Citizens voice concerns over proposed West Wareham affordable housing project

Dozens of citizens voiced several concerns regarding a proposed affordable housing project that would create 20 new apartments in West Wareham.

The project was presented at the Wednesday, Oct. 22 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting by the property owners Angela and Josh Natella, housing consultant Dean Harrison of Harrison Consulting and engineer Joe Webby of Webby Engineering.

Harrison explained the proposal would include tearing down the duplex currently on 4 West Street, a small side-road off County Road in northwest Wareham near the Rochester border.

The property is 1.38 acres and the developers are proposing putting up three buildings. The buildings would have a combined total of 20 apartments, five of which would be designated as “affordable,” meaning families living there can only make up to 80% of the area median income.

Because of the five affordable units, the project would be classified under Chapter 40B, the state’s affordable housing law that allows developers to bypass some local zoning and planning bylaws.

Additionally, Harrison said the project would consist of one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well as 30 parking spaces.

Over 50 residents, most of whom live near West Street, were at the meeting and all overwhelmingly opposed the project. Almost all residents, like Sydney Piers, said the developers “have the wrong neighborhood.” 

“We’re going to have an additional 40 vehicles on that street. There’s no sidewalks so what are we supposed to do, go up on people’s lawns with our kids? And what about people in wheelchairs,” Piers asked the board. 

John Kelleher, who said he lives next to 4 West Street, raised concerns regarding the density of the project as well and said the whole proposal is “not a good idea.”

“Roughly there’s 23 houses in our neighborhood, a couple of them are duplexes so roughly 28, 29 families,” Kelleher said. “You’re asking the neighborhood to get doubled on 1.3 acres of land. That’s crazy. There’s a better place to put this.”

Board member Chris Conti agreed with many of the residents, saying the plan is too dense and “doesn’t fit the neighborhood well.”

“It’s quite dense with all these buildings and all the parking in 1.38 acres,” Conti said. “I think there’s way too many one-bedroom units.”

Yolanda Rosario-Hampton lives near West Street and agreed with Piers. She said many kids play in the street and raised concerns regarding the impact an affordable housing unit would have on the neighborhood.

“Unfortunately, when you have low-income, that means anybody is able to come in because we can’t discriminate against anybody who is able to rent,” she said. “We don’t have to lock our doors. Does this mean that now that all these people move in that we have to lock our doors and lock our windows?”

In responding to the citizens’ comments, Harrison said his goal is not to “ruin neighborhoods,” but to give people housing they can afford.

“I believe in affordable housing, and it is to provide people with housing so people then can get an education and go to school,” he said. 

Additionally, Zoning Board of Appeals chair Nazih Elkallassi said to the residents one of the best things they can do now is compromise with the developers because otherwise, the state will step in and make a decision regardless of what the residents want.

“Fighting and butting heads in a project like this gets nowhere,” he said. “It’s always the state that has the last say, and in most cases, the state wins.”

The project is still in the very early phases and its future depends partially on what percentage of housing in Wareham is affordable.

Under Chapter 40B, 10% of each municipality’s housing across the commonwealth must be affordable. Any municipality with less than 10% of its housing as affordable is not able to deny affordable housing projects until 10% is reached. Town officials can, however, work with developers to alter the plans for a development.

It is unclear if Wareham will be able to deny the project. Director of Planning and Community Development Josh Faherty said that Wareham is close to 10% but is waiting for state approval on two projects that would push the town over.

The two affordable housing projects pending state review are; a 180-unit project at the Redbrook Plaza by A.D. Makepeace and Cranberry Manor, a 21-unit affordable senior housing project. He said because they are still under review they do not count toward Wareham’s affordable housing percentage.

However, Elkallassi disagreed, saying the two projects do count toward Wareham’s affordable housing percentage because otherwise municipalities could be handcuffed into being forced to allow more affordable housing than is required.