DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

Will the Village be built all at once?
The majority of the Village will be built at once including the retail, one of two office buildings, rental apartments, and some of the condominiums. The remaining condominiums and office building will be phased over a few years.

When is construction going to begin and how long will it last?
It is anticipated that construction will begin in late 2008/early 2009 and last approximately 14 months. The balance of the Village will be phased over two to three years.

How can Newbury be certain that all phases of the Village will be completed?
Once the developer closes on its initial financing prior to construction there will be sufficient funds for the initial phase of the Village to be built. The remaining condominiums and the remaining office building only represent a small portion of the proposed development. These will be built as market conditions permit; however, the developer is confident that the Newbury market is historically strong and that there will be sufficient demand for the small total number of condominiums being developed in the second phase and for the final office building.

Will the Village look and feel like traditional Newbury?
The Village will be designed as a vibrant, pedestrian oriented, community with a combination of gabled, hipped and flat roofs, dormers, brick, clapboards, and other materials and styles characteristic of the Newbury community. Colors and textures will be reflective of traditional Newbury styles.

How can the Town be assured that the developer is going to build the Village in accordance with its current description and commitments?
A Development Agreement between the Town and developer will be executed prior to the start of construction. The Agreement will define the detailed scope of the Village including number of housing units, amount of retail and office square feet, all proposed traffic improvements, and the developer's commitment to build and provide free of charge the senior center to the Town.

Since only 14 of the 68 rental homes are affordable, is the Town only gaining 14 homes in its 40B affordable housing inventory thereby not increasing its control over future 40B development?
All cities and towns in Massachusetts are vulnerable to "unfriendly" 40B development if a particular city or town's housing stock is not 10% affordable. According to the Commonwealth, only 3.6% of Newbury's current housing stock is affordable, leaving the Town vulnerable to high density development in areas not suitable for such development, such as Newbury's single family home neighborhoods. The Village is not being zoned as a 40B development; however, all 68 rental apartments and 8 age restricted condominiums will be counted toward the Town's 10% requirement. The Village will thereby increase the Town's total affordability to 6.2% and, because the Village represents such a significant increase in the Town's affordable units in just one year, the Town will be able to prevent any unfriendly 40B development for two subsequent years. The Town will also be better positioned to counter proposed "unfriendly" 40B developments because it will be able to demonstrate to the Commonwealth that it has been making significant strides toward its affordable goal in its approval of the Village. For more information on 40B click on the following link: http://www.chapa.org/chapter40b.html

Newbury is a bucolic community where residents enjoy dark skies and quiet. How is the Village going to contain light pollution?
Individuals choose to live in Newbury because it is a quiet community that appreciates the serenity of nature. The Village will respect these wonderful Newbury characteristics. All exterior light fixtures will be designed to project light downward and inward in order to provide safe, pleasant light conditions which focus light on the areas to be illuminated, but prevent light spillage into the sky and onto adjacent properties. The lighting design will utilize various light pole heights and fixture designs depending on the area to be lit - pedestrian walkways will utilize low, pedestrian scale lighting while streets will utilize fixtures which are more appropriate for illuminating streetscapes. All fixtures will be shielded, will be decorative and will be selected to complement and enhance the overall architecture of the Village.

What will be the visual impact of the Village relative to the natural slope of the site?
The site naturally slopes down from Route 1 towards the Little River and wetlands to the north and west of the area to be developed with a slight rise in elevation in the middle. Therefore, the buildings closer to Route 1 will all be one and two story buildings. The buildings that are three stories and three stories over parking are all strategically located towards the rear of the site where they are visually shielded by the buildings closer to Route 1.

It has been mentioned that the Village is requesting water and sewer services from Newburyport. Is Newburyport amenable to providing these services?
The Newbury Selectmen recently voted to officially request water and sewer services from Newburyport. Mayor Moak has established a task force to study the various issues. The developer has retained Woodard and Curran, a well respected engineering company which specializes in municipal water and sewer systems, to study the infrastructure improvements necessary to tie the Village into Newburyport's system. In addition, the developer understands that Newburyport must benefit from providing water and sewer to the Village. The ultimate goal will be development of a mitigation plan so that Newburyport receives a "net gain" from the Village's construction.

How will construction vehicle traffic be handled?
A construction traffic mitigation plan will be agreed upon with the Town prior to construction. All construction traffic will be prohibited from using any of the neighborhood roads such as Highfield Road, Middle Road, and Hanover Street. The developer's contractor will be required by contract to manage all their vendors to assure that they utilize the designated construction entrances.

Will there be blasting? How will blasting affect other properties in the area?
Development of the Village will require some blasting, but the blasting will be carefully controlled and will not impact any surrounding properties. Prior to any blasting, a seismic monitor will be installed to monitor any impact to the surrounding properties. All blasting will be carefully controlled by a geologist who specializes in blasting, and all blasting will be done with small incremental charges to minimize any potential impacts.