NEWBURYPORT — City officials are seeking legal counsel after learning that a once-rebuffed developer is likely resurrecting a plan to create a large affordable housing complex on Low Street.
Representatives of Seaport Village LLC, which originated its application years ago, recently visited the offices of Mayor Donna Holaday.
Company executives said they wanted to discuss the Chapter 40B project that had been introduced in 2004. Chapter 40B is a state law that allows developers to more easily obtain permits if their developments contain some low-priced housing. The law is triggered when less than 10 percent of the community's housing stock is considered "affordable." Newburyport has 7.8 percent affordable.
The proposal was opposed by city officials, and it spent close to a half-dozen years tied up in court. In March 2011 the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the Low Street landowner, Eleanor Woodman, who wants to sell her land to this developer, and the recent visit to City Hall suggests that developers appear ready to introduce a new proposal.
"I wasn't expecting this," said Mayor Donna Holaday yesterday. "I told their representatives that this city does not have the appetite for something like a 185-unit project on Low Street."
She said that Seaport Village officials asked her what the city did have an appetite for, and she did not respond with specifics.
"I have been talking to city councilors and our legal counsel," Holaday said. "We will be discussing this."
Planning Director Andy Port informed members of the Planning Board of this development on Wednesday night, but no action was taken, and no statement was made. City officials appear to be in a wait-and-see posture until more details are available.
Woodman had attempted to sell about 22 acres of land to Seaport Village in 2004. The land is off Low Street, across from part of Shaw's Plaza, and runs south from Low Street to property near the Crow Lane landfill.
Seaport years ago had sought to purchase the land with plans to build about 150 units on the property.
The project was proposed under the state's Chapter 40B law, which allows developments that contain at least 25 percent affordable housing units to bypass some zoning regulations.
The city opposed the transaction, in part because the land was zoned for agricultural uses.
According to the Supreme Court's decision in 2011, Woodman was compliant with existing laws in the spring of 2005 when she presented the city an offer by Seaport Village to purchase 22 acres of her land.
Under state law, municipalities have the right of first refusal to purchase land designated for agricultural use in exchange for tax breaks for the property owner.
Woodman's purchase-and-sales agreement triggered a clause giving the city 120 days to purchase the land for the same price as Seaport was willing to pay.
Then-Mayor Mary Ann Clancy challenged the contract, stating that she believed that the purchase price of $1.8 million was excessive.
Clancy also argued that the deal wasn't complete because of contingencies that allowed the price to vary based on how many units were ultimately approved by the city.
The state Land Court agreed with Clancy's argument in November 2007, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision in 2011 and essentially ruled that Woodman could convey her land.
Thus, the oft-debated issue appears to have surfaced again.
Representatives of Seaport could not be reached for comment yesterday, nor could a lawyer who represented Woodman in earlier proceedings, Martin Arsenault of Groveland.
Eleanor Woodman is also involved in another major land deal that has been making headlines in Newburyport. She plans to sell an adjoining 20-plus-acre parcel to a developer who plans to build a CVS on Storey Avenue and then turn over the remaining land to the city. That project has not yet won permits from the city.
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