Housing Headlines

HAMILTON --- Reporter Tim McCarthy takes a look at Hamilton's exploration of a cottage housing ordinance that would allow, by special permit, construction of 800 to 1,500 square foot homes on single-family lots, with a limit of 4.5 homes per acre. McCarthy reports that 66 percent of 700 respondents to a town survey said yes to the idea but he also wrote "Hamilton may support the concept of cottage housing in the abstract, but how the town would react when presented with an actual project remains to be seen."

WORCESTER --- Following two hours of testimony centered mostly on the sad loss of a city landmark, the planning board voted to allow the former Notre Dame des Canadiens Church to be razed by Roseland Residential Trust to make way for a 84-unit mixed-use development with 84 residential units.

FRAMINGHAM --- Town boards charged with coming up with a plan to guide Framingham's future historic preservation efforts have recommended that the town adopt the Community Preservation Act, a local surcharge of up to three percent that can be used to fund historic preservation, open space and affordable housing. Over 40 percent of the state's communities have adopted the measure.

WAYLAND --- A proposal by Eden Management to turn a 6.5 acre site on Rte. 20 into a mixed-income development with 60 apartments have raised concerns from neighbors about additional traffic it will bring to the well-traveled two-lane route and side streets. A group that has started a ProtectWayland.org web site also noted the plan is too dense, doesn't fit the town's character and would harm nearby streams and wildlife.

BOURNE --- State and local leaders gathered recently to celebrate the start of construction for Canal Bluffs, Phase III. When completed, the third phase will bring the total amount of housing to this development to 117 mixed-income apartments. Phase III is being developed by the Housing Assistance Corp. of Cape Cod and Preservation of Affordable Housing.

BOSTON --- With the homeownership phase of the Asian CDC's efforts to restore a Chinatown neighborhood set to open in November, Executive Director Angie Liou told the Sampan Newspaper that over 1,600 entered the lottery to buy one of the 51 affordable condos at 88 Hudson St. The condo building - set to open in November - is going up next to the mixed-income rental apartments at 66 Hudson St., a neighborhood that was destroyed back in the 1950s and 1960s to make way for the Southeast Expressway.