Housing Headlines

PLYMOUTH --- Residents of the 150-unit Pontus Meadows affordable housing development are launching a campaign to convince the owners to apply for pubic subsidies that would keep the apartments affordable. The owners, Simon Properties, have paid off their loans and satisfied their affordability requirements on the 40-year-old property and now can charge market rents.

FRAMINGHAM --- The developers of Danforth Green plan to ask the town for a zoning variance that would allow them to increase the percentage of rental units in their 360-unit project. The MacDowell family, which is planning to redevelop a former sand and gravel pit on the Wayland line, will ask the town to allow them increase the percentage of rental units to 66 precent from the 20 percent required in the town's Planned Unit Development bylaw. The developers said their request is in response to the market's demand for rental housing.

LITTLETON --- Despite persistent abutter concerns voiced throughout the public hearing process, the town's zoning board of appeals has granted a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit to Omni Propeties so it can develop 190 apartments that will also include an onsite wastewater treatment plant and a $1.2 million payment to the town for sewer easements.

WORCESTER --- In a special report, the Telegram's Elaine Thompson documents the journey of a homeless family from Lynn that was placed in a Worcester hotel because it was the only place that could handle a family with nine children. Thompson reports that the family - whose father commutes to his job in Lynn every day - is among 1,503 homeless families that the state has placed in motel rooms as of Feb. 12. While the numbers are high, especially at a public cost of $3,000 per family, Thompson reports that numbers have declined over the past few months due to the state's focus on stopping the practice of placing needy families in motels.

MATTAPAN --- Over 100 residents attended a housing fair recently sponsored by Mattapan United's Housing Action Group. Attendees received information on a number of topics, including section 8, how to stay current on mortgages and avoid foreclosure and ways to save money by making homes more energy eifficient. Participants in the fair included Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP), NSTAR, Renew Boston, ABCD Housing and Foreclosure Prevention Department, CFS Realty, and Citizens Bank.

LINCOLN --- Selectman are discussing whether to support a town meeting article that would transfer the ownership of six affordable housing units from the town to its affordable housing trust. The move would transfer the liability of the units from the town to the trust and allow more flexibility and efficiency for maintenance and repair, article proponents say.