Peabody Council Adopts ADU Ordinance, Rejects 36-Unit Lake Street Rezoning Proposal

PEABODY -- July 9, 2026, Peabody City Council adopted updated ADU rules, approved four licenses and permits, and sent two contested rezoning petitions in opposite directions at its July 9 session. The council voted 9 to 0 to adopt accessory dwelling unit ordinance language, required by state law, incorporating five departmental revisions, including a fire-code trigger for three-unit structures and a state sanitary code compliance requirement, as summarized in a July 1 memo from Planning and Community Development Director Kurt Bellavance. The Industrial and Community Development Committee voted 5 to 0 to send an unfavorable recommendation to the Planning Board on a petition to rezone 194 and 196 Lake Street from R1 to R3, which would have allowed up to 36 units; Ward Councilor Gamash called the proposal "an absolute disaster" given the location at the congested end of Lake Street near the Route 95 interchange, while Councilor Turco cited West Peabody's ongoing MWRA water-capacity subsidy as an additional barrier. A separate petition to restore Business Neighborhood zoning to 30 and zero Lake Street, which the owner argues was changed by clerical error after a 2017 purchase recorded as BN, received a 5-to-0 favorable committee recommendation and heads to the Planning Board. A third petition, from Tedisco Properties LLC to rezone 495 Lowell Street from R1B to R4 for two duplexes, was held in committee pending analysis of a cleaner R2 subdivision alternative. The council also voted 9 to 0 each to approve a junk dealer's license for the Peabody Flea Market at 20 Wallace Street, an entertainment license for Red T at 126 Newbury Street, and a special permit for Danvers Family Doctors at 16 Bourbon Street, and confirmed mayoral appointments of Mary Bishop to the Council on Aging and Alan Titelbaum to the Cemetery Commission.