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  • This section of riprap off Bradley Road let go in March. The Planning Board plans to discuss this and other issues related to the Hilltop Estates subdivision on Folly Hill during a meeting Aug. 24. Ethan Forman

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July 30, 2010

Fix sought for wall at Folly Hill development

By Ethan Forman Staff writer

DANVERS — A failed section of a riprap overlooking Bradley Road is one of the issues the Planning Board wants more information about when it takes up the luxury housing development on Folly Hill next month.

"The board set certain items for review and discussion," Senior Planner Kate Day said this week, after one of the developers of Hilltop Estates, W. Albert Ellis, met with the Planning Board on Tuesday.

The town is working with an engineering firm, CDM, while the developer is working with his own firm, McPhail Associates, on how to fix the riprap that slid down the hill in March. Ellis is paying for town's consultant work on the riprap and other issues related to the 38-home development set on a hill of sand and clay, with views of Boston.

The project not only includes the construction of homes on Folly Hill itself, but several at the base of the hill at the end of Ardmore Drive, Garfield Avenue and Bradley Road.

As part of the development, a riprap was built to keep a portion of the hill in place above Bradley Road, but in mid-March, a section of it slid down the hillside, causing concern among residents and town officials. Since the slide, three homes have been constructed on Bradley Road, two of which flank the section of the wall that collapsed.

Those homes will not get occupancy permits until the riprap is repaired, Planning Director Karen Nelson said. Ripraps, used to control erosion, are typically composed of chunks of concrete, granite and other heavy stone.

Nelson said the Planning Board wants more information, not just on how to fix the riprap, but about the project's phases and the status of bonds the town is holding on certain unfinished lots. These bonds would only be used if the developer cannot finish the work. The board plans to meet again on Hilltop Estates on Aug. 24, Day said.

"The Planning Board is basically asking a greater or higher level of communication from the developer," Nelson said.

Hilltop Estates has been years in the making. It was slowed by permitting issues and abutter opposition before it started in 2005. It then ran smack-dab into a slow housing market. Approximately 15 homes have been finished and four are under construction on top of the hill, Day said.

Part of the work included trees being stripped from the side of the hill that overlooks Bradley Road. Residents have long complained about water and silt pouring off the hill when it rains.

Lawrence Tormey of 21 Bradley Road said after the wall collapsed, residents met with town officials and the developer on at least two occasions and agreed to study the problem.

"They seem to have it under control," said Ted Beuchert, who lives at 24 Bradley, across the street from Tormey.

Both men said they were looking forward to the day when the homes are done. Ellis, a custom home builder with OHC Development of Peabody, could not be reached yesterday.

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

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Fix sought for wall at Folly Hill development
by By Ethan Forman , Staff writer , Fri Jul 30, 2010, 12:14 AM EDT
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