Formerly known as the “Bruni Project,” Avalon Ipswich approved unanimously

IPSWICH — The Essex Road 40B has been unanimously, but reluctantly, approved by members of the zoning board of appeals (ZBA).

The approval brings a seven-year applications and appeals process to a close.

Because so many units are involved, it means the town has now reached “safe harbor” and will be safe from 40Bs for the foreseeable future.

“It’s not what I would want in Ipswich,” said board member Julie O’Leary. “I think we have come to the least bad option we have.”

Comments were not taken during the meeting, but one member of the public interrupted proceedings. “You’re trying to destroy my town,” he said. “You should all burn in hell,” he told representatives from property owner AvalonBay. Pointing to them, the man said, “You, burn in hell. You, burn in hell.”

After complaints about water and traffic, the man was asked by chairman Bob Gambale if he would like to go to the mic to give his name. He did not.

Avalon Ipswich

Known by many as “the Bruni Project,” the 40B application was first dubbed Essex Pastures before being renamed Avalon Ipswich when AvalonBay signed a purchase-and-sales agreement with property owner John Bruni.

The approval means that 214 apartments and townhouses are set to be built on a 13.3-acre parcel in and around the Bruni Marketplace at 26-44 Essex Road.

ZBA vice chairman Ben Fierro gave the meeting a brief summary of the application and appeals by Bruni to the state. “This plan compared to where we started is light years better,” Fierro said.

The first plan submitted drew a lot of criticism, he noted. He said that the proposal contained “generic boxes” for apartment buildings that “were not well laid out.”

The second iteration “got a little bit better, but not really good enough,” Fierro said. The ZBA asked Bruni for more time to work on the submission, but the applicant declined, he said.

Iterations

The ZBA approved the first plan and added conditions to tackle the lack of usable open space and poor building design, he said.

Fierro said that once AvalonBay agreed to buy the land, the town was able to start working on improvements. He noted that the site is designated as a good area for affordable housing under the town’s community development plan.

The town did not have much room to maneuver, according to town counsel Amy Kwesell of KP Law. Under state law, 40B developments are allowed if less than 10% of a community’s housing is on the state’s subsidized housing inventory.

After a lengthy application process, Bruni appealed the ZBA’s first decision to the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee (HAC). “The housing committee, I am absolutely not afraid to say, is very, very, very developer-friendly,” Kwesell said.

“We do not do well at the HAC as a municipality. And I think that’s … I think I’m being nice,” she added.

Different point of view

O’Leary said she lives across from a small, recently built 40B that drew neighborhood opposition. Throughout the process, she said, she never thought of the new neighbors who would eventually move in.

They are in now, and kids from both families are friends, she added. “It’s been wonderful.”

ZBA member Rob Clocker agreed. “We sometimes forget about the constituents who aren’t in the room who are the future residents of the development that will be built,” he said.

As an architect, Clocker said he always looks at plans from a resident’s point of view. Comparing new owners AvalonBay to Bruni, he said, “This particular team has done an infinitely better job than the last team.”

Adding that he was glad there is a different developer, he said the new design is “much more humane, much better scaled, and a more livable place.”

New owners

Landscape designer Bill Madden of Gregory Lombardi Design said AvalonBay attempted to make the development more attractive to current Ipswich residents and new tenants.

He said 180 deciduous and 140 evergreen trees will be planted. The wetland area will be highlighted as an amenity and open space. It will also be included on a pedestrian circuit around the development, Madden said.

There will also be two amenity courtyards, a dog park, a tot lot, a pool, and a community house, he said.

Architect Ed Bradford said that he tried to create a neighborhood feel in the development. Townhouses will front onto Essex Road. Two apartment buildings will be C-shaped, and one a shallow V shape, he said. Each will be three stories tall.

Bradford said that the team tried to create a “pedestrian-friendly, walkable community.”

Frustration

Although the public was not allowed to comment during the meeting, time was set aside after it adjourned for people to examine plans and quiz the development team.

Kwesell also stayed behind to talk about the 40B process the ZBA had just gone through.

However, there was some public frustration before the meeting during citizens’ queries. Residents found themselves in a bind because queries are typically for items not on the agenda.

Since the only agenda item was Avalon Ipswich, it was also off-limits during citizens’ queries.

Informed of that fact, Gary Champion replied, “I will walk away in protest.” He said the process with AvalonBay was handled exclusively in executive session (private meetings).

The public was unable to observe proceedings, he said. Calling the process “unfair and not transparent,” Champion added, “On this project, we were locked out.”

However, the ZBA did vote to accept minutes from its four executive sessions on the AvalonBay discussions and to make them available to the public.