Affordable Housing Committee Voices Concerns Over West Street 40B Proposal

Editor’s note: This is the third part of a three-part series that takes a closer look at The Gatehouse Group, Inc. and the 96-unit affordable housing complex it is proposing to develop off West Street. Part three focuses on the concerns raised by the town's Affordable Housing Committee regarding Gatehouse's proposal of a 96-unit affordable housing complex off West Street.

• To read part one of this series, .
• To read part two of this series,

Members of the Medfield Affordable Housing Committee (AHC) are concerned with the size and density of the proposed 40B project off West Street and its impact on town property values and services.

AHC chairman Bonnie Wren-Burgess expressed concern to representatives from the Gatehouse Group - the company proposing the 96-unit affordable housing apartment complex – about the project's overall size (96-units) and density (an average of 24 units per building).

"The size is so much bigger than recommended – a maximum of 20 units [per building] – and the density is so much more intense," Wren-Burgess said.

Gatehouse Group developer James E. Koningisor of Koningisor, Luciano & Associates, Inc. said the company has other developments that are similar or larger in size with single-family homes across the street and believed those residents have not suffered from a Gatehouse community being built.

"In Raynham there’s 240 units with residents right across the street and I think they have not suffered at all from our development being there," Koningisor said. "Property values have maintained. We have been a good neighbor to them."

When asked for specific data or studies to show property values have maintained after a Gatehouse development has been constructed and operating in other towns, Koningisor said he did not have the specific data requested by the AHC at the time but would try to find the information to present at a future meeting.

"We can look into getting that information," Koningisor said.

AHC member Ann Thompson underlined the committee's concern that property values may be affected by the development.

"Our concern is the affect on housing across the street from the development and the retention of property values," Thompson said.

Koningisor understood the committee's concern.

"It's an excellent question," he said.

As for the development's size potentially disturbing residents across the street, Koningisor said it would be no worse than if the property would be used for industrial purposes.

"This is not a rural part of town," Koningisor said. "This is a busy street, there’s commercial development. If this was an industrial development that was built there, there would be lot of traffic and we think it measures well with the land use that’s already there."

However, to address the potential for disturbance from the development to the single-family homes across the street, Gatehouse said it is planning to build a "natural buffer" to create more privacy.

"We will look to create a natural buffer via planting trees and other vegetation to create privacy for the neighbors in single-family homes across the street," Koningisor said.

Wren-Burgess added the proposal outlines "big differences" from the town's current affordable housing guidelines and that, according to the chairman, is "concerning."

Koningisor admitted the Gatehouse Group was made aware of the town's guidelines just hours before its meeting with AHC and agreed there are major differences between what is suggested and what is proposed. However, the Gatehouse developer believes what is proposed could be a valuable alternative for the town to what is typically recommended.

"We think the guidelines are a fine guideline for developing that type of housing," Koningisor said. "This [proposal off West Street] is an alternative type of housing that has been very successful throughout the Commonwealth. It provides a larger scale of affordable units. It provides some benefits that the other type of smaller, more scattered housing doesn’t. It provides a community, a lot of amenities that many people want and provides a different type of living. Some people really like apartment-type living. ...

"So we think while it doesn’t fit exactly what those guidelines were [for the town], we feel it provides an alternative that is very healthy for a community when it is done right and done in this kind of fashion."

In addition to concerns regarding the town's property values, the committee expressed a more general concern with the overall impact the development will have on town services.

Wren-Burgess brought up the concern of the number of school children the proposed complex will draw to the town and asked Koningisor to provide data on the issue.

"We are undertaking that step right now," Koningisor said. "We are compiling the data at all the complexes we have in Massachusetts. We will be happy to share that data with you as soon as we get it."

Koningisor expected that data to be ready in a "few weeks" from the March 29 meeting – which could make it available for the company's public hearing with the town's Zoning Board of Appeals on April 11.

Police Chief Concerned About Bus Stop for Students

Related to the amount of school children the proposed complex will bring in to the town comes the concern of how the school busses will pick-up and drop-off these students off a busy West Street.

Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler, who sits on the Affordable Housing Committee, said Medfield Chief of Police Robert E. Meaney Jr. has expressed concerns about bus stops at the proposed development.

"We are concerned about that and I did have a discussion with the police chief and he would like Gatehouse Group to come in and meet with him," Trierweiler said. "The police chief is very concerned about what we are going to do with the busses on West Street. It’s a big concern.

"The busses won’t go into the development because it is a private development. The issue is, if you’re going to have 60 or 70 kids, where is the bus stop for them?"

In response to that dilemma, AHC members asked if Gatehouse had plans to or would be willing to connect sidewalks from the complex to off-site locations.

"We will look into that," Koningisor said. "It is a little bit tricky because you can’t build a sidewalk to nowhere ... you have to go somewhere. But it's an excellent point and a good question. We will look into it."

Will There be Enough Parking Spaces?

When Koningisor told AHC the proposed number of parking spaces on site for the development is 158, Wren-Burgess and other members questioned whether that would be enough. The Gatehouse developer explained the reasoning behind 158 spaces for a 96-unit complex.

"We have done parking studies at all of our Massachusetts developments and identified in a one-bedroom unit, a two-bedroom unit, what is the parking ratio for these developments and applied that to the unit mix for this development in Medfield," Koningisor said. "Based on that, we feel 158 parking spaces is the right number. It is adequate, it has some cushion in it and yet it’s not over-building spaces because it doesn’t service anybody to have empty spaces. ...

"All of our parking studies are done two ways," Koningisor said. "We do it by registered cars and physical counts to verify spaces at certain times. This is an area where we think our interest is in line with the town’s interest. We need to make sure we have enough parking spaces for our residents. On the other hand, nobody wants seas of asphalt. Getting the number right is something we are very much interested in doing and we will share all the statistics with the town."

Other Concerns and Questions Raised by the AHC

• Age profiles for apartments: Gatehouse Group vice president Brian McMillin said data could be provided while Koningisor said most one-bedroom units in their developments house "a fair amount of seniors."
• Information regarding residents and demographics of developments: "I'm not on the management side but I will find out," McMillin said.
• The proposed name of the development – Parc at Medfield: "We've got some valuable feedback and we're actually going to meet with the Historical Commission and we understand it is not the best name for Medfield," said McMillin. "We are not married to [the name]. ... We are hoping that some local information will provide us with a more appropriate name." Said Koningisor: "I agree that the name is terrible."
• Other Gatehouse developments include 40B housing: "All of our Massachusetts developments were done under Chapter 40B," said McMillin. "They’re all affordable developments. Some are partly market, partly affordable and some are 100 percent affordable. ... Medfield will be 100 percent affordable."
• Absorption rate of units in development: "Occupancy at all of our developments are in the very high 90s," Koningisor said. "Many would be 100 percent but there’s turnover."
• Frequency of renter turnover: That is a good question and we will be able to provide you with that data," McMillin said.
• Willingness to help Medfield work on its Affordable Housing Action Plan: "I think it’s a great question and Gatehouse always looks to be part of the community and help when we can," Koningisor said. "As we go through the process with the Zoning Board and if that is something that they would like us to consider than I think it is a great possibility. It’s a great idea."
• Why it's proposed 100 percent affordable: "Financing," McMillin said.
• Oldest Gatehouse-owned development: "Probably close to 15 years," Koningisor said. Gatehouse still owns the property.
• What does long-term investment in Medfield mean for Gatehouse: "All of these properties are developed with a tax credit program that really requires you stay in the community for a minimum of 15 years," McMillin said. "For you to leave, you actually have to place a bond, which is an absorbent amount of money. Really as a minimum, we are here 15 years. It really is longer than that. They require you to really have 30 years. When the initial 15 years are up, we will look at it at that point." Koningisor added that Gatehouse hasn't sold any of its Massachusetts properties. 
• How long will units stay affordable: "We haven't submitted our application for that - we will apply for that in September," said McMillin. "It will be a minimum of 30 years but we usually put in for 50."
• With market turning around, will there be an increase in market value units for Medfield: "That's something we are keeping an eye on," McMillin said.
• Timeline for project: "We would hope to be able to start construction next summer," Koningisor said. "Ideally sometime next summer."
• Proposed lighting for the development: "We will have site lighting," Koningisor said. "The light fixtures will be dark sky type fixtures that shine light downward from the sky and shields to keep it on site. When we get further along in the planning stages we will propose light fixtures. We will look for something that is traditional in architecture design."
• No individual use of gas grills: "What we have done is install in a couple locations a picnic area with a grill so residents can come down and grill in the designated area," said Koningisor. McMillin added, "We don't have balconies [so gas grills aren't allowed]."
• 5 percent of units are handicapped accessible: "Five percent of the units are fully handicapped accessible," Koningisor said. "One-third of the units are on the first floor. Those units are fully accessible to wheelchairs, etc. Five percent of the one bedrooms, five percent of the two bedrooms and five percent of the three bedrooms are designed to be handicap accessible." There will be no elevators in the buildings, just walkups. 
• Energy efficiency – will they be built with energy star certification: "They will all have energy star appliances but I don’t recall on whether we got energy star certification in Wareham or not," said Koningisor. "I’m not sure yet for Medfield, we haven’t gotten to that level of design."
• All utilities coming in will be on the ground under West Street.

For the questions Gatehouse representatives did not have the answers to, they told AHC they will find the data and pass it along to members.

"They have a number of things they were going to look at and get back to us," Wren-Burgess said. "Different data, different information. Once we get that, we can set up another date to meet and discuss what we would like to see changed, enhanced, etc."

Representatives from Gatehouse will present its proposal to the