Natick Smart Growth Project Snarled In Court
This spring Natick approved a so-called smart growth project at the former Natick Paperboard factory on North Main Street, but its developer says construction will have to wait.
Although the project received town approval, the townhouse and apartment complex will not be built until lawsuits filed by a nearby property owner wend their way through the courts. The project is labeled as "smart growth" because it is being built under the state's 40R law, which aims to encourage dense and affordable housing development near existing population centers.
Legal Remedy
The unhappy abutter is Michael Carr, who owns a neighboring property called Natick Mills, which is an 83-unit apartment complex built in 1986.
Carr is appealing a decision by the Natick Conservation Commission in Massachusetts Superior Court, said Carr's attorney, Mark S. Furman of Boston law firm Tarlow Breed Hart & Rodgers PC. Carr's engineers claim that the commission's conditions for the Natick Paperboard project could allow flooding of Carr's property, Furman said.
There are also complaints filed in Massachusetts Land Court in Boston, appealing the planning board approvals, Furman said.
Carr was originally supportive of the project, but once the project changed in a number of ways, he couldn't support it anymore, Furman said.
But the developers believe the lawsuits do not have a strong basis.
"We'd be under construction right now if it weren't for the lawsuits," said Jim Williamson of project owner and developer Barberry Homes of Wayland. "We worked long and hard with the town, with the design review committee, the open space committee, the neighborhood and the planning board, to make something everybody could live with."
The former factory was part of the Newark Group, which owns paper factories around the country. It closed in the fall of 2005.
Williamson said the property seemed like a great fit for his company and it began designing a project with 138 apartments and 12 townhouses. The initial plan was modified after the town asked Barberry Homes to consider making it a 40R project, which provides incentives for affordable housing, he said.
The company, in consultation with the town, developed three, four-story buildings, with 12 townhouses out front, Williamson said. It will have a two-story parking garage with 177 spaces along with a 58-space parking lot.
The state has developed 40R or smart growth projects to reward communities for creating special districts to encourage residential developments near downtowns, public transportation or both. Under terms of the law, 20 percent of the project must be considered "affordable housing." Natick has already received $200,000 from the state for creating the zone on the parcel. Once the project is built, Natick will receive $3,000 per unit.
"When more people are attracted to downtown, it collectively equates to more vibrancy and it helps the business economy," said Patrick Reffett, Natick's community developer director.
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