Published March 6, 2019

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — A proposed elderly housing development eyed for Main Street near the Sagamore Spring Golf Club was unveiled during the Board of Selectmen’s Feb. 27 meeting.

Attorney Jay Kimball submitted a citizens’ petition for the April 29 Town Meeting that seeks to rezone a parcel of land located off Main Street from Residence D to Elderly Housing.

Developer Angus Bruce said the project is called the Woods of Lynnfield.

Bruce proposed a similar project called Wills Brook Village for last year’s April Town Meeting. The developer requested that Town Meeting refer the warrant article to the Planning Board for further review, which the town’s legislative body approved. The Wills Brook Village project was unrelated to the Sagamore redevelopment project.

Kimball said the new project entails constructing 66 units of elderly housing. Since the proposed development requires a zoning change, Kimball said a two-thirds majority will be required to approve the project at Town Meeting.

“The parcel of land contains 22.6 acres,” said Kimball. “After site plan review, we will be able to provide 66 units of elderly housing. Each one of the units will have two bedrooms and a two-car garage, which we think is a big plus. One of the units will be dedicated for a veteran.”

Bruce said the Woods of Lynnfield proposal is “essentially a brand new project.” He said the units will be townhouses that would each cost around $589,900. He anticipates the development would generate $608,850 in tax revenue.

“It’s a much better project,” said Bruce. “I want to make this something reasonable for Lynnfield.”

Bruce said there is a growing aging population, which has led to an increased demand for elderly housing.

Kimball noted the proposed development would be accessed via a private road off of Main Street.

Morin-Cameron principal owner/engineer Scott Cameron said his firm is in the early stages of designing the proposed development. He said the development will comply with the town’s Zoning Bylaw.

Cameron said the proposed development will have a number of wooded areas. He said the project will have a state-of-the-art stormwater management system and septic system.

“Wastewater will be treated on-site,” said Cameron.

GPI Assistant Vice President Heather Monticup said a traffic study will be conducted before Town Meeting.

“These types of developments are pretty low traffic generators,” said Monticup.

Northeast Geoscience Inc. principal owner Joel Frish said his firm will be tasked with the permitting and development of wells at the property. He said the wells will serve as the proposed development’s public water supply.

“The process of developing a public water supply involves an initial proposal to the Department of Environmental Protection,” said Frish. “It spells out how much water the development needs, what are the actual impacts to the sources of water, and the potential impact the wells could have on nearby wells, vernal pools and things like that.”

If the DEP approves allowing the public water supply at the Woods of Lynnfield development, Frish said the wells will be drilled in the center of the development.

“We are proposing three wells at this point,” said Frish. “There will be a water treatment system if it’s necessary.”

Frish said a five-day pumping test will be undertaken as part of the project.

Selectmen Chairman Dick Dalton asked how  the development would balance its needs with those of the Lynnfield Center Water District.

“During the pumping test, we would monitor the water levels of those wells to make sure there is no negative impact,” said Frish. “We would be pumping very low flow rates into big tanks, and then pump from the big tanks at a higher rate into the distribution system. The original development was proposed to have private wells. The beauty of the public water system is it’s a very robust system. You are going to have three wells that can provide water to the entire development.”

Kimball agreed.

“One of the critical things is instead of having private wells with no monitoring, this system will get monitored and is subject to DEP,” said Kimball.

Selectman Phil Crawford noted the LCWD has had iron and manganese issues. He inquired if a treatment plant would need to be constructed if the development runs into the same problem.

Frish said the pumping test will determine if there are any issues with iron and manganese. He said iron and manganese will be treated if it’s discovered.

After the presentation concluded, the selectmen voted 3-0 to refer the warrant article to the Planning Board. The Planning Board will be holding a public hearing on the project at a later date.