Developers scale down Swampscott condo proposal

Four years after a controversial proposal to replace the abandoned church at 100 Burrill St. with affordable housing ended with the property in foreclosure, the property’s new owners are proposing a similar looking, but smaller-scale, market-rate condominium development for the site.”It’s a great location. It’s not too far from the beach, not too far from the train station; it could be for young professionals or empty-nesters,” said James L. Rudolph, a former zoning board chairman and former selectman who was the attorney for the previous property owner and now represents its current owners. “The developer wants to build something smaller and something the neighbors will like.”The controversy over developing the site began in January 2005, when developers proposed “a condominium with 12 units of mixed-income affordable housing” for the nearly quarter-acre site at the corner of Burrill Street and Rock Avenue, according to a decision issued by the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee, which examined the controversy.The project was proposed to be built under the state’s 40-B affordable housing law, which allows developers to bypass certain zoning and environmental restrictions if they provide affordable-housing units. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the developer’s comprehensive permit application and the developers appealed the decision to the state Housing Appeals Committee.On June 9, 2008, the Housing Appeals Committee issued its decision in favor of the developer and ordered the Zoning Board to issue a permit. The developer, however, had filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 2007 and the property was subsequently sold in a foreclosure sale, according to Rudolph. The decision quotes a brief filed by the Board which identifies local concerns about the project including “?the overwhelming? mass and density’ of the building, ?parking and traffic safety issues,’ and ?fire fighting safety issues.'”The application submitted for the new development seeks relief for exceeding lot coverage and open-space requirements, front yard set backs and the 2?-story height limitation but the blueprints do appear to address many of the concerns mentioned by the Zoning Board of Appeals.A comparison of the architectural drawings from the 2005 and the current proposal show that the building has been reduced from 3? to 2? stories (plus basement-level parking in both plans) and shrunk by over 3,000 square feet. The number of units has been reduced from 12 to 8 two-bedroom units. The first floor contains four units. The second floor has four units, with a multi-purpose room and master suite extending into the third floor. The units range from 1,198 to 2,328 square feet. Pitman and Wardley Architects of Salem drew the plans for both proposals and the Colonial-Revival proposed facades look similar.Rudolph said that he hoped the proposal’s reduced size would meet the neighbors’ approval. He added that he planned to meet with the property’s abutting landowners before the Zoning Board of Appeals meets to discuss the proposal at the end of the month.”I would like to get this approved immediately and start construction,” Rudolph said. “I think it’s good for the town, it’s going to provide a tax base that it doesn’t have for the property currently.”