The developer of affordable apartments at the former Great Elms property has scaled back its plans after determining that it cannot afford to build the public water supply system required for the property. The change means that plans for a rare three-bedroom, affordable apartment have been scrapped, and that the existing farmhouse and backyard cottage at 105 Stow Road—originally slated for rehabilitation—will be razed. CHOICE Inc., an arm of the Chelmsford Housing Authority, received permission from the Harvard Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday to reduce the total number of bedrooms from 17 to 12, and the number of buildings from five to two. The number of apartments to be built will remain the same at nine units, but the reduction in bedrooms eliminates the need for a specialized well. A bid by the developer to cap the number of people allowed to live on the property through a deed restriction was rejected in June by the Harvard Board of Health.
“We tried many ways to pacify the Board of Health,” CHOICE attorney Melissa Robbins told the ZBA Wednesday. “The good news for the town of Harvard is that it gets to keep the nine units [of affordable housing]. The bad news for my client [CHOICE] is that they get to help fewer people.”
The units to be built replace nine apartments that had operated as affordable rentals for more than 25 years through the efforts of a small group of local volunteers; the units were lost to foreclosure in 2012. CHOICE bought the Stow Road property in 2013 and conceived plans to resurrect the nine units there. The ZBA granted the comprehensive permit in May 2014. Monthly rents will range from $874 to $1,392, depending on the type of subsidy granted to the renter, and will include all utilities except electricity, according to David Hedison, executive director at the Chelmsford Housing Authority. Qualified Harvard residents will be accorded first choice of the apartments.
The two structures to be built will be new, traditional-style clapboard structures: one to contain six units (all one-bedroom) and another with three two-bedroom units. (Original plans had called for three new clapboard buildings.) Whether construction can begin in the fall as originally planned will depend on the pace of permitting from now on, with required permits from the Conservation Commission and Board of Health yet to be obtained.
