Developers outline conversion of hotel complex to 109 apartments at 25 Connector Road; 25% set aside as affordable

Craig Miller of Waterfield Design Group presented the Select Board with a site‑plan overview for a conversion of an existing hotel campus at 25 Connector Road into residential apartments. The proposal would keep the exterior buildings in place and change interior layouts to achieve a total of 109 units — 85 one‑bedrooms and 24 two‑bedrooms — with 25 percent of units set aside as permanently low‑income housing. "We're proposing 31 new parking spaces," Miller said, explaining they are sited along the southwest side of the access road and placed outside both the 100‑foot wetland buffer and a 125‑foot vernal pool area.

Developers told the board the project would not increase bedrooms on paper but would convert to full‑time residential occupancy from hotel use, which drives increased sanitary demand. Because the town currently has a sewer moratorium on adding new flows, project engineers said one of the six existing hotel buildings would be routed to an on‑site septic system while the others would remain on town sewer. Miller described on‑site infiltration chambers sized to capture the hundred‑year storm runoff for newly created impervious surfaces.

Board members and staff sought details on school‑age children projections and traffic impacts. A remote representative said the unit mix is expected to include primarily one‑ and two‑bedroom units and that "there's not a ton of school children at our sites typically," noting the developments often draw young professionals and workforce households. The developer said a separate traffic study concluded that 31 additional spaces would meet town requirements; representatives offered to share the traffic study with the planning director and town engineer.

Select Board members highlighted that increasing the affordable portion from the zoning baseline of 20 percent to 25 percent would add six affordable units and — because of state inventory rules — add the entire 132‑unit project to the Subsidized Housing Inventory once the 25 percent threshold is met. One member asked whether the 25 percent commitment would be in perpetuity; a town official replied it would be.

The board did not take a final vote on the site plan at this meeting; the matter will proceed to the planning board and other permitting reviews with the project team providing the requested traffic and school‑impact data.

What's next: The developers will provide the traffic study and unit‑mix documentation to the planning director and town engineer; the planning board will formally consider the special‑permit/site‑plan application and any conditions tied to sewer capacity or school‑impact mitigation.