Owners seek to replace seawall and pier at 46 Riverside; hearing continued for harbormaster review and site visit

Owners Adam Wood and Genevieve Fiorente presented a notice of intent to replace a deteriorating pier and seawall at 46 Riverside Street and the Danvers Conservation Commission continued the hearing to Aug. 14 to obtain harbormaster comments and coordinate a site visit.

Michael Page of Griffin Engineering described the work as a like-for-like replacement within existing lawn and intertidal areas and said the project holds a Chapter 91 license. Page said the proposal replaces the existing pier with a fixed pier roughly 4 feet wide and about 178 feet long, with a 3-foot-by-40-foot gangway to two floats (6-by-13 feet and 6-by-20 feet). He said the floats will rest on pilings and provide 30 inches of clearance from mud at low tide and that the seawall will be replaced with a concrete segmental wall and raised from about elevation 7.3 to elevation 8.0.

Why it matters: the site sits in land subject to coastal storm flowage and riverfront area; the seawall and pier reach into intertidal areas and the commission wants the harbormaster’s written comments before final action.

Harbormaster and public-review steps: Page said the harbormaster asked that the pier be moved shoreward about 20–25 feet; the applicants adjusted the plan accordingly and the harbormaster had not yet put his written comments in the file. ConCom staff said they received revised plans that afternoon and wanted the harbormaster’s comments and time for staff review before issuing an approval.

Next steps and site visit: Commissioners directed staff to request the harbormaster’s written review and to coordinate a site visit. The commission made a motion to continue the hearing to Aug. 14 and to arrange a site visit; the motion carried.