Town officials from multiple committees agree that Abington should provide South Shore Habitat for Humanity with a lot to build affordable housing for a family or two.
But those boards are split over where that lot should be.
Selectmen deadlocked Monday night over a request from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee to give Habitat for Humanity some land on the Pattison Street edge of the town-owned Griffins Dairy Farm. The committee who oversees the town-owned park politely but strenuously opposed the request, encouraging the town to find an alternate site, and preserve the park as open and recreational space.
Town Manager Scott Lambiase has been charged with studying a couple other locations off Charles Street as a possible site, as well as a strip of town-owned land off Gliniewicz Way.
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee, an elected board formed by Town Meeting in 2021, has been working with South Shore Habitat for Humanity for a couple years to find a location for a project in Abington, Chairman Ken Coyle told selectmen Monday. Habitat and the town already have a relationship: the regional chapter of the national housing non-profit built homes in Abington in 1995 and 2000.
Noreen Browne, the director of project development with South Shore Habitat, told selectmen the nonprofit builds modest homes — about 1,300 to 1,500 square feet depending on the number of bedrooms — for families making 80 percent of the regional median income.
Families aren’t given Habitat homes — the group’s model requires the family to pay a mortgage on the home, as well as contribute more than 200 hours of “sweat equity” during construction. The home remains income restricted if the original family decides to sell, and counts toward the town’s affordable housing inventory.
Selectmen last year rejected a request to build a Habitat home on Gliniewicz Way, saying they were wanted to preserve the land for possible recreational uses. The upcoming fire station and public works construction project requires the sacrifice of the two basketball courts on Central Street; Gliniewicz Way was eyed as one potential spot to relocate them.
Coyle said his committee had since pivoted to some land off Pattison Street along the northern edge of Griffin’s Dairy. The area currently holds a gravel parking lot and is a trail head to some of the park’s walking paths.
Coyle, who was Finance Committee Chairman when the town voted to buy the former dairy farm in 1998 for $750,000, said according to notes he kept from the debate, the town discussed selling off a few parcels along the edge of the farm to defray the purchase cost, while still maintaining the core of the 64-acre farm.
Members of the Griffins Dairy Farm Committee, which has spearheaded a laundry list of improvements projects and community programs at the site in recent years after it sat fallow for more than a decade, spoke out against the proposal. The former dairy farm is now home to community garden plots and walking trails. Part of the farm has been leased out to a local farmer, and some of the fields have been harvested for hay.
Chairwoman Carolyn Bates said she respects Habitat for Humanity and has worked on two of their build sites, but couldn’t support this proposal.
“The town bought this farm to prevent overdevelopment and housing development projects would not be appropriate for this site,” she said.
Member Terry Maze argued a yes vote would set up a “slippery slope” away from preserving the site for open space.
Billy Davis, who has volunteered his time working on the grounds for years, said the board would quickly reject similar requests at other town parks.
“I don’t think anyone would want to build houses at Arnold Park or Island Grove,” he said. “I think we’re lucky to have Griffin’s Dairy.”
Richard Hanna, another park committee member, said the Pattison Street location is also the main access point to the majority of the park’s hayfields.
Amanda Zompetti, who chairs the Community Preservation Committee, but was speaking for herself, echoed arguments made by the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee: that home prices in Abington has put the town out of reach for many working-class families.
“You’ll still be able to use the park,” she said. “It’s two families…It’s so hard to find a good community with good homes.”
Selectman Tim Chapin was a hard no on the proposal, citing all the work the Griffin’s Dairy Park Committee has put into the property.
“There’s no way I could ever vote to put housing on the property when they’re working so hard,” he said.
Selectman Chairman Kevin Donovan and Selectwoman Suzanne Djusberg said while they didn’t think Pattison Street was a good location, they would be open to a parcel at the end of Charles Street, possibly next to a home once owned by a member of the Griffin family. Another possible site identified by Djusberg is on land behind the existing Habitat home on Charles Street, abutting the old municipal sewer beds.
Technically, the Board of Selectmen didn’t rule out using a portion of Griffin’s Dairy Farm for a Habitat project. The only vote taken was on a motion by Chapin to reject using any Griffin’s Dairy Farm land for a Habitat project, but it failed on a split vote, with Selectmen Kevin DiMarzio joining Chapin, with Donovan and Djusberg interested in looking at other options.
Lambiase is expected to report back in the coming weeks with an analysis on alternative sites.
You must be logged in to post a comment.