A rendering of the proposed 40B project “The Residences at Shrewsbury,” located at 409 South Street. (Photo/Courtesy Town of Shrewsbury)
SHREWSBURY – The Select Board on Sept. 10 heard plans for “The Residences at Shrewsbury,” a 196-unit multi-family complex slated for 409 South St. along Route 20.
The “friendly 40B” project would include two three-story buildings and six two-story buildings with 25 studios, 89 one-bedroom units, 64 two-bedroom units and 20 three-bedroom units; 25% of the units would be considered affordable.
Though the Select Board unanimously voted to allow Town Manager Kevin Mizikar to pursue a Local Initiative Program (LIP) with the developer — allowing him to work with Criterion Development to build benefits to Shrewsbury into the project design — the discussion largely focused on how the town might control 40B development in the future.
What is 40B?
Chapter 40B allows developers to sidestep certain zoning restrictions in communities with less than 10% affordable housing stock, otherwise known as “subsidized housing inventory” (SHI), if the proposed project has at least 25% affordable units. The law drives development in town, allowing developers to ask the ZBA for approval with conditions that make the project difficult to reject.
While Chapter 40B has promoted affordable housing — 35,000 affordable units have been constructed since the law’s passage, according to the state — Shrewsbury residents have voiced their frustration about the purported inevitability of Chapter 40B projects being constructed. To avoid 40B projects, communities must gain “safe harbor” status, which gives the municipality the option to reject proposed projects without consideration. To gain “safe harbor” status, communities must have at least 10% SHI.
According to data outlined by Director of Planning and Economic Development Christopher McGoldrick on Sept. 5, 6.17% of year-round Shrewsbury housing can be deemed “affordable” using 2020 U.S. Census numbers. That percentage is down from 6.3%, according to McGoldrick, but an additional 169 units may be eligible to be counted toward the town’s SHI. This would bring the percentage closer to 7.3%.
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Shrewsbury must also be proactive in getting “safe harbor,” said McGoldrick.
Though the town has grown modestly compared to neighboring communities, it is expected to reach 41,500 residents by the end of the decade. If the town doesn’t match growth with SHI inventory — even after eclipsing the 10% threshold — it may once again be without “safe harbor” protection once figures are updated after the 2030 census.
Temporary “safe harbor” provisions also exist. At this point, a 149-SHI-unit development would give Shrewsbury a two-year “safe harbor” period. A 75-SHI-unit project would provide the community with a one-year “safe harbor” period. Rental developments have every unit — even the non-affordable ones — count toward the SHI, whereas only the affordable units in homeownership properties count toward the SHI.
Board discussion
Currently without the luxury of “safe harbor” status, Shrewsbury has worked with developers to pursue “friendly 40B” projects and LIPs. In a proposed “friendly 40B” like “The Residences at Shrewsbury,” the town and developer may collaborate and create a mutually beneficial project. For Emerald Run, a 300-homeownership-unit, 40B project approved for South Street, the developer gave the town land to construct a road, for instance.
The Select Board seemed hopeful that Criterion Development would emerge as a true community partner, with some members suggesting that the company could help widen Chestnut Street as part of the “friendly 40B.” Though it’s too early in the process to name specific improvements the developer may make, Criterion said it had previously constructed community meeting spaces and repaired park lights.
“We’re trying to be creative and responsive to the communities and the needs of abutters, neighbors, and communities generally… We’re not coming in and saying, ‘We’re going to do this our way or the highway.’ No, that’s not our MO,” Criterion Development Principal Jack Englert said at the Sept. 10 meeting.
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If the board had voted ‘no’ to pursuing the LIP, Criterion Development might have opted to avoid working with the town entirely and pursued the project as a regular 40B, Select Board members remarked. Certain board members remained skeptical of the development — especially considering its location along Route 20 — and asked the developer to consider a commercial development instead.
“There’s a lot of residential development in that stretch of Route 20 … The layperson may say it’s kind of saturated. You have [Edgemere Crossing], you have Emerald Run, now you have almost 200 additional units going in,” said Select Board member Theresa Flynn.
