SHIRLEY — Developer Niel Fossile told the Planning Board he wants to modify the Village at Phoenix Park housing development for residents over 55 years old into unrestricted housing for all age groups.
The project has been approved for 50 units but sales have been poor, Fossile said.
“Out of three years, I only sold seven units and this year the whole year, not one has sold,” he told planners on Thursday.
Prices have been reduced significantly and range from $279,900 to $299,000, Fossile said.
He wants to change his plans to allow 30 of the units to be unrestricted, said attorney Michael Norris.
Fossile requested the informational meeting with the board to judge its reaction to the proposal, Norris said.
“Aesthetically, nothing is going to change up there,” Norris said.
The housing would be on separate roads with vegetation screening them, said engineer Tom DiPersio Sr.
The open-space project would require moving the location of some of the open space, he said.
“At the end of the day, the net loss would be zero for open space,” DiPersio said.
The project going forward will create a one-time windfall for the town as infrastructure is built, Fossile said.
“When I am done, there is $750,000 in revenue just for the sewer going to the town and almost a half-million dollars for the water going to the town,” he said.
The Planning Board made a number of concessions on the project based on its design for residents 55 and older, said board member Charles Colburn.
Population density requirements were loosened to allow the project so longtime residents could afford to continue living in town, he said.
Younger families with children would put a greater burden on town resources, Colburn said.
Resident Jim Thibault, of 11 Village Drive, told the board residents of the nearby Shaker Village elderly housing project should be advised of the proposal.
In other business, Bruce Ringwall of engineering firm Goldsmith, Prest & Ringwall Inc. updated the board on ongoing design work for drainage at the Apple Orchard Estates subdivision off Lancaster Road.
“We’ve got a couple things going on right now that will shift that water back … and reduce the cumulative run-off toward (Harvard) Road,” Ringwall said.
The board voted that plans to divide a lot at the corner of 1 Center Road and 10 Main St. is an insignificant change to a site-plan approval granted in 2004.
