PEABODY — Ted Smith, an architect working in Lynn, has withdrawn his application for the proposed construction of Westford Ave in Peabody, which would have led to a new housing development in Lynn. His attorney, David Ankeles, submitted the request to the Peabody Planning Board to withdraw it on Dec. 21.
“I apologize. It was a mistake on my part to think that access to four or five moderately priced homes would not anger people to the point it has. In 53 years of practice before various Boards in the City of Peabody I have never heard or been subjected to outbursts like those before your Board at prior meetings. I’m sorry you were,” Ankeles wrote in the request.
In the request, he wrote that he has had “polite” conversations with abutters in which he “promised to seek alternatives to Westford Avenue.” In an interview, Ankeles said Smith will continue to look for these alternatives as they promised.
“My client will continue to do so but will not continue with his present application,” Ankeles wrote in the request.
George Guanci, who has been part of the “No To The Road!” campaign against Westford Ave, said he wanted to emphasize that residents of Peabody opposed only the road, not the housing development.
“It would have been paid for by the residents of Peabody and would have served only the residents of a Lynn development. It would have added traffic to our neighborhood and would have caused disruption to the neighborhood,” Guanci wrote in an email interview.
There are a few reasons why he believes the request was withdrawn, he wrote.
“I believe that we successfully presented alternate potential roads that exist in Lynn to the proposed development,” Guanci wrote.
Westford Ave is a paper road: a road that appears on maps but has not been constructed. The alternatives the campaigners presented were two other paper roads in Lynn that the developer could construct.
“We urged that the Peabody Planning Board deny the developer’s application and that he should petition Lynn to construct those two paper roads in Lynn,” Guanci wrote. “We also pointed out that the developer should explore with the City of Lynn the extension of Verona Street, Commonwealth Avenue and Nancy Road.”
Another reason he believes it was withdrawn was the proposed development of the road would be near Spring Pond, which is Peabody’s water supply.
“Peabody is concerned about further development in the Spring Pond area and the potential loss of open space,” Guanci wrote.
If the request had been approved for the construction of Westford Ave, the opponents would have taken legal action. This is another possible reason the request was withdrawn, he wrote.
The benefit of this process has been seeing the neighborhood grow closer, he wrote.
“People who didn’t know each other now know one another. We have developed friendships that didn’t exist. We have truly become a neighborhood,” Guanci wrote.
