SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Months of spirited discussions and often heated and divisive public comment and debate on how to proceed with the $1.8 million town purchase of the 12-24 Pine Street property culminated with a Select Board vote Thursday night to accept a land-use agreement that calls for a three-story senior veteran-preference housing development and the movement of the current VFW post to Burrill Street.
The vote came after Select Board member David Grishman proposed a motion that would include leaving the VFW post where it is in the development — which would necessitate a fourth floor of the housing building to fit the 42 units that developer B’nai Brith said is necessary to make the project viable.
Grishman and Select Board member Doug Thompson pushed that option on behalf of the VFW post members who have been opposed to moving off the property and what they said was the spirit of town meeting approval of the purchase that indicated a refurbished post on site.
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Grishman also questioned whether the ReachArts Burrill Street location is properly zoned for VFW activities such as liquor service.
“I just think it’s incredibly disingenuous,” Grishman said. “We are going to bank on town meeting completely screwing over the veterans and the VFW by changing the zoning. This situation can be completely avoided tonight by the Select Board. But go ahead and do what you will.
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“The town has a 30-year history of taking and taking and taking from the veterans and not giving. And not meeting even halfway.”
That proposal was defeated 3-2 with a proposal to move the VFW and spread the footprint of the housing over two parcels of land — thus allowing it to be one story less than what would be required to build the 42 units on one parcel — passing by the reverse 3-2 vote with Chair MaryEllen Fletcher, Katie Phelan and Danielle Leonard in support.
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Pine Street neighbors had expressed serious concern about the impact of a four-story building that could profile even higher given its elevation necessary because of the flood plain and the mechanical that needs to be on top of the building.
“I feel like we’re put here to advocate for residents of Swampscott,” Leonard said. “So we’re trying to do that by making affordable housing for seniors, for our veterans, and we have to focus on the people who live here. That’s what it comes down to for me.
“That’s not to say that the people who are members of Post 1240 are not valid humans and that they don’t deserve a comfortable place to be. I completely agree with that. And I think it’s incumbent on this board to make Burrill Street as comfortable as it can possibly be no matter what it costs us because that is what the right thing to do is.”
Fletcher had proposed the town pay one year of utilities, electrical and accessibility upgrades and other necessary renovations to the Burrill Street building to make it a financially viable VFW post.
Phelan said her LDU agreement decision was based on months of research and listening to residents, and the desire to make sure the town best utilizes the $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding set aside for the project that could have been forfeited if no contract was authorized by Dec. 31.
“We worked diligently to strike a balance between supporting the veterans, preserving the post, listening to neighbors’ concerns and ensuring that ARPA funds are preserved and used effectively for this project,” she said. “Yet, with every step forward we faced continued pushback. First, allegations on a lack of transparency, which we worked to address. Then, concerns about insufficient information, which we sought to alleviate by bringing in our town counsel, town staff and experts from the affordable housing field. …
“The Board has listened, adapted, and pivoted to concerns. Some feel it’s too little, too late. But I urge you not to let personal feelings about individual Board members cloud your judgment about what will ultimately support our veterans and the post for years to come.”
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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