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Politics & Government

Senior Condo Project Runs Into Water Issues

Zoning Board of Appeals postpones hearing from complaining neighbors about the Villas at Vaughan Place.

 

Swampscott's first senior independent living condominium project, the Villas at Vaughan Place, got a compliment Wednesday night on its presentation of likely traffic issues for the project.

But it ran into opposition from members of the Zoning Board of Appeals who said they did not understand the proposed storm water drainage plans for the project.

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“That was the best presentation on traffic issues that I believe we have ever had,” ZBA Vice Chairman Daniel Doherty told traffic engineer Robert Woodland.

Woodland made a short presentation that projected there would be only four car trips by residents of the new condos during rush hour.

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Neither the board nor any of the neighbors were as happy with plans for handling storm water at the site.

Developer Ralph DiGiorgio with DiGiorgio & Messina defused some of the opposition to the concerns over potential flooding by quickly agreeing to pay for an independent engineer to review the storm water drainage plans.

DiGiorgio, a developer of condominium units on the North Shore, is proposing to build 16 one- and two-story condos for people over 55 years old. The project would be built on a 4.87-acre parcel of undeveloped land that is bordered by Archer Street and Vaughan Place.

ZBA member Andy Rose told the developer that the storm water plan “is gibberish to me.” To applause from the standing-room-only crowd who came to discuss the condo project, Rose proposed that the town hire an engineer to conduct a review of the plans and report back in “layman's language.”

“We need to have a technical guy on our side,” Rose said.

DiGiorgio said that hiring a peer review engineer was standard procedure in other Massachusetts towns and he would agree to pay for that service.

Neighbors Will Wait to Voice Concerns

The hearing was continued until June 20 to allow the Town Planner Peter Kane to hire an engineer and give the engineer time to review the plans and report back to the ZBA.

The ZBA did not allow but one opponent to speak, postponing the chance for other neighbors who are concerned about the project until the June meeting. Doherty, who chaired the hearing, said, “People will have a chance to be heard. But not tonight.”

At the end of the hearing, Patrick Burke, a neighbor who has led the organization of the community opposition, said the neighbors are content to wait until June to voice their concerns. Asked if he had confidence in the process, he said “No.”

The almost 5-acre site is currently approved for a sudivision of four lots.

DiGiorgio is proposing to be the town's first with the Villas at Vaughan Place, which would feature condomiums of 2,000 to 2,400 square feet. They would range in price from $479,000 to $549,000.

He said older owners prefer to have smaller homes with little or no maintanence.

“This is the way of the future. People like it. Smaller is better,” DiGiorgio said.

He is building other condominium projects in Danvers, Middleton and Rowley, but none are age restricted as the Vaughan Place project proposes to be.

His engineer, Rick Salvo with Engineering Alliance, said the site presents challenges with channeling water from the rocky site. “It sheds water,” he
said.

The project would flatten the site to reduce the runoff. It also proposes to create a 25,000 cubic yard basin to catch the water.

Salvo predicted that the storm water plan would reduce the runoff by 30 percent.


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