The Select Board has voted to support the Charles River Center’s $50 million plan to provide 86 affordable housing units and other services for its client base of people with developmental and other disabilities at a 3.5-acre site on its East Militia Heights property.
The Select Board authorized Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick to send a Project Eligibility Letter (PEL) application to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. If approved by the state, it will allow permitting for the project to be guided not by the usual local rules but by a more streamlined process dictated by the state’s Chapter 40B Comprehensive Permit Law.
Passed in 1969, the law was intended to address the shortage of affordable housing in the state by reducing barriers created by local zoning bylaws and other municipal regulations. It has been the state’s most successful program for the creation of affordable units that likely wouldn’t otherwise be permitted under local zoning rules.
The process was used in Needham to facilitate the permitting of major multifamily housing projects containing affordable units such as Charles River Landing (2007), Modera (2013) and the Kendrick (2015).
The Charles River Center is seeking permits for construction of a four-building complex on the former Nike B-63 military site adjacent to its main building that it purchased at auction in 2023 for a reported $5 million.
The site had been home to military housing and is zoned for single-family residential use, not the multifamily housing that is planned. Permitting of such non-conforming projects is usually handled by the Planning Board and requires multiple stages of review. Chapter 40B allows more streamlined permitting via the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The ZBA will work with the same local boards and departments the Planning Board would have worked with, but will do so in a more expeditious manner before ruling on any exemptions from local zoning limits related to intended use, density, height, lot size, setbacks and other requirements. A public hearing will be part of the process.
Select Board cites local support
Representatives from the CRC and the Planning Office for Urban Affairs have emphasized that proof of local support is among the most important criteria used by the various funding sources the CPC is targeting. That support can be financial as well as the regulatory lubrication that the Select Board has provided.
Last month, Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved a Community Preservation Committee grant of $2.84 million toward construction costs for the project, a significant award by CPC standards but still less than 6% of the overall projected cost of the development.
The Charles River Center had originally requested $3.5 million from the CPC, a number that represented the required “gap funding” needed to augment funding the CRC hopes to receive from a variety of state, federal and private sources to reach its $50 million target. That request was pared back due to limitations on the overall funds the CPC had on hand to allocate in this funding cycle.
The Finance Committee expressed support for the project on its merits but wanted the $2.84 million to be structured as a loan, not a grant. Other town officials said there was no mechanism for the town to use to offer a loan.
FinCom remained opposed to the award at Town Meeting on those grounds, as well as over concerns that the CPC was draining its coffers to make the award. It was the only warrant article FinCom opposed at Town Meeting.
The Select Board had voted unanimously to support the CPC award at Town Meeting, and four of the five board members remained supportive of the expedited process.
“It is a significant project that’s in keeping with what the town has indicated to us as the kind of project that they are very supportive of,” Select Board member Marianne Cooley said while speaking in favor of the project. “And we have a longstanding relationship with the Charles River Center over many years that I appreciate.”
“The fact this was overwhelmingly supported by Town Meeting signals a lot of community support for absolutely a good program,” she added.
Josh Levy was the only Select Board member to oppose the motion to support the use of the friendly 40B route for approval. “I would’ve just preferred to go through the normal processes,” he said.
The Charles River Center reps said they expect a decision from the state by September and to apply for the comprehensive permit in October. They hope to be eligible to apply for project funding through the EOHLC in early 2026, when some of the $5.16 billion in funds provided under the 2024 Affordable Homes Act will be awarded.
Save as PDF