GA Blog: Danvers

8.4.10 Hilltop Estates on Folly Hill in Danvers

According to the Salem News, A failed section of a riprap overlooking Bradley Road in (pictured above) is one of the issues the Danvers Planning Board is looking into when it takes up the Folly Hill luxury housing development next month.

The 38-home Hilltop Estates will be set on a hill of sand and clay, with views of Boston, and includes construction not only on Folly Hill but several at the base of the hill at the end of Ardmore Drive, Garfield Avenue and Bradley Road.

As part of the development, the 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, 3 homes have been constructed on Bradley Road, 2 of which flank the section of the wall that collapsed.

Read the entire Salem News article.

7.5.10 200+ Affordable Housing in Danvers

In a follow-up on our June 15, 2010 post, according to the Salem News, a Danvers developer is proposing to build Conifer Hill Commons, which would consist of 200-240 affordable apartments on 18 acres in and around Rand Circle over the next 3-5 years.

Cindy Dunn, the executive director of the Danvers Housing Authority, said the plan is to build the project in four phases, with the initial phase involving 78 units, some of which would replace 36 units at Rand Circle, an affordable-housing development that dates back to 1982.  Of the remaining phase-one units, 21 would be set aside for senior living and 21 would be 2-bedroom family units, all in a townhouse style, Dunn said.

According to Selectman Gardner Trask, chairman of the town's Affordable Housing Committee, the goal is not simply to meet the Chapter 40B 10% affordable housing threshold but also to create housing opportunities for Danvers families making $66,000 or less.

Rand Circle residents would be offered new units as they are built, and Rand Circle itself would be torn down and redeveloped when the development is complete.  It's tucked behind the Danvers Plaza shopping center on land bounded by Route 1 to the west and I-95 to the east.

Read the entire Salem News article.

6.15.10 Potential New Affordable Housing in Danvers on Rand Circle

According to the Danvers Herald, a local developer is working with the Danvers Housing Authority on creating 200 or more new affordable housing units in on Rand Circle.  DHA Director Cindy Dunn said current residents of Rand Circle, which is an existing affordable complex of thirty-six 2-4 bedroom units built in 1981, would be moved into the new units as they are built.

The project is still pending local Zoning and Planning Board approval, but according to the article, at the very least, there will be 54 new units, and more likely there will be 200 or more.  If given the green light, the project would satisfy the state’s requirement to provide 10% affordable housing.

Read the entire Danvers Herald article.

4.30.10 Danvers Rail Trail Update

The Danvers Herald reports that development of the Danvers Rail Trail is coming along.  The rails along 4.3 miles of the old Newburyport railroad line in Danvers will be pulled up shortly, according to the Danvers Rail Trail Advisory Committee (featured above).

The committee thanked the Iron Rail Preservation Society, who is paying for the project (it will not cost Danvers taxpayers anything).  The Iron Horse Preservation group has also completed a 3,000-foot trail in Topsfield, which is its second project in Massachusetts; they gives some of the rails to the federal government, which uses them for a barrier to vehicles trying to cross from Mexico. Iron Horse also sells them to other businesses, which use the old iron for other projects.

The rail bed goes from Peabody to Wenham. Other such rail trail advocates in neighboring towns are also hard at work to make their own recreational pathways where railroad trains once roared, so that one day one could walk — or bike ride — all the way from Salisbury to Boston.

Read the entire Danvers Herald article.

4.10.10 Route 114 Chapter 40B Housing in Danvers on Hold

The Danvers Herald reports that the Danvers Zoning Board of Appeals continued a proposed Chapter 40B condominium development to development the site at the former Rio Grande on Route 114 in Danvers which would provide 71 condominiums – 17 affordable housing units (25% of the total).

Chapter 40B requires a municipality to have 10% of its property affordable for low- and moderate-income people. If not, a developer is allowed to bypass most local zoning requirements in return for making 25% of the units affordable.

Read the entire Danvers Herald article.

1.27.10 New Danvers Waterfront Village District

The Salem News reported recently that Danvers created a new waterfront village district at a recent Special Town meeting that may somebody host a mix of small businesses, restaurants and homes in a Pickering Wharf-like setting.  The area will be located on both sides of Water Street (Route 35) and Liberty Street.

Of note to NSAR members –- 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 will preclude industrial users from relocating on that parcel, which has been vacant since the infamous explosion.

The Town Meeting also rezoned much of the land on the west side of Water Street by creating a new Danversport industrial area, which will add research and development and trade shops to the area, while future fuel storage, repair, service stations and motor vehicle dealers were removed.

The rezoning is the culmination of 3 years of planning by the Planning Board, consultants and Danvers residents.

Read the entire Salem News article.