Selectmen Reach Deal On Forbes Hill, Avalon Bay Projects

NORWOOD, MA — The selectmen have reached an agreement with the developers of two 40B projects and the town will have the chance to purchase the land for one of them.

In a statement read Tuesday night, Selectmen Chairman William Plasko announced that the board reached a negotiation resolutions for the Forbes Hill and Avalon Bay projects.

"We are announcing today that the selectmen believe that the best possible deals have been achieved with the Comprehensive Permits which have been approved by the Board of Appeals in these matters," Plasko said, reading from a pre-written statement.

In the Forbes Hill matter, the project's size has decreased from 300 units to 260. The unused land, about nine acres, will become town property and will remain undeveloped for 10 years. After that, the town will have the option to do something else with the property.

As part of the settlement, the board has received an offer to purchase the entire site if approved by Special Town Meeting in November.

Selectman Allan Howard said the property could be used as open space or as part of a sale for redevelopment.

"This only negative thing I could see people saying is ‘why should we spend money on this?’ and the reason is simple - to close the door on development if people so choose," Howard said.

Selectman Helen Abdallah Donohue said she was against the land purchase and would discuss it further at Town Meeting.

In the Avalon Bay agreement, the former home of Plimpton Press will be cleaned up and turned into a development with housing units. The new project has fewer units than the Plimpton Press 40R project and includes a buffer of landscaped area over 50 feet wide. Avalon has agreed to a mitigation payment of $198,000 and a $130,000 infiltration and inflow payment to the town.

Town officials previously contested the projects, believing that they had dedicated 1.5 percent of Norwood land to affordable housing. Massachusetts communities are required by state law to comply with the 1.5 percent rule or dedicate 10 percent of housing stock to affordable housing. The selectmen believe they now meet and exceed both rules.

Click here to read the full statement.

Image: File Photo