Stonegate decision could come Thursday

The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet at 7: 30 p.m. Thursday to discuss the Villages at Stonegate, the controversial Chapter 40B project. The board will meet at the New England Sinai Hospital, located at 150 York St., in the Brenner Conference Room on the first floor.

Board Chairman Sherman Epro said the board will only be discussing the approval or denial of Stonegate Thursday.

"It's possible we'll have a decision and it's possible we won't," Epro said.

Epro, who said he was personally ready to vote, said if the board doesn't vote Thursday, the decision could come Friday or Monday.

<p style="text-indent: 0in;">The board, which typically meets at Town Hall, will meet at the hospital to accommodate board member Herb Mussman, who is undergoing in-patient physical therapy at the Sinai Hospital, Epro said.

<p style="text-indent: 0in;">The West Street Group, which is the development team behind the project, first met before the board in November 2006. Last month, the board took the development under advisement. The move gave the board 40 days to render a decision, leaving it with a Nov. 13 deadline. Once the ruling is in, those opposed would have 20 days to file an appeal.

<p style="text-indent: 0in;">The 120-unit development is planned for a 35-acre parcel of land located in the neighborhood of West and Plain streets.

Chapter 40B legislation, passed in the late 1960s, allows developers to get comprehensive permits for projects where a percentage of the units are deemed affordable, allowing them to circumvent local zoning by-laws. The law allows developers to build under 40B regulations if less than 10 percent of a town's available housing is deemed affordable. As of this summer, Stoughton is sitting at 11.67 percent, which means the board can deny the project without concern the state would overturn its decision.

The Stoughton Neighborhood Coalition, which opposes the project, has said the project will create a burden on town services, will increase traffic in the general area and does not fit the residential neighborhood in which it would be located.

The developer says Stonegate will not cause a significant impact on services and says the finished product would produce nearly $500,000 annually in tax benefits

-- Stoughton Journal