Residents appeal Powder Mill Square approval                   3/16/00
By Rebecca Lipchitz
   A group of 10 residents is seeking to block the Powdermill Square Project, which the Conservation Commission approved with a lengthy order of conditions.
   Peter Hadley, Patrick Robbins and other neighbors of the potential apartment building/medical office and clinic say the site is too close to the river, and that such a project would pollute the river and cause more flooding in an area that is already prone to flooding.
   Engineers for Powder Mill Square designed the building with a parking garage on the ground floor designed to flood in large storms.
   Residents appealed the project on several grounds, including the project's potential effect on the river, and what they call an out-dated FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) formula that affects flooding regulations.
   They also charge that the amount of paved area on the site is misrepresented on the developer's Plans, changing the way the area would flood.
   ConsCom member Paul Finger says the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) may issue superceeding orders or deny the project
   "We felt we addressed the issues adequately, but many times, the DEP won't take the same position," he says.
   Finger says the ConsCom was most concerned with issues affecting the flood plain, while the Planning Board is charged with considering health and safety issues such as traffic.
   Residents, town officials and representatives of the DEP are scheduled to walk the site, at the corner of Stevens and North Main streets, this morning, Thursday.
   DEP officials hope to determine "if the area is signficant to the (Wetlands Protection) Act and to informally discuss all relevant issues," according to a letter from James Sprague, section chief at DEP.
   The project was approved by the ConsCom in January. Four of five Planning Board members would have to approve the project in order for it to pass.
   In a discussion about the project on Feb.22, Planning board member Paul Salafia said he believes the town is in need of rental housing and a health clinic.
   "It's just a great way to use that land. It just makes good sense," he said.
Issues such as traffic or the size of the building in relation to the site, which board member Linn Anderson calls "ambitious," could be the price Andover has to pay for a such a project, Salafia said."Traffic in that area needs to be improved. This is something positive I think we can do for the town. This is one of the reasons I became a planner, to have an imprint on the town," he said.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Miller said that while he may have doubted the developer's traffic consultant, the same results came from the independent consultant hired for the town at the expense of the developer.