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Good news neighbors.
The ZBA has unanimously voted a partial denial of the Taylor cove 40B project.
The project is attempting to use an entire parcel (called parcel ‘A’), which is also part of the Charlotte Circle subdivision. The denial involves a large portion of the Taylor cove project. I did not bring a camera for pictures of the disputed areas. If anyone has access to these visual aides, I will post them here, so those who wish to listen to the hearing can visualize the arguments. (I will annotate any images).
The ZBA was fair and objective on the concerns of both parties. The Andover town counsel provided detailed and relevant testimony on prior cases.
Full mp3 audio of the meeting. This is nearly 3hours and is downsampled to 42MB, suitable for podcast:
A full quality version is available at 166MB size. If you need this, let me know.
Mike R.
Todd Wacome, through his attorney’s office, Johnson and Borenstein, has sent an offer letter specifically to abutters, to have a second informal meeting. Seating limited to 15.
Wednesday November 5, 2008 6:30PM
Johson & Borenstein Office
12 Chestnut Street, Andover MA map
Tel: 978-475-4488
Fax:978-475-6703
don@jbllclaw.com
Click to embiggen
Second Informal Meeting Offer from J&B and Wacombe
H.T. To Fyj and Bethany Bray of the Andover Townsman:
The originally schedule October 21st continued public hearing on the 40B application ‘Taylor Cove Condominiums’ has been rescheduled to Tuesday, December 9th at 7 p.m. in The Hall, 2nd floor, Memorial Hall Library, Elm Square, Andover.
Todd Wacome, through his attorney’s office, Johnson and Borenstein, has offered to have an informal meeting. They also welcome phone or e-mail
Thursday, October 2, 2008 7:00PM
Old Town Hall
20 Main Street, Andover MA
Tel: 978-475-4488
Fax:978-475-6703
don@jbllclaw.com
Click to embiggen
Wacome Meeting Invitation to neighbors and abutters
This summary was compiled by Kerry O’Kelley.
Next Steps
September
• The developer will revise their previous traffic studies and provide funding for the town to hire an engineer for peer review
• The developer will host an informal meeting with neighbors to discuss concerns and try to reach a compromise
October
• Next Meeting Tuesday, October 21, 2008 7:00pm. Location TBD. Agenda will be primarily the traffic issue.
• TBD – Meeting with the School business manager concerning impact on schools.
Comments
This looks to be a long process but that will work in our favor; there are other potential 40B projects that may be more appealing to the town once they become official proposals.
There are a number of ways we can come at this proposal but it will take a bit of work to line up our ducks.
The ZBA Chair strongly recommended that as a group we think about what would be acceptable to us and to try to negotiate with the developer.
Summary
The meeting was well attended by over 30 people from our neighborhood, Island Way, Charlotte Drive, River Street, and Hillcrest Road. The general consensus was this project was too large for this area.
The developer was represented by Dan Bornstein, of the Johnson and Bornstein law firm, and Bill McCloud of Andover Consultants (Engineer).
The developer gave a brief presentation stressing the following benefits:
• The project is beneficial since it is an “in-fill” project rather than an expansion on the boundaries of the town.
• They are planning on making it an energy efficient development and may obtain LEEDS certification.
• It is one way to support the new development at Lowell Junction by providing denser housing close by.
• They would provide 4 acres of open space for the community including parking spaces and a trail head accessing the marsh behind Laconia and Messinia Drive and connecting through to Woburn Street. The trail would exit on Island Way.
• It would help meet the town’s Affordable housing quota.
• The plan has already been approved by ConsComm via the prior Victoria Place proposal (subject to debate)
At that point, the Chairman of the board tried to generalize and prioritize the neighbors’ concerns. Several existing issues were raised as well as many legal issues. I’ve captured the key points below in no particular order.
• Many abutters (property within 300 ft of the proposed work) were not notified however, if the fault lies with the info provided by the town, we have no recourse.
• Traffic Study must be revised and include vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
• Issue: Prior restraints on the land from previous applications or existing subdivision constraints.
• Issue: is application allowed if final resolution of Victoria Place not concluded?
• Although a ruling in Woburn allowed the ZBA to require changes in the density of 40B projects, those changes can be no more than 5% of proposed density.
• 40B laws restrict the ZBA ability to request changes if it will make the project “uneconomic” for the developer
• The town will hire a Pro Forma consultant to evaluate the economics at some point in the process
• Suggests getting a restriction for passive recreation for any proposed trail to eliminate ATV and motorcycle traffic on trail.
• Issue: this disposition of the 21E Hazardous Waste plan for this site. This is particularly of interest since they are planning on moving 30,000 yards of fill from the site to a site further down River Street, the wormwood property.
• Health Issue –Does permanent displacement of deer pose a neighbor health issue due to ticks and a hazard to our roadways
• Health Issue – will the retaining pond be stagnant water which is a mosquito borne disease health issue
• Wildlife issue – are there any endangered species in this area or vernal pools?
• School overcrowding/ town expenses – the ZBA has no authority to include this in their decision process unless there is some legal basis to do so. The ZBA is limited to including the local impact of the project not the town wide impact.
• Conservation – does the existing order of conditions still apply or are the changes too extensive?
• Are there other 40B proposals pending which may fill our quota that would be better for the town?
• Another issue to add under economics or legal is the issue of hardship on neighbors due to a drop in housing values because of the development.
If you wish to listen to the full meeting audio:
UPDATE:
Full mp3 audio of the meeting:
taylorcove_4-sept-20081.mp3 A full quality version is available at 98MB size. If you need this, let me know.
A sample letter to the ZBA submitted by Kerry O’Kelly. This letter gives a good, detailed synopsis of the concerns of the neighborhood.
board-of-appeals-sep-05-08.doc
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
September 4, 2008
7:00 PM
The Hall, 2nd Floor, Memorial Hall Library
Elm Square, Andover
AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Filing deadline closed at 1 p.m. on August 11, 2008
*Filing deadline for Oct. 2nd has changed to Sept. 9th at 1 p.m.*
Approval of Minutes
New Public Hearings & Deliberations
7:00 3805 – 243 Highland Rd – Savord
3806 – 106 Main St – Helman
3809 – 119 Chandler Rd – Cingular
7:15 3807 – 44 Maple Ave – Maple Ave Condo Assoc.
7:30 3808 – 21 Candlewood Dr – Yu
8:00 3803 – O River St, 86 River St, 15R Charlotte Dr – Taylor Cove
Deliberation is also posted for Sat., September 6, 2008 at 9 a.m. in Memorial Hall Library, Elm Square
*This list does not indicate the exact order in which the Board will hear the cases.
If you can’t attend the hearing, you can put your concerns in writing and send it to Andover Zoning Board of Appeals, Town Offices, 36 Bartlet Street, Andover MA 01810. You can also send a letter to zoning@andoverma.gov. Barbara Burke is the ZBA administrator. She can be reached at 978-623-8315. The project file (including plan) is available for review Mon-Fri (except holidays, of course) from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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