Peabody Keeps a Close Eye on Salem Walmart Expansion

As neighboring cities Salem and Lynn continue an ugly battle over a proposed Big Box shopping development on Route 107, Peabody officials are watching closely in the background, waiting to see the environmental impact the project will have on Spring Pond.

The proposal, which would bring a new Lowe’s Home Improvement store and the expansion and reconstruction of existing Meineke and Walmart stores to Route 107 just before the Lynn/Salem line, has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was first proposed in 2009.

Although most of the battling has been done between officials in Salem and Lynn, Peabody city leaders have their antennas up as well. They are concerned about drainage from the shopping center depositing dangerous and unhealthy runoff in to the city’s water supply at Spring Pond.

Spring Pond is located in close proximity to the rear of the Walmart/Lowe’s site, which has city officials concerned enough that the City Council developed an Ad Hoc committee to keep tabs on the project and ensure the safety and conservation of the pond.

Community Development Director Karen Sawyer said, thus far, Salem has been accommodating to the Peabody’s concerns, and the City Council was given a drainage study last month that claims drainage into the pond will not be an issue. 

That study promised retention pools in some areas of the development to collect excess water and said that water drainage would flow away from Spring Pond toward marshlands in South Salem and eventually the coastal Forrest River Park near Salem State University.

Still, Lynn officials have raised concerns over an already existing flooding problem in that area and say drainage issues are likely to make the situation worse.

Sawyer said at this point the project has many more hurdles to cross before becoming a reality, including a pending lawsuit filed on behalf of the city of Lynn. She said Peabody officials have to wait and let that process play out.

“Based on the information we have been given so far we aren’t concerned,” she said. “The city of Peabody is an abutter to the project so as this goes through Salem’s Conservation Commission we expect to be notified as abutters throughout the process.”

In Salem, the shopping center is viewed as an anchor to the busy Highland Avenue business district, which already includes a large shopping plaza with Target and Home Depot just over a mile up the road. Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll has said the project is vital to the city’s commercial tax base and would help bring jobs to a number of surrounding communities.

But the city of Lynn sees it differently. The city filed suit in Salem Superior Court late last year in the hopes of nullifying the Salem Planning Board’s approval of the project. The issue, Lynn officials say, is that a new shopping center will bring unwanted traffic to an already congested area of the city, and furthermore, as part of the project, changes will need to be made to three intersections on the Lynn side of the city line -- changes Salem approved without consultation or approval.

Lynn Mayor Judith Kennedy, along with several other members of that city’s government, live in the neighborhood nearest to the development.

Peabody’s concerns about the project may not come to the forefront for quite some time as the litigation remains pending in superior court. In addition, the project developers must file and undergo a full environmental impact report with the Department of Environmental Protection in conjunction with the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act before any portion of the project can begin.

Mass DEP spokesperson Joe Ferson said Wednesday that no such report has been filed.