Developers and neighbors spar over Mill Street housing plan as planning board opens hearing

The City of Hudson Planning Board opened a public hearing March 11 on a proposed housing development near Mill and Second streets and heard roughly two hours of testimony from the developer and more than a dozen residents and local advocates.

The proposal, presented by representatives of Kearney Realty Group and civil engineer Andy Leonard of CDL, would place new residential buildings, parking and site infrastructure on a sloping parcel near existing neighborhood streets and a recreational field. Developers described revisions to the site plan made in response to board and public comments, including reduced tree‑clearing limits, additional planting islands in the parking area and a proposed bus shelter and sidewalk access to Second Street. Neighbors pressed the applicants on stormwater management, floodplain risk, trail connections, bus access and on‑site turnaround for service vehicles.

Why it matters: the site sits below nearby hills and has a history of surface flooding, residents said, and the project would add impervious surface and new residents to a location with limited sidewalk and transit access. The planning board heard technical responses from the applicant but left the record open; no permit or site‑plan approval was granted at the meeting.

Developers’ updates and technical responses

At the start of their presentation, the team said they had revised architectural renderings and tightened tree‑clearing limits, pulling the clearing line back behind Building 1 and reducing clearing at the end…