Hanover weighs 80-unit senior housing proposal

HANOVER — As the senior population grows and the percentage of affordable housing in town drops, officials are slowly moving forward with a project to construct dozens of affordable senior housing units on undeveloped, town-owned land just south of Legion Drive.

Crocker Design Group, a civil engineering group contracted by the town to conduct a feasibility study on the project, presented the study results to the select board March 16. 

The group proposed building a complex of 80 affordable housing units, as well as parking lots and green space, on the 8-acre parcel of land. Carroll said officials would likely propose age-restricted housing for residents 62 and older.

Stephen Carroll, chair of the affordable housing trust, said that Hanover’s seniors will be 25% of the population by 2030, and that they are especially vulnerable to rising housing prices. Waitlists for Hanover’s three affordable senior housing developments stretch on for two to six years, he said.

To advance the project, officials need approval from town meeting to open bidding to find a developer to design, permit and construct the building.

The select board did not vote to place any initiatives related to this project in the town meeting warrant, but some members said that they could revisit the issue once the town holds more meetings to educate the public on the project. Carroll said that Crocker Design Group would hold a meeting for abutters of the property.

Carroll compared the timeline of this project to the construction of Barstow Village, a senior housing complex near the proposed project site. He said Barstow Village opened four years after the town opened bidding for a developer, so this site might open in 2030 or later if it receives approval.

“Municipal projects take time,” he said. “Affordable municipal projects take even more time.”

State law says that 10% of a municipality’s housing should be designated as affordable, and Hanover has exceeded that requirement since it constructed Barstow in 2012, Carroll said. But the affordable housing trust projects that new development will push the town below the 10% threshold in 2030.

Crocker Design Group created two potential plans for the area: the 80-unit multifamily building plan that it recommended, and another plan for a block of town homes with 51 units. It preferred the first plan because it could house more people in a smaller footprint, preserving more of the wooded area and potentially making construction cheaper.

The wooded property borders the Iron Mine Brook to the east, so part of it is subject to wetland protections that limit development. Crocker Design Group consulted South River Environmental, Environmental Consulting and Restoration and the Conservation Commission to define the borders of the wetland and approve the design, said Josh Green, an engineer at Crocker Design Group.

The current plan would interrupt trails through the property, so Green said the trails should be relocated to snake around the building. That is another reason to opt for the multi-family plan with its smaller footprint, he said.

The developer would have to build a septic system and connect the land to other utilities, as well as build an entry to the site on Legion Drive.

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