive relationship (with the city).”?We found ourselves in a controversy we didn?t want,” said Bill Quinn, the company?s legal counsel, referring to the discontent over the original 16-unit housing development plan. He said that Bonfanti “turned those lemons into some nice lemonade.”Residents protested at City Hall in February, arguing that when they purchased their homes on surrounding streets, they were told that the land would never and could never be developed. They also expressed fears of flooding, sewerage backups, traffic and overcrowding – issues that they believe would result from the proposed Scouting Way subdivision.In effort to prevent such a negative impact on the neighborhood and maintain quality of life, Bonfanti and his Community Development staff decided to purchase the land and retain it for open space and passive recreational use only, keeping developers at bay and the natural watershed intact.The city purchased the land with the use of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds.