CONWAY — Progress has been made on a proposed project to make housing available to seniors inside town limits.
The project is moving forward with money from the Community Preservation Act, a state grant that covers historic places, open spaces, and housing. With the grant, the state will cover half the cost of affordable housing in the project.
On Tuesday, the Conway housing committee held an open information meeting to receive community feedback on a potential location for the housing project — a 10-acre plot of town owned land on Shelburne Falls Road, near the South River, just outside the center of town.
Overall, Pixie Holbrook, chair of the committee, who has been working on the project since about 2005, said the meeting was positive, and helped to move the project forward.
Talk centered around the location, which is above the floodplain, and if town residents would be given preference for the units — Holbrook said they would be.
The proposed riverfront location would have three affordable units — built using the state grant — and another nine full-cost units, making a total of 12 senior housing units.
During the meeting, the committee shared results from LDTS Consultant Group, which the town hired to help plan the project.
“The results show that there’s a keen interest — close to 25 percent (of the town’s senior population) — to stay in town,” said Holbrook. She said the town needs senior housing because many residents are getting older, and can’t maintain the large houses they’ve lived in for years.
The consultants also found there aren’t other housing options for seniors in the hilltowns.
“That was my reason for getting involved,” she said, “picturing elderly people living in these old farm houses. The word isolation is key.”
Holbrook envisions a future where seniors can experience community life, and at the same time, not have to leave the town they grew up in.
“We picture a flag system,” she continued, “where people can signal for errands. A place where people drive by and wave.”
There has been discussion about making the proposed plot of land into a park for passive recreation — with walking trails, birdhouses and, perhaps, a gazebo.
Holbrook said she doesn’t see any reason why both proposals can’t exist together, because they both serve the same purpose: to build community.
If there’s a drawback to the Shelburne Falls Road location, says Holbrook, its because of the wetlands on the site.
Part of the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was to brainstorm ways to finance the project.
“It may end up being dances and tag sales,” Holbrook said about the need for funding. “We’re gonna look to set up a fund. There are also green grants (available).”
After the committee finds funding, she continued, the next step is to find a developer who wants to build on the property. Then, after the housing has been built, the committee could set up a nonprofit organization to run day-to-day operations of the units.
They’re modeling the process after successful projects completed by other towns. If the committee can’t come up with a solid plan for the site by early 2017, other sites will be explored.
You can reach Andy Castillo at:
acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo