MARION — A landowner for a plot on 78 Wareham Road who had previously worked with solar company ZPT Energy Solutions to install a solar array on the property has sold the land to a developer who plans to build a 96-unit housing complex. 

ZPT Energy Solutions took the Planning Board to Land Court when they were denied a permit. However the case was withdrawn when the owners sold the land to Steen Realty and Development Corporation. The Dartmouth-based developer designed the Marion Village Estates and Sippican Woods, and is working on Rochester Crossing.  

Steen Realty appeared before the Affordable Housing Trust on June 11 to present its plans. Its units are in triplex or townhome-style buildings, most with two or three units and a few with one bedroom units.

Of those, a quarter would be affordable, rented at about $1,400, while the rest would rent at market rate of $1,800. 

The units would have a common pool and clubhouse, with some parking in the front of the development and small garages on the inside. Based on an initial traffic study, the development would likely not require adding a traffic light on Route 6. 

The development would use town water and sewer, and pay the town about $500,000 in initial fees, Will Saltonstall, Planning Board Chair, said at a June 17 meeting where the board discussed the project. The town might also negotiate on extending the water and sewer lines to the area. 

“This could put us above our ten percent affordable housing requirement for the 2020 census and maybe even the 2030 census, depending on growth,” said Saltonstall. Meeting the state requirement would prevent a developer from being able to build a housing development with no restrictions. Saltonstall said the Affordable Housing Trust seemed accepting of the project. 

The developer explained that based on average state statistics, the units would likely add 20 to 25 kids to the school, with about 17 students in Sippican School and the rest in the Junior High or High School.