PEABODY — With defeat at the Zoning Board of Appeals becoming a near certainty Monday night, the developer behind a hotly debated 128-unit retirement community on Route 1 withdrew the proposal after more than an hour of discussion before the board.
The proposed development, located at a 4.39-acre parcel at 0 Newbury St., would have seen 128 units of 55-and-older age-restricted housing constructed at the site, itself essentially adjacent to a 180-unit apartment complex proposed under Chapter 40B. The developer, Gabelry Development, a subsidiary of United Group of Companies, had trimmed its initial proposal of 146 units down to 128 after feedback from both the board and the community indicated strong concerns about the size and density of the project.
And, those factors ultimately proved to be the project’s downfall.
ZBA Chair Frances Bisazza-Gallugi said the purpose of the board would be called into question should the project win approval.
“At the end of the day, the Zoning Board has an obligation to take a look at what is proposed and what is being asked for,” she said. “If this were to pass, the integrity of the board is not here. We have not approved buildings for less.”
Attorney John Keilty, who represented the developer, explained that the company was seeking four variances for the project, chief among them clearance to build the Continuing Care Retirement Community, or CCRC, on the 4.39-acre parcel rather than 25 acres, as required by the city’s zoning bylaws. The 128-unit proposal would have seen a density of 29 units per acre, Keilty told the board in lengthy remarks at the start of the meeting.
Keilty acknowledged the concern of residents of Huntington Wood, a condo community located less than a mile from the proposed site, and board members, saying the developer had taken those concerns into account when trimming the proposal down to its 128-unit size.
And, he said, should the proposal have been allowed, it would have provided senior housing in a city with an aging population.
“We are opening up new housing opportunities in Peabody,” Keilty said, suggesting that seniors who would move into the new community would free up single-family homes in the city.
Keilty also acknowledged the role the ZBA has played in addressing the housing crisis in the city and the state by approving more than 800 units of apartments under Chapter 40B, which allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations in communities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is considered affordable.
Jeff Smetana, executive vice president of development at The United Group of Companies, also spoke to the board, emphasizing that it was the developer’s belief that approval of the proposal represnted smart growth development.
“We feel this project and this development is what smart growth development is all about,” he said, adding that by constructing the retirement community adjacent to the 40B, the city could preserve open space elsewhere by containing development to areas that had already been developed, like Route 1.
Keilty, in a letter submitted to the board, likened the density of the proposal to that of several other developments in the city, noting that The Penelope House, for example, spreads 48 units over just two acres; the Peabody House has 140 units over 1.6 acres; and the Fairweather Apartments are made up of 88 units on less than an acre, according to Keilty.
“It would seem … that this Board of Appeals has never looked at a density in this fashion or given a number that would result in doubling of the recommended density,” he said during a previous public hearing, adding there are “many instances here in the city where we’ve exceeded the density we’re proposing.”
But, Gallugi found his argument unconvincing.
Gallugi, citing a number of factors including Chapter 40B, said those properties were not analogous to the developer’s proposal.
ZBA member Barry Osborne noted that the board’s role is to enforce the city’s zoning regulations — not set them — and suggested the City Council amend the bylaw if the city felt it too stringent.
Osborne, too, was hung up on the size.
“We anguish over feet, sometimes inches, not five times the area somebody is required to have,” he said. You “want to put a building on 4 acres, where 25 is required, that really insults the integrity of this board.”
“All of a sudden, when you include [the] 40B it begins to look like putting two pounds of garbage in that one-pound bag,” Osborne added.
Michael Uccellini, UGC’s president and CEO, made a last-ditch effort to get the board to reconsider its position, urging members to consider the need for senior housing.
With the board moving to close the public hearing, Gallugi told the audience that public comment was being shut off because “we’re beating a dead horse.”
It was at that point that Keilty came forward to request the withdrawal, which the board granted.
Gallugi then told the crowd, “this is not happening, this is not being built,” triggering a round of applause.
