Rte. 138 senior living project moves to permitting stage

The Shelter Group and Brightview Senior Living have formally started the permitting process to build a senior living community at 125 Turnpike Street, with a cash contribution to the town of $630,084 taking the place of affordable housing units.

Attorney Richard Staiti, representing the Shelter Group, informed selectmen Tuesday night that the state Department of Housing and Community Development has approved the developer’s initial application. In addition, DHCD has approved the votes taken at the last town meeting and reaffirmed that the town has an affordable housing percentage of 12.24 — well above the 10 percent threshold required under Chapter 40B. This represents an increase of over 2 percent, primarily due to the addition of the 196-unit Avalon apartment project currently under construction on the Canton-Randolph town line.

The proposed development on Turnpike Street will be built in the new Senior Housing Overlay District (SHOD) that was approved at town meeting. The project will encompass 160 units, including 84 independent living units and 76 assisted living units, 28 of which will be set for Alzheimer’s or memory care.

The group has filed plans with the planning and zoning boards and will soon file with the Conservation Commission. The initial hearing with the Planning Board is scheduled for December 4, followed by a ZBA hearing on December 19.

The cash in lieu of affordable housing will be paid to the town prior to the issuance of an occupancy permit and will be controlled by the Board of Selectmen. Planning Board Chairman Jeremy Comeau asked the selectmen to set aside the money for affordable housing projects, particularly for units owned by the Canton Housing Authority. Selectmen Chairman Sal Salvatori said a future meeting will decide how the money will be spent.

In other news at Tuesday night’s meeting, Jean Fox, manager of the South Coast Rail project for the state Department of Transportation, provided an update on the state’s plan to extend rail service from Stoughton to Fall River and New Bedford.

Although actual construction is years away and is subject to approval by a new governor, both MassDOT and Governor Deval Patrick have endorsed the Stoughton route as the least environmentally harmful alternative and the state is now transitioning to the design and permitting process.

The project will add another track through Canton Center, but Fox said trains will not pass each other. She expects total ridership to decrease through Canton from 770 to 700 per day. Selectman Bob Burr said from his review of the project, the biggest impact will be weekend noise from the trains. Fox said weekend activity has not been determined but will be much less than the planned 38 trains per day from Monday through Friday.

Fox also announced that the state now controls the right of ways on the train tracks and with new technology can stop trains instantly — thus eliminating the potential for an accident, such as the one that occurred in Canton in 2008 involving a runaway freight car. Fox said the state will actively maintain three grade crossings and in Canton Center the gate time will decrease with better synchronization. She also reported that there will be no new land takings in Canton, with the new route extending 55 miles from Stoughton to Easton, Raynham, Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River.

In other news:

* Town Administrator Bill Friel announced that Thursday, December 12, has been set as the date for a public auction of three parcels of land that belong to the town through foreclosure. Two parcels are located at 35 Turnpike Street and another is located at 65 Pleasant Circle. A professional auctioneer (The Zekos Group) will conduct the auction at the town library, with bidder registration starting at 12:30 p.m. followed by the auction at 1 p.m.

* The Pine Street recycling facility will close for the season on November 30.

* Richard Brooks Jr. was appointed as an on-call animal control officer.

* Selectmen will meet with the assessors at 3 p.m. on Friday to set the new tax rate, and the next general meeting is Tuesday, December 3, at 7 p.m.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 21 2013. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.