A developer proposed housing in Peabody. To stop it, the city bought the land.
For decades, rumors had swirled around an 80-acre patch of land in South Peabody. Load Error The land, a hilly, wooded stretch that has long sat un...
For decades, rumors had swirled around an 80-acre patch of land in South Peabody. Load Error The land, a hilly, wooded stretch that has long sat untouched, was owned by a local developer, and residents feared a housing development could crop up there — a big one. It nearly happened late last year, when the developer, in a private meeting, presented city officials with site plans, some of which laid out hundreds of apartments. Mayor Edward Bettencourt didn't like it. So he devised a plan, and declared it during his annual State of the City address in January: the city would buy the land itself, and prevent any new housing from being built there.