North River housing project starting over

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer

January 07, 2009 05:53 am

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SALEM — A proposed apartment project on the North River, which is already facing a court appeal, is starting all over before a city board.

Riverview Place, a 130-apartment complex, has refiled for approval from the Planning Board.

The board has held hearings on the development for about a year, so long that only six of the nine original board members are still eligible to vote. Two members missed meetings, and one died.

The project needs six votes to pass, which meant that one "no" vote could have killed the project.

"The consensus between the board and the developers was that it made more sense to refile it," said Scott Grover, the attorney for developers David Zion, Dave Walsh and Mike O'Brien.

The apartment complex is planned on the site of the Salem Suede and Bonfanti leather factories on Flint and Mason streets.

The project received variances from the Zoning Board of Appeal, a decision that several neighbors appealed to the Massachusetts Land Court.

The court action is still pending.

If all goes well, Grover hopes to get a permit approved by the spring and to resolve the legal issues by this summer.

The developers, he said, are "still very much committed" to the project.

The first hearing before the Planning Board will be held Thursday, Jan. 15.