Developers pitch plan for 235 apartments, 8 townhouse units, and new zoning on Ayer Road

Harvard developer Lou Russo and Minco Development of North Andover are proposing plans to build a total of 243 mostly multifamily housing units at the intersection of Route 2 and Ayer Road—plans that would require the town to enact a new zoning bylaw.

The developers presented their conceptual plan to the Select Board at its Tuesday meeting, extolling the benefits they said would accrue to the town if it were to approve the proposed three apartment buildings and a cluster of four duplexes. Also included on the site would be a 30,000-square-foot badminton gym that is in the process of getting permits from the Planning Board.

According to Eric Loth of Minco, the affordable units in the project would let Harvard meet the state-mandated goal to make 10% of its housing stock affordable to moderate income households. (See “Conceptual plans at a glance” below for income limits.) After reaching 10%, a town qualifies for “safe harbor,” a two-year period during which it can turn down affordable housing, or 40B, projects.

Based on the data currently used by the state to calculate the percentages, the one apartment building that would contain affordable dwellings–—the 85-unit building—would bring Harvard from 5.8% to approximately 9% affordability. In May, the state will begin using data sets from the 2020 census, so a calculation made in May could yield a different result, such as the one asserted by Loth.

The developers estimated the annual tax revenue at between $775,000 and $1,000,000.

According to the state’s affordable housing law, 40B, all 85 apartments would count on Harvard’s subsidized housing inventory, even though only 21 or 22 apartments would actually be affordable to people of moderate income (see sidebar). Select Board member Charles Oliver said, “The town would prefer to have real affordables instead of affordable in name only.” But Loth said building such units is getting more costly each year.

The other benefit to Harvard, the developers said, would be the remaining 158 apartments, which would fulfill the new state mandate for towns to create zoning that allows, by right, multifamily housing. Harvard’s goal is 113 multifamily units, as set by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

A new bylaw and a connection to Devens’ water and sewer

Current zoning does not allow the density envisioned for the project, so developers provided the board with a 12-page draft of a new zoning bylaw, “smart growth overlay district.” The bylaw was written by an attorney at Russo’s law firm, Beveridge and Diamond, but it would need to be reviewed by the Planning Board and approved by Town Meeting for the project to advance.

The 243 dwellings in the development would need water and sewer systems. “The plan is to tie in with Devens for those utilities,” said Russo. The lines would run along Lancaster County Road, he said. “Minco has calculated this [expense] into their cost,” he said, adding that the lines would be “private” but the town could tie into it in the future. The size of the pipes, which could be instrumental in determining future tie-ins, was not discussed.

Capacity at the schools

The question of school children soon cropped up, with Oliver asking how many people were projected to live in the development, and how many of those people might be children. Loth said that hadn’t been estimated yet. The housing would include studio apartments; one-bedroom apartments; two-bedroom apartments; and three-bedroom apartments. Eight three-bedroom townhouses would also be built.

In an email, Schools Superintendent Linda Dwight said that today, both Hildreth Elementary School and Bromfield School benefit from small class size. If classes shift to maximum size, she said, HES could take 55 more pupils for a total of 518, and Bromfield could take 255 more students for a maximum capacity of 810. The elementary school was designed with an expansion plan, however, so additional classrooms could be built, Dwight said. But how many students might Harvard expect?

School Committee Chair Abby Besse said her committee is looking into that. The Massachusetts School Building Authority uses a multiplier to predict student population based on the number and types of units to be built. She said the committee has asked MSBA to estimate how many students this project might attract and is awaiting a response.

As the discussion drew to a close, Select Board Chair Rich Maiore said that because member Don Ludwig was absent, the board would not vote on pursuing the project and passing the bylaw to the Planning Board. The board would vote Feb. 21, he said. Member Kara Minar asked to delay the vote to allow more time for public and board input, also noting that Feb. 21 fell during school vacation. Maiore, visibly angry, did not address Minar’s objection. Talking over her, Maiore repeated his intention to take the vote Feb. 21. After the meeting, however, Maiore told the Press the vote would be taken Feb. 28, after all.

Minar told the Press that evaluating the effects on the town of “the largest housing project the town has ever seen” were “the absolute charge and responsibility” of the Select Board. “Rushing to support this project and toss it to the Planning Board” without understanding the cost of services related to an increased population—such as for schools, fire, police, and emergency services—was “irresponsible,” she said. It would, she added, burden the Planning Board with a problem that is “not its responsibility.” If town boards took two years to determine whether to build a new elementary school, she said, the board should take more than two weeks to evaluate this project.

In an email to the Press, Maiore denied he was rushing the project and emphasized the benefits he said the project would bring to the town. “We’re not voting on the final project now as details will change,” he said. “We’re simply voting whether the project is viable enough for the Planning Board to begin review and hold hearings.” He cited “multiple benefits” of the project, including addressing the need for affordable housing and the new state requirements for multifamily housing, increasing housing options, and generating “more than $1,000,000 in annual revenue.”

At Maiore’s request, the developers agreed to host public information sessions in March and April.