28 Haverhill Road - Site Plan Review

What is proposed

The applicant, Pulte Homes of New England (for owner Newburyport Properties LLC), has submitted a site plan review application for Lewis Ridge, a residential condominium community at 28 Haverhill Road. The proposal consists of two garden‑style buildings, each containing 63 dwelling units (126 units total). Each building is shown as five stories of living space above a subsurface garage level. Unit types will include one‑ and two‑bedroom floor plans. Twenty percent of the units (25 units) are proposed as affordable and are intended to meet state requirements for inclusion on the City’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI).

Where and how big

The project site is Assessor’s Map 76, Lot 1 and totals approximately 577,913 square feet (13.27 acres). Wetland resource areas including a perennial stream, bordering vegetated wetlands, riverfront area and a FEMA Zone A floodplain bisect the site. Those resources constrain the developable footprint to roughly the northern portion of the parcel — about 3.5 acres — where the buildings, roads and parking are proposed. The southern portion of the parcel (about 9.76 acres) is proposed to remain as passive open space with trails and park features.

Parking, access and transportation

The site plan shows a total of 216 parking spaces: 104 covered garage spaces (52 under each building) and 112 surface spaces. Eleven accessible spaces (including van spaces) are shown and 38 electric vehicle charging outlets are proposed. Secure bicycle parking is included in the garage areas.

Vehicular access is proposed by two full‑access driveways: one on Haverhill Road (Route 110) and one on Hillside Avenue (Route 150). The applicant will apply to MassDOT for required state access permits. A Transportation Impact and Access Study (TIAS) was submitted; using industry trip rates (ITE LUC 221), the TIAS estimates the development will generate about 45 vehicle trips in the weekday morning peak hour (10 entering / 35 exiting), about 48 vehicle trips in the weekday evening peak hour (31 entering / 17 exiting), and roughly 562 vehicle trips per day. The TIAS reports that the proposed driveways meet AASHTO sight‑distance guidance based on measured travel speeds and that study intersections are expected to operate acceptably under the modeled future conditions. The TIAS documents background crash history at nearby intersections for context.

Natural resources, stormwater and utilities

The site contains wetlands, a perennial stream, riverfront area and a mapped floodplain. The applicant states no bordering vegetated wetlands (BVW) will be directly disturbed and that the buildings are sited outside the 100‑foot inner riparian zone with limited (10%) disturbance within the 200‑foot outer riverfront zone as allowed under state rules.

A Stormwater Management Report and plan set were submitted. The stormwater design uses two subsurface infiltration systems (SIS‑1 and SIS‑2) with a combined static infiltration volume of 28,250 cubic feet; the report calculates the DEP required recharge for the project as about 4,726 cubic feet, so the proposed systems provide more recharge than the calculated requirement. The engineers modeled an infiltration rate of 8.27 inches/hour and calculated drawdown times of approximately 7.3 hours (SIS‑1) and 5.1 hours (SIS‑2), both below the Massachusetts DEP requirement of 72 hours. Peak flow modeling (HydroCad) shows post‑development peak discharges at the downstream point of analysis do not exceed pre‑development peak discharges for the 2‑, 10‑ and 100‑year, 24‑hour storms. Two culverts are sized to pass 100‑year flows for their contributing watersheds. During construction the project will need coverage under the federal NPDES Construction General Permit and a site‑specific Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) will be prepared; the SWPPP sets out erosion and sediment controls for the construction period.

Water and sewer service are proposed to connect to existing municipal mains in Haverhill Road (an existing 12" water main and an 8" sanitary sewer). The applicant indicates dwellings will be all‑electric (no natural gas to units). Refuse collection is proposed to be internal to the buildings with exterior screened recycling and private collection.

(Technical note: an Order of Conditions is the permit issued by the Conservation Commission under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act; NPDES refers to the federal permit program for stormwater discharges and the SWPPP is the site‑specific plan required under that permit.)

Open space, affordable housing, ownership and permits

The plans show approximately 9.76 acres of the property proposed to remain undeveloped and to be used for passive open space features: a neighborhood park, walking trails, a pollinator meadow, and a trail connection to an existing off‑site trail system. The applicant proposes to build the park and trail amenities and either donate that open space to the City or retain it in condominium ownership with a conservation restriction.

The development is proposed as a condominium community to be governed by a master deed and condominium documents to be recorded prior to unit sale/occupancy. Twenty percent of units (25 units) are proposed as affordable and will be distributed throughout the buildings; the applicant states the affordable units will be constructed to the same physical standards as market units.

Permits and approvals identified in the submission include: Planning Board site plan review and approval; a Notice of Intent and Order of Conditions from the Amesbury Conservation Commission (wetlands permitting); MassDOT access permits for the state highway driveways; and NPDES coverage and SWPPP submission prior to construction. Additional local building, utility and occupancy permits will be required before construction and occupancy.

Status and next steps

The Planning Board application package includes site plans, architectural renderings and floor plans, a project narrative, a Stormwater Management Report (with O&M plan and SWPPP elements), and a Transportation Impact and Access Study. The applicant indicates they will file a Notice of Intent with the Conservation Commission concurrently with the Planning Board filing and will apply to MassDOT for access permits following Planning Board review/approval as needed. NPDES coverage (the Construction General Permit) and a final SWPPP must be obtained before beginning any land disturbance. Further municipal and utility permitting (water/sewer service connections, building permits, etc.) will follow as the project proceeds.