Officials Narrow Options For Housing At 127 Old Harbor Rd.

CHATHAM – What’s the best way to redevelop town-owned property at 127 Old Harbor Rd. into affordable and attainable housing?

 A dozen different “test fits” were presented to the select board Feb. 25, ranging from redeveloping the two existing buildings on the property to a mix of single-family homes and duplexes housing up to six units.

 Expressing a preference for development of the property to fit in with the neighborhood, board members singled out three scenarios for consultant Utile Architecture and Planning to refine: a single-family house with one duplex; a single-family house with two duplexes; and two duplexes. Board members stipulated that the development include no fewer than four and no more than five units.

 The simplest scenario would divide the 40,000-square-foot lot into two 20,000-square-foot lots with one dwelling unit per lot, said Housing and Sustainability Director Gloria McPherson. That would require a zoning change from the current municipal district to R20, which allows the smallest lot size of the zoning bylaw’s current residential districts. 

A 40B comprehensive permit would be required to put more than one unit on one or both lots, she said. 

 Utile’s test fit included a mix of building sizes and locations, with multiple buildings being shown on plans in various orientations to the street. The mix “picks up the rhythm of the existing structures” along the roadway, said Utile principal Tim Love. 

 “I think it’s very important that we get the scale right, relative to the existing neighborhood,” he said. “We want to make them organic and almost like they were always there.”

 “This needs to fit right into that area in a way that…doesn’t look like a development and looks like it’s been there a long time,” said Chair Michael Schell.

 The most intense of the scenarios includes two single-family homes with three bedrooms each and two duplexes with two bedrooms each. The plans also include different driveway arrangements, from three separate drives to one parking area for all units. 

 One scenario included renovating both the existing house and barn into living units. The house is in poor condition, and while several of the options showed a house in different spots on the lot, the existing home could probably not survive being moved to a different location on the property, Love said.

 Saving the house, which formerly served as offices for the town’s water department, would be “a bridge too far,” said Schell. Board member Dean Nicastro said he would not preclude saving the house and would like to see what that would involve, although the structure is likely a candidate for demolition.

 “I just don’t see the town or anybody wanting to put money into that building,” he said.

 That could contribute to the decision on how the development is financed, Schell said. A private developer is unlikely to want to renovate the old building.

 How the units will be positioned — as affordable with income restrictions or attainable with more flexibility regarding who qualifies — will be something the board has to wrestle with. There had been initial discussions about the housing being available to municipal employees like firefighters or teachers. That couldn’t happen if the town seeks a comprehensive permit, McPherson said. But should the town adopt the seasonal community designation in the recent Affordable Homes Act, it could develop the housing for specific municipal positions mentioned in the law, including teachers and first responders.

 Nicastro and board member Cory Metters initially opposed using the property, which backs up to the elementary school, for affordable housing. If that is to happen, it needs to be in a limited manner, Metters said.

 “We definitely need it, and I have no problem putting it there,” he said. “But we are so far away from what we pitched at town meeting that I have philosophical issues with it.”

 Board member Shareen Davis said the options presented by Utile were “a really fair look at the property.”

 “We have been good stewards of the property, and I think we know that,” she said.

 Love said Utile will return to the board with details on the options that were endorsed.