Last-minute change keeps condominium project alive

The new proposal calls for 12 units in six duplex buildings, compared with 32 units in three buildings in the original plan. The project is proposed for a 5-acre site at 520 Main St. near historic Acton Center.

The three-member board had decided by a 2-to-1 vote at a previous meeting to deny the application for the project, which was made under the state's Chapter 40B affordable housing law. This law enables developers to circumvent a town's zoning regulations in return for selling 25 percent of the housing units at below-market rates to buyers whose incomes fall below a specified maximum. The law applies to communities in which less than 10 percent of the housing stock is classified as affordable, according to state standards.

The board members who had voted against the project had cited its size and conflict with the master plan goal of concentrating dense development in certain areas of town. The board's scheduled reason for meeting Friday night was to sign the document that would finalize its denial of the project. Developer NorthWest Development LLC, doing business as Franklin Place Partners LLC, had been expected to appeal the board's decision to the state's housing authority.

However, at the suggestion of Town Counsel Stephen Anderson of Anderson & Kreiger LLP, the Appeals Board changed direction and reopened the hearing, which began last spring, in order to receive a new application for a smaller project.

"I encourage you, in the spirit of holiday giving, to give a little more consideration to this project," Anderson said. He explained that since the board had voted to deny the permit, he had met with Town Manager Don Johnson; Ron Peabody, owner of NorthWest Development; and a lawyer for a neighborhood action group. While no one had signed any commitments, there had been progress toward an agreement.

Anderson outlined a new approach that he said has the potential of saving all parties costly litigation, helping meet the town's need for affordable housing, preserving the character of the town, and enabling the developer to make a profit. "Hopefully, this consensus plan will be a positive way of resolving this matter," Anderson said. He said that if negotiations break down, the fallback position will be for the board to vote again on the 32-unit application.

Representatives of the town, the developer, and the neighborhood activist group Save Acton Center will meet to discuss a revised conceptual plan, which will be presented to the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 5.

If the selectmen endorse the revised concept, the details of the scaled-down project will be presented to the Board of Appeals at 7 p.m. on Jan. 23 or Feb. 10. In return for reducing the project's size, the developer wants an expedited approval process that will enable construction to begin in the spring, according to Anderson.

In a telephone interview, Peabody said he was confident he would have won his appeal, but that the process would have taken more than a year.

"I've always been for affordable housing in this town, and I think [the 12-unit proposal] accomplishes that to a lesser degree," Peabody said. "Also, it's not worth fighting for a couple of years if we can get this project approved and move forward."

At the Friday meeting, the town also hired financial consultant Richard Heaton to review the expenses and expected profit for the 32-unit development.

Lisa Brandon of Hemlock Lane, a member of Save Acton Center, said that to meet an expedited timeline, the citizens would want an accelerated review of the developer's financial projections for the revised project.

Anderson said the financial data had already been reviewed at great length and another financial review of the 12-unit proposal would "kill this process."

Brandon said the new proposal is "almost there but not quite." She said the neighbors' review of the figures has led them to conclude that the developer could make sufficient profit by building as few as 10 units. Peabody rejected the idea of a 10-unit project. "We're not going to even consider that," he said.

Brandon also said the neighbors submitted an appeal to the state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday. The appeal states that a stream on the property flows year round and is not adequately protected by the order of conditions issued by the Acton Conservation Commission after its review of the 32-unit proposal.

Sally Heaney can be reached at heaney@globe.com.