North River Neighborhoods

Potentially Endangered - North River Neighborhoods, especially the Flint/Mason Street neighborhood

Residents along the north side of the North River have requested that Historic Salem, Inc. designate the historic areas on both sides of the river, especially the Flint/Mason Street neighborhood as Potentially Endangered.

Since 2000, Historic Salem has listed the industrial buildings on the North River as endangered. This new listing extends the scope of our concern to include the neighborhoods on both sides of the North River. For several developments, Historic Salem, Inc. has worked with the developers and City Boards to substantially improve building and site design. Nonetheless, the sheer scale of potential developments represent a potential threat that cannot be mitigated solely by improved design. Consistent with Historic Salem, Inc.’s mission to protect historic resources throughout the City, we believe that listing these neighborhoods that might be affected by this type of development, especially the Mason Street/Flint Streets neighborhood as Potentially Endangered, will enable Historic Salem to work with these neighborhoods to promote recognition and preservation of the neighborhood’s historic resources and encourage high quality, compatible development and increased investment in historic resources.

Historic Significance & Background:

The neighborhood on the north side of the river and canal as well as much of the Northfields neighborhood have been recommended as candidates for Neighborhood Preservation Districts by the City’s professional consultants. The North River is the site of Leslie’s Retreat, memorialized by the plaque that stood for many years on North Street. On the south side, the National Register McIntire Historic District abuts the river and park directly across Bridge Street. Over the last ten years there has been substantially enhanced by the development of the Leslie’s Retreat Park along its banks.

Current Concerns:

The nomination was prompted by recent proposed developments and zoning changes that present potential threats to the scale and livability of several historic neighborhoods. In particular, residents of the Mason/Flint Streets neighborhood believe that proposed development, especially the Riverview proposal for the Salem Suede-Bonfanti site, represents potential endangerment. The current threat includes the scale of proposed development, and the impact of increasing traffic in a dense neighborhood already saturated with vehicular traffic. Additional planned and potential developments along both sides of the river may also negatively impact both the McIntire Historic District and Northfields neighborhoods. The North River Canal Corridor (NRCC) Neighborhood Master Plan and the zoning ordinance enacted in 2005 were specifically created to encourage redevelopment of this area for mixed commercial and residential uses in keeping with its historic character and the scale of the adjacent neighborhoods. Historic Salem, Inc. participated in the five-year process that resulted in the Master Plan and zoning changes because it is our mission to ensure that new development complement existing historic fabric. We felt that the resulting master plan and zoning ordinance balanced development needs with protections of historic resources as a result of specific guidelines for scale in the parcels directly abutting existing neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, since that time, zoning decisions on the north side of the river have allowed buildings of significantly greater scale than provided in the ordinance. In addition, in 2009, the City Council passed an ordinance that permits planned unit developments (PUD’s) in the area, most notably at the Salem Oil & Grease site at the corner of Goodhue and Grove Street, potentially allowing big box stores and four story housing where not previously allowed.

Last Updated: July 18, 2008