GROVELAND — South Groveland residents said the developer of an affordable housing project in their neighborhood missed the point when revising the plans for the project.
The neighbors said they appreciate that the plan now calls for existing buildings to be used instead of torn down, but they are upset that the size of the project remains the same with 14 apartments.
"They're missing the philosophy of it," said James Carr of 26 Mill St. "When you put a lot of people into a small area, the temperament changes."
His problem with the project is the numbers.
"If you walk around the block, there are less than 12 homes," said Carr. "I appreciate what they are doing with the style, but the numbers are still too many."
Coming Home Inc. is a development group formed by a partnership of St. James Episcopal Church in Groveland and Trinity Episcopal Church in Haverhill. It develops housing for people who cannot afford market rate homes.
The group's original plan called for demolition of three buildings in the area of Salem and Washington streets — the old Richdale store and the St. Patrick's Parish hall and rectory — to make rooms for the apartments. The revised plan calls for those buildings to be left standing and converted to apartments, and for construction of one new building.
Carr said this part of Groveland has been a quiet neighborhood with lots of open space that would be altered by the project.
John Anderson, president of Coming Home Inc., said the project is as small as it can get and still be financially viable.
"It would be a mistake to launch a project we can't maintain," Anderson said. "The rents have to support the debt, and be enough for maintenance and repairs."
The project in total will cost around $4 million to build, but most of it will come from state and federal grant money, Anderson said.
"We don't want the community to be divided," Anderson said. "We hope to maintain the building and hope the tenets will be part of the church and community."
Neighbor Pat Pottani is unhappy about the size of the project.
"We've accepted that something is going to be built there," Pottani said. "We just want it to be smaller.''
She said she and other neighbors are offended that Coming Home is now filing the project with the Groveland Zoning Board of Appeals instead of the town's Planning Board. In the fall, Coming Home officials said they would not file the plan as a 40B affordable housing complex. A 40B project goes to the Board of Appeals and then to the state, usually sidestepping local controls.
Anderson said his group made the change when it decided to renovate the old buildings instead of demolishing and rebuilding them.
"We think it's friendlier than other 40Bs," said Dan Hill, a lawyer who is an expert in 40B law and is working for Coming Home Inc. "There is only one new (building to be under) construction."
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