The Hathaway approved by the Zoning Board

The Hathaway, a 280-unit apartment complex, was approved three to zero by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday, Sept. 17. 

“This is the culmination of the months that we’ve been going back and forth with the applicant and getting input,” said Zoning Board chair Michael Medeiros, “Trying to minimize the impact that this will have on our immediate abutters.”

As the development is a chapter 40B project, the developer can bypass some local zoning laws as long as at least 20% of the housing is affordable. 

At the last meeting of the Zoning Board, petitioner David Calhoun announced that he will be keeping eight acres of land for potential future development. This led to another condition being added by the Zoning Board before approval, that Calhoun must return to the Zoning Board before he begins any additional development. 

“We hope we never see you again for a long time,” said Medeiros. 

Both Medeiros and Zoning member Halim Choubah had some concerns that Calhoun conceded on. 

Medeiros was worried about lack of payment for the peer review studies done during the Zoning process, which Calhoun provided a check for during the Sept. 17 meeting. 

Choubah has been concerned about the height, which was originally going to be 55 feet tall with five stories and was lowered to a maximum of 48 feet with four stories, including the mechanical parts on the roof. 

The developers will also provide a number of mitigation fees; $30,000 for funding traffic management, $5,000 to the six abutters on Eisenhower street for screening and $40,000 for the town. They will also work with the Department of Public Works to replace the sewer main on Hathaway Road, determining later when the appropriate time to do so will be. 

The hours of construction were also added in the conditions, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.