Housing Headlines

WESTFORD - Special town meeting shot down a proposal to set aside a 40-acre parcel of town-owned land for affordable housing, instead voting to designate the so-called "Edwards Parcel" as conservation land.

NORWELL --- After months of hearings, the town's zoning boad of appeals board has unanimously but reluctantly approved a 126-unit apartment complex. In its vote Wednesday night, the board attached more than 100 conditions, which cover everything from the height of the three proposed buildings to landscaping along the edges of the 17.5-acre site off Prospect Street near Simon Hill Road.

BOSTON --- The New England Center for Investigative Reporting takes a close look at the practice of towns limiting three-bedroom units and encouraging senior housing for multi-family development proposals so as to limit the fiscal impacts of adding families and children to the town's population.

NORTHAMPTON - With the aid of a $1.1 million acquisition loan from the state's Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. (CEDAC), the Valley Community Development Corp. is hoping to build some 60 units of affordable housing at the site of the former Northampton Lumber on Pleasant Street.

BRIDGEWATER --- A developer's plan to pursue a "friendly 40B" permit to replace a vacant downtown building with a new mixed-use building with 25 units and three commercial spaces has received a cold shoulder from town officials. Town councilors say they want to factor in the impacts before deciding whether to support developer Jim Paskell's application through the Local Initiative Program (LIP).

AMHERST --- Town Meeting next month may be asked to establish a new program that would offer tax credits to property owners who keep rents low enough to accommodate families with federal Section 8 vouchers.