Cottage-style concept has neighbors uneasy

Developer Nick Mirrione says if his project wins approval, it will serve as a model for future housing developments on the East Coast. But first he must win over skeptics of the concept as well as neighbors of the site, a former farm on Pine Street.

The plan for the Eastondale Cottages project calls for 28 one- and one-and-a-half story houses with open floor plans and sizes ranging from 680 square feet - about the size of an apartment - to 990 square feet. He describes them as single-family condos, since the land will be shared. Homeowners will get 5 feet on either side and to the rear, and 8 to 15 feet in front, for their own use. The houses will be a mere 10 feet apart.

Mirrione said he was introduced to cottage-style development in Seattle, and decided that such a cluster of small, free-standing houses on a common-owned lot might have appeal for East Coast empty-nesters and young professionals looking to own a small home. The Eastondale development would be upscale, even though the homes would be small. Buyers would have salaries of $80,000 to $100,000 annually.

"These people will be making 100 to 150 percent of the median income for the area," Mirrione said. "The houses will be priced between $249,900 and $349,900."

Mirrione initially approached the town a year ago with a bylaw proposal that would have allowed for cottage development while providing a series of guidelines to protect the town. The bylaw was supported by the Planning Board and the selectmen, but it failed to pass at Town Meeting.

Now, Mirrione is pressing ahead with his proposal under the state's Chapter 40B affordable-housing law, which will allow him to bypass most local requirements. Seven of the cottages will be priced affordably, he said.

Town Administrator David Colton said the town would have been better served by the proposed ordinance. "A bylaw would have allowed cottage development under strict guidelines and design criteria, and it would have restricted the number that could be built in town," Colton said.

Voters at Town Meeting, however, had visualized a low-income cluster being built under the bylaw. "They compared it to a trailer park," Colton said. "Now that it's proposed as 40B, which is the developer's right, the town has little control, so we're going to end up with whatever project he produces."

Since only 3 percent of Easton's housing stock is classified as affordable - far below the state's required 10 percent - the town will be hard-pressed to reject Mirrione's project.

With the Zoning Board of Appeal's review now underway, neighbors are voicing concerns about the project, citing increased traffic, density, and water runoff in an already wet area.

"This is a narrow street of only about 18 feet across, and there are no sidewalks and lots of young children," said Pine Street resident Jolene Olsen.

Katie Young, a mother of two sets of twins, grew up on Pine Street and now lives next door to her parents. She says she returned to live in the neighborhood "because it's so quiet," and now fears water runoff.

"When they put in the foundations and cover areas with hard surface, the water has got to go somewhere, and it will come downhill to us," Young said. "My parents already have water problems."

Cecilia Mahoney argues that Mirrione's proposal doesn't fit the character of the neighborhood. "We are a unique neighborhood of homes, not cookie-cutter houses," she said.

Mahoney, whose living room windows will overlook a large parking lot for the Eastondale cottages, expressed skepticism over the concept's appeal. "He's saying there's a market for them, but who's going to buy them?" she said. "Being just 10 feet apart, you could reach out and touch your neighbor's hand."

Mirrione said he's not surprised by the resistance he's meeting.

"People have been saying the same things about these projects for the last 30 years, and they've been wrong," he said. "I have no reason to think they're not going to be wrong this time."

An old shed, garage, and house on the site will have to be demolished to make way for the cottages. All three buildings are more than 75 years old, and their removal will have to be approved by the local Historical Commission, under the town's demolition bylaw.

"There are also numerous stone walls on the farm property that we wanted to protect," said Melanie Deware, chairwoman of the Historical Commission.

Deware said the Eastondale section of town is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and she'd like to see its character preserved. "It's one of the last surviving old neighborhoods in town," she said.

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com