Is Chapter 40B fair?
By Canton CitizenDear Editor:
Canton has been overrun with 40B projects that bring apartments to Canton. We are impacted in an AA Zone on Randolph Street with three projects: Blue Hills Village across from Blue Hills Regional High School and two more Avalon Apartments on Randolph Street on the Canton-Randolph line. Chapter 40B was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature many years ago.
It was the city of Boston and its mayor and the other cities versus the towns and cities that had the votes. What the cities wanted was to move the city apartment dwellers to the towns. Unfortunately, Canton had a lot of open land, water and sewer. We now have over the required 10 percent of low-income housing. In Milton, where Governor Patrick and Senator Joyce live, it’s less than 5 percent because of the lack of open land [to build] 40B projects on. Most towns do not have the 10 percent or any low income because they may not have sewers or town water so the developers will let them be.
Is 40B unfair? Absolutely, because it allows certain towns like Canton to be saturated with low-income projects while most towns have none or only a few. Fairness would require towns to share equally or at least designate where the apartments are to be built.
Canton is somewhat lucky in that the Canton Housing Authority’s units count toward Canton’s 10 percent.
But the latest is that the governor wants to do away with local housing authorities and have the state take over all local housing units. Just as the federal government gets bigger and takes more control over the towns and its citizens. In the long run, if the state takes over low-income projects and local senior housing, it will mean higher taxes to Canton citizens for schools, police, fire, highway (public works), and other town costs.
We came to Canton because it was a town with open space and you knew many of your neighbors and town officials, and we liked each other and got along. Canton needs to meet together to see how we can preserve the town for the future.
Perhaps the Master Plan Committee needs to take action and be sure our plan is on the right track.
Harold M. Drake
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=17047
Posted by Canton Citizen
on Oct 31 2012. Filed under From One Citizen to Another, Opinion.
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