The Continued Piper Lane Condominium Hearings are scheduled for next week!
The Zoning Board of Appeals Hearing is Tuesday, September 17th at 7:30 PM and the Conservation Commission Hearing is Wednesday, September 18th at 7:30 PM. Both will be held in Room 204 at Town Hall. Please spread the word and attend the hearings if you are able! If you are unable to attend a hearing, please email your concerns to [email protected] and [email protected].
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Piper Lane, LLC is seeking to formally define the limits of an Area Subject to Protection under the Wetlands Protection Act on Wednesday, August 21, 8:00 PM, Town Hall, Room 204. Town Natural Resource Staff have confirmed the presence of obligate vernal pool species adjacent to the proposed project site.
Concerned citizens are encouraged to show up en masse! The Piper Lane proposal will be before Acton's Conservation Commission on Wednesday, August 21st, and before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday, August 26th. More details on time and location to come when agendas are posted. Continued citizen engagement is critical to a positive outcome for the town of Acton! Please attend if you are able!
Reminder - the continuation of the Piper Lane Comprehensive Permit Application ZBA Hearing is Monday night, June 3rd, 8:00 PM in Room 126 of Town Hall! Please come!!
You might be interested to read what some of the volunteers who sit on boards and committees in town have to say about the proposed Piper Lane Condominium project. Here is a link to the comments submitted by the Design Review Board.
www.acton-ma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/11819. First of all, THANK YOU to all of you who came out Monday night to attend the ZBA meeting and show your opposition to this project. We filled the room and that matters!
For those of you who couldn't make it, here is a brief summary of what happened: Monday night, the ZBA decided the developer had not been eligible to submit an application in April because a 12-month cooling off period was in force until mid-June of 2019. The ZBA made this decision in a 3-0 vote, after nearly 3 hours of deliberation between the applicant's lawyer and a lawyer representing residents. The Town’s attorney was also in attendance to provide counsel to the ZBA. The ZBA will meet again Monday, May 13th at 7:30 PM in Town Hall (in a continuation of the 5/6 meeting) to document their position in writing that will be sent to the state agency that will review the Town’s position and determine its validity, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). We will keep you posted on the ZBA's submission, the state agency’s subsequent decision, and the next steps in this complicated, long process. THANK YOU TO ALL FOR STAYING ENGAGED! Here is a link to the draft of the letter which will be submitted by the ZBA to the DHCD. http://doc.acton-ma.gov/dsweb/Get/Document-67947/Draft%20Decision%20and%20Notice%20re%20Related%20Application%20Safe%20Harbor%20-%20May%2010%202019%20-%20POST.pdf We'd like to set the record straight on a few issues with the Piper Lane Comprehensive Permit Application.
A letter was recently sent to the ZBA in support of this “affordable housing project” by an Acton resident, who according to her FB profile, moved to Acton in November of 2018. Living in town for just 6 months, this resident is likely unaware of the reasons there is “very vocal” opposition to this project. This resident may not realize that the parcel of land on which this “affordable housing project” is proposed to be built was identified as a priority for protection by the town over 30 years ago in 1998. She may not realize that the Open Space Committee and Acton Conservation Trust were actively negotiating a possible purchase for about a decade. Also, it’s not clear whether she realizes that this “affordable housing project” consists of only 7 units which will count towards Acton’s SHI, with the bulk of the development being market rate units. Those 2-3 bedroom market rate units, 75% of the proposed units, will be selling at $500K or more, hardly affordable for many wanting to live in Acton. Characterizing the opposition in terms of wanting to “avoid placement of affordable housing in their backyards” is wildly inaccurate. This group comprises citizens who serve on committees and boards in town, volunteering countless hours of their time serving Acton and its residents. These individuals are committed to balancing the various needs in town, including thoughtful and safe development, affordable housing, protecting history and open space, and conservation. Furthermore, South Acton already has, between 2005-2018, added seven out of 20 40B developments in town, or 35%, hardly an insignificant number. Granted, these developments are not large, with between 4 - 28 units total located at each. However, with the addition of 3 Habitat for Humanity units, they provide a total of 27 of the 244 affordable units in town, or 11%. Acton has 568 units in its SHI, but that is because 40B law allows a municipality to count all units in a rental development as affordable, even though only 25% of the units are actually affordable. Additionally, it is worth noting that 10% of the 400 people who signed the opposition letter last fall do not even live in Acton, let alone South Acton or on School Street or Piper Road. These people, who live in Maynard, Concord, Littleton, Stow, Westford and Bolton, use the Great Hill Recreation Area, bringing their dogs to the field and hiking the trails, including the one that bisects the Piper Lane parcel, a trail which is between 6-10 feet wide, and has been heavily used and maintained for at least 40-50 years. The group working tirelessly to oppose this proposal is doing so for the good of the entire town, and certainly acknowledges the need for affordable housing. We must remember that affordable housing, under the law, is relative; it is dependent on a percentage of Area Median Income. The cost of an “affordable” unit varies depending on geography. What is crucial is meeting the unique housing needs of our particular town. It is uncontested that Acton’s housing needs are for senior housing and rental housing. The Piper Lane proposal meets neither of those needs. The units are not designed to be accessible, nor is the road which would lead to them ADA compliant. Additionally, every single committee and board in town wrote in opposition to this proposal, and the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager expressly requested that MA Housing deny Project Eligibility to the applicant. This proposal is opposed, not just by a few “very vocal” abutters, but by our elected officials, town staff, and volunteers serving the town. Perhaps there are individuals in town who truly believe that building 7 affordable units despite all the destruction and risk is worth it. Maybe there are those who believe clearcutting 4 acres of forest, displacing wildlife, and potentially degrading the wetlands and nearby stream which runs under School and River Streets into Fort Pond Brook is a small price to pay. Perhaps there are individuals in town who are comfortable dismissing the safety risks of placing a 1000+ foot too-narrow drive with a single egress and a single “T” turnaround which relies on all car owners to respect “No Parking” signs to ensure emergency vehicle access. Perhaps there are individuals who brush aside the placement of a road less than 200 feet from a dangerous intersection of two collector streets (on each 5000+ vehicles travel per day). Maybe there are residents who aren’t concerned that a hundred cars will be exiting this potential development multiple times each day, with sight lines that are inadequate for not only the vehicles traveling on School Street, but the cyclists and pedestrians as well. Perhaps they can poo-poo the idea of maintaining the integrity of one of Acton’s three Historic Districts, and see no problem with wedging eight massive triplexes and quadplexes on a ridge between a regionally important conservation area and the South Acton Historic District. If so, then we respectfully request that they not presume that WE object to this proposal simply because we don’t like the idea of a 40B in our backyards. We already have 40Bs in our backyards. We are trying to save lives, open space, and history. On Monday, May 6th at 8:00 PM in Room 204 of Town Hall, the Acton Board of Appeals (ZBA) will hold a public hearing on the comprehensive permit application submitted by Piper Lane LLC. This is a critical point in the process, as the ZBA has the ability to approve or deny this project.
Please attend the hearing to demonstrate your opposition to this project. We will ask the ZBA to uphold the "cooling off" period written into the Comprehensive Permit, or Chapter 40B, Law. This part of the law protects municipalities from developers' predatory practices, requiring that when a Special Permit is requested for a property, no subsequent application can be made on the same property within 12 months of a denial. The ZBA hearing will be continued, monthly, for several months to come. It is imperative that many of you continue to come out in the evenings to attend these hearings. The process is long, and our opposition cannot wane if we are to succeed in blocking this radically inappropriate proposal to destroy several acres of forest which serves as valuable wildlife habitat and a passive recreation resource for humans, to put lives at risk with a recklessly designed project, and to ruin the integrity of the South Acton Historic District. Affordable housing needs must be met in Acton, but not this proposal and not on this parcel of land. The town must continue in its efforts to incorporate this parcel into the Great Hill Conservation Area, and approve thoughtful and appropriate developments which truly meet the town's housing needs. The risks greatly outweigh the benefits. The potential losses exponentially outweigh the potential gains. MA Housing has issued a Project Eligibility Letter (PEL) to the applicant for the proposed 40B development at Piper Lane. Steve Paquette (principal) and Bruce Ringwall (engineer) will be presenting the proposal to the Acton Community Housing Corporation (ACHC) at the Acton Town Hall, Room 204, at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, April 10th.
We strongly urge you to attend! This Public Information Session runs from 7:30-8:30 and includes the Piper Lane LLC presentation followed by time for questions from the public. Please look at the detailed plans located at the link below so that you can come informed and with questions/concerns at the ready. doc.acton-ma.gov/dsweb/View/Collection-10923 Even though you haven't seen any new posts here in awhile, we have kept busy opposing this project. Since our last post, we've hosted both Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Jen Benson on visits to the site and discussions. Both legislators join us in opposing this proposal. Senator Eldridge reached out to the Executive Director at MA Housing with our specific concerns regarding the planned project as well as the misleading and woefully incomplete application. Representative Benson reached out to Acton's Town Manager, as well as MA Housing. Her office appealed to them for an extension of the review period for supplemental materials submitted by the developer, and is drafting a letter of opposition to MA Housing, which will hopefully be sent in coordination with Eldridge's office.
We have also been in active correspondence with the Board of Selectmen. They have informed us that Town Counsel has communicated with MA Housing regarding the incorrect information in the original application. The supplemental materials have been forwarded to us for review. Most concerning is a change made by the developer to move the access road to the west, further exacerbating a very dangerous traffic condition by decreasing the sight line at the proposed entrance on School Street to the west, which is a blind curve on a hill! The Board of Selectmen will be discussing this project at their Monday February 25th meeting, located in Room 204 of Town Hall, 7:00 PM. The BOS will be sending the Town's response to MA Housing by March 1st, and we want to be sure our concerns and demands are included in that response. The Piper Lane proposal is agenda item #9 under New/Special Business, linked below. We encourage you all to attend this meeting to communicate to the Board that our opposition remains strong and firm! http://www.acton-ma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/11469 |
South Acton NeighborhoodAssociationAdvocating for a balance of citizen needs, retention of Acton's historic and small town character, and thoughtful development. Archives
August 2020
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