SWAMPSCOTT — Neighbors and concerned residents voiced their opposition to a proposed affordable housing development at the town’s Finance Committee meeting Monday night.
The Elm Place project, proposed by WinnDevelopment, a branch of WinnCompanies, would create 128 units of housing, 64 percent of which would be income-restricted.
“It’s a very large, five-story building that’s going to have a significant impact not only on this part of town, but all of Swampscott,” said Joel Leiby, a resident of Pitman Road, across the street from the proposed development. “Our main concern is this is an abuse of the 40B zoning, and there isn’t enough time to assess the financial implications.”
The development is being proposed under the state’s Chapter 40B law, which makes it easier for developers to build affordable housing.
Leiby, along with his wife, Alison, started an organization called Concerned Citizens Against Elm Place and have collected close to 900 signatures on a petition opposing the project.
Anne Driscoll, another Swampscott resident, chairs Swampscott Equity Association (SEA), another organization formed last week to speak against the Elm Place development.
“We are not opposed to affordable housing,” Driscoll said in an interview before the Finance Committee meeting. “What we are for is affordable housing that makes sense in terms of size and scale and density and impact.”
SEA is asking the town’s Select Board to request an independent study of the project’s potential impacts on the town, including on traffic, finances, infrastructure, the environment and the school district (WinnDevelopment has already conducted and submitted a traffic study, which indicated that the development would not have a significant impact on traffic patterns in the area). Gerry Perry, another resident who spoke at the meeting, estimated that the development could add between 75 and 115 students to the school system.
Perry explained that a municipal impact assessment conducted by an independent party would give residents a better understanding of how development changes their neighborhood, and suggested that the town require one for both this project and all future development.
“I’ve been an opponent of overdevelopment in the town of Swampscott. I have seriously grave concerns about it, and this project, in my view, is way over the edge,” Perry said. “The time has come that the town needs to be better informed on how these projects are going to impact the community.”
Peter Spellios, chairman of the Select Board, explained to the Finance Committee that while the board’s only role in the 40B process is to make a recommendation to the state as to whether to grant a permit to the developers, the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals has more power to ask for changes to the project.
“If the zoning board turns down a 40B application, the statistics show an overwhelming number of those turned down are overturned by a court, but that takes a lot of time,” Spellios said. “Oftentimes, developers roll up their sleeves and in good faith engage in compromise and make modifications to projects in hopes it obtains them a favorable vote by the ZBA.”
The Select Board will discuss the proposed development at their Wednesday night meeting.
WinnDevelopment did not respond to request for comment.
Trea Lavery can be reached at itemlive.com.
