No plans to retool Village

Rezoning defeat kills $60m project

What was to be one of the largest developments in Newbury's 's recent history appears to have been extinguished.

Developers have no plans at this time to resuscitate or retool the proposed Village at Little River after voters at a Special Town Meeting the end of last month narrowly defeated an essential zoning amendment for the project.

"It's deeply disappointing," said Howard Cohen, chief executive officer of Boston-based Beacon Communities LLC, which was planning the project with Coastal Partners of Beverly Farms. "It's a big loss for Newbury, and obviously a big loss for us."

Now the town will likely explore the site for industrial uses, according to selectman chairman Vincent Russo. The goal, he said, will be to work with the economic development task force to come up with an industrial use for the property that won't involve zoning changes but will expand the town's tax base.

He was disheartened by the vote, noting, "everybody's losing on this, nobody's gaining from this loss."

Dissenters, meanwhile, expressed strong concerns about the effects the project would have had on town services and Newbury's bucolic atmosphere.

Matt Kozazcki, owner of the 600-acre Tendercrop Farm located roughly a quarter-mile from the site, called local support for the project a "knee-jerk" reaction to a town budget shortfall. He also worried about it opening up the doors to future overdevelopment.

"We have to look at the scope," he said. "What was coming after this was the problem."

The project was to include a mix of 150 rental properties, age-restricted condominiums, and town houses. Of those, 22 units would have been designated affordable, said Finance Committee chairman Frank Remley. In addition, there would have been 122,000 square feet of retail, a senior center, and 60 acres of open space and trails.

It was slated to cost between $55 and $60 million, according to Remley. Newburyport had also planned to provide water and sewer to the site and in return receive $4.4 million to perform upgrades and improvements to its systems.

But to get the project off the ground, two zoning changes were required. The first was a smart growth overlay district, allowable under state law Chapter 40R, that would have streamlined permitting and allowed dense residential and mixed-use development. That initiative, requiring a two-thirds vote, narrowly failed at the Special Town Meeting, with 422 in favor and 275 opposed.

The second change involved creating a planned village overlay district, which would allow retail, offices, homes, and open space in an area zoned for industry. That article was passed over at the meeting.

The property has traditionally served as an auto salvage site and is blighted, according to officials. The developers had an option to purchase it and had sunk roughly $2 million into the project between engineering and traffic studies, environmental assessments, and consulting costs.

Going into the Special Town Meeting, "we were very optimistic, because it was a community plan," noted Cohen. "It was supported by every town board, because they thought it was in the best interest of Newbury."

Officials contend that the town has lost as well. Additional tax revenues were projected at anywhere from $215,000 to $575,000 a year, Remley said, and there was also to have been an $800,000 up-front payment from 40R incentives, fees, and permits. More than $350,000 also would have been set aside as part of a development agreement to help alleviate additional traffic and other impacts.

That would have been a big boost considering the town's revenue problems, Remley asserted. Given budget shortfalls, officials may have no choice but to propose a Proposition 2 1/2 override within the next couple of years, he said.

"It wouldn't solve all our problems," Remley noted of the project, "but it would have gone a long way toward improving the revenue picture."

In addition, it would have brought the town's affordable housing stock from 3 percent to 6.5 percent, he said. And the impact to local schools - an oft-cited argument by opponents of new housing - would be negligible, he contended. All told, the town was expecting an additional 30 to 45 students.

Still, numbers don't sway Kozazcki, the local farmer. "Anybody can make projections," he noted.

Also, with the downturn in the housing market, he asked, who would buy these homes and what would be the impact to local farms? "People do have to realize that once we lose farms, they're gone forever. They need to be protected."

Still, Russo believes some fears have been overblown. If more people were shopping in Newbury, local farms would only benefit. "The tide raises all the boats," he said.

But Kozazcki remains skeptical. He called Newbury a "beautiful town," and added that he doesn't want to see it become overdeveloped - which could occur if Newburyport pipes in water and sewer services.

"I just don't want to see over-housing," he said. "I'll always speak out against over-development."

Remley agreed, but said the town also needs new sources of revenue and must be ready to grow. "Change is going to happen," he said, "whether we like it or not."