Carver voters decide Dec. 1 on a district for up to 302 apartments north of Route 44

CARVER Carver voters will decide at a Special Town Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 1, whether to allow up to 302 apartments on one parcel north of Route 44, the zoning the town hopes will satisfy the state's MBTA Communities law.

Article 6 would add a Chapter 40R Smart Growth Overlay District to Carver's zoning bylaw. Town Planner Sean Lewis told the Planning Board on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that the state housing office, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, sent the town pre-approval letters for the district under the MBTA Communities law on July 29 and under the 40R program on Oct. 7, and that the town made the small wording changes the state asked for.

Town officials said a yes would bring a state payment and could end a dispute with the state that has already cost Carver grants. A no, they said, leaves the landowner free to pursue a state-permitted 40B project with more bedrooms that the town would have less power to shape.

What the zoning would allow

The MBTA Communities law, Section 3A of the state's zoning act, requires Carver to zone for at least 235 multifamily units at a density of at least 15 units an acre, with multifamily housing allowed by right. The proposed district would allow up to an estimated 302 units at up to 20 units an acre, Lewis said, more than the state requires, because the 40R program's rules call for it and qualify the town for incentive payments. The district covers a single parcel, and the bylaw would not apply anywhere else in town. It also allows a commercial component.

Town meeting votes only on the zoning, not on a building plan, Lewis said. The owner has submitted a concept plan with 240 apartments in four buildings, a 20,000-square-foot commercial building, a leasing office and an on-site wastewater treatment plant that would return treated water to the ground. That plan has 384 bedrooms, mostly smaller units. The owner has also drawn a 40B plan for the same land with fewer units but 630 bedrooms, no commercial space and buildings reaching into wetland and property line setbacks, Lewis said. Under current law, the owner can already pursue that 40B plan.

Affordability, schools and money

Under 40R, 20% of the units would have to be affordable, or 25% if the owner chose to build a community for people 55 and older, Lewis said, compared with 25% under a 40B. Affordable units go to households earning less than 80% of the area median income. Under the fiscal 2026 limits Lewis showed for Carver, that is $137,100 for a family of four. In his example, a family of four earning $70,000 would pay 30% of its income toward housing, about $21,000 a year or $1,750 a month.

Carver's school enrollment has dropped by 72 students since 2021, Lewis said. He estimated the 40R concept could add about 48 students and the 40B plan about 126, and said bedroom counts and the type of housing drive the number, with smaller apartments usually adding fewer students.

If Article 6 passes, Carver would be eligible right away for a $350,000 state incentive payment, Lewis said, plus $3,000 for each unit built, for a possible total of about $1.2 million from this project.

What happens if it fails

Lewis told the board the Carver schools have already lost three grants because the town is out of compliance, planning grants are closed to it, and infrastructure grants, including for water, are off the table. He said he plans to apply for a state infrastructure grant for water early next year and that the town would not be eligible while it is out of compliance. Carver is the largest of six towns still out of compliance on the state map he showed.

Carver is in litigation with the state over its noncompliance, Lewis said. The town asked the state's lawyers to hold off until after town meeting, and the case is now expected to go forward Wednesday, Dec. 2, he said. If the town does not choose a location itself, the state could end up choosing one, he said. Even if voters approve Article 6, the attorney general must still review the bylaw, and officials said they have assurances but no guarantee the state will accept it.

Any project on the parcel would still need site plan review by the Planning Board, with a third-party engineer, a traffic study and possible mitigation such as signals or added lanes, plus approvals from the Conservation Commission and the Board of Health, and a state Department of Environmental Protection permit for a well, Lewis said. Under a 40B, most approvals would come from the state, with only the Zoning Board of Appeals locally, he said.

Where the boards stand

The Planning Board closed its public hearing on the article 5-0 on Nov. 10. Members said they dislike the state law but see the district as the better of two choices. Member Kevin Robinson called it "the least terrible way to go about this." Vice Chair Mari Ellen Williams said the landowner has the right to build and is willing to work with the town on a 40R, and that if it fails his next option is a 40B. "I for one don't want to see a 40B project up there," she said.

The Select Board voted 4-0, with one member abstaining, on Nov. 10 to recommend Article 6, though members noted it does not usually take positions on Planning Board articles. One member said the board should leave the decision to town meeting, while another said the housing and commercial space would add significantly to the town's tax base. Our story on that meeting has the board's other votes. Any project would also need water, and the same week Middleborough voters refused to let their Select Board sign a long-term deal to keep supplying North Carver's water system, as we reported.

How to weigh in

The Special Town Meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the Carver Middle High School auditorium, 60 South Meadow Road. Registered Carver voters decide each article. The Planning Board meets at the school before town meeting that night. The latest draft of the bylaw is available from the Planning Board and the town clerk, and questions go to Town Planner Sean Lewis at 508-866-3405.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.