Greenwood Condos Before ZBA Tonight

The 41 condominiums proposed for the site at 71 Greenwood Ave. go before the Zoning Board of Appeals tonight at the senior center.

The meeting starts at 7 pm but the Greenwood proposal is scheduled for a hearing at 8 pm.

Developer Groom Construction will present its plan and the zoning relief it thinks is needed for the project.

Items of relief include those for accessory buildings, including two three-car garages, and for the set-back of a parking lot, Pete Kane said.

The administrative site plan review for the project is already before the Planning Board and those talks will continue on Aug. 13. That plan looks at the project's impact on the neighborhood and community.

Last week, before the Planning Board, Groom Construction's land planner and architect said the new building will be much smaller than the old Middle School.

Architect Jim Velleco with Grazad Velleco of Marblehead described the four-story, 104,000-square-foot project as "more open to the sky" than the existing middle school building. "It will provide a good feeling," he said.

Neighbor Ellie Miller disagreed. "There are only 41 residents in the whole neighborhood. Another 41 units will destroy us," she said.

The new residential building will be 11 feet lower at its peak and three feet lower at its base than the school building, Velleco said.

Some neighbors were concerned that half of the parking spaces and the garage entrance to the other half of the 87 parking spaces were on the north side of the building, which abuts Greenwood Terrace. They wanted more trees and landscaping to protect their backyards from the noise and lights of the cars.

The Planning Board, after listening to more than an hour of debate on the project, continued the hearing until its meeting on August 13.