Falmouth Housing Trust Looking To Save 33 Pheasant Lane From Demolition Through Local Initiative Program
The Falmouth Housing Trust is looking to put an end to legal and zoning issues regarding 33 Pheasant Lane by incorporating it as a local initiative program, otherwise known as a “friendly 40B,” to avoid demolition of the home.
Karen Bissonnette, executive director of the Falmouth Housing Trust, said that the intention of the organization is to purchase the house from Daniel C. Maclone, the developer, put a permanent deed restriction on the home, and sell it as an affordable home.
“We actually have a purchase and sale right now with the owner of Pheasant Lane to purchase the house,” Ms. Bissonnette said. “But that’s dependent upon being able to get the permits from the zoning board. The town is now working with the zoning board counsel to try to get all the litigation to go away, so that Falmouth Housing Trust can purchase that property and do a LIP with the town and the DHCD.”
A local initiative program, or LIP, is a program under the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. It is a type of 40B that encourages the creation of affordable housing by providing technical assistance from the state to municipalities and developers who are working together to create affordable housing opportunities.
Ms. Bissonnette said that the Falmouth Housing Trust is currently working with both the town and the state to make a LIP happen for 33 Pheasant Lane, but there are more steps to be taken to ensure that they can proceed as hoped. An application to the state program is under way and discussions are being had with both the zoning board of appeals, the Town of Falmouth, and their respective counsel to get the proper permitting and make sure that the ongoing litigation is squared away.
The home at 33 Pheasant Lane has been a contentious issue in town for a few years. When the house was built in 2019, issues arose over the fact that three building permits for the same property had been previously denied for the lot’s lack of buildability due to its size. Regardless, Mr. Maclone was issued a building and occupancy permit for the home, which was completed during the summer of 2019. Both permits were revoked a few months later, and litigation to reverse the decision has been ongoing since the developer filed a suit with the town in January 2020. The building was then ordered to be torn down by the ZBA, a decision that was appealed and subsequently upheld in August 2021.
“It would have to be with the support of the select board and then the zoning board would have to bless us and give us permission to do a 40B on that piece of property,” Ms. Bissonnette said. “It would not be a good thing for this community if a house had to be torn down. To me, it’s not really rational. So we decided that if we could pull this off, it’d be a great thing for the community, especially at this time when we have such an affordable housing crisis. As I say, [it’s] making lemonade out of lemons.”
Ideally, Ms. Bissonnette said that Falmouth Housing Trust will be able to secure a LIP for the property within the next year or so. As a deed-restricted affordable housing opportunity, a lottery would be held to select the occupants from a pool of qualifying applicants.
“If we can pull this off, this would be a really wonderful thing,” Ms. Bissonnette said. “We’d have a permanent deed restriction and then we would have a family in there that otherwise probably couldn’t live in Falmouth.”