HOPKINTON -- A housing project that would nudge the town closer
to compliance with the state's affordable housing law cleared its first
major hurdle Wednesday, winning preliminary approval from the Planning
Board.
The board voted 5 to 0 to approve the master plan for Wood River
Village, a project that would produce 30 affordable housing units on
Bank Street, said Town Planner Ashley Hahn.
Proposed by the Providence-based Women's Development Corporation, the
project would include 20 condominiums and 10 apartments. The
condominiums would range from one to three bedrooms, selling for up to
$200,000, while the apartments would rent to disabled adults who can
live independently, according to Alma Green, the company's president.
If produced, the units would move Hopkinton closer to the state goal
that 10 percent of each community's year-round housing be subsidized and
income restricted, meeting the state definition of affordable.
Currently, 159, or 5.1 percent of Hopkinton's year-round housing units
meet the definition. The 30 units on Bank Street would raise the figure
to 6.0 percent.
Hahn said Wednesday's approval means the board backs the overall
development concept. The developer can now work on detailed plans that
would be brought back to the board for approval, she said.
Wood River Village is the second affordable housing project to win
preliminary approval in Hopkinton in little more than two months. In
August, the Planning Board approved plans for 53 age-restricted
apartments on Town House Road. That project is also being built by the
Women's Development Corporation.
Combined, the two projects would raise Hopkinton's affordable figure to
7.6 percent.
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
