After three years and countless hurdles, Habitat for Humanity has secured the final permit needed to break ground on its first Marion house. And, says Robin Ragle-Davis, the group will start work in October, even if it’s just a “symbolic shovel in the ground."

Ragle-Davis is president of the Buzzards Bay Habitat for Humanity, a chapter of the global nonprofit organization that works to provide affordable housing for low-income families.

On Thursday night, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance for the Habitat house, the final approval needed for building the home at 185 Wareham Rd (Route 6.) Another home was removed from the property in Dec. 2012.

In April, the project, which has been in the works for three years, hit a new complication when Habitat applied for designation as 40B affordable housing through the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

A clause in the designation would permit the homeowner to sell the property to any buyer if a qualified low-income buyer did not purchase it within 90 days.

“In my opinion, that conflicts dramatically with the intentions and actions of Marion voters and Habitat for Humanity,” Town Counsel Jon Witten told Selectmen in April.

As an alternative, Habitat decided to request a variance on the property rather than seek the affordable housing designation. The variance was needed because the land doesn’t meet all the zoning requirements, said Habitat’s attorney Janice Robbins.

The land, currently owned by the town, is less than the required two acres of land for building on that area. Additionally, the topography is such that the house can only be built in one specific location that is not within the frontage and side boundary requirements.

“This was a unique situation so we thought it was worthy of a variance,” said Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Eric Pierce. “We’re also not weakening the bylaws of the town or making the neighborhood worse.”

The board's unanimous decision will be filed with the Town Clerk by early next week after which residents have 21 days to appeal the decision. Assuming no appeals are made, the town is expected to transfer ownership of the property to Habitat.

Deed restrictions will keep the property as low-income housing in perpetuity.

Ragle-Davis said Habitat hopes to have the deed in hand the day after appeals are closed.

“We’re just incredibly excited that we’re going to be able to finally move forward on this build,” she said. “With winter coming up there’s a good chance we won't get much done, but we’ll get something.”

Ragle-Davis added that many people have helped with the project.

"We especially want to thank Jack Beck, former board member and president, and Janice Robbins for the countless hours they have spent bringing this to fruition."

Going forward, Ragle-Davis said she would like to see a foundation laid before winter.

“We will be up and running next spring for sure,” she said.

The next step will be “gathering the troops” to get volunteer help for the project.

The organization is also in the process of building a home in Rochester on land donated by a local resident in Dec. 2013.

“That is not going to require some of the same gymnastics that the Marion build did because it was a private donation,” said Ragle-Davis.

That project is currently in the design phase and could begin building around the same time as the Marion house.

“There’s a good chance we’ll have two builds going at once,” Ragle-Davis said.