Legal complaint filed about The Hathaway

A number of residents from Dartmouth have filed an appeal of the Zoning Board of Appeal's approval for the Hathaway, a 280-unit apartment building proposed to be built on Hathaway Road. 

"While Chapter 40B permits zoning boards to override local bylaws for affordable housing, it does not allow a board to abdicate its responsibility to neighbors,” said Daniel Rodrigues, who released the information on the appeal, “We all support affordable housing but not by putting the health and safety of residents at risk. This project should be denied and reevaluated."

The Hathaway is a Chapter 40B project, meaning that the developers were able to bypass some local zoning regulations for the sake of affordable housing. To be eligable for 40B, a housing unit must have at least 20% of the units be deemed affordable for those who make under 80% of the area's median income. 

The Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project after months of meetings, and granting approval after the developer agreed to lower the height of the building from five floors to four floors, which reduced the number of units by 20. They approved 27 waivers, which included height, on-site plantings and landscape screenings, the number of parking spaces and site use. 

Those participating in the appeal include residents of the abutting roads Eisenhower Street, Hathaway Road, Eisenhower Street and Kennedy Street. The appeal argues that the approval of the apartment complex "...failed to take steps to protect the health and safety of the neighbors."

The appeal lists inadequete landscaping buffers, parking setbacks and lighting. It also states that the peer review materials were unable to be reviewed to determine the risk to resident's health and safety that the structure, stormwater, drainage and artifical lights could have. 

They also lost the lack of traffic mitigation on Route 6 and Hathaway. The current plans include repainting and rely on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans for road repairs and traffic mitigation. These plans have been postponed for years, causing residents to be skeptical about relying on these plans. 

A date for the appeal has not been at this time.