Housing Headlines

YARMOUTH --- Town Meeting has OK'd the use of $625,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to support the nonprofit Housing Assitance Corp. of Cape Cod's plan to build 17 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom affordable rental apartments in back of the Christmas Tree Shops on Rt. 28.

CANTON --- Selectmen recently approved a $1.95 million mitigation package from Avalon Bay Communities of Boston as part of an agreement allowing the developer to build 196 apartments on 43 acres of land near the Canton-Randolph border on Randolph Street.

MARBLEHEAD --- In a recent survey of its board, the Council on Aging found the town's attitude and resources for the elderly to be adequate and specifically mentioned that the town lacks handicapped accessible elderly housing, a vital need considering it is expected that 31 percent of the town's population will be elderly by 2020.

NORTON --- Selectmen are frustrated that units in three 40B proposals not yet in construction cannot be counted toward the 10 percent affordable housing threshold the state requires before towns can block other 40B development proposals.

SOMERVILL E --- Somerville Community Corporation and state and local officials will celebrate the completion of an eight-unit affordable housing development on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. The development site, located at 75 Cross Street, used to house an abandoned, half-built structure before the non-profit developer purchased it in 2010. The project received financing from a private mortgage, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Charlesbank Homes Foundation, Franklin Square House Foundation, and city, state, and federal subsidies.

WOBURN --- In a fight that is now more than 10 years old, the city's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has denied a revised Ch. 40B comprehensive permit application by the Woburn-based Dolben Company to build 168 apartments near the Wilmington line.