One more public information meetings have been scheduled on the 139-unit housing development proposed for a 35-acre site on the north side of Carlisle Road.
Town Manager Sarah Stanton announced the sessions in January at a Select Board meeting. The remaining of the two sessions is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
“We want people to come out and ask questions,” Stanton said, noting that the meeting will be recorded by Bedford TV, but not livestreamed. Many town department heads will attend at least one of the meetings in case relevant questions arise, she added.
Brian DeVellis, landscape architect and land use attorney, says he is proposing the mixture of single-family houses, duplexes, townhouses, and senior apartments in response to preferences expressed in the 2019 town housing study.
DeVellis’s proposal is defined as a Local Initiative Project (LIP), following a state law that allows bypassing zoning density requirements as long as at least 25 percent of the units meet the state definition of affordable housing.
The Select Board, in effect, becomes a co-sponsor if it approves the LIP, and at a meeting last month, board member Shawn Hanegan urged scheduling the public meetings before the board addresses the specifics. Stanton worked with DeVellis to arrange the sessions.
In a Jan. 5 letter addressed to Carlisle Road residents, DeVellis announced the information sessions and encouraged the neighbors to attend. He also invited recipients to contact him individually and join a group email list for updates.
