At last night’s Select Board Meeting, the board heard the broad outlines of an offer made by the Town’s Affordable Housing Trust to purchase a Town-owned parcel on Atwood Street. The Trust is seeking to enter an agreement to acquire the property after the Town has successfully cleaned up lead discovered on the site. Read the full article → from Affordable Housing Trust seeking to develop Atwood parcel (Updated-Again)
I learned a detail that some readers who follow the town’s affordable housing efforts might find interesting. Read the full article → from Southborough’s “Area” used for Median Income calculations
Last week, the Planning Board and Select Board voted to approve the Town’s updated 5 year Housing Production Plan. The plan is one element for the Town to maintain “safe harbor” against unwanted new 40B housing projects.
The HPP identifies the town’s “affordable housing needs” and recommends strategies for meeting them. Those tactics include potential zoning changes, like lifting the nearly maxed out cap on age 55+ housing developments. Read the full article → from Town to work on zoning changes to help increase affordable and diverse housing (Updated)
On Monday night, Town Meeting will be asked to approve up to $121,000 to restore a historic “fence”. Select Board members publicly worried about the reaction of voters upset about rising property taxes. But, they stressed that the money for the proposed CPA project doesn’t directly impact tax bills.
A separate CPA Article follows through on a recent push to move funds dedicated to Affordable Housing to a Trust Fund that will allow the Town to react more quickly when opportunities arise. Read the full article → from ATM CPA Articles: $121K for Town Common fence; Transferring affordable housing funds
Despite learning that the zoning bylaws for mixed-use in the Downtown District are less restrictive than he had been told, the developer for a building at 2 East Main Street won’t pursue that use. Instead he will proceed with a multi-family project. Read the full article → from 2 East Main St Update: Hearings being readvertised as Multi-family project
One of the Planning Board agenda items tonight that should draw public interest is a big change to the proposed mixed-residential and commercial/retail project at 2 East Main Street. According to the property owner, definitions under the Downtown District zoning bylaws “severely restrict project size to the point of economic failure”. Read the full article → from 2 East Main St developer announces change to multi-family only building project
A recomposed committee to oversee Southborough’s Affordable Housing Trust was officially appointed this month. The “Board of Trustees of the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT)” will meet for the second time tonight (in person only). Read the full article → from New Affordable Housing Trust board to meet tonight
This week, the Select Board discussed the next steps and costs for dealing with contamination at a Town owned site on Atwood Road where they had been hoping to build a small Affordable Housing project. Read the full article → from Town owned parcel confirmed as contaminated with lead
Last month, I wrote about the Town’s efforts to pursue a small Affordable Housing project on Atwood Street. At the time the Town planned to notify abutters about a public forum this month to discuss the project.
That was paused based on a possible environmental issue. Meanwhile the Town is now also eying a property on Southville Road. Read the full article → from Affordable Housing Update
Town officials are exploring a 1.8 acre lot on Atwood Street as a location for an affordable housing project. At this point, the focus is on a small project rather than a dense development. Read the full article → from Town exploring building affordable homes on Atwood St
The goals and tasks include efforts to develop Affordable Housing, improve communications with the business community, get planning underway for the Town’s Tricentennial, and support the growing senior population. Read the full article → from Select Board’s “Community Development” Goals
The updated Housing Production Plan defines the Town’s goals for diversifying housing and lays out strategies to achieve them. Read the full article → from Planning and Selectmen endorse/adopt Housing Production Plan
Southborough officials need to file an updated Housing Production Plan with the state by March 22. Otherwise the Town’s “safe harbor” period for Affordable Housing projects will expire. Read the full article → from Affordable Housing plan up for vote on February 24
The Town of Southborough is once again advertising for volunteers to fill board vacancies.
This time, the focus is on the Southborough Housing Opportunity Committee (a.k.a. SHOPC). Read the full article → from Vacancies on committee to create affordable housing (and more)