Town Could Block Two Developments with New Housing Count

FRAMINGHAM, MA-In yet another indication of just how the state’s affordable housing law can be manipulated by either side of a development issue, this town aims to block two proposed developments by using a new count of its affordable housing stock.

Archstone Communities has proposed a 264-unit in the Nobscot area here while Edmands Road Realty LLC would like to put a 60-unit senior-housing complex in the same area. Both developers are applying for comprehensive permits under the state’s affordable housing law, which would allow them to bypass local zoning if the town has less than 10% affordable housing and they are willing to develop 25% of the housing as affordable.

Until now, Framingham had only designated 9.23% of it housing stock as affordable, according to Donna Jacobs, senior planner for the town. But a new count recently put the town officially over the 10% mark. “We did an exhaustive counting to make sure all units that could be counted, were counted,” Jacobs tells GolbeSt.com. Reportedly, the town gave a new inventory list to the state in June, when it was able to benefit from a change in the rules that allowed at least 300 Department of Mental Health and Department of Mental Retardation units in the town to count as affordable housing.