Housing Headlines

SHREWSBURY --- Town Meeting voted to consolidate the zoning of two sites into one 73-acre Route 20 overlay district and also amended the district to allow for residential, clearing the way for developers to redevelop the long-vacant Edgemere drive-in into a mixed-use development featuring a Market Basket Grocery store, other commercial space and 250 one- and two-bedroom apartments.

CHATHAM --- Once upon a time, dorms were the norm for seasonal workers, but most have been redeveloped into private residences or upscale condos. In a reversal of that trend, the Zoning Board of Appeals has OK'd a special permit so that the downstairs portion of the Colonial Building can be converted into 18-bed dorm for summer workers, the first dorm to be located downtown in decades.

GLOUCESTER --- The debate regarding the redevelopment of the Fuller School site into a mixed-use site with a new YMCA, retail space and 200 apartments continues to swirl around the issue of whether the developers should include 30 affordable units in the project or to pay $1.5 million into the town's Affordable Housing Trust.

BOSTON --- Somerville is to Boston what Brooklyn is to New York City, a much-desired location near a great city that is wrestling with how to grow while maintaining its base of affordable housing. Recently, the city boosted its inclusionary zoning bylaw and now asks developers to set aside 20 percent of its housing as affordable. One developer has asked for a waiver and some are worrying that the additional requirement will scare future development away while others think the city should hang tough and continue to insist on a percentage of housing at a variety of price ranges.

IPSWICH --- At a selectmen's meeting last month, many residents lined up to speak against a housing proposal by longtime resident Frank Bruni. Bruni is seeking a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit from the town in order to redevelop his Bruni Market Place property into 194 apartments, 49 of which would be affordable to households at or below 80 percent of area median income. Resident expressed concerns over the size of the project, the level of affordability, municipal impacts and having so much affordable housing in the same part of town. (Note: In order to submit a 40B application to the town, developers are required to seek a Project Eligibility Letter (PEL) from a state housing finance organization. The developer has requested a PEL from MHP).

AMHERST --- Town Meeting approved a small change in its zoning which will allow for smaller units, another step in the town's support for the non-profit Valley CDC to develop to build a single-room apartment development for area residents transitioning out of homelessness.