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Select Board approves affordable-housing restrictions and conservation easement for Assabet River parcels
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Summary
The Concord Select Board voted to record affordable-housing restrictions tied to the Assabet River Homes project and approved a conservation restriction covering about six acres of the parcel on the Assabet River Bluff.
The Select Board voted April 28 to accept and amend affordable-housing restrictions tied to the Assabet River Homes project and to approve a conservation restriction over most of the larger parcel near West Concord.
The board approved an amendment to the affordable-housing restriction that will narrow the legal property description so the restriction applies only to the Concord Housing Authority’s condominium unit at 406 Old Marlborough Road once the site is converted into four condominium units. The board also accepted a separate, earlier restriction covering the Concord Housing Authority units at 78 Forest Ridge and recorded the new restriction for 406 Old Marlborough Road at closing.
The actions finalize a multiyear project that split a roughly seven-acre parcel that the town purchased in 2022: approximately six acres will be protected as open space and will be subject to a conservation restriction, and roughly one acre was set aside for housing. Liz Rust, director of the Regional Housing Services Office, said the 406 Old Marlborough Road unit contains two rental apartments that will be owned by the Concord Housing Authority and that the property will be converted to four condominium units at closing. "The affordable housing restriction presented here is on the entire one-acre parcel as it exists today," Rust said. "In the process of the closing, that property is going to then become four different units ... the legal description of the restriction needs to change from the entire property to just the unit."
Delia (Natural Resources Director) described the conservation action for the larger parcel, known as the Assabet River Bluff. She told the board the property has roughly 800 feet of frontage on the Assabet River, is accessible from the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, and was acquired with a combination of Community Preservation Act funds, a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant, and private fundraising led by the Concord Land Conservation Trust and the Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT). The Natural Resources Commission voted unanimously on April 23 to grant the conservation restriction to SVT and CLCT jointly and asked the Select Board to approve the restriction for recording and submission to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for the secretary's signature.
Board members voted to approve the amendment to the affordable-housing restriction for 406 Old Marlborough Road and to accept and record the conservation restriction on the Assabet River Bluff. The board also voted to record the restriction for the CHA property at 78 Forest Ridge. Select Board Chair Mark Howell called out the multiple town and nonprofit partners involved. "It was a real pleasure working with Liz and representatives from the Housing Development Corporation, the Concord Land Conservation Trust, and Sudbury Valley Trustees to acquire this parcel in 2022," Natural Resources Director Delia said.
The Select Board’s approvals are procedural prerequisites for recording the documents at closing and for the state to certify any perpetual restrictions; Rust said the state had reviewed the CHA restriction and indicated it met requirements.
The board’s action leaves further regulatory steps on the home-ownership portion of the project — three ownership units to be built by Habitat for Humanity under the Local Initiative Program (LIP) — to be completed later this year, including the LIP application and state approvals that will accompany those units.
