Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- Developer Susan Gittelman, a regular contributor to Banker & Tradesman's opinion pages, worries that the recent move by a legislator to tack an amendment onto the housing bond bill to stop a Norwood 40B is setting a bad precedent.

MILTON --- Frustrated by neigbhor oppoistion which he characterized as "pay taxes, don't use your land for anything," developer and former planning board candidate Todd Hamilton has scrapped plans to build three homes on 12 acres and will instead seek a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit to build 77 two- and three-bedroom townhouses.

BROOKLINE --- After years of trying to work out a satisfactory development plan with the town, Chestnut Hill Realty has decided to pursue a Ch. 40B comprenhensive permit that would allow it to build 271 rental homes in the southern part of town. Known as Hancock Village, the developers propose to build 11 three-story buildings and one five-story building that would total 124 one-bedroom apartments, 125 two-bedroom apartments, and 22 three-bedroom apartments. Town officials have worried that a development of this size without any age restrictions would result in overburdening the nearby Baker School with school children.

READING --- Six towns are considering coming together to hire a regional housing services coordinator who would monitor such things as the availability of affordable housing and coordinate the planning and advocacy efforts to build more housing. The six towns --- Danvers, North Reading, Peabody, Reading, Saugus and Wilmington --- are acting on a recommendation by the Metroplitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), which recently did a housing assessment for the six towns.

AMHERST --- Four Amherst families can remain in their homes for a few more months after a housing court judge ruled that the new owner of Echo Bridge Apartments did not properly issue them eviction notices. Echo Bridge was sold earlier this year and the new owner is in the process of raising rents beyond what some families can afford with their Section 8 vouchers. Some residents have moved out but others have filed suit in an attempt to remain in their homes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Matthew Yglesias, Slate's business and economics writer, pokes fun at the D.C. area's zoning requirements, which often mandate that single-family homes have yards far bigger than consumers like him really want.