Canton ZBA questions Roseland on subdivision plans

Roughly two months after the town waived the white flag in its legal battle with the Roseland Property Company, the two sides were back at it again last week, this time in a clash over a planned 32-unit subdivision – a proposal that is rife with “legitimate concerns,” according to Zoning Board Chairman Paul Carroll.

The subdivision, referred to in town documents as Acorn Estates, is one of two separate affordable housing projects that Roseland is planning to build on an 81-acre parcel abutting the Randolph town line, with the other being a 196-unit apartment complex tentatively called The Highlands at Canton Meadows.

Neither project has the support of the town of Canton, which spent years trying to convince the courts that it had already met the state’s affordable housing requirements before eventually running out of legal options earlier this year. Carroll said the ZBA had no choice but to accept the decision of the state Housing Appeals Committee, which had ruled in favor of the developer as far back as 2003.

The ZBA did, however, tack on several conditions as part of its recent approval, and one such condition required the developer to present definitive plans for review by the board – a process that began last week with the smaller of the two planned projects.

However, rather than a rubber stamping, the developer was greeted with a 30-page review by town engineer Tom Houston, complete with 114 specific recommendations covering everything from water supply and stormwater management issues to concerns about lot sizes and building heights.

According to Houston’s review, Roseland, which hopes to build 24 single-family homes and four duplexes, would also need to obtain dozens of town-issued waivers and possibly a few easements from the town of Randolph.

“They just don’t meet a lot of the town’s rules and regulations,” said Carroll of the plans for Acorn Estates. “There are several concerns, and they don’t want to have to address most of them.”

Carroll, in a telephone interview a day after the hearing, said the next step for Canton will be to decide which recommendations are important and which they are willing to grant waivers for. Beyond that, he said, there is not much more they can do – not when the builder is holding a 40B permit, which allows them to circumvent local bylaws.

Carroll said Roseland is also well aware of the upcoming ballot initiative to repeal 40B, which is why he believes they are focusing their efforts on the subdivision rather than the apartments, as it represents a much easier route to a building permit – and at least one of those would be needed to preserve the entire development if the law were repealed.

Although he respects the affordable housing law “in theory,” Carroll said the Roseland case is clear evidence that the law does not always work in practice.

“We, personally, like most of the people in the town of Canton, do not like the idea of 230 units being added to the [Randolph Street] section of town,” he said. “I don’t think the town can handle it; I don’t think the schools can handle it.”

Carroll said the ZBA expects to make a final decision on Acorn Estates by October 16.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 7 2010. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.