Housing Headlines

GLOUCESTER --- Discussions between city officials and developers behind the bid to redevelop the Fuller School are continuing, with developers proposing a mixed-use project that includes a new YMCA, a retail component and 170 units of market-rate housing. The housing component runs contrary to the city's inclusionary zoning ordinance but then city is said to be exploring a way in which funds could be paid into the local housing trust so that affordable housing could be built elsewhere.

WEYMOUTH --- The city council wants to hear from public housing residents and check with legal counsel before it decides to spend Community Preservation Act funds to set up security cameras at the Lakeview Manor public housing complex. Councilors have concerns about privacy and whether CPA funds can be legally used for such a purpose.

CAMBRIDGE --- The Cambridge City Council recently passed a zoning petition that will allow single- and two-family home owners to create accessory basement apartments with a special permit. The city council adopted the measure in its original form but may make changes leading up to the May 1 implementation date.

NORWOOD --- As the town goes to court to fight off a proposed Ch. 40B housing development, a 262-unit 40B is beginning to come on line as One Upland has begun leasing apartments in two of its seven planned buildings. Developed by Campenelli and Thorndike Development, the other five buildings are expected to be completed and leased up by the end of the year.

BROCKTON --- With an estimated 600 children in its schools who are classified as homeless, the city is organizing a collaborative effort with the business and nonprofit community to acquire funding to address family homelessness. The cy says these families are living in three hotels and 89 other scattered locations around the city.

NEWTON --- In the new print edition of Commonwealth Magazine, Jack Sullivan takes a look at the state's Ch. 40B housing law through what's going on in Newton, where the city overwhelmingly voted against a 2010 state referendum to kill the law, yet has been tough on most every 40B proposed in the city proposed since that ballot question.