Housing Headlines

GLOUCESTER --- Residents next door to the former Cape Ann YMCA have been asked to leave temporarily for safety reasons now that demolition is underway for an affordable senior housing development to proceed. The former Y building will make way for the John J. Meany Senior Affordable Housing development, made up of 44 one-bedroom apartments for those 62 and older. Selective demolition has been ongoing at the site since late fall.

WATERTOWN --- Watertown got approval from the state to charge linkage fees on new developments to raise money for affordable housing. With that OK, the city will now review a zoning amendment that would set the fee to be paid by new developments. The amendment, which is calling for a charge of $11.12 per square foot, will go before the planning board for a public hearing and then City Council, which makes the ultimate decision on whether to approve the amendment.

TRURO --- Asked for her reaction to claims that having 10 percent of its housing affordable would make Truro a leader on the Cape, MHP's Laura Shufelt said it would be a mistake for the town to think that since less than 25 percent of its supply is considered year-round. Shufelt said 10 percent is an arbitrary number related to achieving safe harbor from Ch. 40B. She said it should not be a substitute for a needs analysis that would show how much housing the town actually needs to house workers, families and people with disabilities.

MIDDLEBOROUGH --- One day after a Boston Globe story detailed the town's crticisms of the state's MBTA multifamily zoning law and its decision not to file a required action plan, the Town of Middleborough issued a press release through a public relations firm clarifying the town's position on MBTA Community Zoning Requirements. "After lengthy and careful deliberation involving all community stakeholders, the Town of Middleborough has respectfully decided to not submit an action plan at this time," the statement said.

BEVERLY --- The developer who has a 99-year lease to build on MBTA land has proposed to construct three stories of housing atop the train station's parking garage on Rantoul Street. Sarah Barnat of Barnat Development said the 70 new apartments would be "a creative and thoughtful way of adding more units around the train station.” Barnat's company previously devoped the 67-unit Holmes building on land in front of the garage. That project was finished in 2019.

IPSWICH --- In urging readers to see the state's new MBTA multifamily zoning law as a golden opportunity to add reasonably priced housing and revitalize downtown, Editor John Muldoon also took a not-so-subtle shot at residents whose tendency is to be against anything that has to do with housing growth. Muldoon wrote, "If you want to cause a giant hullabaloo in this town, all you need to do is threaten to stick a shovel in the ground. Before you know it, you’ll be surrounded by NIMBYs and busybodies while a Greek chorus stands off to the side keening about “turning our little town into a city.”