Housing Headlines

AMHERST --- The owner of an abutting property that features several businesses and 14 apartments has filed an appeal asking the town to annul a comprehensive permit granted to Beacon Communities for a $47.5 million, 130-unit mixed-use development in North Amherst.

WAYLAND --- Neighbors have come out in force to object to a developer's application to the town for a Ch. 40B permit to build 12 units on School Street. Over 200 people have signed a petition and residents packed a recent meeting held by the Planning Board and the town's Housing Partnership to preview the proposal. Representatives of Windsor Place LLC were at the meeting but did not speak.

WORCESTER --- The Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) has announced that it is teaming with a Boston nonprofit on a program that will help families with Section 8 use their vouchers and personal income to become homeowners by using the funds to pay a monthly mortgage payment rather than rent. "We're not afraid to try something new in helping folks to self-sufficiency," said WHA Executive Director Alex Corrales in announcing the partnership with Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America . The idea is not new – WHA and other housing authorities have been doing this for more than a decade – but the model is. While both models provide Section 8 vouchers for 15 years, the new model – with the help of the Boston nonprofit – aims to ensure the entire mortgage is paid off in that span.

BEVERLY --- A public hearing was held recently on plans by Harborlight Community Partners to work with the city on using a state zoning incentive bylaw known as Ch. 40R to build 61 affordable rental apartments on the corner of Sohier and Tozier roads.

Attempts by affordable housing advocates on Martha's Vineyard to get each town to contribute a portion of its Community Preservation Act funds into a regional housing bank hit a snag as Edgartown selectmen refused to add a nonbinding question to the annual town meeting warrant.

In a move that would provide an alternative to Harborlight Community Partners' plan to pay $4 million for 20 acres near Hamilton-Wenham High School so it can build 108 apartments, a group of residents are planning to push for a joint Town Meeting that would authorize a study of the land for new athletic fields.