After seeing revised plans and questioning Pam Brown, who represented the developer of 330 South Road, the Housing Partnership voted at their August 10 meeting to send a letter of endorsement for the Local Initiative Proposal (LIP) to the Select Board.
As Brown pointed out, this project was first proposed in 2018. Since then, there have been a number of iterations and changes to the original plan, in response to concerns and questions raised by the Planning Board, the Select Board, and the Housing Partnership, and by neighbors and abutters. In the revision voted on last night by the Partnership, there are 20 units, scaled-down from 24, with 46 bedrooms in total, divided among the existing house, the large barn, the small barn, and a new structure with two townhouses. Units range in size from one bedroom and one bedroom with den to two and three bedrooms. Also present last night were owner, Steve Soilis, project architect Barry Ganek, and engineer Taylor Dowdy.
Changed also is the Area Median Income (AMI) limit for affordable units. It now stands at 50% AMI; it was originally 80%.
Housing Partnership Chair Christina Wilgren thanked Brown and the developer for listening to community concerns and for their willingness to make accommodative changes. Wilgren stressed that her primary interest and that of the Partnership is in seeing a good quality of life incorporated into this project.
Carlisle Road Development
The Partnership had a first look at and an introduction to a new proposal that would dramatically change a now wooded portion on the right side of Carlisle Road just beyond the intersection with North Road. Developer Brian DeVellis, a Bedford native who has been involved with projects ranging from Huckins Farm to The Edge, said he had been working for more than four years to acquire an interest in the two parcels totaling 40 acres.
DeVellis has already pitched some ideas to the Planning Board and now is seeking input from other town boards with concerns about how this property will be developed. It is one of the last large parcels of undeveloped land in Bedford. As in his presentation to the Planning Board, (https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2021/07/planning-board-gets-first-notice-of-potential-carlisle-road-development/, DeVellis said he had no specific concept in mind but is asking for relevant boards to dialogue with him to come up with ways to meet some of the town’s housing needs, as outlined in the 2019 Housing Study. A concern is the actual amount of wetland; DeVellis’s architect speculated that about 15 acres of buildable upland would be available but that is yet to be determined by a wetlands survey.
Housing Partnership members Wilgren, Shawn Hanegan, and Alice Sun volunteered to work on a committee with DeVellis as he goes forward.
Bedford Residents Received Emergency Rental Assistance
Liz Valenta, Regional Housing Services Office, gave a final report on the number of ERAP (Emergency Rental Assistance Program) grants awarded. From September 2020 to August 2021, 12 Bedford households received assistance. Total amount awarded was $41,100 out of a “pot” of $60,000. The unspent funds will be returned to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust. Valenta said her office is available to direct Bedford residents seeking housing assistance to other agencies if need be.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Housing Partnership is set for Wednesday, September 15 at 6 p.m.
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