Development is a contentious subject in Peabody and City Councilor Anne Manning-Martin has been the loudest voice questioning citywide development policy by calling public access to development project discussions insufficient — until now.
Ward 4 City Council candidate Julie Daigle has pledged, in a campaign advertisement, to hold developers more accountable and protect the quality of life of city residents.
“I believe in responsible development that benefits all of us, not just the developer,” Daigle states in the advertisement.
Her words echo the typical municipal reformer’s election campaign pledge. But it’s fair to say Daigle walks her talk. A lifelong Peabody resident, she is the general manager at Mills58 on Pulaski Street. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce.
Daigle worked for three Peabody mayors over the span of her 20-year career in public service. She spent a little more than five-and-a-half years working in the Community Development and Planning office.
Her experience gives Daigle a platform for commenting on citywide concerns about Peabody development.
In the 90-second advertisement, Daigle discusses the Kings Residences project slated for 15 King St., the former site of the J.B. Thomas Hospital and Cura Healthcare facility.
Daigle said the Kings Residences project calls for a 133-unit condominium complex consisting of three five-story buildings nearly 50 feet high on just three acres of land in what is primarily a residential neighborhood.
“Unfortunately, the housing proposal for King Street is not responsible and does not represent the best interests of either our neighborhood or our city as a whole,” she added.
Kings Residences is one of several 40B projects that have either been approved or proposed in Peabody. As projects developed to meet state affordable housing objectives, 40B projects received streamlined local approval.
Several other proposed developments enjoy so-called “40B-friendly” status, meaning they have support from the City. They include a 60-unit project on Dearborn Road behind Sonic Restaurant and one off Farm Avenue.
But other developments, including ones on Oak Street, Endicott Street and Wallis Street, have been proposed and a proposed 220-unit apartment complex on a 7.7-acre parcel of land off Winona and Newbury streets remains under scrutiny.
In April, at a standing-room-only community meeting organized by Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw, several residents expressed their strong objections to the proposal.
Saslaw and other councilors have done their due diligence by holding ward meetings on development projects. But councilors often view projects proposed in other parts of the city or downtown with a “not-my-problem” perspective.
It is Manning-Martin who has spoken the loudest about giving Peabody residents public forums unfettered by Zoom to air their objections to big development. It just may be Daigle who sets the tone in the council race for candidates to talk about the implications development projects have on neighborhoods and the city as a whole.
