Swampscott Bid To Halt Veteran Housing Plans, Keep VFW In Place, Fails

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A citizens' petition aimed at halting or forcing the redesign of a senior veterans-preference affordable housing project on town-purchased property on Pine Street — which would necessitate the moving of the VFW post from its current location — narrowly failed following a three-hour debate and vote of special town meeting.

The petition argued that the Select Board violated the spirit of the 2023 town meeting authorization for the original purchase of the property for $1.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for senior, veterans-preference housing and a renovated VFW post by approving a plan that does not include the VFW on site.

The vote Wednesday night was 114 to 104 against the citizens' petition rescinding the 2023 authorization.

• Swampscott Pine Street Parcel, VFW Future Spurs Special Town Meeting

A request for proposal on the plans received one return from B'nai Brith Housing, which presented various proposals that drew opposition based on the height of the affordable housing building if the VFW were to remain where it is, to the size of the veterans' space allotted inside the new building.

In December, following several public meetings and up to nearly two dozen executive sessions pertaining to the sale of the property and negotiations with the developer, the Select Board voted in a contentious, 3-2 split decision to support a three-story housing building over the two parcels of land on Pine Street, which would necessitate the moving of the VFW post to the former ReachArts building on Burrill Street.

• Swampscott Select Board Rejects Special Town Meeting On VFW Post

"Without the inclusion of the new VFW there would have been absolutely zero support for this project from the veterans," said Select Board member David Grishman, an original chief proponent of the project who argued against the land-development agreement that included the moving of the VFW post, "which would have made the warrant article dead on arrival at the May 2023 annual town meeting."

Town Counsel Tom McEnaney told town meeting members that any special town meeting vote to rescind the original authorization on Wednesday was essentially moot given that the Select Board had already used its authority to enter into an LDA with B'nai Brith Housing.

"In short, if the town or the Select Board sought to terminate the LDA at this point and failed to proceed with the ultimate execution of the ground lease and the project," he said, "BBH under the terms of the LDA would have rights to seek damages."

Those who spoke in favor of the petition, supporting the VFW, indicated they may also pursue legal options to force the town to keep the post where it is or at least on the current parcel.

Select Board members MaryEllen Fletcher and Danielle Leonard said the decision to pursue the option that included moving the VFW to a location renovated at town expense, and lessening the height of the housing complex, was a compromise designed to accomplish as many of the objectives of the original proposal as possible.

"This decision was made to minimize the impact on an already densely populated neighborhood," Fletcher said on Wednesday night. "The plan includes building a three-story structure on the two lots and relocating the post to the original American Legion building at 89 Burrill Street — approximately 600 feet from the original location.

"The majority of the Select Board believed that this approach was the most balanced way to (use) ARPA funds and guarantee the success of the project."

While Affordable Housing Trust Chair Kim Martin-Epstein said a vote to rescind the 2023 town meeting authorization would leave the critical housing project "effectively dead," Select Board member Doug Thompson offered an amendment that would essentially force the renegotiation of the LDA to ensure the inclusion of the VFW on the property.

That amendment to the citizens' petition article passed before the article itself eventually failed the narrow decision.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)