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Peary Court plans revised for third time

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

When it comes to presenting a design that will win city approval, architects for the proposed 208-unit Peary Court development hope the third time is the charm, not three strikes and you're out.

 

White Street Partners, which purchased the 24-acre, former military housing complex last year, has submitted a new design plan for the proposed upscale residential neighborhood, its third since it bought the $35 million property.  The new plan will come back before the Historic Architecture Review Commission (HARC) in a special meeting at 5:30 p.m., May 7, at Old City Hall, 510 Greene St.

 

The revised drawings significantly reduce the size of the proposed homes on the Angela Street side of the property. Ten one-story cottages are now planned along the Peary Court fence that currently separates the housing development from the private homes along Angela Street. All of the larger homes in the proposed development have been set back “a considerable distance” from Angela, according to Donna Bosold, a planning consultant working with White Street Partners.

 

“The Angela Street layout has been greatly modified from earlier drafts in order to meet neighbors’ requests to diminish the visual impact of the new buildings,” Bosold said in a letter to city staff.

 

That may help alleviate concerns voiced by several dozen residents along Angela Street and throughout the Meadows neighborhood. At the most recent meeting on the subject, about 60 residents from the area took advantage of a public forum held by City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley, who represents the area, to give him an earful about the project. While none suggested that the development plans be scrapped, their concerns centered primarily on the potential traffic issues that could arise if Peary Court streets were allowed to connect into the Meadows.

 

White Street Partners have proposed to join the private roads in the new neighborhood to some of the public roads in the Meadows. But those roads, primarily Angela, George and Florida streets, are narrow with limited sidewalks. And because the Peary Court development will creating only 1.5 parking spaces per each of the 208 units, residents worry that the limited parking in the Meadows will be filled by Peary Court residents and their guests.

 

“We don’t want that. We want to preserve Angela Street and the Meadows. There’s going to be a lot of traffic coming in,” said Angela Street resident Steve Dawkins.

 

‘You want to give access to Peary Court. What about us who have lived there for 20 years and who have enjoyed the peace and quiet?” asked Meadows resident Naomi Van Steelandt at Commissioner Weekley's forum.

 

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