Middle School Condo Project Delayed, Diverted

The neighbors who oppose a plan to redevelop the former Swampscott Middle School into 41 condominiums bought themselves at least a month's delay Monday night. And their attorney, Kenneth Shutzer, believes they may have gotten a lot more.

The Planning Board met to consider a proposal by Groom Construction Co. to replace the former school on .

The school closed five years ago. Along with other vacant, town-owned properties, the town offered the school for sale. Last fall, the Board of Selectmen accepted Groom's $625,000 proposal to raze the school and build the condominiums on one of the town's tallest hills overlooking the ocean.

Attorney William DiMento, who represents Groom, showed up with his client, Tom Groom, his architect and engineer ready to "begin the process," he said.

But Shutzer stepped in to argue successfully that the Planning Board had advertised the meeting incorrectly under the town's laws governing planned development districts, such as the former middle school. Instead of hearing the arguments and making a recommendation to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Shutzer argued that the Planning Board has the authority to rule on approval of Groom's plans. The ZBA would also have a role in deciding other issues like proposed above-ground garages and landscape buffering between neighbors' properties and the school.

"I think the application is flawed, and anything you do in the hearing is, therefore, flawed too," Shutzer said.

Readvertise the Hearing

To the frustration of DiMento and his client, Groom, Shutzer advised the Planning Board that it needed to postpone the hearing and readvertise the hearing for next month. Planning Board members were surprised when they read the law that Shutzer referred them to, but concluded after a few minutes of debate that he was right. They said they would readvertise the public hearing for the July meeting. The ZBA is also scheduled to meet on the proposal in July. 

It was more than a month's delay, however, that Shutzer was after. He said after the meeting that he believes the Planning Board “will be more sensitive” to the concerns of the neighbors about adding 41 new condominiums on the site.

Under the new law, the ZBA has most of the power over virtually all development projects. The Planning Board's role has been reduced to issuing an opinion, which the ZBA is not required to accept.

Groom, after the meeting, said the only thing Shutzer accomplished was to increase the legal fees on the project. 

The legal issues were very much on the minds of Planning Board members. Board member Jeffrey Blonder said he feels certain that "whatever happens we're going to be sued anyway."