AMHERST — As the state Department of Housing and Community Development determines if a mixed-use project featuring 26 affordable apartments will be eligible for tax credits, residents have three weeks to comment on the plans.
The comment period for the 130-unit North Square at the Mill District, a development proposed by Beacon Communities Development of Boston for six acres on Cowls Road, will end at noon Sept. 21, said Senior Planner Nathaniel Malloy.
Malloy said that will give time for Planning Department staff to compile these comments, which can be submitted through a form on the town website or by email, and for staff to draft a cover memo to be approved by the Select Board and submitted to the state agency.
While the town’s response is supposed to come by Sept. 23, Town Manager Paul Bockelman said an extension is being requested so the Select Board can discuss the project at its Sept. 26 meeting.
Bockelman said the town did not get the site eligibility letter from Catherine Racer, associate director of the division of housing development for the state agency until Monday, even though it was dated Aug. 24.
As proposed, the 150,000-square-foot project includes 130 apartments, 26 which would be set aside for people earning up to 50 percent of the area median income, and ground-level space for retail.
The state is expected to decide in late September or early October whether the project is eligible for tax credits. If it is, Malloy said a comprehensive permit would be filed under chapter 40B, a state statute promoting affordable housing and allowing developers to circumvent certain municipal zoning restrictions.
That would trigger the beginning of a review by the Zoning Board of Appeals, which may put conditions on the project and approve or deny waivers from local zoning.
Documents submitted to the state Department of Housing and Community Development by Beacon are online at www.amherstma.gov/2268/North-Amherst-Beacon-Community-40B-Proje.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
