Housing Headlines

WEST BOYLSTON --- Hoping to control growth and ward off unwanted apartment developments, the town has submitted an affordable housing plan to the state which if approved would give the town more control over growth if it can create 14 units of affordable housing each year for the next five years.

ASHLAND --- Selectman got their first look at a developer's plan to build 140 rental apartments near the Ashland Middle School. Capital Group Properties is planning to seek a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit from the town to construct four buildings that would include 74 one-bedroom and 66 two-bedroom apartments.

NEW BEDFORD --- In their continuing public debate as to whether the city should decrease or increase its public housing supply, Mayor Jon Mitchell criticized Housing Authority Director Steve Beauregard for lobbying against the mayor's recent appointment of local lawyer Robert Schilling to replace Rev. Leona Fisher on the housing authority board. Mitchell, who has said he does not want to increase public housing, said Beauregard "doesn't get to pick his bosses" while Beauregard argued that Fisher should have been reappointed because 72 percent of the authority's households are headed by minority single mothers and Fisher is a woman of color.

AMHERST --- With affordability restrictions expiring and the new owners in the process of raising rents, some residents of Echo Village are continuing their fight to stay. Advocates for the tenants have appealed to U.S. Rep. James McGovern while some residents have taken their case to the regional housing court.

QUINCY --- The state has awarded two Quincy-based homeless shelter organizations thousands in federal funds to shelter and find permanent housing for the homeless but one of the recipients said that its public funding supports the sheltering of 133 people per night, whereas their shelters in Brockton and Quincy average 233 people per night.

BOSTON --- In a July 24 Boston Globe op-ed, Commonwealth Magazine's Paul McMorrow - a regular Globe contributor - says Mayor Tom Menino's goal of building 30,000 new housing units doesn't fit with the city's restrictive zoning.