Housing Headlines

NORTH ATTLEBORO --- The zoning board of appeals has asked a consultant to review a previous traffic study that estimated that a proposed 66-unit Ch. 40B affordable housing development for downtown would add only 15 vehicles during rush hour. Residents near the site say the proposal by Great Bridge Properties is too big for the neighborhood.

ASHLAND --- The developer who is seeking a Ch. 40B permit to build 140 units of mixed-income housing has retained a wetlands consultant to challenge the town's 2011 determination of what part of the property is considered wetlands.

HARVARD -- Residents near a proposed affordable housing development say they are not opposed to affordable housing but that they are concerned that the town's affordable housing trust almost entered into an agreement with a developer whose proposal residents did not like.

SHIRLEY --- A regional planner met with the planning board recently to explain how creating an affordable housing plan would put the town on track to create more affordable housing and gain greater control over Ch. 40B housing development.

NEWTON --- Residents say an 80-unit mixed-use, mixed-income development plan for a city-owned parcel near the commuter rail in the city's Newtonville section is too big.

BROCKTON --- Windover Construction and Peabody Properties are partnering with two nonprofits - Father Bill's & MainSpring and Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative of Braintree - to do a $7 million conversion of a federal building into 14 units of housing for veterans. The brick building is on the campus of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.