By Mary Romaniec
Grafton News Reporter–
Former Selectman Peter Adams’ proposal for 36 single family houses off Wheeler Road, including nine designated as Chapter 40B affordable units, was met with opposition by neighbors at the Board of Selectmen meeting held Tuesday.
A dozen or so local residents gathered at the meeting to hear from Adams on his proposed project for high density housing called Elmrock Estates, to be built on land that has been in his family for 66 years.
The development would traverse through 18 acres, according to the proposal. The lots would be a third to three-quarter acres. Aside from the nine houses identified for affordable housing, 27 would sell at full market value of $450,000 to $500,000 according to Adams who also said he was compelled to do the 40B single-family home project when the land failed to sell. He described the project as his retirement plan.
“I wanted to do what was right for the neighborhood,” said Adams as he described why he chose single family homes versus condominiums. “It’s the American dream [to own a home.”]
Concerned neighbors off Meadowbrook Lane spoke about the potential traffic and safety concerns especially at the intersection of Wheeler and Worcester Street. Wade Hanna spoke of the congestion at the base of Wheeler Road, asking Selectmen to consider adding a traffic signal if the project is confirmed. Other neighbors spoke of water that pools at the base of the road during storms worrying that additional housing would make the runoff worse.
Residents from Brigham Hill Road hired attorney Mark Donahue, from Fletcher Tilton PC, who said the project is not consistent with the town’s housing production plan. According to Donahue, the letter response to MassHousing from Selectman needs to stipulate why the project is inconsistent with the town’s open space plans. “The project is too dense,” Donahue said.
Grafton Land Trust property abuts the proposed development. But Adams said no one from the trust approached him to purchase the land. President of Grafton Land Trust Rob Winchell said they never approached the Adams because the cost of the land was beyond the trust’s budget. Winchell added the concern is also about the storm runoff impacting parking access for Ekblaw Landing at the base of Wheeler Road.
Peter Adam’s wife, Deb said, “This is a wonderful option for Grafton.” She added praise of the project and of Peter’s effort to accommodate the town and citizens. “No one approached us to buy the land,” said Deb Adams.
Helen Jeannie, from Merriam Road, described her family’s effort to keep open spaces in Grafton. “My family has spent a lot of time to push for open space. It think [the project] inappropriate.” She added, “It’s like putting a Wal-Mart in there.”
Elias Hanna said he approached Adams about buying the land, suggesting competing interests should come together to come up with a compromise.
Geoff Engler, from SEB, LLC, representing Adams said, as concerns mounted during the meeting, “We’re going to look at this creatively. I think there is opportunity to make modifications.”
Selectman Chair Jennifer Thomas said nothing else concerned her about the project more than the configuration of dense housing on a long street with a single entry. But Selectman Craig Dauphinais pointed out older developments around town with a similar configuration that have seen few concerns with the single point entry.
Town Planner Joe Laydon said there is a fragmentation of the natural open space involved with the project. He acknowledged Grafton has done a good job approving 40B projects, but many of them have not been built yet, pointing out the Fisherville Mill mixed-use project in South Grafton as an example. “We need to produce more units,” said Laydon of the 40B effort.
A letter of response will be sent by Friday from Selectmen to MassHousing, the agency charged with monitoring project requests in the state. The letter will either list concerns or have no opposition to the project. If the state agency approves, the developer will submit it with its comprehensive permit application to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
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