Mayor Vigeant Talks "Brookview Village"
Marlborough Mayor Arthur Vigeant is in favor of the additional control over affordable housing units that "Brookview Village" gives the city.
Mayor Arthur Vigeant recently spoke in favor of the “Brookview Village” development and the control it gives over additional 40B units in the city.
“We will be above our 10 percent threshold for years to come, “ he said during a recent interview with Patch.
While the merits of putting residential housing among the industrial properties off Route 20 have been discussed at an ongoing public hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals, the mayor says that this “friendly” 40B affords the city more control as it is already above the required threshold for affordable housing. The city has more say over the development when it is above the mandated threshold, he said.
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Without establishing this sort of “friendly” 40B development, affordable housing units could be dropped in anywhere, said the mayor. Marlborough currently has 10.2 percent of housing units designated as affordable, above the state required 10 percent.
The mayor clarified that these are affordable not low income housing developments. It is this kind of affordable housing that allows people to move back to the area and begin their career after college, said the mayor as an example.
The mayor said he does not agree with the way affordable housing is handled through the state. He has been an advocate of letting each community deal with ensuring there is affordable housing in the area.
One area in which the affordable housing language falls behind is in the definitions, which do not allow triple deckers to be counted among the city’s affordable housing, he said.
The city council has voted on a statement of their perceived issues with the development. The hearing is scheduled to continue on Sept. 25.
Barb Nahoumi
9:20 am on Monday, September 10, 2012
Marlboro already has enough apartment units.
Skee Bigelow
1:00 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
We need a small section deeded to the City for the fourth fire station. Then developments such as this will become practical. With the current volume of calls a residential development west of 495 will over tax the system. Fire stations are meant to cover residential areas, here one is necessary for the future coverage of this section of the City.
SANDRA RUBIN
4:33 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
For almost 50 years each administration had promised a fire station in the 495 area and it seems there is never enough $$. With the industrial plants in the west part and the dangerous chemicals.. what do we need another Love Canal!! I'm vehemently against the apartments because the land has been sprayed with chemicals for the apples. Digital themselves sprayed so that their employees could pick the fruit. The Glen Street area over 59 years ago was the Rice Orchard and although soil was taken away by the builder, there is a higher rate of cancer in this area.
arnold
10:39 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
If, as one commenter previously noted, this site was zoned for industrial development, which would garner a higher tax rate than residential, why permit housing with its lower tax income and the attendant education, police, fire and DPW costs?