PEABODY. The Peabody City Council meets Thursday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank L. Wiggin Auditorium at City Hall, 24 Lowell Street, with seven public hearings on the agenda, including the twice-continued special permit for vehicle storage and repair at 60 Pulaski Street that neighbors in the packet describe as a Tesla facility, a rezoning of 495 Lowell Street, three apartments in a former dry cleaner’s building at 106 Lynn Street, and a landscaping yard on Mason Street. The Finance Committee meets first, at 7 p.m., on $1,177,370 in Community Preservation Act transfers. The meeting is televised on Peabody Access Television and open to remote public comment by Zoom, webinar 815 7306 9303. The details below come from the 235-page council packet and the 57-page Finance Committee packet posted on the city website; most pages are scanned and were read by optical character recognition.
60 Pulaski Street: the permit neighbors call the Tesla plan
Hearing item 4(g) is the special permit application of 60 Pulaski Street Industrial, LLC to “allow automotive storage of undamaged and operable vehicles and automotive repair shop” in the IL zoning district at 60 Pulaski Street, continued from September 10 and, according to correspondence in the packet, from October 22 as well. The agenda does not name a tenant. The residents whose letters are in the packet do. Wendy Thomas of 10 Westview Circle, writing September 3 as “a resident and immediate neighbor of the Mill Overlay District,” asked the council to read into the record her “strong and unequivocal opposition to Tesla’s application for a Special Permit to establish a large-scale commercial/industrial Tesla facility at 60 Pulaski Street.” Her letter centers on “the proposed concentration of Tesla vehicles and lithium-ion batteries in close proximity to residential properties, wetlands and schools,” cites a June 24, 2026 fire at a Tesla service operation in Owings Mills, Maryland in which four vehicles burned and a hazardous materials team was called, and asks the city not to approve the permit “unless and until the City has obtained independent, comprehensive evaluations addressing fire safety,” emergency response, battery fire cooling, stormwater and spill containment.
In an October 5 follow-up to Ward 3 Councillor Stephanie Peach, Thomas wrote that she understood “Attorney Keilty has submitted a new plan that removes the building for the repair facility” and that her concerns “do not change with the applicant’s proposed amendment.” Peach’s reply, also in the packet, says: “To start, I am not in favor of the Tesla application. I’ve been an advocate for moving away from industrial uses and was hoping to see this lot have a better use with the new zoning overlay.” She wrote that the hearing had been rescheduled to October 22, that the applicant’s attorney was to gather more information and meet with her, that she expected more information from the Fire Department, and: “I do not think this is something that will pass on the Council floor.” A third letter, from David MacDonald of 6 Westview Circle, a resident of the street for 32 years, calls his own position “a ‘not in my back yard’ argument and yes, it is,” and suggests the former Analogic and Rousselot properties or the old police station, “that has parking garage bays, and no immediate neighbors,” as alternatives.
495 Lowell Street: single-family lot to two-family zoning
Hearing item 4(a), continued from October 22, is a zoning map amendment to move Assessors Map 048, Parcel 076, at 495 Lowell Street, from Residential 1B to Residential 2. The petitioner is Todisco Properties, LLC, represented by Attorney John R. Keilty, who wrote the council’s Industrial and Community Development Committee on July 30 asking that the amendment be “from R1-B to R-2 rather than R-4.” Senior Planner Andrew Levin reports that the Planning Board opened its own hearing October 15, heard a brief presentation from the petitioner’s attorney and public comment, and that “the Board and public both requested more information from the petitioner before a decision be made”; at the petitioner’s request the board continued its hearing to November 5. The packet does not include the result of that November 5 session.
Department responses are mixed. The Police Department, through Captain Scott Richards, wrote that it has “some concern if the proposed property improvements will use the shared driveway or create a new one closer to the intersection and traffic lights.” The Conservation Commission’s response notes that city mapping shows wetlands on the northwest and northeast portions of the lot, that the commission “may be concerned with denser development in an environmentally sensitive area,” and that “single family houses may be a better fit for the lot.” Community Development, Fire and the Treasurer checked no objections.
106 Lynn Street: three apartments in a Neighborhood Business zone
Hearing item 4(e), continued from October 8, is JVL Properties, LLC’s special permit to “repurpose a pre-existing, nonconforming three-story structure at 106 Lynn Street, which had commercial rental spaces, to become three residential units” in the BN, Neighborhood Business, district. The packet includes two memoranda from Levin on the application and a resident’s flyer circulated before the first hearing in September. The flyer identifies the building as the former Toomey’s Dry Cleaners, argues that residential development “produces NEGATIVE tax revenue after the 1st year” because of school, police and fire costs, that Lynn Street is a commercial corridor that has had small business activity at the site “for almost a century,” and that the applicant “also owns up to 5 adjacent/contiguous properties, all BN,” so that granting the permit would set a precedent for the block.
Mason Street, Pulaski Street billiards, Foster Street dealer
Item 4(f) is the special permit application of New Generation Landscaping and Fence, Inc. for 15R Mason Street, to operate “a landscaping, fencing, snow, and masonry business with outdoor storage of mulch, vehicles, equipment and loam” in the IL district. Owner Elder Juarez writes that he has run the business from the fenced lot for more than five years, wants to store mulch and loam in season and salt in winter, keeps fencing materials on site year round, has trucks delivering salt, loam, mulch and fencing “as needed,” keeps a portable toilet at the left rear of the property, and “during snow events, will be operating 24 hours if needed.” Keilty represents the applicant.
Items 4(b) and 4(c) are Amazin Billiards and Pub, LLC’s applications for an entertainment license amendment and a pool and billiard license at 23 Old County Road, also known as 58 Pulaski Street, Building 14, Suite 200; the contact is Mazin Shooni, and the Police, Fire, Human Services, Conservation, Community Development, Collector and Treasurer responses in the packet check no objections. Item 4(d) is Intercar Motors Corp.’s request to transfer the Class 2 used car dealer license at 98 Foster Street from Argelia Matta, doing business as Xpress Motor Group, Inc.; the Conservation Commission’s response reads “no comments for transfer of license.”
Finance Committee: $1.18 million in preservation transfers
The Finance Committee, chaired by Peach with Councillors Julie Daigle, David Gamache, Anne Manning-Martin and Jon Turco, takes up six Community Preservation Act requests from Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr., all previously approved by the Community Preservation Committee under Chairman Darren Kelly:
- $270,000 from the Open Space account to the golf course land acquisition account, the second of five annual installments toward the $1.35 million the committee committed in February 2025 for debt service on the 132.45-acre Rousselot purchase; and $400,000 to the DiBiase land acquisition account, the third of five installments toward the $2 million committed in April 2023 for the 76.3-acre parcels surrounding the golf course. The Open Space balance is $1,129,938.97.
- $200,000 from the Community Housing fund to Emerald Development’s affordable housing project at 42R Farm Avenue, voted 9 to 0 by the committee October 13, as a zero-interest, deferred-payment, 30-year loan secured by a second mortgage. The mayor’s letter describes a $69.3 million project adding 116 income-restricted units; the developer’s application says the project is fully permitted under Chapter 40B with a building permit issued, sought $400,000 on top of the $200,000 the city awarded in 2025 as “a show of local support” for its state tax credit application in March 2027, and does not expect to need the money before 2028. The application’s schedule runs from construction in April 2028 to completion in August 2029, with rents “approximately 25 to 35 percent below market” for households at 30 to 80 percent of area median income.
- $170,000 from the unreserved fund balance to the Community Housing account, which held $33,628.40, so that the Farm Avenue request can be funded. The unreserved balance is $3,794,099.46.
- $6,350 from Historic Preservation to restore the city’s last four bronze memorial plaques: $950 for the Cedar Grove Cemetery plaque, $1,150 for the Oak Grove plaque on Pine Street, $1,450 for the Farnham Park plaque on Endicott Street and $2,800 for the Benjamin Prescott Memorial on Tremont Street, commemorating the first pastor of Salem Village. The Historical Commission’s application names Bruce Lane of Kimball Memorials for the work, to begin November 14, and says the commission’s earlier phases restored the Dorothy DeLand, John Proctor, A.C. Lawrence World War II, South Peabody World War II and Henry Jacobs memorials. The committee voted 8 to 0 with one abstention on October 13.
- $131,020 from Historic Preservation for gravestone and fence work in seven historic family cemeteries, voted 9 to 0 on September 15: $21,720 for a fence and $17,500 for stones at the Needham Burying Ground on Goodale Street, $19,400 at Old Flint Burying Ground, $23,300 at Wilson Cemetery on Andover Street, $6,500 at the Russell-Upton Family Cemetery on Glen Drive, $23,900 at Taylor Cemetery at the Oak Grove entrance, $700 at the Emerson Burial Ground at Allen’s Lane and Washington Street, and $18,000 at Brown-Southwick Cemetery off Winona Street, with quotes from Sentry Fence of Peabody and Epoch Preservation of Ipswich. The mayor’s letter puts the Historic Preservation balance at $977,533.36.
A food ware ordinance, a mattress program and Bartholomew Street
Under communications from city officers, Public Health Director Sharon Cameron reports that the Board of Health reviewed the “Sustainable Food Ware and Packaging Ordinance” submitted by resident Daniel Greenberg at its October 22 meeting, “agrees that such an ordinance would have beneficial environmental impacts for Peabody, and voted unanimously to recommend that the Council support this initiative,” while asking that some sections, “particularly with respect to Section 3: Exemptions,” be discussed before any language is finalized. She offers to meet with the council’s Human Services Committee.
A November 5 memorandum from Community Development Director Curt Bellavance, Public Services Director William Paulitz and Cameron reports that the three departments “have identified a solution” on mattress and box spring disposal “with implementation anticipated at the beginning of 2027,” are finalizing collection and disposal details, “securing a vendor to provide convenient residential pickup services,” and working out “any changes in fees or costs,” and will present the program to the council once it is set.
Manning-Martin’s communication concerns the Municipal Safety Committee’s October 22 hearing on Bartholomew Street. Resident Emilio Eramo of 2 Litchfield Road wrote that the measures discussed there, “improved signage, a uniform speed limit, electronic speed indicators, and additional enforcement,” all “depend largely on voluntary driver compliance,” that he was “particularly disappointed by the apparent dismissal of speed humps and speed tables,” and that he questioned the argument that such measures would delay emergency vehicles. Manning-Martin replied November 4 that “many of your concerns and comments were shared by myself and other councilors while discussing possible speed table installation involving Granite St/Golf Course,” that she agrees “these decisions should be data driven,” and that she would share the letter with Captain Richards and the committee record.
Petitions and the rest of the agenda
- A new underground storage tank license for the Birney Street Foster Condominium, 100 Birney Street, Unit 2, which requires a hearing.
- A special event application for the city’s Annual Christmas Tree Bonfire at Tillie’s Farm, Saturday, January 9, 2027 from 4 to 7 p.m., with food and drink vendors, lawn games and a DJ.
- An entertainment license amendment for Red Tea, 126 Newbury Street, manager Da Ying Ye, for non-live entertainment, which requires a hearing.
- Reports of committees, with Peach reporting from the Finance Committee meeting the same night; motions, orders and resolutions; communications from the mayor; and unfinished business.
The council: President Michael T. Higgins, Ward 6; Craig S. Welton, Ward 1; Wendy A. Lattof, Ward 2; Stephanie R. Peach, Ward 3; Julie K. Daigle, Ward 4; David R. Gamache, Ward 5; and Jaclyn Corriveau, Jarrod M. Hochman, Anne M. Manning-Martin, Thomas J. Rossignoll and Jon G. Turco at large. Allyson M. Danforth is clerk of the council. The council packet is here and the Finance Committee packet here. Earlier coverage: the October 22 meeting and the Central Street and Pulaski Street water main work.
