Mayor Vigeant Talks "Brookview Village"

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 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 with the development. The hearing is scheduled to .