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Attorney asks committee to rezone 495 Wall Street; members raise spot‑zoning, wetlands and traffic concerns
Summary
An attorney for Tedisco Properties LLC asked Peabody’s Industrial and Community Development Committee to rezone 495 (Lowell) Street from R‑1B to R‑4 to allow two duplexes (four units), arguing it would reduce earthmoving and distance development from wetlands. Committee members expressed spot‑zoning and traffic concerns and voted to leave the matter in committee for more information.
An attorney for the property owner requested that the Industrial and Community Development Committee rezone 495 (Lowell) Street from R‑1B to R‑4 to permit two duplex buildings yielding four housing units, saying the change would reduce earthmoving and move development away from adjacent wetlands.
“My client has purchased the property at 495 Lowell,” attorney John Kelty told the committee. He described the site as a roughly two‑and‑a‑half‑acre parcel with slopes around 22 percent and said that under R‑1B rules the project would require extensive grading. “With the change in zoning, we could improve the access… and build an upper driveway,” Kelty said, adding that rezoning would allow development farther from the wetland and require conservation‑commission review.
Committee members pressed several concerns. One committee member called the petition “definitely spot zoning” and asked whether subdividing the parcel into separate R‑2 lots or pursuing a special permit would be a cleaner approach. Another committee member warned that an R‑4 designation could permit retail or medical uses “by right” and suggested that neighbors might not welcome a convenience store or medical offices atop the hill.
Members also discussed contract zoning and the possibility of written restrictions limiting permitted uses if the committee approved a rezoning. Kurt Bellavance of community development told members he had not encountered contract zoning in Peabody and said staff would need to research how it would be implemented locally.
After discussion the committee put the petition on hold and voted to leave the item in committee pending more detailed plans, information about contract‑zoning options or an ANR/subdivision approach, and additional conservation and traffic analysis. The committee did not approve a zoning change at the meeting; a future public hearing and additional materials were requested before any formal recommendation to the planning board or council.
What happens next: the petitioner was asked to return with fuller site plans, options for subdivision or contract zoning, and conservation‑commission filings; the committee will reconsider the petition after staff and the petitioner supply that information.
