Housing Headlines

GREENFIELD --- Sympathetic that the homeless have no other place to go but concerned that the camp has grown and is raising public health issues, the Greenfield Board of Health has voted to order the homeless to leave their camp on the downtown Common by Aug. 20. Simultaneously, Mayor William Martin is working to create temporary housing for some of the homeless at the former Clinical & Support Options office near downtown.

HAVERHILL --- Mayor James Fiorentini is urging the Haverhill City Council to approve a $1.12 million bond that would cover public infrastructure costs associated with developer Sal Lupoli's plans to build a 10-story building near the Merrimack River. The city had planned to use state funds to build a parking garage and a boardwalk extension but the two projects turned out to be more expensive than anticipated and the grant money was lost at the end of the fiscal year, causing the city to seek a local solution. "The state has made it clear to us we got millions and millions in MassWorks money. ... We've tapped out as much as we can of other resources. It's time for us to step up to the plate," Fiorentini said.

FALL RIVER — During a period when it failed to submit a new housing plan with the federal government, the Fall River Housing Authority moved approximately 15 young disabled residents into housing that was for years designated as elderly. The plan, due in April but filed in August, designates which properties will house elderly, families and the disabled. During the period when the plan elapsed, elderly residents began complaining that their facility was no longer elderly only.

FALMOUTH --- By a 4-0 vote that was followed by a round of applause from the 30 people in attendance, the Falmouth Zoning Board of appeals approved a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit for Habitat for Humanity's plan to build 10 single-family homes on a 5.5 acre site off Barrows Road. To be known as Willett Way, the development will feature seven three-bedroom homes and three two-bedroom homes. The land was purchased with $340,000 in Community Preservation Act funds.

HUDSON --- Local developer George Danis is proposing to knock down three industrial buildings in the town's Adaptive Re-Use Overlay District near downtown and constructing 270 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a 2,300 square foot market. Early reaction from residents and the planning board focused on the size of the project, given the overlay district only allows for 150 units.

HAMILTON --- The town's efforts to work with the nonprofit Harborlight Community Partners to build affordable housing along Longmeadow Way appears to be picking up momentum again, with the town's local affordable housing trust set to vote on a new agreement that would call for 48 to 100 units on the site, with the trust pledging up to $500,000 to support making the apartments affordable. The new agreement comes a month after the trust voted to grant Harborlights $300,000 to support an affordable housing development of up to 20 apartments for seniors on Willow St. Harborlight has maintained throughout its discussions that the financial feasibility of developing Willow St. depends on the nonprofit being able to develop housing elsewhere in town.