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Select Board OKs due diligence at 77 Hudson Road for possible affordable homes
Summary
The Sudbury Select Board granted the Sudbury Housing Trust permission to perform site surveys, perk tests and wetlands delineation at 77 Hudson Road to evaluate whether the town-owned parcel could support one or more affordable homes.
The Sudbury Select Board on April 1 voted to grant the Sudbury Housing Trust permission to perform due diligence on a roughly 4-acre town-owned parcel at 77 Hudson Road to assess whether it can host affordable housing.
The motion, approved by roll call, authorizes the trust to commission a survey, wetlands delineation, percolation (perk) tests and initial conceptual plans to identify buildable area and the number and type of units that might be feasible. Select Board Member Lisa moved the measure; Select Board Member Dan Cardi seconded it. The motion passed on a 5-0 roll-call vote (Charlie: yes; Lisa: yes; Janie: yes; Dan Cardi: yes; Robert: yes).
Why it matters: the parcel sits adjacent to the town’s public safety campus and is listed in the draft housing production plan as a potential site for affordable homeownership. The Housing Trust told the board it has accumulated funds and is seeking to expand reserves at town meeting; trust leaders said the next step is technical due diligence before committing to a development plan.
Planning staff said the site includes wetlands and that wetland delineation and perk tests are the key early studies to determine how many units could be built. Planning Director Adam Burney told the board the housing trust expects the minimum outcome would be a duplex and that, depending on the siting and site constraints, “they hope they could put multiple, up to 3 or 4, on this as a singular development.”
Board members repeatedly asked staff to confirm that the property is not needed for foreseeable public safety expansions. Town staff said they would confer with the police and fire chiefs and report back as part of the trust’s due diligence.
What happens next: the Housing Trust will solicit proposals from engineering and surveying firms and report back to the Select Board with findings and recommendations. The board asked the trust to limit due-diligence costs and to return to the board for any decisions on acquisition, transfer or construction.
Votes at a glance: Motion to grant permission to perform due diligence for potential affordable housing development at 77 Hudson Road — mover: Lisa; second: Dan Cardi; outcome: approved (5-0).
