Danvers ZBA continues hearing on 153 Andover Street after neighbors raise dumping, noise and unauthorized contractor-use concerns

The Danvers Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday continued a hearing on a request to allow a contractor's storage yard and a long-term storage container at 153 Andover Street so the applicant can pursue planning-board review and address multiple neighborhood concerns.

Anthony Cargliano, the property manager for 153 Andover Street, told the board a 40-foot container and a smaller job box have been present on the property since 2022 and that tenants include landscape and transportation companies. "The storage container that is there presently has been there since 2022," Cargliano said. He told the board he took over management of the property on Jan. 1, 2025, cleaned up an area of illegal dumping and is trying to regularize site operations.

Neighbors and residents described long-standing quality-of-life problems at the large multi-tenant site behind the Lowe's and Olive Garden near Route 114. Norman Dearborn, a resident of the nearby Meadows complex, said the board had received more than 30 letters opposing the application. "We had 31 out of 35 ' against this because of what we've been dealing with for pretty much the existence of that plot of land," Dearborn said, listing noise, trash, people loitering, and impacts to wetlands and stormwater swales.

Other residents said they can hear loading-dock activity and loud noises before dawn and report fireworks, illegal camping and drug and alcohol activity in the unfenced areas behind the commercial buildings. One resident, Nick Wilde, told the board the problems include 24-hour activity: "I've had thousands of hours of lost sleep over 20 years," he said.

Code enforcement has been involved. The planning department and enforcement officer Brian Cassidy have visited the site in response to complaints, and Cassidy told the meeting that the town had issued enforcement letters and was monitoring the property. Cargliano said he has removed an unregistered box truck and an RV and that he would consider adding cameras and further fencing. He also said he could work with a tenant (Nick's Transportation) to relocate parked vehicles within the site to reduce impacts on abutters.

Board members and planning staff said the zoning issues are complex because the single address contains multiple deeded areas and tenants; some operations that are occurring on the property are not permitted in the site's current Route 114 zoning without planning-board approvals. Josh Morris of the planning department and staff advised the applicant to seek planning-board review first; the ZBA and planning staff said the ZBA cannot grant a permit authorizing a contractor's yard use if the site is not approved for that use by the planning board.

Given the enforcement history, unresolved planning questions and the number of abutter complaints, the ZBA voted to continue the case to Oct. 20 to allow the applicant time to pursue planning-board review and to give town staff time to follow up on enforcement and site-configuration questions. The motion to continue passed without objection.

No permit was granted at Tuesday's hearing. The board encouraged the applicant to coordinate with planning and enforcement staff, to document any site cleanups, and to consider measures such as additional fencing, delineation of deeded parking areas, and security cameras to address neighbor concerns.