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Andover residents fight development with dance tonight
Fundraiser proceeds will be used to battle developer Beazer USA
Saturday, February 24, 2007
By Abbott Koloff, Daily Record

Residents opposed to a proposed development that could triple the population of Andover is holding a dance tonight to raise money to continue their fight against a multibillion-dollar builder.

The fundraiser comes a little more than one week before a new series of hearings are scheduled on Beazer Homes USA's proposed 600-home development.

Officials with the group SaveAndover.org, which is hosting tonight's dance, say they plan to submit a study at the hearings showing the area of the proposed development to be environmentally sensitive.

Beazer Homes sued Andover last year after the borough council declared a 1989 developer's agreement, which paved the way for the development, to be no longer in effect.

"I'm hoping the documents we submit become part of the court case so the judge can review them,"said Fred DiRenzo, a Rockaway resident who grew up in Andover and is the head of SaveAndover.org.

His group's dance is scheduled for tonight from 7 to 11 at the Andover Borough Fire Department on Route 206.

Borough officials plan to hold hearings on the development on March 5 and 6, and also at the fire department, both starting at 7 p.m.

Some residents have said they are concerned that 600 new homes would transform the nature of the 660-resident borough, which has fewer than 300 homes, and raise property taxes by requiring new schools to be built and the establishment of a police force. The borough currently is served by the state police.

A judge directed Andover to hold new hearings after ruling last year that the borough had not given Beazer Homes adequate notice about hearings held more than a year ago. Borough officials say they sent e-mails to Beazer at the time, but were told by the judge that they should have sent certified letters.

Beazer Homes did not send a representative to hearings that led to the council vote that ended the developer's agreement. The company is expected to send representatives to next week's hearings to talk about the proposed development.

Kevin Kelly, a Newton attorney representing Beazer, did not return phone calls on Friday.

Andover Mayor Shirlee Bollard said the hearings will continue on March 21, 26 and 29, if necessary. She said borough officials will talk publicly about the plans after Beazer officials have their say, and then the public will be allowed to speak.

DiRenzo said his organization paid for previous studies by holding yard sales and needs additional money to pay attorneys and engineers.

"We're broke," he said.

DiRenzo said his group does not plan to give any money to the borough -- and borough officials say they don't plan to accept any money from outside groups.

That represents a change from a year ago, when Bollard publicly asked local residents to raise money to help fight the developer's suit. Beazer charged in court papers that borough officials were not being evenhanded, and were "working surreptitiously with various objector groups."

Bollard has since said that she misspoke.

"The borough has nothing to do with that," Bollard said of SaveAndover.org's fundraising efforts. "I stress at each meeting that we are not at all accepting any money."

She said the borough has paid for legal fees out of its $250,000-a-year budget. She said Andover officials are looking into whether some of the lawsuit's costs might be covered by insurance.

Abbott Koloff can be reached at (973) 989-0652 or .

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