SALEM — Though Salem officials have been told that the proposed Lowe's-Walmart project on Highland Avenue won't happen after all, Lynn city officials are moving ahead with an appeal of a recent ruling dismissing much of a lawsuit challenging permits for the site.
A notice of appeal was filed yesterday in Salem Superior Court, nearly a month after Judge David Lowy dismissed all but one of the counts in a lawsuit filed by Lynn officials against their counterparts in Salem.
Lynn residents have opposed the project on the grounds that it would have a dramatic effect on traffic along Route 107 and that there would be negative effects on nearby residents living over the city line in Lynn.
Salem officials, including Mayor Kim Driscoll, had pushed for the project, looking forward to the new tax revenue and as many as 150 to 200 new jobs it would create. The city's Planning Board, after a series of public hearings, issued a special permit for the project.
Lynn officials contend that Lowy "failed to give proper weight to the fact that the Lynn Planning Board has continuing jurisdiction over an open subdivision, which immediately abuts the proposed commercial development," the notice of appeal states.
But the economy had already dealt a fatal blow to the plans, when Lowe's, a national home improvement chain, announced that it was closing 20 stores all over the country, including one in Haverhill, and scaling back plans for new stores.
Driscoll told The Salem News last month that the Salem project is among the plans that have been scuttled.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or jmanganis@salemnews.com.
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