Rochester ‘overlay district’ advances

Apr 23, 2019

ROCHESTER — After a public hearing the Planning Board on Tuesday approved and sent to Town Meeting a proposed new zoning bylaw — the next step in a long permitting process for a 208-unit apartment complex proposed for land at the intersection of Routes 28, 25 and 495.

The board created the Cranberry Highway Smart Growth Overlay District in response to a proposal by Dartmouth-based developer Steen Realty and Development Corp. which would use a state law known as 40R to construct a mixed-use development to be called Rochester Crossing.

Under 40R, which is designed to promote the construction of affordable housing, an overlay district is used to promote such construction while giving local officials more say in how it is done. The overlay district, which still needs Town Meeting approval to go into effect, spells out zoning requirements for the site.

Steen Realty proposes 208 apartments on about 10 acres of the 30-acre site. Fifty-two of those apartments would be rented at rates deemed affordable by the state, the remainder at market rates. The remaining 20 acres of the side would be used for commercial development.

At a hearing on the proposed new district, held before the Planning Board voted Tuesday, residents and the board had questions about the project.

The town is allowed to request that up to 70 percent of the units that are rented out initially be rented to Rochester residents. One of the first questions from the Planning Board had to do with continuing that preference into the future as units are vacated and re-rented.

Town Counsel Blair Bailey said that it couldn’t. Developer Ken Steen, who was there to present the proposal, pointed out that over time such a “preference becomes almost a restriction. If apartments open up one unit at a time, no one else would be able to get in.” 

Abutter Louise Hebert asked the developer to check some of the distances on its plans. She also questioned a handout from Steen.

“It says here ‘minimal impact of traffic’ — Really?” Hebert said.

Steen responded that the company will have a more in-depth traffic study done, but he believes that much of the traffic will be oriented away from Rochester

“Either way, I’m impacted, majorly,” Hebert responded. 

Another resident, Dolores Dermier, asked questions on the rates for one, two and three bedroom units.

Steen responded that he is still finalizing the rates for affordable units, but believes that one bedroom units will rent for $1,150, two bedroom units for $1,350, and three bedroom units for $1,550. 

The state mandates that Rochester must have 10 percent of its housing be affordable housing. Under the conditions of 40R, all of the units could be counted as affordable for the purposes of meeting that 10 percent, even if rented at market rates, allowing the town to meet that goal.

Planning Board Chair Arnold Johnson pointed out that, if the town accepts the 40R proposal, it could reject similar 40B proposals – do not allow the town any control in planning in affordable housing project proposed for towns that do not meet the 10 percent threshold.

“It’s going to mean a lot more children in the school district,” Dermier observed.

Under the 40R conditions, towns also have access to a section of state law called 40S that provides compensation to the schools for additional students that a 40R project brings to a district. 40B districts do not have this compensation. 

Although residents were eager to ask questions on the specifics of the project, Johnson cautioned against it.

“It’s important to realize that at Town Meeting we’re not voting on the project. We’re voting on the overlay district,” he said. If the town rejects the district on the basis of the project specifics, “Mr. Steen could do this as a 40B and wouldn’t be back here standing before us.”

The Planning Board will hold a public forum on the project, including presentation of a financial impact study on how the project might impact Rochester, on May 8 at 7 p.m. in the First Congregational Church of Rochester Fellowship Hall.