Earlier this week a group of residents came together in opposition of to a proposed 40B development off Randolph Avenue by the DPW yard.
The residents, about 53 in all, met with Selectman John Shields and Planning Director Bill Clark to voice concerns and discuss how to block the development. The proposed development calls to two buildings that would each have 46 units of between 1 – 3 bedrooms.
Among the residents concerns are traffic congestion and safety and the impact on town services, especially the schools.
The concerns are not uncommon to proposed 40B proposals, which allow real estate development firms to bypass local zoning restrictions in an effort to increases the inventory of available housing in a community. Generally, the developments are higher density housing than what is allowed. Towns with less than 10% of housing inventory available at an affordable rate are exposed to 40B developments. As of September 2nd, Milton had 426 units of subsidized housing out of a total 9,641 total number of houses for a percentage of 4.42%. Milton is ~6.5% below where it needs to be if it is to avoid the possibility of 40B developments.
Developers, however, are not given carte blanche. To qualify they must first be approved by a state or federal housing program such as the Department of Housing and Community Development. Twenty-five per cent of the unites must be affordable to lower-income households who earn no more than 80% of the area median income. Also, towns are allowed to establish a local preference for residents.
Once approved, the developer can submit an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals. It is important to note that state regulations such as the Wetland Protection Act and building codes remain in effect. The local Conservation Commission needs to review the project to determine compliance with the Wetland Protection Act. Milton has a lot of wetlands and this could be an issue for portions of this property.
The developer, H&W Apartments, filed an application with the state in June. They received a response from Mass Housing in July. In short, they denied approval to initiate a 30 day town review process because the application lacked sufficient supporting documentation to evaluate the approach. More importantly, there were significant concerns about the architectural design. In a letter from Gina Dailey, the Director of Comprehensive Permit Programs for MassHousing, to the appliant, she writes:
MassHousing staff believes the current proposal does not at his time appear responsive to the goals and requirements of the 40B Comprenhesive Permit Program . . . As a result, MassHousing is suspending processing of the Project Eligibility (Site Approval) Application. . . We also note that the submitted plans were not signed by a registered architect or engineer as required by the MassHousing application standards.
The process for the moment is stalled until the developer complies with MassHousing requirements. If those requirements are satisfied, MassHousing will notify the town.
The Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines for 40B development can be found here.