Haverhill firefighters respond to Stevens Street blaze during September 2015. (WHAV News photograph.)
Even before a seven-alarm blaze in 2015 destroyed a Stevens Street Mill building, Haverhill was in talks to redevelop the sprawling industrial site. Today, the Little River Dam near Lafayette Square remains an impediment to development, but has also been named as a “climate-related hazard.”
The city is now seeking the public’s opinion on potential benefits and impacts of removing the dam during an online forum Wednesday, March 24, at 6 p.m. A link to the forum will be provided by the city closer to the date. The state’s Energy and Environmental Affairs Department awarded Haverhill $70,600 to conduct a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness study after city councilors approved the climate change grant application last June.
Opposition to Elm Place project coalesces in Swampscott
Leigh Blander / Correspondent
Two new grass-roots groups are fighting a proposed five-story, 128-unit affordable housing project on Elm Place, saying the apartment complex is simply too big for the neighborhood and the town.
“It’s a behemoth,” said Anne Driscoll, chair of the Swampscott for Equity Association. “It’s a $60 million project and we re the ones that will be living with it. We need to slow down the process and take a breath. Everything has been happening at lightning speed.”
Driscoll’s group is calling for an independent study of the project and is hiring an attorney.
STONINGTONÂ â Plans for an 82-unit mixed-income housing project at the site of the former Campbell Grain building in downtown Pawcatuck have been delayed as town officials and developers wait until an in-person town meeting may be held regarding a proposed tax abatement.
Members of the Stonington Board of Selectmen announced last week that, due to the nature of the project and the implications of the proposed abatement on Stonington taxpayers, they will not seek to hold a virtual town meeting on the subject. Instead, the town will wait until pandemic conditions have subsided enough in order to hold an in-person town meeting and receive proper input from residents and business owners in accordance with the townâs charter and state statutes.