Mixed-Use Development Would Add 10,000 Vehicles On Dascomb Road

ANDOVER, MA -- Sal Lupoli, the pizza maker turned real estate developer, is once again pushing for zoning changes in Andover that would allow him to move forward with a massive, mixed-use development on Dascomb Road at the Tewksbury-Andover border. Lupoli is likely to propose zoning rules at a Special Town Meeting on January 29, 2018 to add housing to the project, after having withdrawn a similar proposal at Andover Town Meeting in May.

Lupoli is the owner of the Sal's Pizza and Salvatore's restaurant chains. His first major foray into real estate development was the Riverwalk complex in Lawrence. In an email, the Lupoli Companies sent the following statement to Tewksbury Patch:

"The plan includes an off-site transportation mitigation program along Dascomb Road, Frontage Road, and Smith Drive to improve vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian operations and safety, which will include the installation of traffic signals, improved accommodations for bicycles and pedestrians and traffic calming measures," the company said. "The TEC plan will be reviewed by, and require approval from, MassDOT, the Town, and Federal Highway (sic)."

According Lupoli's own traffic study, the project would create nearly 10,000 trips in and out of the development every weekday once construction is completed. Currently, about 26,000 vehicles travel on Dascomb Road each weekday, according to MassDOT, but that number has been steadily increasing in recent years.

According to MassDOT, traffic volume on the on- and off- ramps to Dascomb Road in both directions on Interstate 93 have been steadily increasing at a rate of 2-3% annually. That was until 2016, when the northbound on and off ramps saw a sudden, 6% spike in traffic volume.

Lupoli's plan includes traffic improvements and, in public meetings, those improvements have been presented as not only accommodating the additional traffic, but improving the flow of traffic through the area better than the current set up. The Lupoli Companies have received a $6 million grant specifically for addressing traffic concerns and, according to its Website, would cover any traffic mitigation costs over the $6 million.

"We will not receive a permit to build unless all infrastructure changes have been mitigated and approved by MassDOT, Federal Highway and the Town of Andover," the company said on its Website. The company says it will address traffic concerns by widening sections of roadway and use automatic traffic signals to increase traffic flow. In the neighborhoods surrounding the development, the Lupoli Companies said it would improve safety with "traffic-calming measures" -- weight limits for the highway off ramps, reduced speed limits, speed limits bike lanes and additional crosswalks.

But as the size of the plan has grown, so have the worries of area residents. When Lupoli first proposed the project in 2014, he envisioned a 350,000 square foot development with no housing. Now the project has grown to 600,000 square feet. The town meeting warrants that were withdrawn in May called for housing that targets millennials. The revised warrants for the January special town meeting would restrict residents to people over the age of 55.

The 23-acre site sits at the junction of I-93 and Dascomb Road and has been mostly vacant since 2013, when Brockway-Smith moved moved its window, door and millwork manufacturing operations. Under its original zoning, the site was only approved for industrial use. In 2013, Town Meeting approved a zoning change allowing retail, office and other commercial uses.

The wording of the 2013 zoning law change implied that the change was being made for existing residents, and aimed at offering "conveniences and services ... to under-served residents, the business community and commuters” in West Andover.

"Residents and workers in the West Andover and the Dascomb Road area have limited access to obtain the services that homeowners, business people and employees readily enjoy in other parts of Andover," the bylaw reads.

Lupoli's development is similar to mixed used developments in Lynnfield and Dedham, as well as developments that are under construction on Route 1 in Saugus. As part of the 600,000 square foot development, Lupoli wants to build 225 residential units for people over the age of 55, a 100-room hotel; 150,000 square feet of office space, 50,000 square feet of retail space, a 15,000 square-foot fitness center, a 35,000 square-foot neighborhood market, a 5,000 square-foot recreational center, and 20,000 square-foot of restaurant space.

According to Lupoli's Website, the company is opting for so-called empty-nester housing to address traffic concerns. Devlopers often use 55+ communities as a way of targeting an affluent tax base that no longer has school-aged children that put pressure on school districts.

"A 55+ community will reduce the size of the project and therefore reduce traffic. It will bring in additional revenues and spur on economic development in Andover," the company said. "We also believe 55+ housing will fulfill a need in Andover by creating a safe, healthy, sustainable and vibrant community for empty-nesters and long-time Andover residents who want to remain in the community but reduce the size and cost of their larger residences."

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Photo by Dave Copeland.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).