Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.
Haverhill city councilors hear plans tonight to build 14 single-family homes on 25.3 acres of former farmland off Lake Street and Mohawk Trail.
The proposal by Aaron Orso, co-owner of Cedar Crest Development seeks to take advantage of another element of the city’s new zoning master plan. Using the new “Flexible Development” zoning tool, the developer could be permitted to build 14 homes where only 10 would be conventionally allowed.
“The applicant has presented information seeking to justify two types of density bonus. Two units based on additional open space and two additional lots based on amenities and contributions to public safety,” Economic Development and Planning Director William Pillsbury Jr. wrote in a letter to councilors dated last Friday.
Last summer, Orso wrote the development style anticipated by the new zoning is “designed to preserve open land and promote the integrity and heritage of the City of Haverhill and the surrounding New England area.”
Each home would have two parking spaces. The land is currently owned by Antoine R. and Judith Provencher who consented to the developer’s filing.
In its comments the Haverhill Fire Department expressed concerns over distances between homes and recommended the developer “consider upgrades from minimum code requirements.”
If councilors approve a special permit for a Flexible Development, the project moves to the definitive plan stage before the Haverhill Planning Board and review by the Conservation Commission.
In other business before the City Council, Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan is calling attention to a State Auditor’s Report pointing to 29 state laws approved between 2016-2020 that place “significant” financial burdens on cities and towns without providing enough state aid to offset costs.
The Haverhill City Council meets tonight at 7, remotely and in-person at the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, room 202, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., As a public service, 97.9 WHAV plans to carry the meeting live.