Elders-only status will remain

SHIRLEY — Shaker Meadows, a senior housing complex on Harvard Road that contains a substantial subsidized component, will stay as it has been since it was built 20 years ago.

The Council on Aging (COA) asked the Board of Selectmen to look into the matter after Shaker Meadows residents expressed concerns about the shelf life of an agreement with the town. Worried the agreement was about to expire and the owner would re-categorize their units at market rate, the residents feared that affordable rents and age restrictions, in place since the complex was built, might be in jeopardy.

But at the March 31 meeting, Selectmen Chairman Leonardo “Chip” Guercio said that’s not the case. After doing some research, the selectmen determined that tenants have nothing to fear. The permit has no sunset clause, he said. The units will stay as they are.

Guercio cited backup documents — copies of which will be provided to the COA — that show a 1989 Zoning Board of Appeals hearing and subsequent appeal in 1991 upheld the original terms.

The owner has no plans to change anything anyway, said town administrator Kyle Keady.

“He was startled that he wasn’t contacted,” said Keady.

Asked where things stand with federal subsidies for some of the units, Keady said those are safe, too.

“As of last week, the feds have no plans to change anything,” he said.