Housing Headlines

TRURO --- The Baker-Polito Administration's Open for Business Program which promotes the use of underutilized state properties is paying dividends for Truro as the town has taken control of four acres of state transportation land and will use it to build affordable housing. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito signed the land over to Truro in a cerremony at the town administration building on Oct. 19. MHP is funding an engineering study to help determine how much housing can be built on the site, which is near the off ramp to Highland Light House in North Truro.

CHELMSFORD --- With the town's supply of apartments expected to double from 625 to over 1,200 in the next few years, reporter Alana Melanson takes town government's temperature on housing and finds public officials see it as a byproduct of the town and region's location and economic health, and they are working to plan wisely so the town can realize the benefits of providing housing for the younger working class and the revenues that come from increased growth.

GRAFTON --- Even though developer Sotir Papalilo has reduced his housing proposal from 54 to 48 units, the town's Zoning Board of Appeals and residents are still concerned over the size of the project, the traffic it will bring in and the fact that an apartment building on Prentice St. would be out of character in this single-family neighborhood.

BOSTON --- While Kensington Investment Company has cut its plan from 322 to 300 units, residents around the former Radius Hospital site in Roxbury remain concerned that the the project is still too big and will bring too many cars into the neighborhood. The units at Townsend Street will be market rate, but developers are planning 45 units of affordable housing at the Bartlett Yard site, currently being developed by the Nuestra Comunidad Community Development Corporation.

SUDBURY --- A Land Court has ruled against the town's claim that a one-acre road it gave to a family trust in a land swap came with a restriction that the road and the 8.6 acres it connected with could only be developed into one single-family home. Justice Howard Speicher ruled that multi-family development would be entirely consistent with existing zoning. Voters who OK'd the swap at 2011 Town Meeting apparently thought development would be limited to a single-family home. The decision clears the way for developer Christopher Claussen to continue to pursue his 250-unit Sudbury Station plans.

SOUTHBOROUGH --- The town is trying to figure out whether to let Brendon Properties buy the historic 27-acre Fay Farm or call a town meeting and ask residents to OK $1.9 million in Community Preservation Act funds to match the developer's offer, an option the town has by virtue of having granted a tax break for having the land designated as forest land. Brendon Properties preliminary plans are to preserve the historic home and barn, and create six house lots, but local zoning and the state's Ch. 40B law would allow it to build more housing. Local officials seem split on whether to buy the land to control it, negotiate with the developer to limit development, or trust that the developer will stick with his six-home plan.