One of the main questions residents had for the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night regarding the city’s first proposed 55-and-older residential development was how to keep the younger people out.
“If the people who buy the home should pass, and people younger than that get it and they have children, what’s to be done with that? How can you keep it 55 and older?,” asked Karen Kachoulas, of Dwight Street, one of about 45 people who attended the packed public hearing held at Aldermanic chambers in City Hall.
The crowd got the answer to that question, as well as answers to other concerns they had about blasting, insurance liability for blasting, and possible increases in traffic in the residential neighborhood around Hull Street.
City counsel Thomas Welch answered the concerns about age succinctly.
“It is law that they cannot live in it if they are under 55. The law is the Housing for Older Persons Act, passed by Congress. A minor child can only live there a limited period of time, like a vacation,” Welch told the crowd.
Bart Flaherty, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, further explained that if the original owners passed away and willed the property to people who are younger than 55, those people could not move in.
The homes would have one first-floor bedroom and a loft area where a second bedroom could go. The grounds would have bocci courts, a gazebo and a gardening area, and there would be parking for recreation-vehicles near the Route 8 line.
Units would sell for probably $250,000 to $300,000 each.
Proposed are 22 units, including one home that is already there and will be remodeled, with a clubhouse on 4.59 acres in a B residence zone. Parts of it were formerly a rock quarry.
Taxes of perhaps more than $100,000 would be generated, according to the attorney for the developer, TWC Development LLC, and there would be no drain on the school system. The developer anticipates no impact on traffic.
“The property is unique,” said Holt McChord, engineer for the project, which has been slightly altered since plans were first presented to the P&Z last September.
The modification involved keeping the single-family home already on the site as a home, rather than a community center, and building a community center in a central location.
Clearing the land for housing will certainly involve blasting. Constance Kachoulas of Dwight Street was concerned about that.
“From my back porch I have a view and it’s all ledge. You’re talking about blasting adversely affecting myself and people behind me,” Kachoulas said. “This is going to be a lot of blasting. With that rock ledge, just a little blasting? I don’t think so.”
Flaherty told the crowd blasting will be done in accordance with law and permits, and with proper insurance. Seismic measurements will be taken and precautions will be made.
Blasting wasn’t the only worry though. Melvin Natter of Webb Terrace was concerned about the traffic and wastewater.
“They have extended a burr of Webb Terrace and it has increased the traffic coming through Webb Terrace tenfold,” Natter said. “And there’s speeding. Police have been called numerous times. And the water drainage from those areas has blown the manhole covers into the air during heavy thunderstorms. I’m not an engineer, but I’m an observer. I’d like these questions answered.”
The answer was that the developers expect no impact on traffic or speeding, which would not be under the authority of the P&Z but the police department.
The project includes a water retention basin, and that concerned Rich Fiddler, of Willow St.,who said he worried there could be an issue with mosquitoes, bacteria and diseases.
Flaherty told him catch basins are designed to temporarily hold water during severe rainstorms, for example 100 year floods, and would empty out within about 24 hours. There would be no standing pond, he said.
Overall, blasting appeared to be perhaps the most consistent concern voiced by the crowd.
“If there is any kind of damage from blasting there will be litigation and I will be recompensed,” Constance Kachoulas said.
The commission did not take action Tuesday. A decision on whether to allow the project will be made at an upcoming meeting.
