Select Board meeting for Mary Lou Lane LIP
At Monday night’s Select Board meeting most attendees were present in support or in opposition to ACT’s request for Select Board support for a Local Initiative Project (LIP) application for the development of a permanently affordable home at 13 Mary Lou Lane.
Denise Johnson, executive director of ACT, presented a proposal sharing the details of the Chapter 40B project for a single family home on a parcel at 13 Mary Lou Lane. The proposed project is consistent with the 2012 master plan calling out a need for homes less than 2500 square feet. It is also consistent with the current draft of the master plan, which states that if we are going to have a community that is diverse, equitable and inclusive, it has to start with inclusive housing programs.
The proposed home would be built to passive house design standards and would have net zero potential. This home would show that it’s possible to build smaller, affordable net zero homes. The build site would offer an opportunity for technical school students to train in sustainable building practices.
“Affordable homes are not produced by the market,” shared Johnson, “They need to be purposefully built by organizations like ACT.”
With minimal open land available for building homes in Andover, ACT looks for lots that do not conform to current Andover zoning, but are excellent locations for a single family home, where variances like smaller lot size or frontage can be allowed by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in order to encourage affordable home building. The ZBA is required to allow these variances under the state zoning statute 40B. Homes permitted under 40B meet the state and local building standards through a complete review process by town departments including fire, safety, board of health, department of public works and others.
“Affordable homes are not produced by the market. They need to be purposefully built by organizations like ACT.”
This particular lot is an ideal location for an affordable home as it is walkable to both West Middle School and Andover High School.
Following the presentation, seven Mary Lou Lane residents shared their concerns. Their comments focused on the lot being non-conforming, that there is a high water table in the neighborhood and that building on the corner would create a safety hazard as many cars drive fast in their neighborhood.
Nonconforming lot
The lot is indeed classified as noncomforming because it does not conform to current SRA district zoning. Non-conforming lots are the lots that have the potential for new affordable homes.
In addition to 40B, Andover also has a local bylaw that permits the building of one single family home of less than 2000 sq. ft on a non-conforming lot if the home is “affordable housing.” The purpose of this bylaw is to encourage the development of affordable housing by increasing the supply of housing in the town that is available to low- and moderate-income households. ACT has built 6 single-family homes plus 6 duplex units on non-conforming lots throughout town.
Both zoning laws allow for the modification of dimensional standards for the purposes of affordable housing.
Water table
Blake Martin, ACT president and hydrologist, responded to the high water table concerns saying that there is no evidence of high water and there are all natural soils on the site, no evidence of fill. He also said that test pits should not be left open overnight because they present a safety hazard. In addition, ACT appropriately fills around foundations in all of our homes.
Safety reviews
Finally, there are specific sets of criteria against which every home building is reviewed and evaluated by the Town’s interdepartmental review process. The currently proposed home must be evaluated on the same basis as any other new home being built in Andover. These evaluations of aspects such as safety, sight lines, turning radii and other standards are performed by town departments and individuals with appropriate expertise and experience. The standards for the proposed home cannot be set higher than for other home building projects as that would be discriminatory and illegal.
Following the comments from residents, the Select Board chose to have a second reading at their July meeting. You can write a letter of support to the Select Board at SelectBoard@andoverma.us.
