Published in the March 18, 2021 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — With last week’s approval of a 22-unit apartment building at 525-527 Salem St., the Zoning Board of Appeals has, since last October, given the go-ahead for three new housing construction projects on Salem Street between Pleasure Island Road and the Lynnfield line.

Once built, the three projects will result in more than 70 units of new housing along that portion of Salem Street.

In addition to last week’s approval of the project at 525-527 Salem Street, in October the ZBA granted the permits necessary to allow a 19-unit apartment building at 581-583 Salem St. And last month, the board OK’d a 30-unit condominium building at 610 Salem St., the former Taylor Rental site.

The 525-527 Salem Street project was significantly modified in order to win the ZBA’s blessing. An entire fourth floor was removed from the plans and the total bedroom count was reduced. At the ZBA’s insistence, alterations were made to the site plan and the building design to move it further from the street and make it blend in with surrounding buildings in the neighborhood.

Throughout the hearing process for all three projects, neighbors – especially those living on Old Colony Drive, Jessica Lane and Sunset Drive – have expressed grave concerns about traffic and parking.

At last week’s final hearing on 525-527 Salem St., Sunset Drive resident Susan Wetmore summarized those concerns. She again pointed out that the only access in and out of those streets is via Walton Lane. As it is, she said, residents of that narrow street park on both sides. She and other neighbors worry that parking spillover from the three projects will land on Walton Street, further congesting the street and making it difficult for residents to get in and out and potentially hampering the ability of emergency vehicles to reach their neighborhoods.

But each project produced a study that concluded that the traffic impact on Salem Street would me minimal, and attorney Brian McGrail, who represented all three developers, noted that each project meets the town’s minimum requirement for off-street parking.

At last week’s meeting, the ZBA and McGrail wrapped up any outstanding issues and made some editorial changes to the list of conditions for 525-527 Salem St. before the board voted unanimously to grant the Special Permits that will allow the project to be built.

A construction schedule anticipated that the project would be finished by April of 2022.

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Attorney McGrail updated the ZBA on the status of the Robert Santonelli’s plans to redevelop 500 Main St.

Santonelli would like to construct a new Santander Bank branch on the site at the corner of Main and Richardson streets, which was previously occupied by a used car business and an auto parts store.

McGrail called to board’s attention to the report of the Traffic Advisory Board’s consultant, who had some concerns with the queuing for the drive-up ATM. The TAC also recommended a right turn only out of the bank onto Main Street.

McGrail said that his client was fine with all of the TAC’s recommendations.

ZBA members wanted assurances that that an adjacent lot to the north, also owned by Santonelli, would be well-maintained and present a good appearance on Main Street if not immediately developed. McGrail and Santonelli agreed that some kind of landscaping would be installed within a short time after the bank is constructed. But during bank construction, that next-door lot will be used as a staging area, McGrail said.

McGrail said that his client also agreed with some conditions recommended by Town Engineer Bill Renault to make sure that a major underground drainage culvert that runs through the property is protected during and after construction.

The ZBA continued the hearing until its March 24 meeting when the board will review the TAC recommendations and will discuss signage, an operations and maintenance plan for the site, a list of conditions and a construction schedule.