East Greenwich board 'Greene-lights' condos
7:09 AM Thu, Nov 19, 2009 | Permalink
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EAST GREENWICH, R.I. -- A 15-unit condominium project that will provide some sorely needed affordable housing to the town was unanimously approved by the Planning Board Wednesday night. Five of the units in the "Cottages on Greene" project -- a reference to the unusual cottage style of the units and their Greene Street location -- will be categorized as affordable. That designation applies to only 4.4 percent of the town's 5,182 or so housing units. The affordable units are expected to sell for $204,000. Joseph Palombo, a builder and partner in the development company, 620 Main Street Associates, said after the meeting that if the weather is favorable, the foundations could be put in soon and the 10 buildings that make up the complex could be ready for sale by mid-summer. After the 7-0 vote, Planning Director Lee R. Whitaker praised the project's innovative design and said having the residences so close to Main Street will help enrich the downtown area. The property is the site of a long-abandoned auto repair business. "It meets the needs of the town, particularly with to regards to affordable housing," Whitaker said. Approval came only after eleventh-hour submission of a document from the Kent County Water Authority saying that it had enough water to service the project, and a report finalizing the engineering of a storm water management system designed to collect all runoff from the site, even from the type of storm that hits once per century. The town had commissioned a traffic study after a neighbor, Drew Davies of 65 Greene Street, reported that congestion was already a problem on the street, in part because people use it to get to First Avenue. But the study's author, Anna M. Novo of Caputo and Wick Ltd., concluded that the development would not generate enough traffic -- less than one extra vehicle trip per minute during peak periods -- to cause problems. She recommended against Davies' suggestion that Greene be made a one-way street to prevent cut-through traffic, saying other alternatives should be tried. 
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"Affordable"? At $204K??? Who comes up with this tripe? The person who originally coined the term "affordable" should be horse whipped. What real estate demigod came up with this figure and labeled it "affordable"? Who defines this?
"The property is the site of a long-abandoned auto repair business." Has an environmental impact study been done yet? For all you know, it is a brownfield site.
I'm sure the neighbors to this will have a say about having a multistory "affordable condo" in their backyard.
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zman07,
Yeah, ten units, I'm sure the town is going to hell. Not.
$204,000 is affordable by someone with a decent job, as compared to the usually much more expensive East Greenwich houses. A teacher or police officer can afford these.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that can be afforded by someone earning from 80% to 115% of the median Rhode Island income. People who can afford these homes are beneficial to the community.
It's not housing for people on welfare, that's Section 8 housing.
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I guess in East Greenwich this is affordable?
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The median income in RI in 2006 was $53,568 (It has probably gone down since the recession). 80% of that is $42,854 (to 61k at the 115% end). I don't see anyone earning 42k a year buying one of these condos. It still seems NOT affordable.
"People who can afford these homes are beneficial to the community."
So, Liberal Democrat, are you saying that people who can't afford these homes are not beneficial to the community?
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"affordable" is defined by the town's median income, not the state's.
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The term itself is something out of "1984". Affordability is something different for everyone. Shouldn't be something the government creates to shoe horn someone into a house they couldn't normally afford without government intervention. In the old Soviet Union, loyal party members were given preferential treatment for housing too.
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chris, eg does not want 42 k incomes.by there standards this would be sec.8
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