by Valerie Hurley ·
Friday, October 25, 2024
Sitework has begun for the construction of 12 duplexes on Old Mill Road, which when complete will consist of 24 two- and three-bedroom units. Building will start soon, according to the developer of the 11-acre parcel, Walter Eriksen of Juno Construction.
Six of the units will be affordable to households earning no more than 80% of the area’s median income. The income limits and other information about qualifying for and entering the lottery to buy one of the affordable units will be available when the homes are closer to finished. The process will be managed by the Sudbury Housing Trust.
Pricing won’t be set until construction is farther along, but Eriksen estimated the price range for the market rate homes at $750-$850,000 and the affordable homes somewhere near $240,000.
The Zoning Board of Appeals granted Juno a comprehensive permit under the state’s affordable housing law, 40B, in February of 2024. Such a permit allows eligible builders to bypass local zoning bylaws—most significantly the ones regulating density—in towns where less than 10% of the housing qualifies as affordable. State standards for water, sewage, and wetland protection still apply.
Communities that have reached 10% affordability, or that produce a planned number of units per year, can avoid granting the permits if they choose to, but Harvard does not have that option. According to the Harvard Housing Production Plan 2024-2028, 5.3% of the town’s housing qualifies as affordable, a shortfall of 103 units.