With conflicting back-stories and considerable passion, the selectmen faced off last week over the issue of waiving fees for the Great Elms redevelopment project on Stow Road.
CHOICE, the Chelmsford Housing Authority’s development arm, had asked for a waiver of permit fees for a building inspector, electrical, and plumbing work on the project, which is slated to create nine units of affordable housing on the former Great Elms property.
That seemed like a reasonable request to Selectwoman Lucy Wallace, who observed that the town has a strong interest in affordable housing and had encouraged the CHA to take on the project when other development options failed. In Wallace’s view, the town has done little to ease what has been a difficult process.
On the other hand, board members Leo Blair and Ron Ricci argued that the town has gone out of its way to support the project and shouldn’t bestow benefits on CHOICE that it wouldn’t give other developers.
To further complicate matters, nobody at the table could say what the fees in question would amount to. Finally Wallace, “pulling numbers out of the air,” she admitted, proposed waiving fees up to $20,000. Then Blair questioned the board’s legal authority to waive fees and suggested that Town Administrator Tim Bragan check with town counsel to see if the move violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
When it came to a vote, Chairman Stu Sklar and board member Marie Sobalvarro lined up with Wallace, whose motion passed on a 3-2 vote, pending town counsel’s opinion.
