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40B Project Eligibility / Site Approval Application

Proposal for housing at 28 Coffin Street and 566 Main Street

Update as of November 9, 2020

This is to provide updates regarding the Town's review of the developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval for the site at 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

On November 4, 2020, MassHousing issued a Project Eligibility/Site Approval letter to Cottage Advisors MA, LLC.  A copy of the letter can be viewed here.

This is new information and the Town is reviewing in conjunction with appropriate personnel and legal counsel.  Further updates will be provided on this webpage and at public meetings of the Board of Selectmen.  At this time, no application for 40B Comprehensive Permit has been filed with the West Newbury Zoning Board of Appeals.

Update as of August 7, 2020

This is to provide updates regarding the Town's review of the developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval for the site at 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

Upon receipt of the developer's new/updated proposal on June 30, 2020, MassHousing provided a deadline of August 7th for the Town to submit comments.  After a period of extensive review by the Board of Selectmen, many town staff and officials, and West Newbury residents, the Board approved the comments below.

The Board's comments and all attachments, with the personal contact information of non-public officials redacted, were submitted to MassHousing on August 7th, and are posted below for review:

Further updates will be provided, both here and within Board of Selectmen meetings, upon receiving further information from MassHousing or otherwise regarding this proposal.

Update as of July 14, 2020

MassHousing has provided the Town a deadline of Friday, August 7th to provide comments regarding the new application for Project Eligibility / Site Approval.  Town departments, Board, Commissions and Committees, as well as many residents, are actively working to review the new proposal and prepare comments timely for the deadline.  The Board of Selectmen has requested that all comments be sent to the Board (either directly to selectmen@wnewbury.org or via the Town Manager at townmanager@wnewbury.org) no later than Wednesday, July 29th to provide time for the Board to review comments and prepare its own comments for review and approval at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, August 3rd.

At its meeting on July 13th, the Board of Selectmen approved a new contract with KP Law to provide outside counsel support through this process.  

Update as of July 2, 2020

Earlier today, Town Counsel Mike McCarron sent the following letter to MassHousing in response to the developer's submittal on June 30th (linked below):

Shortly before sending the Town letter, the Town received email correspondence from MassHousing offering the Town until Tuesday, July 22nd to provide comments regarding the developer's new submittal.  The Town's letter asserts that a longer comment period will be needed, due to the fact of this being a new submittal that is substantially different from the initial submittal.  At the time of this writing we do not know how much time the Town will be given to provide comment.  This matter will be included on the meeting agenda for the regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, July 6th, 2020 at 7pm.  That meeting agenda, including instructions for remote participation, will be posted to the Town website later this afternoon. 

Update as of June 30, 2020

Earlier this afternoon, the Town received a copy of the following letter and plan set, which the applicant also provided to MassHousing.

These materials were forwarded to the Board of Selectmen but the Board has not convened to formally review nor respond to this correspondence.  This matter will be included on the meeting agenda for the regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, July 6th, 2020 at 7pm.  That meeting agenda, including instructions for remote participation, will be posted to the Town website on Thursday afternoon. 

Update as of June 22, 2020

Earlier today, the Town received a copy of the applicant's purchase and sale agreement (and a subsequent amendment to that agreement) which the applicant also provided to MassHousing today.  The P&S and amended P&S have been added to the list of MassHousing submittal documents at the bottom of this page.

Update as of June 19, 2020

This is to provide updates regarding the Town's review of the developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval for the site at 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

In its letter to the Town dated April 2nd, MassHousing authorized a 75-day comment period, extended from the typical 30-day comment period.  Comments were due to MassHousing on Tuesday, June 16th, and after a period of extensive review by the Board of Selectmen, many town staff and officials, and West Newbury residents, the Board held a special meeting on June 15th to approve the comments submitted to MassHousing, including attaching to its submittal many comments received from others.

The Board's comments and all attachments, with the personal contact information of non-public officials redacted, were submitted to MassHousing on June 16th, and are posted below for review:

(Please note that some of these files are large so may take some time to download)

Further updates will be provided, both here and within Board of Selectmen meetings, upon receiving further information from MassHousing or otherwise regarding this proposal.

Update as of June 9, 2020

This is to provide updates regarding the Town's ongoing review of the developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval for the site at 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

Update as of May 11, 2020

This is to provide a number of updates regarding the developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval for the site at 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

There is not an application currently pending before the Town of West Newbury.  Rather, the developer is seeking a “Project Eligibility Letter” (or PEL) from MassHousing, and MassHousing has in turn requested the Town’s comments.  The deadline for the Town to provide comments to MassHousing is Tuesday, June 16th (unchanged), and the Town in turn has requested to receive public comments on or before June 1st.  Comments from Town departments, Boards, Commissions and Committees are encouraged sooner than that, if possible.

The Board of Selectmen has scheduled a special meeting for this Thursday, May 14th at 6:30 pm.  That meeting will have two purposes:

  • 40B informational workshop/training to be led by Atty. Jon Witten from KP Law.  Atty Witten is one of the most experienced attorneys in the Commonwealth with regard to advising and representing municipalities regarding 40B.  This session will be very informative.  The slides presented by Atty Witten can be accessed online here.
  • Upon completion of the workshop/training, the Board will also invite comments from participants regarding any aspect of 40B, including the current request for PEL pending before MassHousing.

The meeting will be recorded and broadcast live, and will be made available on local cable and the Town YouTube channel.

On Friday, May 15th, the Board of Selectmen and a small number of Town personnel will conduct a site visit of the property at 566 Main and 28 Coffin.  Due to public health concerns, public attendance at the site walk will not be permitted.  However, the site walk will be video-recorded, and a recording of the proceedings will be produced for airing to local cable and the Town YouTube channel as soon as possible.

The Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager’s office continues its work on a FAQ in response to the many questions and comments we have received regarding the Main/Coffin Street proposal. This has taken longer to produce than we’d hoped, but is still underway and will be shared as soon as it is available.

In a related update, the Board of Appeals (ZBA), which would be the local body to consider a 40B comprehensive permit application if filed, is working with Town staff and with outside legal counsel KP Law to review and update its local regulations regarding 40B. Revised regulations are expected to be proposed for review within a duly-noticed public hearing expected to take place in June.

Update as of April 10, 2020

A video of the April 9, 2020 Board of Selectmen special meeting is posted online to the Town's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkkJ65SiWwM

Over the course of the next week, Town staff will be preparing a FAQ page based on questions/comments received, and will update the page periodically as the process moves forward.  Stay tuned for these updates.  

Content Below Was Posted on April 3, 2020

The Board of Selectmen recently received a developer's application to MassHousing for 40B Project Eligibility/Site Approval.  The proposal is for 152 units, and the ~75 acre project locus includes 566 Main Street and 28 Coffin Street.

The application package is lengthy (total file size ~40MB), so is posted in several parts at the bottom of this page.

What does Project Eligibility/Site Approval Mean?

The MassHousing project eligibility/site approval process is not the comprehensive permit (40B) application; it is the required first step in the process.  (See 40B Handbook, online here).  The developer is required to received project eligibility/site approval from MassHousing in order to apply for a comprehensive permit locally.  If that happens, the developer would be eligible to file a 40B comprehensive permit application with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), and the ZBA would hold public hearings at that time.  Upon submittal of a 40B application, the Town would also be eligible to pursue a technical assistance grant which would support dedicated consultant support to the ZBA during the 40B review and hearing process, and would do so.

Comment Period

In the normal course of things, the Board's receipt of this notice from MassHousing would begin a 30-day comment period.  The recent Governor’s Permit Extension Order does not formally apply to the MassHousing project eligibility/site approval process.  We contacted MassHousing to urge that this process be substantially extended (if not tabled altogether) until things return to normal.  Yesterday afternoon, we received confirmation that the comment period was extended to 75 days. 

This means the Town’s comments to MassHousing on the Project Eligibility/Site Approval application are due on or before Tuesday, June 16th. 

The Town’s comments should be sent in a single package, so we are requesting that all interested parties including residents, town departments and Boards/Commissions/Committees review the application and provide comments to my office on or before June 1st.  This is to allow time for the Town Manager's office and the Board of Selectmen to review all comments and prepare an additional comment letter from the Board to MassHousing that is reflective of the other comments received.  In addition to preparing its own comments, the Board would include other correspondences received as attachments to its submittal to MassHousing on/before June 16th. 

Please note that the Town is actively reviewing recent and tracking proposed COVID-19 related legislation to determine whether there may be any further extension of the 75-day comment period, but at this time we are proceeding with the expectation that the deadline for Town comments to MassHousing is June 16th.

Relationship to Conservation Commission Review

The developer has also filed with an ANRAD (Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation) with the Conservation Commission in order to confirm the delineation of regulated resource areas.  The developer’s consultant, Hughes Environmental Consultant, sent an abutter notice earlier this week referring to an April 6th Conservation Commission hearing date.  A ConCom hearing is not scheduled for Monday April 6th.  The Conservation Commission has not scheduled a hearing date.  Once a hearing date is confirmed with the Conservation Commission, a new abutter notice will be mailed.

It is important to understand that the ANRAD is not the Conservation Commission’s formal review of the proposed development project – only the resource area delineation.  If a 40B comprehensive permit application is filed with the ZBA, it would also be filed with the Conservation Commission for their formal review.

Communications and Special Board of Selectmen Meeting

In addition to this notice, a letter to site abutters will be mailed as soon as possible.

The Board of Selectmen will post a special (remote) meeting and listening session regarding the project eligibility/site approval application on Thursday, April 9th at 6pm.  (The meeting posting will include instructions for remote participation).  In addition to periodic updates at its regular meetings, the Board will post at least one additional special meeting as we get closer to the deadline for comments to MassHousing.

We will be working with department heads and with Chairs of Boards/Commissions/Committees to facilitate sharing of all available information regarding this proposal, and to help ensure that all information is shared as broadly as we’re able both early and on an ongoing basis through this process.

If you have comments or questions please feel free to contact me and the Board of Selectmen.

Thanks,

  Angus

 

Angus Jennings, Town Manager

(978) 363-1100 x111

townmanager@wnewbury.org

 

Developer's Application for Project Eligibility / Site Approval as filed with MassHousing with copy to Board of Selectmen

Complete submittal below: