By Geena Monahan — For the North Star Reporter
After more than three years of deliberations over a 304-unit apartment building at 582 Kelley Blvd., the Planning Board has approved the plan with a 3-0-1 vote at its April 3 meeting.
Members Gregory Walsh, William Blais and Jason Gittle voted in favor of the project, with Chair Marie Clarner casting the abstaining vote to “send a message.” Board member Gregory Lorincz was not present for the meeting.
“I asked, multiple times, if you could do something to make this project special,” said Clarner, addressing the Marcus Partners representative. “I would have loved it if you could come up with a project that would make us proud of you, that would have made the town proud of you. . . that did not happen, and that’s the only reason I’m saying no, as a citizen.”
The main topic of the night between the board and Caitlin Walker, senior development manager for Marcus Partners, was over the installation of a temporary traffic light at the intersection of George Leven Drive and Kelley Boulevard.
According to Walker, after many meetings with Town Manager Michael Borg, legal counsel and traffic engineering company MDM Transportation Consultants, Inc., the decision to not include a temporary traffic light in the contract was upheld.
Instead, the “special conditions” section of the contract was amended to include a Traffic Management Plan which “shall be updated during each phase of the work and shall include any appropriate requirements relative to police details, signage and other traffic controls during the construction phase.”
Gittle reminded Walker and members of the board that the Police Department has full authority to step in at any time during the construction phase if they have concerns over safety.
A second amendment to the conditions of approval was put forth by Walsh, who pushed for the addition of language to ensure that no construction would take place on Sundays or bank holidays. A vote was taken on these amendments, which also passed 3-0-1.
Throughout the numerous public hearings that were held on this project, residents who live in the vicinity of Kelley Boulevard came out in droves to oppose the project, mainly over traffic concerns. The crowd in attendance at Thursday night’s meeting was smaller than usual, with one citizen approaching the podium to reiterate his fears over increased traffic congestion.
Gittle responded by issuing a stern reminder that this project had been approved long ago by the Town Council and other groups in town. Gittle also noted that two separate traffic studies have been completed and Marcus Partners has brought forth a substantial amount of money to address the area’s traffic issues.
“If it seems like I’m frustrated, it’s because I am,” said Gittle. “We have mentioned on multiple occasions that the Planning Board’s purview is not to say yes or no to this development, it’s to make sure the plan that Marcus Patterns puts in meets with our subdivision regulations in Chapter 40R’s agreement.”
Clarner echoed Gittle’s frustration, stating that this matter has been discussed already “ad nauseam.”
Gittle went on to mention that this is the longest public hearing he’s ever experienced in his 22 years of serving on two different city planning boards, and that the impact on the town’s educational system and traffic issues has been thoroughly explored.
“I take exception to the idea that we’re jamming this through,” said Gittle. “This has not been rammed through, this has been reviewed at every detail.”
According to Walker, construction is slated to begin this spring, with a goal of delivering the first apartments by spring/summer 2026.
“Making lemonade out of lemons”
This is how Borg described the project in an interview with the North Star Reporter, with the lemons being a 40B development option, and the lemonade being the 40R development that was passed last Thursday night.
“At the end of it, it was a smart choice,” said Borg. “I understand people might have some apprehension and cause for reservation, but we’ve been talking about this for three-plus years. This was well thought out and well invested, brought in front of Town Council and the Planning Board to look at how we can bring this across the finish line while having the town be involved with the decisions.”
The development, which will replace the defunct Stix Fun Center and house approximately 450 people, was zoned under Chapter 40R of the Massachusetts General Laws, which encourages communities to create dense residential or mixed-use “smart growth” zoning districts, including a high percentage of affordable housing units.
While a 40B project would allow a developer to bypass certain aspects of the approval project if 25% of the housing qualifies as affordable, a 40R project requires developers to work closely with the town throughout the entire process.
North Attleborough does not qualify for “safe harbor” from 40B developments because it falls short of the 10% requirement of affordable housing stock, currently hovering right under 3%. The new development will bump that number up to about 6%, as the whole complex will go towards that affordable housing percentage, even though only about 25% of the units will be affordable housing.
According to Borg, 40R says “Alright, look, we will create an environment where the developer has to work inside the planning board and come to an agreement on standards, what it looks like, how many units, different things like that.”
Borg outlined some of the financial benefits to the town from the developer, such as $500,000 towards fixing the flow of traffic and $5,000 per child — once the threshold of children living at the complex reaches 10 — given to the town for the next three years.
By building under 40R, the commonwealth provided the town with a grant for $4 million to address traffic issues on Kelley Boulevard, along with an incentive payment of $1.2 million. It’s unknown at this time what this money will be used for.
Looking at the town’s budget and incoming revenue, Borg also talked about the ways this project will help in both the short and long term. Building permits, tax revenue from the apartment buildings and motor vehicle excise taxes will all bolster the budget. Long-term, Borg noted the positive effects of having more people eating at local restaurants, shopping at local stores and attending town events.
“I think affordable housing ranks up there as one of the most important issues we’re going to have to solve,” said Borg. “At the end of the day, we have to begin looking forward so we’re less reactive, maintaining control over the things we can control. We’re playing the hand that we’ve been dealt, and I think the town is doing remarkably well at it.”