The committee that has been investigating the feasibility of multiple detached or duplex senior housing on the hill to the west of Hildreth House may have run up against something harder to deal with than ledge—opposition from town officials. At a meeting of the Select Board on Sept. 17, Town Administrator Tim Bragan argued that the committee should be disbanded, and Select Board Chair Alice von Loesecke agreed with him.
Bragan said the committee had been told twice that the type of housing it was proposing for the site was not economically feasible. Select Board member Lucy Wallace, who is also on the Housing at Hildreth Committee (HHC) countered that the two firms spoken to by the committee had both said that a single building with multiple units might work instead.
But Bragan pointed out that the zoning overlay created by the Planning Board for senior housing on that site did not allow for an apartment-style building. Von Loesecke agreed, saying the committee was created to determine economic feasibility within the new zoning overlay.
Wallace also argued that the committee was on hiatus while waiting for the results of the fire station feasibility study. If that study showed that the fire station should be relocated, she said, that would make more land available for the project. But von Loesecke said the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, of which she is a member, was told that even if the fire station land were included, it still wouldn’t be economically viable to build detached units. Bragan added that the fire station is not on the town’s long-range capital plan, which runs through 2026, so the committee could not count on having that extra land for at least the next seven years.
Bragan also told the board that holding the land for senior housing is putting a constraint on the site choice for the Hildreth House Phase 2 addition. But Wallace responded that the architect looked at all the possible choices and chose the east side of the building as the most viable. Bragan argued that the east side of Hildreth House was not a good choice because of the proximity of that site to a nearby house, especially when the trees are bare.
Summing up Bragan’s arguments, von Loesecke said: “In order for the committee to do anything, zoning would have to change, and it’s waiting for the fire station study, so it’s just sitting there.” Member Kara Minar asked if it would be possible to consider changing the committee’s charge to be simply senior housing, and von Loesecke said that option would fit better with the board’s goals.
Member Rich Maiore said the board should hear from the Housing at Hildreth Committee before making any decisions, and von Loesecke agreed to put the committee on its agenda for an upcoming meeting.
