Peabody Conservation Commission Denies Both Lowell Street Projects 5-1

PEABODY — June 10, 2026 — Peabody Conservation Commission voted 5-1 twice to deny proposed developments on Lowell Street, turning away a group residential facility for Northeast Arc and a duplex proposal by Cosmo and Zoe Evangelides in a meeting that ran past 11 p.m. Commissioner Bruce Comac cast the lone dissenting vote in both cases, with Chair Michael Rizzo and Conservation Agent Lucia Del Negro citing the projects' failure to move work outside the 200-foot riverfront zone along Proctor Brook, the absence of a submitted alternatives analysis, and the failure to provide a required riverfront redevelopment checklist. Attorney John R. Kelty, representing both applicants, experienced repeated Zoom disconnections throughout the hearing. More than 120 abutters had signed a petition opposing both projects. "The project fails to meet the mandatory performance standards for work in riverfront area — the whole parking lot and the EV charger is in the riverfront," said Taras Kucharenko, 5B Karellitz Road. The commission also approved pool-installation determinations for two residential properties and voted to issue two enforcement orders against 147 Summit Street tenant Pinto Recycling.