Town-house plan viewed as intrusive
Kenneth Hoffman just wants to keep getting what he paid for -- and not have the woods and wildlife outside his Carlisle backdoor turn into the apartments he left in New York decades ago.
Sharing his view are nine other Carlisle residents who have banded together and hired an attorney to fight a 56-unit affordable housing complex -- where at least one of the residents has to be 55 or older -- to be built on more than 22 acres off Concord Street. The land sits behind a neighborhood of homes, most of which are on Spencer Brook Lane.
''To us, this is Manhattan come to Carlisle. It doesn't fit in any way, shape, or form," said Hoffman, a Spencer Brook Lane resident and New York transplant who works for an affordable-housing general contractor. ''I'm one of the lucky ones. The closest building will be 150 feet away, but I probably won't be able to see it."
The proposal submitted by Harvard developer Mark O'Hagan calls for 1,800- to 2,200-square-foot town houses in two- and four-unit buildings with 2 1/2 baths, a full basement, and one- or two-car garages. A 2-acre park and walking trails are also part of the design.
''It will be breathtaking," said O'Hagan, who owns MCO & Associates and has developed affordable-housing complexes throughout the state. ''It really will be like driving into a private enclave."
Of the 56 units at Coventry Woods, 14 -- or 25 percent -- will be priced at about $165,000 each, O'Hagan said. Ten of those affordable units will be set aside for Carlisle residents. The other 42 units will sell for market rate at about $650,000.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss hiring an engineer to review the Coventry Woods proposal at its meeting tonight. The next public hearing on the project is scheduled for Nov. 21.
Because the plan is being proposed under the state's Chapter 40B law to promote affordable housing, it does not have to meet Carlisle's zoning ordinances. It only needs a comprehensive permit granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals, which began its public review process last month.
That means Coventry Woods could give this town, known for its large, leafy lots, a bit of culture shock.
''We moved to Carlisle, like many people, for some degree of privacy, woods, and nature," said Michael Epstein, who moved to Spencer Brook Lane from Swampscott with his wife and two children a decade ago.
''We always anticipated someone would build on this land, but we thought it would be single-family homes," said Epstein, a commercial real estate attorney who sits on the Planning Board. ''This is not just one person. This is a lot of people. What they will be doing is undercutting the quality of our life, which is really sad."
O'Hagan says he understands and respects the neighborhood's negative reaction to his proposal, but he said the project will work on the plot of land that was owned by a Concord family for nearly a century.
''Certainly, some of the people that live in the neighborhood have concerns about the project because it is different from what the town is used to," O'Hagan said. ''It is change and we understand that. We're going to do the best we can to satisfy their concerns."
O'Hagan said he reduced the number of units from to 56 from 66 and lowered the profile of the buildings before the plan even went before the zoning board for the first time last month.
It's not that neighbors are against affordable housing, said Kenneth Kimmell, the neighbors' Boston attorney; they just don't think the plan makes much sense. The complex is more than 5 miles away from public transportation, shopping, and hospitals, with no sidewalks nearby.
''This is really a big tract of land in the woods in Carlisle. It's not close to an urban center," Kimmell said. ''It doesn't make sense from a planning perspective."
While neighbors know they can't completely block the project, they are waging a battle in hopes of winning some concessions. And it's more than preservation of aesthetics.
''We're trying real hard as abutters to not dig our heels in and be unreasonable," said Hoffman, who was one of a dozen neighbors to write to the Massachusetts Housing Authority and ask the state agency to deny O'Hagan's project before it reached the local level. ''We're just trying to push as hard as we can in as many different directions to make this something we can support."
The concerns listed by the neighbors are many, and some are shared by town officials reviewing the plans. Among those concerns are how the complex will affect property values, schools, an already dangerous and winding Concord Street, the volunteer Fire Department, and the town's water supply. They also have fears about the lone 2,000-foot-long road into the complex.
All homes in Carlisle have individual wells and septic systems. There is no reservoir or town water or sewer system. Carlisle is already dealing with problems on Stearns Street, where residents near Malcolm Meadows senior housing complex have reported going hours without water.
''We're just concerned because it's a denser development than we're used to," said zoning board chairwoman Cynthia Nock.
Nock said the board will probably ask the developer not to install an irrigation system and take as many steps as he can to cut back on water use at the complex.
''We just have to feel assured it's not going to impact the town," Nock said of the project, which has been forwarded to town departments and committees for review.
Carlisle Fire Chief David Flannery has just received the plans, but he already has some reservations.
''We could be looking at more alarms and more responses there, and that would affect our call volume," Flannery said.
Heidi Kummer wouldn't have put in a wall of windows that overlook the woods when she converted her attic into an office if she knew town houses would be 40 feet from the edge of her Spencer Brook Lane backyard.
''It's going to be within spitting distance. It's very, very bad," said Kummer, an anesthesiologist who just earned a master's degree in bioethics from Boston University. ''We could barbecue with them, that's how close we're going to be."
