Housing Headlines

SCITUATE --- The Walpole Board of Selectmen is proposing a moratorium on 40B development throughout the state, and is appealing to other towns for help. Scituate however, will not be signing on, as selectmen voted unanimously on June 19 not to endorse a letter from Walpole's selectmen.

LAWRENCE --- The North Common section of Lawrence is getting a new look this spring, thanks to the opening of 10 homeownership units with solar panels on the roof and green features throughout, that will all be affordable to low- and moderate-income families.

JAMAICA PLAIN --- With assistance from the non-profit City Life/Vida Urbana and funding from the City of Boston among other sources, residents have renovated five triple-decker apartments that were previously neglected by absentee landlords, into homes for 15 families, called the Rockvale Circle Cooperative.

AMHERST --- A 27-unit low-income housing project on Longmeadow Drive can proceed after a five-year delay, following the Supreme Judicial Court's rejection of an appeal filed by a group of neighbors.

BOSTON --- A study conducted by the MIT Center for Real Estate reveals that in communities south of Boston, only 41 percent of 40B efforts have survived local town appeals. Across Greater Boston, the success rate for proposed 40B projects has been significantly higher, at 57 percent.

WOBURN --- To supplement the affordable housing fund that the city established back in November, city officials have passed an amendment so that developers proposing to build more than two units must include 10 percent affordable housing in their plans. Developers can choose to buy out of the amendment by paying a fee that will be placed in the fund and used for housing.