The trees at 675 Andover Street have been growing for decades. A developer wants to cut them down and build a 3,168-square-foot house with a three-car garage on a 40-foot flag lot — the narrowest lot on all of Andover Street — hidden behind the existing home in the Andover Street Historic District.

This is not the first time. In 2013, a developer tried the same thing at 658 Andover Street. The neighborhood opposed it, and the developer walked away. It was never refiled. We stopped it before — we can stop it again.

The Historic Board's own rules say this doesn't belong here. The Lowell Historic Board's Neighborhood District Design Review Standards require that new construction "must relate to the street" (§3.102) and that "large trees and other site features must be protected" (§3.104). A house hidden 186 feet behind another home, reached by a 12-foot driveway, does not "relate to the street." And cutting down decades-old trees to replace them with 2-inch saplings does not "protect" anything.

Here's what the developer didn't submit: No fire access review for the 12-foot-wide driveway. No traffic study. No stormwater or drainage plan. No tree inventory. No lighting impact analysis. Nothing. The Planning Board is required to make findings on six criteria — and the applicant gave them zero evidence to base those findings on.

Here's what they did submit: A plan to create a lot type that has never existed on Andover Street. Out of 497 recorded survey plans we reviewed across 12 streets in our zoning district, not a single building lot has frontage at or below 40 feet. Only one 40-foot lot has ever been approved in the 21-year history of this zoning provision — and that was for a homeowner, not a developer, where the parent lot stayed conforming. This would be the first where the original lot is made nonconforming by the split.

What's at stake:

Decades-old trees replaced with 2-inch saplings that won't provide shade for 15–25 years
New exterior lighting visible from neighboring properties every night, permanently
Construction starting as early as 7 AM, continuing into evenings and weekends, for 8–12 months
A 12-foot-wide driveway with no evidence that fire trucks or emergency vehicles can reach the rear dwelling
A precedent that turns every large lot on Andover Street, Douglas Road, Garden Road, Clark Road, and throughout Belvidere into a developer target
Even if the developer were to address every missing study listed above, we would still oppose this application. The fundamental problem is the creation of a 40-foot flag lot in a neighborhood and Historic District where nothing like it has ever existed. No amount of engineering studies changes the fact that this development is incompatible with the character of our community.

The property was purchased in January 2025 for $618,000 from a listing marketed as a "development opportunity." The owners don't live there — they live at 538 Andover Street. Destroying this heritage for one developer's short-sighted project risks losing the very essence that makes our neighborhood special. This is not just about preserving history — it's about ensuring a livable community for future generations.

We call on the Lowell Planning Board and the Lowell Historic Board to DENY the Special Permit and Major Historic Permit applications for 675 Andover Street.

How to make your voice heard beyond this petition: Email the Planning Board directly — every email becomes part of the permanent record: • mbrundage@lowellma.gov • dricker@lowellma.gov • pcutrumbes@lowellma.gov

Hearing: Monday, November 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM — Lowell City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street