Neighbors Rally To Oppose Housing Project On Tewksbury VFW Site

TEWKSBURY, MA -- A developer who wants to purchase and raze the Tewksbury VFW on Vernon Street to build eight new houses is meeting stiff opposition from neighbors, who say the project is to dense for the residential neighborhood. More than 75 of them attended a meeting last Thursday at the VFW to hear the developer's proposal, and neighbors are starting a grass roots campaign to increase awareness of the plan. To move forward, Vinnie Casazza of the Wakefield development company Apex Investments LLC would need town meeting to approve changing the zoning of the lot.

According to Bonnie Spiegel, whose property abuts the proposed site of the project, the zoning change would allow for more densely-populated housing developments across Tewksbury. The current zoning designation is called R40 and limits one house per one-acre lot. Under the proposed change, Casazza would get a Residential Transitional Design Special Permit to allow for more houses on smaller lots and set a precendent for similar permits to be issued in other areas of Tewksbury zone R40.

"Does this mean any builder that has 1.5 acres, a whim, and wants to make a buck, all they have to do is get a special permit from the Planning Board to change the zoning to their liking?" Spiegel said. "Adding this change to our zoning bylaws can potentially become ripe with abuse even beyond this South Tewksbury project."

In an email to Patch, Spiegel said the area is already prone to flooding and the proposal would call for removing trees that help alleviate some of the water worries neighbors have. Residents in the neighborhood are eligible to purchase flood insurance because of an underground stream that runs through the area, Spiegel said.

The project underscores a long-running debate in Tewksbury. Residents complain that the town has been too quick to approve new housing projects, which stretches town services thin and has created a marked change in the feel of th town for residents who have lived in Tewksbury for decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 11,698 housing units in Tewksbury at the end of 2016, up from 10,759 at the end of 2010.

"We want our neighborhood to be improved. When will our elected officials listen to the taxpayers?" Spiegel said.

Casazza and his attorney, David Plunkett, met with the planning board last month to discuss the possibility of building houses if they do purchase the VFW. Casazza said the eight houses would reduce traffic and eliminate conflicts between the commercial use of the VFW and the mostly residential use of the surrounding neighborhood. Casazza added that the VFW is currently looking for a smaller facility.

Some neighbors who live close to the property received letters notifying them of a community meeting about the project on Thursday. Casazza said he expects each of the eight units to be two stories tall. He noted that all but one of the lots in his proposed subdivision are bigger, on average, than other residential lots in the neighborhood.

Any change would require planning board approval and the Jan. 22 meeting was aimed at getting a feel on whether or not the board would support the proposal. According to minutes of the meeting, planning board member Jeremiah Delaney and Chairman Robert Fowler signaled that they were supportive of the preliminary description of the project.

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Photo of flooding in a lot adjacent to the Tewksbury VFW taken by Bonnie Siegel on February 11, 2018.

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