Planning board orders traffic peer review and continues Raising Cane’s site plan and signage hearing

The Danvers Planning Board on Aug. 12 voted to commission an independent traffic peer review of a traffic report submitted for Raising Cane’s proposed restaurant at 200 Endicott St. and continued the site plan and signage waiver public hearings until the board’s Sept. 9 meeting.

Nancy McCann, outside counsel for the applicant, and a project team that included civil, traffic and landscape consultants presented a plan to demolish the existing Fidelity building and replace it with a 3,378‑square‑foot quick‑serve Raising Cane’s restaurant with a double drive‑thru, 29 parking spaces and a freestanding pylon sign. The proposed sign package includes four 4x8 wall signs plus three additional graphic elements the planning office treats as signs (a painted mural, a banner-style ‘red dog’ graphic and canopy letters), for a total the planning office counts as eight signs; the applicant requested waivers because the zoning bylaw limits signs on such lots.

Traffic consultants described a design that reduces curb cuts from three to two, converts some access to right‑in/right‑out only, adds crosswalks and sidewalks and locates most parking on the Peabody portion of the lot while the building and drive‑thru lie in Danvers. Town engineering staff reviewed the plans and asked for additional information; in a staff memo engineering recommended a limited peer review focused on the interaction of the proposed Endicott driveway with the nearby signalized intersection at Sylvan Street.

The board voted to authorize planning and engineering staff to define the peer‑review scope and select a third‑party reviewer. Jean Hartnett moved the peer‑review motion; Jim Sears seconded. The board’s roll‑call vote was unanimous in favor.

Because the applicant has outstanding engineering items and the board heard substantial public concern about driveway operations, pedestrian connections and signage, the planning board continued both the site plan review and the signage waiver applications for 200 Endicott Street to Sept. 9, 2025. The applicant also agreed to return with responses on signage alternatives (including non‑branded mural options) and to work with staff on engineering comments. A number of residents spoke during the public hearing raising traffic and safety concerns at the Sylvan/Endicott corridor during peak hours.