Developer proposes contractor-storage building at 103 Foster St.; board presses on contamination, stormwater and entrance

A developer told the Peabody Planning Board on Nov. 6 that it plans to demolish three existing industrial buildings at 103 Foster Street and build a single‑story contractor‑storage building on the 1.84‑acre parcel.

Jean Christie, principal engineer at TIE and Bond, said the site is within a MassDEP Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) because of historic contamination. “The AUL is requiring that the site be properly capped and managed to prevent exposure,” Christie said, adding that the project team proposes an impervious cap over the site rather than a groundwater‑recharge approach.

Board members and staff pressed the applicant on how contaminated soils and stormwater would be managed. Christie said stormwater would be collected and treated on site using deep‑sump hooded catch basins and structural water‑quality units; treated stormwater would be discharged either to Goldthwaite Brook or into the city collection system on Foster Street. “We aren’t proposing groundwater recharge,” she said, “because we do not want to put water back into the ground here.”

The board also focused on the Foster Street driveway and vehicle access. Multiple members said the current entry appears narrow for potential commercial deliveries and fire apparatus. One member asked whether the entrance could be widened or restriped to clarify travel lanes and turning radii; the applicant said the access and the plan’s easement lines will be revised in response to peer‑review and utility coordination.

Jean Christie said the proposal is for secured, indoor contractor bays — the plan submitted shows about 17–18 storage bays — and that most tenant activity would be the tenant driving in with a single truck, loading equipment, and departing rather than leaving multiple cars parked on site. The applicant proposed eight parking spaces along the left side to satisfy site and AUL constraints.

Because the site sits next to Goldthwaite Brook and the Peabody Conservation Commission has jurisdiction, the project is also in conservation peer review. Christie said the current drawings already reflect comments from the first peer‑review round and that the team is close to an order of conditions from the Con Comm.

Board members requested additional materials before moving forward. The board specifically asked for architectural elevations and materials, a photometric (lighting) plan, clarifications on the underground electric easement and its proposed relocation, revised engineering drawings for the Foster Street entrance, and a written response to the peer‑review comments. The applicant agreed to provide those materials and requested a continuance to the board’s next meeting; the board indicated it expected to see revisions to the entrance, easement and stormwater details.

The board and the applicant also discussed historic elements on the site. The Peabody Historic Commission requested documentation and salvage; the applicant said salvaged granite sills and timbers will be considered for a commemorative plaque and a landscaped planter at the site entrance.

Next steps: the applicant will provide additional engineering, photometric and architectural materials, respond to peer‑review comments, coordinate easement revisions with the local utility (PMLP) and mortgage holders, and return to the board at a future meeting.