SWAMPSCOTT — After the developers’ team presented a new Chapter 40B proposal for Foster Road/Archer Street to the Select Board on Wednesday, the board encouraged neighbors to submit their concerns in writing to be forwarded to MassHousing.
The developers of the so-called Atlantic Bay View Residences, a Chapter 40B project at 54 Foster Road/0 Archer St., has submitted a new proposal to MassHousing, after the agency rejected its previous proposal for a 160-unit apartment-style rental development back in February.
The new proposal provides for the construction of 12 single-family homes and 16 duplex homes. The development would consist of 44 ownership dwellings in total, ranging from 1,500 to 2,250 square feet, including 11 affordable units.
The buildings would be arranged along the existing road curvature.
“The prior proposal was to practically remove an entire hilltop on that property between Archer Street and Foster Road. This current proposal works better with the site,” said Attorney Jason Panos of Peabody-based Panos Law Group, who represents the developers. “Every effort was made to preserve that existing hilltop and limit the amount of blasting at the site.”
The buildings in the development would not be higher than 25-30 feet, Panos said. Each unit would have three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and two parking spaces: one in a garage and one out front. The development would also have eight additional visitor spaces.
In the previous proposal, Archer Street was used for emergency access only. In the new proposal, the developers would make Archer Street a through road with 24 feet of pavement and a sidewalk on one side.
The developers were willing to entertain a possibility of creating a right-turn only from the development onto Foster Road, Panos said.
Although the project was scaled down a lot, neighbors and abutters of the property spoke up against the new proposal during the meeting. The majority said that the project was still too big and dense for the neighborhood.
Neighbors were worried about safety, increased traffic, narrow roads, blasting of the ledge needed for construction, and the way the development would affect the value of their properties.
Angela Ippolito, chair of the Planning Board, reminded everyone that the project in its previous iteration was shut down by the board in 2019 under the Subdivision Control Act, a state statute, out of concern for safety on Foster Road. Even with the new proposal, the applicant would need to create safe, accessible roadways, Ippolito said, since Foster Road is still unsafe and Archer Street is a private roadway.
David Grishman, a member of the Select Board who lives in the neighborhood, attested to the safety issues on Foster Road, Burpee Road and Archer Street.
“I feel like we are beating a dead horse here,” said Grishman.
He said that the project does not conform to the Swampscott Housing Master Plan, which supports housing developments that can be integrated into neighborhoods that are walkable, easily accessible to public transportation, and in close proximity to nearby amenities.
“This proposed project as described lacks all the above,” Grishman said.
Currently, the Atlantic Bay View Residences proposal is in the site-eligibility phase at MassHousing. The Town of Swampscott has the ability to provide municipal comments on the project until May 15.
The Select Board decided that Grishman, Selectman Peter Spellios, and Marzie Galazka, director of community and economic development, will draft a letter to MassHousing. The board encouraged residents to put their concerns about the proposed development in writing and forward them to Galazka, to be attached to the Select Board’s commentary.
MassHousing is a state-subsidizing agency that is responsible for ensuring Chapter 40B projects are compliant with affordability and profit-limitation restrictions. The agency issues Determination of Project Eligibility that developers need to apply for a comprehensive permit with the local Zoning Board of Appeals.