Letter: Deforestation, a ‘Commercial Vehicle Graveyard’ Leave Devastation In South St. Area

My name is Dina Castiglia; I am a very concerned homeowner in the town of Tewksbury.

I’ve been a homeowner and taxpayer since 2006. I purposefully bought a home down a mile and a half dead-end street to raise my children on, and it’s been beautiful. Surrounded by family homes on a huge cul-de-sac engulfed in 250 foot trees … a total paradise. The only people coming down this far either had a purpose to be here or were lost.

That all changed a few months ago when, at the dead end of South St., a parcel of land was sold. That land is commercial and is in Andover, but it abuts residential land in Tewksbury. After the new owner took ownership he began to deforest the area — well over an acre and a half of land. As an abutter I was never notified that this would be happening!

There was no thought to water runoff or deforestation or removing animals from their homes, not to mention that taking down 250-foot trees that lined the cul-de-sac opened an entire residential area up to sound pollution from the highway and from machinery, utility trucks and power lines and left us looking at a commercial vehicle graveyard.

Editor’s note: See the video at the end of the article.

Then there’s the safety factor. Many, many small children live in this area, and now commercial vehicles are flying up and down the streets at all hours of the day and night, including holidays, even after a cease and desist order had been put in place.

As a veteran real estate broker of 26 years, I can also attest to the fact that it has decreased the value of the homes in the area by an immeasurable amount, at an all-time-high market value. All of this, again, was done with no notification.

The kicker is we, the town of Tewksbury, have a relationship with Andover that safeguards Andover’s residential areas, but we do not have a reciprocal relationship from Andover to Tewksbury residents!

Mind blowing, isn’t it!?

I am working to notify as many Tewksbury residents as possible about what is going on. Why? It affects you too! We are paying taxes to fix roads, and South St. is a residential road that is now being utilized by heavy commercial vehicles daily .

THERE IS NO ACCESS FOR THESE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES OTHER THAN SOUTH ST IN TEWKBURY.

There is so much more to this story. Please consider attending a meeting on Thursday, Dec. 2, starting at 6:30 p.m. at The Hall, Memorial Hall Library, 2 North Main St., Andover Ma.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SITUATION HERE

I am including some before-and-after photos and some videos so people can see the devastation we are being forced to live with.

Dina Castiglia
51 Fieldstone Circle