To: Ipswich Selectmen
From: Neighborhood and community members
Date: October 28, 2017
Re: Proposed three-story multi-unit housing project at 25 Pleasant Street
As neighbors and community members, we welcome progress with the vacant lot at 25 Pleasant and support the idea of affordable housing. However, we strongly oppose the proposal for an eight-unit building there.
- It’s too much. Pleasant Street currently has 20 single-family homes and one two-family home. They are all modest in size. Town zoning allows only for single-family use by right on an 11,400 square foot lot such as 25 Pleasant Street. A big housing block would create problems with crowding, parking, drainage, snow removal, and many other issues.
- It isn’t safe. It’s a high-vulnerability location. Our very young children are used to playing in the street in Blaisdell Terrace and to crossing Pleasant Street. Visibility is poor at that intersection and at the corner of Brownville Avenue, with cars often ignoring the stop sign there. Adding more traffic is not a good idea at all, particularly with its location at a corner and the extent of the curb cuts requested.
- It does not fit with the character of the properties around it. Both Pleasant Street and Blaisdell Terrace are streets of small, modest homes and families.
- Despite its claim as “affordable housing”, it’s basically market-rate development. Only two out of eight units are to be affordable. The proposal offers the fewest possible concessions to Chapter 40B requirements as a pretext for an unusual density bonus and as a workaround for many other regulatory requirements. This isn’t good either for affordable housing or for the neighborhood.
We urge the Selectmen to respond that this site is unsuitable for multi-unit housing. Minor design modifications won’t change mathematics or the laws of physics. The lot and surroundings are simply too small for a multifamily housing project. Development should conform to Ipswich zoning regulations, not look for ways to get around them.
As neighbors and community members, we oppose multi-unit housing at 25 Pleasant Street.
Updates
October 30, 2017
I really thought this would just be a quiet conversation among those of us living on the street, but the way you have all stepped up is honestly overwhelming. It is clear that so many of you care deeply about keeping our neighborhood safe and keeping its character intact. This momentum belongs entirely to the people who took the time to speak up.
25 Comments
8 units, 12 parking spaces, on a third of an acre CANNOT be allowed. All about the money...
Unsafe for the many children on both Pleasant and Blaisdell Terrace, unlikely to be as "affordable" as advertised, adds far to large of an environmental footprint. Please, do not allow this development.
While I am in many ways pro-growth, this particular project is out of scale with the area and likely to create parking and other problems in this neighborhood. It is simply too large a project on too small a lot. I would ask something be built that does not practically cover the entire lot in building and parking spaces, of which there are not even enough spaces for what will likely be used by the residents.
This overdevelopment is the equivalent of 31 homes on one acre. It is too much - too big, too tall, and too dense - for the location. Proposed in a neighborhood of small single- and two-family 1.5-2 story homes, this would not only not fit the character of the neighborhood and overwhelm the lot that once held a small single family home and small barn, but would create a more dangerous traffic pattern in our in-town residential district, putting pedestrians, children, and others at risk.
Every new home or homes you approve goes directly against water conservation.You (BOS) preach to Ipswich residents about the importance of conserving valuable water and we do, it's time for YOU to practice what you preach....
This is simply the wrong place for this development! You would know if you lived there.
This neighborhood is too small to put this type of building in. It is out of character for this area. Not very well thought out at all.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
To: Ipswich Selectmen
From: Neighborhood and community members
Date: October 28, 2017
Re: Proposed three-story multi-unit housing project at 25 Pleasant Street
As neighbors and community members, we welcome progress with the vacant lot at 25 Pleasant and support the idea of affordable housing. However, we strongly oppose the proposal for an eight-unit building there.
- It’s too much. Pleasant Street currently has 20 single-family homes and one two-family home. They are all modest in size. Town zoning allows only for single-family use by right on an 11,400 square foot lot such as 25 Pleasant Street. A big housing block would create problems with crowding, parking, drainage, snow removal, and many other issues.
- It isn’t safe. It’s a high-vulnerability location. Our very young children are used to playing in the street in Blaisdell Terrace and to crossing Pleasant Street. Visibility is poor at that intersection and at the corner of Brownville Avenue, with cars often ignoring the stop sign there. Adding more traffic is not a good idea at all, particularly with its location at a corner and the extent of the curb cuts requested.
- It does not fit with the character of the properties around it. Both Pleasant Street and Blaisdell Terrace are streets of small, modest homes and families.
- Despite its claim as “affordable housing”, it’s basically market-rate development. Only two out of eight units are to be affordable. The proposal offers the fewest possible concessions to Chapter 40B requirements as a pretext for an unusual density bonus and as a workaround for many other regulatory requirements. This isn’t good either for affordable housing or for the neighborhood.
We urge the Selectmen to respond that this site is unsuitable for multi-unit housing. Minor design modifications won’t change mathematics or the laws of physics. The lot and surroundings are simply too small for a multifamily housing project. Development should conform to Ipswich zoning regulations, not look for ways to get around them.
As neighbors and community members, we oppose multi-unit housing at 25 Pleasant Street.
Updates
October 30, 2017
I really thought this would just be a quiet conversation among those of us living on the street, but the way you have all stepped up is honestly overwhelming. It is clear that so many of you care deeply about keeping our neighborhood safe and keeping its character intact. This momentum belongs entirely to the people who took the time to speak up.
25 Comments
I grew up on Blaisdell Terrace. My family home still owned by family members and lived in by them. This development is over the top for this neighborhood.
8 units, 12 parking spaces, on a third of an acre CANNOT be allowed. All about the money...
Unsafe for the many children on both Pleasant and Blaisdell Terrace, unlikely to be as "affordable" as advertised, adds far to large of an environmental footprint. Please, do not allow this development.
While I am in many ways pro-growth, this particular project is out of scale with the area and likely to create parking and other problems in this neighborhood. It is simply too large a project on too small a lot. I would ask something be built that does not practically cover the entire lot in building and parking spaces, of which there are not even enough spaces for what will likely be used by the residents.
This overdevelopment is the equivalent of 31 homes on one acre. It is too much - too big, too tall, and too dense - for the location. Proposed in a neighborhood of small single- and two-family 1.5-2 story homes, this would not only not fit the character of the neighborhood and overwhelm the lot that once held a small single family home and small barn, but would create a more dangerous traffic pattern in our in-town residential district, putting pedestrians, children, and others at risk.
Every new home or homes you approve goes directly against water conservation.You (BOS) preach to Ipswich residents about the importance of conserving valuable water and we do, it's time for YOU to practice what you preach....
This is simply the wrong place for this development! You would know if you lived there.
This neighborhood is too small to put this type of building in. It is out of character for this area. Not very well thought out at all.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 100 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
I grew up on Blaisdell Terrace. My family home still owned by family members and lived in by them. This development is over the top for this neighborhood.