Ward 1 candidates outline competing views on Shetland Park development, affordable housing and flood mitigation

Incumbent Ward 1 City Councilor Cindy Jerzyk and challenger Erin Turovski discussed the proposed Prime Group redevelopment of Shetland Park — a project candidates described at the forum as the largest housing proposal Salem has seen in decades — and differed on its scale and conditions.

Jerzyk, the incumbent councilor, told the meeting she has met monthly with Prime Group representatives and neighborhood associations and said the proposed building heights (she said the developer had discussed up to 11 or 12 stories) are “too big” for the neighborhood and risk gentrifying long‑standing housing. “I just keep telling them it’s too big. It’s too big for this neighborhood,” Jerzyk said. She also raised traffic and congestion concerns and said she has opposed some recent planning decisions she believes increase parking pressure downtown.

Erin Turovski, the challenger, said the project is close to her home and that the city should use the current planning stage to secure affordability and flood mitigation commitments. Turovski urged leveraging developer resources for long‑term coastal protections and said the city has its greatest leverage before construction begins. “We have a large developer who is ready to step in and take responsibility for flood mitigation … We can make that happen,” she said. Turovski also spoke in favor of pursuing income‑restricted units but used phrasing at the forum that was not fully clear about exact targets: “I think right now they’re talking about 2080% of the AMI, and they’re 20% at 60,” she said at the meeting (transcript wording as spoken at the forum).

Both candidates said they have engaged with residents and neighborhood associations. Jerzyk said Prime Group has presented to the Point and Derby Street neighborhood associations and that she and another councilor have pressed the developer on scale and traffic mitigation. Turovski highlighted potential tools the city could use, including zoning incentives such as 40R‑style density allowances and single‑room‑occupancy options to support affordability, and she said she would push for stronger income restrictions.

Background and next steps: Candidates described the proposal as still in planning stages and repeatedly said this is the period when the city and neighborhood have the most leverage to demand affordability, flood mitigation and traffic management measures. Neither candidate presented a final set of negotiated terms; both characterized future outreach with residents and formal permitting as the forum’s next steps.

The candidates’ discussion of affordability and flood mitigation came as part of broader forum questions on development, coastal resilience and city planning. The Prime Group proposal was framed at the forum as a very large redevelopment that could reshape traffic patterns, housing stock and coastal risk in Ward 1.