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January 26, 2010

Danvers OKs vision for waterfront

Ban on texting while driving nixed, affordable-housing articles favored

By Ethan Forman

DANVERS — Industrial sections of Danversport may someday host a mix of small businesses, restaurants and homes in a Pickering Wharf-like setting in what many call the gateway to Danvers.

That's because Special Town Meeting last night created a waterfront village district that Planning Board, consultants and residents have been working on for more than three years. The areas sit on both sides of Water Street (Route 35) and Liberty Street.

One of the areas rezoned last night includes the now-vacant site of the ink and paint factory on the east side of Water Street that exploded on Nov. 22, 2006. The new waterfront village district that was approved last night would preclude industrial users from relocating on that parcel, which has been vacant since the blast that tore through the neighborhood.

"I'm very surprised and happy," Planning Board Chairwoman Kristine Cheetham said about the results of last night's meeting. She was kept busy walking to and from her seat most of the night to give the Planning Board's recommendations. "I'm happy for the people in the port. They've wanted this for a very long time."

Town Meeting also rezoned much of the land on the west side of Water Street by creating a new Danversport industrial area.

The move adds research and development and trade shops to the area, while future fuel storage, repair, service stations and motor vehicle dealers were removed from the mix.

Present industrial users like Eastern Propane are grandfathered. Building heights were also reduced from 55 feet to 42 feet, with heights further reduced to 35 feet within 50 feet of homes.

"I'm ecstatic," said Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Sandy Lane, who has been on the forefront of rezoning in the port area for several years. "I'm happy with the way it turned out."

"This took three years of work. I'm speaking with a heavy heart. We need something like this," said Precinct 3 Town Meeting Member Andrea Daley. She and Selectman Keith Lucy set the tone for last night's meeting on port zoning by urging members to take an all-or-nothing approach to avoid creating more of a hodgepodge in the port area.

Daley said the new zoning would lessen instances of industries being mixed with homes. She noted that infrastructure on Bates and Riverside streets damaged from the shock wave of the chemical-plant blast was still being repaired.

After she spoke, Town Meeting voted on Article 13 to create the waterfront village district, which allows retail, repair, restaurant and office on the ground floors, and provides guidelines for shapes of buildings, landscaping and signs, among other things.

Article 18, which changed industrial sections on both sides of Water Street in the vicinity of the Crane River into waterfront village districts barely passed with two-thirds vote, 74-31, despite opposition from Harbor Street resident Peter Swift and others who said the dense neighborhood did not need more traffic.

The Planning Board did not get everything it wanted.

Not everyone liked the idea of having a Pickering Wharf nearby on three lots zoned for residences in the Crane River area. These lots do not contain homes, but industrial users, but officials and residents said they did not want to change residential zoning to a zone that may include commercial users in the future. Town Meeting agreed to taking no action on those three lots.

The Finance Committee also recommended a stretch of industrial land along Harbor Street, which also contains the town's Pope's Landing boat ramp, parking lot and harbormaster's office, be excluded from a change to waterfront village.

"I'm begging your support on this," Daley said, again speaking out for the changes on 34 acres on the west side of Water Street into the new Danversport industrial zone.

Before the vote on the final article, Town Meeting member Bill Nicholson then thanked the Planning Board for their work, and the meeting applauded the board.

"They haven't had a raise in years," Nicholson joked.

Other articles

Town Meeting also voted for the sale of a single-family home on 24 Cherry St. for $65,000 to the Danvers Housing Authority to create affordable housing. The town wound up with the home after the former owner left Danvers and then failed to pay taxes. The meeting voted for the move despite some opposition from Town Meeting member Alan Vervaeke, a resident of Cherry Street, who preferred the home be sold at auction. Others like Lucy failed to persuade Town Meeting to sell the home to the Housing Authority for a buck, as it had done years ago when it sold three surplus schools, which have been turned into affordable housing.

Town Meeting also rejected Article 4 to ban texting while driving, with Lucy saying police can already pull over motorists for driving erratically. Patrolman and Town Meeting member Dana Michael Hagan said: "I'm not sure it's enforceable."

A measure to create more multifamily affordable housing in Article 3 sailed through without a peep.

After Town Meeting took a breather around 9 p.m., it gave a standing ovation to outgoing fire Chief James Tutko after Moderator Patricia Fraizer recognized him for his 39 years of service to the town.

Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or eforman@salemnews.com.

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Danvers OKs vision for waterfront
by By Ethan Forman , , Tue Jan 26, 2010, 09:10 AM EST
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