Housing Headlines

WEYMOUTH --- At public hearings, public support continues to build for the city to create a mixed use overlay district along its busy Route 53, 18 and 3A business corridors, The new zoning overlay district would allow developers to seek special permits for multi-unit housing with retail or office space on the first floor. Residential-only proposals would be allowed by special permit. If enacted, it would be the first zoning changes for those areas since the 1970s.

DENNIS --- Dozen of neighbors attended a planning board meeting to protest a proposal by Cape Commerce Nominee Realty Trust to redevelop two lots in a single-family neighborhood into 28 mixed-income apartments. The trust, which includes land owner David L. Howes, Bruce MacGregor and Doug Lebel, are seeking a special permit to build Beach Plum Village. Residents voiced concerns about density, traffic, crime, pollution, and property values. Board members said a denial could open the property up to an even larger proposal.

BOSTON --- A recent letter filed by the Boston Planning and Development Agency regarding the redevelopment of Suffolk Downs indicates that the City of Boston is gearing up to review its inclusionary zoning policy and is expected to "increase the level of affordability requested of developers." In its letter, BPDA urged developer HYM Investment Group to aim higher than the 13 percent affordable housing required under the current policy.

In her first state of the city address, newly elected mayor Ruthanne Fuller cited housing as one of her priorities. Fuller highlighted a plan to update zoning that would identify areas where more housing makes sense and her proposal to hire a firm that would engage the community in coming up with a master plan for the Washington St, corridor, a key transit-oriented stretch parallel to the Mass Pike and the commuter rail. (Scroll down her speech. It's after the third set of bullet points).

With support from MHP, DHCD and the Boston Foundation, The Neighborhood Developers of Chelsea and Nuesta Comunidad of Boston are forming a new Opportunity Communities initiative in which the two CDCS will join to create an organization model that will sustain each's individual mission while integrating staff to form an efficient administrative platform.

IPSWICH --- A 194-unit housing proposal that has drawn criticism from residents and elected officials has received what's known as a Project Eligibility Letter from the state, the requirement local businessman John Bruni needed to apply to the town's Zoning Board of Appeals for a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit. (Note: MHP is the subsidizing agency that provided the PEL).