Housing Headlines

DENNIS --- Town officials stood firm in their support of building a 5-bed home for homeless vets, saying that something so "benign" would not hurt property values and that suggestions that the home be built in a commercial or industrial area would unduly isolate veterans and would be "discriminatory, punishing and inconsistent with Dennis’ values as a community.”

PITTSFIELD --- A Western Division Housing Court judge has found that a Pittsfield landlord and owner of 10 apartments has illegally discriminated against a mother of three by refusing to rent to her solely because she has a Section 8 voucher.

GREENFIELD --- The nonprofit development arm of the Greenfield Housing Authority is planning to address a longtime city need as it will open a sober house for women at a property that was seized for back taxes.

YARMOUTH --- Thanks in part to Town Meeting's approval of $155,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, six families will soon become homeowners thanks to a Habitat for Humanity project now underway in West Yarmouth. Yarmouth isn't the only place where the Cape's Habitat chapter is building housing. This year, Habitat has started or is planning to start two homes in Barnstable, four in Chatham and two in Mashpee. Next year, it is planning to start three in Truro, five in Barnstable, and the first phase of a development that will bring 14 new homes to Brewster.

BEDFORD --- The Baker Administration's Secretary of Veteran Services praised the Town of Bedford in his remarks at the grand opening of Bedford Green, a new 69-unit apartment building for homeless veterans on the campus of Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital. The new housing was developed by Peabody Properties, Windover Construction and the Affordable Housing Services Collaborative, with support from the state Dept. of Housing and Community Development and the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

SOUTHBOROUGH — Leo Bartolini is no longer the chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, but his stepping down didn't do much to simmer residents' complaints over the Residences at Park Central project, a 180-unit proposal near the junction of Rtes. 9 and 495. Residents are unhappy that the main access is on Flagg Road, a small access road that feeds into Rte. 9.