LYNNFIELD — Residents voted in favor of indefinitely postponing three controversial warrant articles during Lynnfield’s Town Meeting Saturday.
The meeting, held outside on the high school football field, opened with a standing ovation for Police Chief David Breen, who announced his retirement plans at Thursday’s Board of Selectmen meeting.
“I’ve had the most incredible fortune to work here in this town,” he told the selectmen. “It’s been a good ride and I completely enjoyed it and am grateful to the town for bringing me here 26 years ago.”
Breen served as chief for the last 10 years and logged 37 years in law enforcement.
Article 5, which proposed the town enact eminent domain over the historic Joseph Smith House; Article 8, a tree-protection bylaw; and Article 9, an open-space residential design bylaw, will be voted on at a later date by Lynnfield residents.
During an open-comment session for Article 5, Lynnfield Historical Commission chairman Kirk Mansfield said the reason behind postponing the article was partially due to a misunderstanding between the home’s owners, Virgil Lynnfield Properties LLC, and the town.
Virgil Lynnfield Properties applied in June for a permit to demolish the 170-year-old Lowell Street home, but the town enacted the demolition-delay bylaw to postpone the move for one year.
However, Mansfield stated the owners, in fact, “have intentions of preserving the house” — despite the application for demolition remaining open.
“Since the representative of Lynnfield Virgil Properties stated they would like to preserve the house, we are now going to take them up on that offer,” Mansfield said. “We are asking the owner to show good faith and attend our next Historical Commission meeting to discuss the options that are available to preserve this house perpetually.”
For Article 8, Planning Board chairman Brian Charville told residents he was requesting a vote to postpone to take time to quell the spread of misinformation about the article. He also made the request to give the town more time to refine the proposed bylaw, which would restrict people from cutting down trees along the perimeter of lots unless new trees are planted or a payment is made to the Lynnfield Tree Replacement Fund.
“The board and our staff have heard a number of concerns that have been expressed by the community in recent days, and that’s why we’re taking the step of indefinite postponement,” he said.
Charville assured residents the law would not apply to diseased or otherwise hazardous trees.
“Those can be addressed as you’ve always addressed them,” he said, adding that he hoped an improved tree protection bylaw would be considered at Town Meeting next spring.
Residents voted to indefinitely postpone Article 9, which seeks to amend zoning bylaws by adopting an Open-Space Residential Design (OSRD) bylaw.
A planning design that maximizes the amount of open space preserved in subdivisions without reducing the number of homes, OSRD is meant to provide an alternative for residential growth while protecting the vital features of open space.
Both sides were given 10 minutes to speak.
Charville spoke for supporters of the bylaw and used the proposed Sagamore Place development as an example.
“That property is right next to the Water District land and wells and borders conservation land. Wouldn’t it be better to preserve that part of the land?” he said. “Under the OSRD, half would be preserved and there would be a buffer zone between the wells and the homes. It’s just a smarter, open-space approach.”
“The OSRD was funded by the state to increase the number of units,” said Ken Peterson, who spoke on behalf of opponents. “Our concern is that the northernmost RD district is the only part of town that lacks piped-in water and fire hydrants. OSRD is unsafe for current residents in that area.”
Additional budget items passed by residents included Article 3, which proposed changing the title of the “Board of Selectmen” to the gender-neutral term “Select Board;” Article 4, which proposed the town extend its existing agreement with the Reading Municipal Light Department to July 9, 2040, and Article 7, which sought authorization for the sale of a parcel of town-owned property adjacent to Loui’s Pizza on Route1 for a minimum of $98,000 with restrictions forbidding the building of any structures.
Article 10, a proposal to renovate the existing war memorial on Town Common, was also postponed.
Anne Marie Tobin contributed to this story.
