Caught up at City Hall

So I went to the Water Commission meeting because of the Little Village on the River deal (it's baaaack - and I still can't get the name straight), then dropped in on the Budget & Finance/Public Utilities meeting in council chambers ... came out of that and there was this big old group of people lurking in the hall ... so just had to go back in for the Planning Board meeting.

Ed Cameron made me do it.

Well, I asked him if it was important enough for me to stay, and he said he thought so ... so in I went. At the time, I didn't even know it was a Planning Board meeting/public hearing!

The meeting was mostly all about this proposed subdivision on Toppans Lane. Which, you know, being the crack reporter that I am, I was only vaguely aware of.

Personally, I don't think subdivisions belong in city neighborhoods, and apparently a lot of people agree with me.

Sadly, the spiel by the developers took so long that I had to leave before residents got a chance to air their grievances. But there was a lot of muttering going on in that hallway and in the room, before the meeting commenced.

But what it boils down to is a 22-lot subdivision with 20 new homes and two existing houses, on the Rindler "almost 11 acre" property, which is still owned by a Rindler family trust, said the attorney for the developer.

It's a really strange property - it's shaped like a horseshoe (another property down the middle). I did not know there was that much open space left in that area, except for the old gravel pit.

There seems to be a lot of challenges attached to the whole scheme, not the least of which was the negative attitude coming off the Planning Board chairman, Dan Bowie.

I do believe that the developer, Great Woods Post and Beam, once owned that property at 8 Ocean Ave. that I blogged about last weekend ... yes, yes it did ... (checked on the appraisal system).

Speaking of checking, check out this post on The Newburyport Blog, from July 27, 2006, relating to this developer.

There was an awful lot of talk tonight about taking out old stand trees. The Tree Committee will not be pleased.