Housing Headlines

IPSWICH --- Following a non-binding town meeting vote, selectmen have asked residents how to proceed in resuming discussions with the local YMCA over its proposed 48-unit affordable housing proposal. The project has been stalled for over two years by groups wanting to see the project's size reduced.

CHELMSFORD --- The housing authority director believes the town can use Community Preservation Act funds to spark the transformation of an abandoned 34-acre truancy school site into 100 units of housing. Neighbors agree that something should be done to the property (owned now by UMass-Lowell) but some expressed concern about how housing might impact traffic in the neighborhood.

FITCHBURG --- The Twin Cities Community Development Corp. has received a $130,000 state grant to handle asbestos and lead paint contamination in a downtown building that will be redeveloped into into 31 market-rate and affordable apartments.

NATICK --- The town has received a letter from the state certifying that it has met affordable housing requirements and can reject any 40B proposals through December 31. Despite this, officials are working to compromise with a developer to add 268 more units, which would get the town closer to an affordable housing reprieve until the 2010 census.

WESTWOOD --- As selectmen plan a special Town Meeting for June, they do so with the risk of facing an court injunction from a group of neighbors to the planned Westwood Station project, a 4.5 million square foot mixed use project. The snag? Whitewood Acres Neighborhood Association and Westwood Station developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes have yet to reach an agreement over the placement of a ramp and road accessing the project from Rte. 128.

WILMINGTON --- The town's zoning board has delayed voting on whether a developer can go forward with his 40B effort. The plans were initially rejected in 2003, but the developer and the town have since reached a compromise that may result in 120 units, helping the town reach its state-mandated goal of 10 percent affordable housing.