Northfield Planning Board removes block to workforce housing project

NORTHFIELD — An affordable housing project can move forward in the conceptual phase after the Planning Board abandoned plans to advance an amendment to the town's zoning ordinance that would have exempted an apartment complex from a section of town along Route 140.

The Planning Board met on Monday evening to vote on the amendment, which would have jeopardized an apartment complex proposed by Lakes Region Community Developers. Representatives of LRCD, as well as nearby United Parcel Service depot, attended to make clear their organizations' views on the matter.

The issue was described on the agenda as, “to amend the Northfield Zoning Ordinance Article 7 Table 1 for Multi Family Residence 5 Units or More in the Commercial/Industrial Zone." The amendment would have made multi-family developments not permitted in the zone. They currently are permitted by special exemption.  In the end, the board voted against the amendment, allowing the LRCD to proceed in its application process.

“This particular article has earned a lot of attention. This came up in our last meeting as an effort brought up by a board member as an effort to protect our commercial industrial zone in Northfield,” said planning board chair Jason Durgin. “There was no intention of this board to cause any problems or do anything illegal. I want to make this clear.”

The LRDC responded to the purposed amendment with a letter stating, “amendments to zoning ordinances made outside of the adoption of a new master plan, or to correct errors in the current Ordinance, or to address unforeseen changed circumstances(e.g., the recent emergence of the short-term use of homes for vacation rentals), are frowned upon. Zoning should not be done piecemeal and spot zoning is illegal.”

If the amendment passed, it would have made it to the ballot box in March, and the development proposal would have been stalled until voters could have their say. The delay would have effectively “killed the project” according to LRCD executive director Carmen Lorentz.

The zone in question is a section of undeveloped land along highway 140 between Belmont and Tilton. The area is designated as a commercial/industrial zone, but allows for multifamily housing if granted a special exception. LRCD is looking at this space to build a 66-unit apartment complex with income requirements to house workers and retirees. Lorentz called it "workforce housing."

During the previous meeting, selectman Kevin Waldron came up with the amendment, citing concern for preserving Northfield’s commercial industrial space. 

“[The land] belonged to the Cormier family,” Waldron said, stating that the land was only for sale for about a year.  “They are the ones that are selling the lots. The trust sold one lot to UPS. they sold a lot to Bruce Howard, and they have two lots under agreement with the Lakes Region Developers.”

Waldron also stated the term “workforce” housing was a buzzword likely used to “sugarcoat” the project. 

Waldron made it very clear that he believes the land should only be put to commercial and industrial use, and that after reviewing zoning, came up with the amendment to remove the ability to apply for a special exception. While Waldron stated that he agrees that people need a place to live, he believes the park is not an appropriate area for residential buildings.

Allowing a special exception, Waldron said, could throttle further business development in the park, and that the housing project will take up precious commercial real estate. 

“Once UPS is operational, I believe other businesses and other industries will go in there,” Waldron said. “So with the housing development taking two lots, and the Howards owning one lot, I think there's only one lot, maybe two [left].”

Waldron elaborated further on the existence of a residential building scaring off business development. 

“You have a residential unit and then a company comes in that would make a lot of noise. Those 66 families that live there come fudge your meeting saying ‘it's too loud, we gotta sleep.’” Waldron said, “They’re gonna insist on concessions from the industrial company, are we gonna make them build their buildings so nothing can be heard outside it so people can sleep? If the residential is there, other companies that would go in there aren’t gonna go in. Most companies are very safety oriented, they don’t want to be running anyone over or disturbing their sleep.”

Others with stake in the industrial park across the road, as well Daniel Luker, an attorney representing UPS, expressed concerns surrounding noise, liability and the safety of residents living in a commercial/industrial zone.

"The plan presented to this board is almost a 24-hour operation,” Luker said of the UPS distribution center that is going up across the street from the proposed LRCD project. “There is going to be a lot of truck traffic and employee traffic. It will be at odds with multi-family housing across the street. It doesn't appear to be safe. One legit concern is if you're going to have late night operations, it's gonna be a ready-made noise complaint.”

Business owner Bruce Howard and his wife, Melissa Howard, expressed disagreement with housing being allowed in the premises. 

“We purchased a commercial piece of property on the development. When UPS went in there, it was advertised as a commercial-industrial park. By no means did we think there would be housing there, I know it's a special exception but for a start up business, if you put anything in there it doesn't make sense to have any housing in there at all. So I'm in favor of changing the zoning.”

“The location is unsafe,” said Melissa Howard, “the park’s intent was to bring industry and jobs, it was not for a housing development. As a commercial owner within this park, imagine the liability.”

For Lorentz, these arguments of safety, noise, and liability are common concerns in the development process.

“We've developed multi-family properties for 30 years,” Lorentz said in an interview, “we're not going to build something in a place where we don't think it will work. We know what we're doing. It will be great for the town, great for the region, but all of those concerns, I feel confident they can be addressed.” 

Lorentz went further, describing the safety claims as premature in this stage of the project. 

“It's a little disingenuous to be talking about safety concerns when there is no actual site plan on the table. You can't really just do that in the abstract.”

While some citizens argued on an increased tax burden by having more children in the school system from the complex, Lorentz responded by saying the residents would be vital to economic development.

“Our tenants work at 150 local businesses,” said Lorentz, “health care is the biggest sector, food service, retail, pretty much the gambit."

Although the LRCD is a non-profit, Lorentz said that their properties are owned by for-profit subsidiaries. “So we do pay taxes on our properties,” Lorentz said. 

Some attendees made arguments that the project should be developed in the R2 residential zone of Northfield, but Lorentz said there simply wasn’t any land available in that zone for this project. 

"There’s really not that much developable land left in R2 as is my understanding,” Lorentz said. “There wasn’t anything for sale. If there’s not any real opportunity to do a project, we just go where property is available.”

After the public comment, the board discussed the amendment extensively before coming to a vote.

“This is an entity that is allowed to do it. Us putting in the stop gap, is not in good faith,” said board member John Cilley, “I don't think that's right. I may not agree with [LRCD's] plan. But if it gets through the zoning processes, and black and white, more power to them.”

“I think that aside from the law stuff is that we're not doing our public service to the whole town by not coming up with where we can put affordable workforce supportive housing,” said board member Joyce Fulweiler. “Because we need that. We want families. When you look at the population trends. Soon there's not going to be younger people to support people in Northfield as we age. We need jobs, and with jobs, we need housing. If you bring in business and more houses and more people making money, then, we can follow the plan. We have wonderful resources. We just have to get things in the right zones.”

In the end, the planning board voted six to one against the amendment, allowing the LRCD to go forward and apply for the exception. However, the board all agreed that they would spend the next year reviewing Northfield’s zoning ordinance.