Antics at Zoning Board meeting anger Swampscott residents

SWAMPSCOTT – Residents of Archer Road, Eureka Avenue and Jesse Street became frustrated with members of Zoning Board of Appeals when they were unable to speak for over an hour during a discussion of a possible Archer Road Development.The residents were concerned that their frequently flooded neighborhood streets would be under even more water if land was leveled for construction of a 16-unit living facility for residents aged 55 and older. The residents were asked to wait until after presentations by Attorney Ken Shutzer and independent environmental engineers Dominic Rinaldi and Richard Salvo to explain the leveling design to board members that Rinaldi said would “balance the site as much as possible,” and then again while Attorney Arthur Palleschi countered with his argument.When residents finally were able to share their concerns, they felt they were ignored by board members. “We have all been waiting to speak, and people up there have been looking at notes and laughing like we are nothing,” said Deborah Adams of Jesse Street. “I think maybe you should pay attention. This is not a joke to us.” The other residents responded in applause.Residents felt even more disrespected when Shutzer, representing petitioner Ralph DiGiorgio of DiGiorgio and Messina, passed out information booklets to board members that they were not able to see. When several called out to Shutzer as to why there were no booklets available for them, Shutzer responded, “No, I didn?t bring enough for everyone. There are copies available at Town Hall.”Palleschi, representing Archer Road neighbors Robert and Maura Dandreo, called Shutzer?s response “disrespectful” and “a flip answer,” and said it was “a little disconcerting to have documents given to me that I have never seen before.” Palleschi then cited problems with Shutzer?s traffic study.The residents were given until 10 p.m. to point out problems with flooding issues, when board member Peter Spellios said to Shutzer, “I think you have to look at your graphic analysis.” Spellios added to Shutzer that he needed to listen to Palleschi?s critiques of the traffic study.When Shutzer began to argue that he had brought engineers to talk about the graphic analysis, Spellios said, “You will tell us next month when you are back in full force.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].