The adjective most commonly heard following last week’s unusually heated forum on a proposal for affordable housing at 166 Littleton Road was “embarrassing.” (See our report)
Clearly, many residents of Park Lane, Pinnacle Road, and the surrounding neighborhood were shocked by the scale and density of the concept presented by the Harvard Affordable Housing Trust and Metro West Collaborative Development for 10 to 14 new buildings housing up to 36 rental apartments clustered on roughly four acres of land. It is their neighborhood that would be most directly impacted by such a development. Earlier reports had led many to expect a much smaller project: three or four new market-rate homes facing Pinnacle; a number of affordable age-restricted apartments in the former Poor Farm house; and a few additional buildings. Moreover, the developers were evidently unaware of the volume of traffic that already speeds up and down Pinnacle, especially during morning and afternoon rush hours, or the potential risk to the wells of homes that draw on the same aquifer that would be used by the development.
But the attendees who disrupted the meeting didn’t do their community any favors either. Their interruption and heckling of speakers made the free exchange of information and opinions impossible and prevented exploration of some of the plan’s more positive benefits, including trails and sidewalks on three-quarters of the Poor Farm property that would be preserved as conservation land and open to the public for walking and recreation.
Metro West and the housing trust came to the meeting looking for feedback, not to impose a plan on the Park Lane and Pinnacle Road communities. There are legal, economic, and moral reasons for why the town must try to increase its stock of affordable housing. With the local real estate market waking up from a long slumber, not every proposal will be a friendly one. (See our discussion of friendly 40Bs on page 6.) In our search for solutions to a townwide need, the town’s volunteer boards, citizens, and well-meaning professional consultants will have to find ways to work together. Saner public forums would be a good place to start.
