Housing Headlines

BRAINTREE --- After four public meetings, the effort by Mayor Joseph Sullivan and the city to craft the town's first zoning overhaul in decades is headed for the town council, with critics saying the plan allows too much commercial and high-density residential while Sullivan is saying it's an effort by the town to better manage its future development.

TRURO --- A new bylaw designed to provide more year-round housing and combat rising home prices due to off-Capers buying second homes has its first conversion as the 28-unit Stones Throw Condominiums at 6 Shore Road has been OK'd by the Select Board for year-round living. Truro estimates that there are 515 "seasonal" units that could apply to be year-round.

NANTUCKET --- Surfside Crossing’s developer Josh Posner has told the town he and co-developer Jamie Feeley would consider reducing the size of the controversial 40B housing development from 100 to 88 units if it helped “get to something everyone can live with.”

DENNIS --- An attorney for the Town of Dennis argued that town-owned lot that was conveyed for the development of a five-bedroom home for military veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless can be built upon because the purpose of the town's affordable housing bylaw "is to take lots that would otherwise be unbuildable and unusable and use them for the productive purpose of creating affordable housing.” In 2016, a neighbor sued to stop the project, saying the town had classified the lot as "unbuildable." The lawyer for the town, Jackie Cowin, cited the town's bylaw during a hearing in state Appeals Court, urging the judge to uphold a previous Land Court decision in favor of the town.

WORCESTER --- Reporter Cyrus Moulton looks into sober houses in Worcester and Fitchburg which are part of a case in state Superior and federal court challenging whether lodging house permit requirements discriminate against or protect the disabled.

HANOVER --- The owners of the Hanover Mall are another step closer to bringing 297 apartments to Hanover to the back of the property where the cinema now sits, as the zoning board of appeals has OK'd a height variance that will allow buildings to go above the 35-foot, three-story limit to 53 feet or four stories. A meeting with the planning board is the next step.