GROVELAND — A development group has purchased St. Patrick's rectory and parish hall and plans to build 15 homes on the property.
Coming Home Inc. bought the property from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. St. James Episcopal Church, Trinity Episcopal in Haverhill and Episcopal City Mission teamed up to form the Coming Home organization, which proposes the affordable housing project.
The group plans to build 15 energy-efficient town house-style units for families with an annual income of $30,000 to $80,000. A day-care center also is planned on the property.
"Seventy percent of the units will be offered preferentially to Groveland residents," said John Anderson, president of Coming Home Inc.
"Several years ago, as part of our three- to five-year plan, St. James did an assessment of community need. We determined there was a great need for affordable housing and day care in the community."
Anderson said the Groveland Housing Authority has a long waiting list, and that only 3.5 percent of Groveland's housing is considered "affordable."
The state requires communities to have 10 percent of their total housing affordable. In an affordable housing development, at least 25 percent of the homes are sold to people with incomes no higher than 80 percent of the median income in the region.
Coming Home Inc. bought the property from the archdiocese, but is still a long way from building the homes, Anderson said.
"The first job is to meet with the community," he said.
A letter and fliers are being mailed to 335 addresses in the neighborhood, he said. St. James also plans to hold an open meeting on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in its parish hall, 119 Washington St.
Coming Home Inc. has not filed any papers with the town yet.
"We want to talk to the people first and get feedback," Anderson said.
When the group does file for the town's permission to build, it will not be as a so-called 40B project, he said. It will apply for a special permit from the Planning Board, he said.
"We don't want to step over the community. We are a member of the community, and have been so for 140 years," said Anderson as a reason for not filing as a 40B, which allows the developer to appeal to the state and force an affordable housing project through if the town opposes it.
The 40B law allows developers to skirt local zoning ordinances if a community's affordable housing stock is below 10 percent, and if the developers agree to make 25 percent of their housing affordable.
There has been confusion in the community about what St. James is planning to build, Anderson said.
"It is not transitional or temporary housing, and it is not a shelter for the homeless or for battered women," he said. "Those people deserve the support, but that's not the purpose of this project."
"The affordable day care will give people the option to keep more of their earnings, and enable more people to work," he said.
He said the architect designing the housing has a goal of making them compatible with surrounding buildings.
The project is in its early stages and may be altered after meetings with the community and the town, Anderson said.
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