NORTH ANDOVER - The developer of 49 condominiums has agreed to pay the town $5,000 per condo, which could bring in $180,000 to the town.

The Zoning Board of Appeals gave preliminary approval for the development, Merrimac Condominiums, but asked for the $5,000 per condo mitigation fee. The $5,000 does not apply to 13 condos that will be priced affordable.

"This is compensating the town for unknown costs that are outside taxes, such as increased traffic," said associate member Daniel Braese. "This is a good citizen fee. If they are doing work in town and are going to make a lot of money, they can support the town."

Donald Borenstein, attorney for the developer Peter Hingorani, said the fee is unusual for a project of this size without a larger profit expected.

He said he would have recommended against accepting the offer, but his client decided to accept.

The most recent project in town to have a similar fee is the 530 apartments going in at Osgood Landing off Osgood Street. In that project, the developer is paying the town $2,000 per apartment. The state also is paying the town $3,000 per apartment because the project qualifies for 40R status - a mix of residential, business, offices and industrial space that also includes affordable housing.

Hingorani will pay the $5,000 for each condominium in Merrimac Condominiums when it is ready to be sold. The money will go into the town's general budget.

Braese said the board hasn't asked for the fee in the past, but will ask for it in the future to get the most for the town.

The development will cluster three-bedroom town houses on 10 acres of land off Route 114 near Berry Street. The plans include three single-family homes that would be built on three lots next to the development.

The project has gone through many phases over the last two years. Original plans called for 95 apartments in two six-story towers, but Hingorani revised the plans after neighbors complained the development wouldn't fit in with the neighborhood, which is mostly single-family houses.

The number of condos was finally whittled down to 52, including the three houses on their own lots.

Borenstein said the process took longer than his client would have liked, but he is glad to finally get a decision.

"At the end of the day we got a project approved that we can be proud to build," he said.

Because 25 percent of the town houses would be priced affordable, the project qualifies for 40B status, meaning the developer could ask the Zoning Board of Appeals to waive local bylaws. The board did not waive everything the developer asked for, but did agree to allow some of the building to be closer to wetlands than is normally allowed. The board also agreed to change the zoning so single-family homes can be built in an area zoned for business.

The plan also needs to get approval from MassHousing. Hingorani will return to the board with more detailed plans before the project gets final approval and building can begin.