Housing Headlines

ACUSHNET --- Hoping to add affordable housing at a size and scale it prefers, the town manager unveiled a housing plan recently that includes guidelines for negotiating with Ch. 40B proposals as well as setting benchmarks for how many units the town would have to add per year to gain temporary relief from 40B proposals.

QUINCY --- Patriot Ledger reporter Chris Burrell recently did a housing series focusing on the rising number of eviction cases in housing court, the rising rents on the South Shore and the impact of homelessness on families. The Ledger followed this up with an editorial and legislative reaction. Here are the links: http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140201/NEWS/140139030/1994/NEWS http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140202/NEWS/140209518/1999/NEWS http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140203/NEWS/140209138/1999/NEWS http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140202/OPINION/140138979/11669/NEWS http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140210/NEWS/140219879/1999/NEWS

WALPOLE --- Alleging that the town did not hold a public hearing within the required 30 days after it filed for a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit, Bayberry Homes did not appear before residents at a Jan. 22 ZBA hearing and has instead filed for a motion asking for a permit to build 174 units without a public hearing. The Town of Walpole says the Bayberry applicaton was incomplete and thus it could not schedule a meeting.

NEWTON --- A group of about 20 Court Street area residents met with Mayor Setti Warren at City Hall late last month to air concerns about a proposed 36-unit condominium project they say will change the character of their tight-knit Newtonville neighborhood.

GREAT BARRINGTON --- Plans to turn the former Searles/Bryant school annex into 11 affordable downtwon condominiums inched closer to reality recently when the Community Developoment Corp. of South Berkshire received state funding to hire an architect to start conceptualizing the project.

CHELMSFORD --- An affordable-housing complex of at least 108 units on Mill Road has inched forward, with the Zoning Board of Appeals agreeing to conditions with the developer. Among the conditions is one that allows developer Princeton Properties to move forward with a plan to build between 108 and 132 units on the 4.4-acre site next to the Hittite office building at the east end of Mill Road. The Zoning Board of Appeals, which will take up the matter again Feb. 20, agreed to the conditions last week. It has not issued full approval.