by Frank Schroth

Milton has a new condominium/ townhouse bylaw for the St Pius property at 365 Brush Hill Road. In introducing the bylaw, Alex Whiteside, Chair of the Planning Board, said that the bylaw developed out of “intensive negotiations between the developer, Northland Development, the abutters, and the Planning Board.” Ned Corcoran, a town meeting member  and the attorney representing Northland, presented the proposal, which calls for 36 townhouse units to be built on the site.

Mr. Corcoran made several points which included but were not limited to noting that the development is not intended for families with children, is designed for “low impact, high return,” and that the affordability quotient is consistent with our zoning and that of other towns. In discussing the number of affordable units (there will be 4), Corcoran reviewed financial costs and impacts. He said that pushing the development to 5 affordable units would “push over the point where a developer can make that work [financially].”

TMM Ellen DeNooyer, an architect, said the proposal was “attractive” but urged defeat as “it is not in the overall interests of the town [as] it only serves one site. . . it’s not a good way to do zoning.”

Earl Fay, Emmett Schmarsow, Jeff Stone, and Tom Callahan all advocated for the addition of another affordable unit. Whiteside disagreed saying it would be a precedent and that the more you push up the affordability the more you lower the desirability to developers to build this sort of proposal. Callahan noted that Boston has required 13% affordability since 2000. Milton’s requirement is 10%. TMM Tim Kiernan also argued against the increase saying “now is not the time to dictate economic terms [to the developer].”

TMM Jim Henderson, who is also on the Board of Assessors, did some back of envelope calculations based on costs presented by Corcoran and the size of the development, and he concluded that an additional unit would not have that significant an impact. His estimate was an additional $200K in costs on a $13 million return.

Katie Conlon, Chair of the Board of Selectmen, voiced the support of the BoS for the recommendation of the Planning Board. She also announced that the town had just received approval of the Housing Production Plan from DCHD. Additionally, the Selectmen are working to have an article at spring town meeting that will seek approval for an affordable housing trust.

Fay presented an amendment to add a unit of affordable housing. The amendment failed to pass. Fay then recommended defeat of the article.

In response Town Meeting Members Cheryl Tougias (also member of Master Plan Committee), Bryan Furze (also a member of the Planning Board), Marge Jeffries, and Joe McEttrick rose in support of the article and all recommended a yes vote. Tougias pointed out that the zoning is written for this particular site and that Milton needs to be more proactive with its zoning, rather than being reactive by creating site-specific zoning. Furze voiced similar concerns.

The article passed with near unanimous support.

Article 14 called for an appropriation for expenditures to continue the study of potential renovations to Milton’s Fire Stations. Steve Morash, chair of the fire space needs committee, said the appropriation was not required as the department has money available. A donor had bequeathed money to the department, according to Chief Grant, in gratitude for assistance she had received from families of firemen in her neighborhood. The money is sufficient to cover the costs of retaining a professional firm to look at the requirements, feasibility and costs of replacing/renovating the fire stations.

TMM Cheryl Tougias made a motion to amend to consider that the existing fire stations and East Milton library not be demolished given their historic character. At spring town meeting, the Fire Space Committee had identified the East Milton Library site as a possible location for a new East Milton Fire Station and demolition of that building. Mr. Morash accepted the friendly amendment. Morash noted that “These are your fire stations” and encouraged residents to visit them. Chief Grant said people are welcome anytime and extended a formal invitation for residents to stop by on Saturday, November 7th.

Another article that received considerable discussion was the final article 15 which would authorize the Selectmen to accept easements. The article created some confusion in part because there were 3 revisions to the recommendation. The initial article used language that alarmed some residents as it stated “authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire” with the operative word being “acquire.” A revised recommendation changed the wording to “accept.” Several Town Meeting Members expressed concern. Dr. Shea said the responsibility of town meeting members was to “protect our citizens and stick up for them” and not hand that authority over to the selectmen. Gene Irwin said, “This thing to me smells awfully fishy.” There was no specific easement identified which may have contributed to raising suspicion. Joe Lynch, director of DPW, and Katie Conlon explained that this was intended as a housekeeping article that would streamline processes in allowing them to accept voluntary easements from residents without requiring the delay of waiting for and taking up the time of Town Meeting. The article passed.