SWAMPSCOTT — The Board of Selectmen are opposing a proposal from the owner of a Puritan Road property, who wants to raze the site’s existing structures to make room for the construction of 16 condominiums or apartments.
Robert Corcoran, the owner of 133 Puritan Road, whose company is listed as Boberin LLC, recently submitted a comprehensive permit site approval application to MassHousing — the application proposes a Chapter 40B housing project.
Under the proposal, existing buildings on the site, which includes a seaside mansion, would be cleared to allow for new construction, which would include three four-story structures that would house a total of 16 residential units, about five or six units each, with four of those units set aside as affordable.
“While the town of Swampscott has consistently supported the creation of more affordable housing, we must object to this project as proposed, as it is out of scale for this parcel and for the neighborhood and is in direct opposition to recent zoning efforts to provide greater economic growth for the community,” Naomi Dreeben, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen wrote to the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing).
The Board of Selectmen was asked by MassHousing to submit some comments on the proposed project, as part of the developer’s site approval eligibility application.
Corcoran, when reached by phone, said he had no comment on the board’s opposition to the proposed project and that it is an ongoing application process at this time. He acquired the 1.06 acre property in August 2014 for $1.785 million, according to land records. The property is assessed at $2.943 million.
The property was built in 1914 and is located at the intersection of Puritan Road and Lincoln House Avenue. It includes a large home/mansion, carriage house with residential space inside, tennis court and pool. It abuts the Swampscott Harbor and includes a seawall, according to Peter Kane, director of community development.
Dreeben said the board also has environmental and historic concerns with the proposed Puritan Road redevelopment. As the project is within a flood zone, she wrote that any potential redevelopment needs to take flood zone requirements into strict consideration, so that any development will not exacerbate flood issues for neighboring properties, along with the public infrastructure.
She wrote that the property is on the Massachusetts Historical Commission property inventory and redevelopment should be sensitive and take its history into account, along with the role it played in the development of Lincoln House Point. She said the board also has concerns about the property’s seawall, which was previously noted as having “visible voids in it.”
Dreeben wrote that the property is also within the town’s recently created tourist lodging overlay district, which is meant to encourage the development of hotels, motels, inns, and bed and breakfast establishments. “The project as proposed is counter to the town’s efforts to improve its economic development and better support our local economy,” she wrote.
Town officials previously said that even if MassHousing approves that the site is eligible for a 40B project, it does not mean that the project is approved, but rather that it is eligible for that process, and is the first step in the process for a 40B project. The overwhelming majority of sites that seek site eligibility letters get site eligibility, Selectman Peter Spellios previously said.
The state’s 40B housing program allows developers to override local zoning bylaws to increase the stock of affordable housing in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the homes are defined as affordable. In Swampscott, less than four percent of its housing is considered affordable.
“Should the project site at 133 Puritan Road be deemed ‘eligible,’ the proposed project would be best addressed by reducing the overall massing and structures on the property,” Dreeben wrote. “This redesign would also allow for improved curb appeal, allow for increased screening of the structure(s), increase the amount of open space on the parcel, and reduce environmental and neighborhood impacts.”
Dreeben wrote that a good example of a 40B project approved by the town is Senior Residences at the Machon, which is the redevelopment of the former Machon Elementary School into 38 one-bedroom units of affordable senior housing.
She said that project will reuse a significant portion of the existing building, and will replace another part of the building with a slightly larger addition, but will stay within the existing building footprint and minimize the overall massing impact on the surrounding Burpee Road neighborhood.
Dreeben said the town has taken several other recent actions to facilitate affordable housing development, including the creation of an affordable housing trust fund. In June 2016, the Department of Housing and Community Development approved the town’s Housing Production Plan, which includes a number of recommendations, including the designation of six sites in the community for affordable housing development.
“The town of Swampscott is committed to reaching its 10 percent affordable housing goal and supports affordable housing and even 40B development,” Dreeben wrote. “However, any project, by either the town or private developer should respect the environmental sensitivities and historical significance of the property and its immediate surroundings, provide meaningful open space for the future residents to enjoy, and create a development that is more compatible with the densities and architectural styles of the existing residential neighborhood.”
Letters of opposition or concern were also submitted with the selectmen’s correspondence from the Planning Board, Open Space & Recreation Plan Committee, the Historical Commission, and Lincoln House residents.
Angela Ippolito, chairwoman of the Planning Board, said a 16-unit development would double the population of Lincoln House Point/Avenue and would worsen emergency vehicle access into the site, which is very tight, “meaning more people in danger in an emergency.”
