Plymouth officials are asking a state housing agency to block the construction of 163 condominiums on land a developer wants to buy from the family of environmental lawyer Meg Sheehan.
The Select Board Tuesday night voted unanimously to urge MassHousing to reject applications for two 40b condo complexes Pulte Homes of New England is seeking to build in North Plymouth — named “Oceanview North” and “Sandri Drive.”
Sheehan herself opposes the sale, saying she hasn’t been involved in the family business since May 2024, and had no input into the proposed sale. Her family’s business, L Knife & Son, was founded at the corner of Court Street and Hedge Road by her great grandfather more than 100 years ago.
“I believe the land should be conserved and made into a public park especially since it is connected to the rail trail bike and walking path. It should be an amenity for the North Plymouth and entire Plymouth community,” Sheehan said in an emailed statement.
In a June 24 letter to MassHousing chief executive officer Chrystal Kornegay, Select Board chair Kevin Canty – citing overdevelopment – asked the agency to turn down Pulte’s request for site approval letters, the first step in moving the projects forward.
“The town tried to work with this developer to reach a compromise that would be more in balance with the needs of North Plymouth,” Canty told the Independent. “The developer walked away from the table and went forward with this unilaterally.”
“The town doesn’t want private out-of-town developers building large projects that are bad for our neighborhoods and our residents,” he said.
In the letter, Canty wrote that the town has become overrun with 40b projects that have “placed considerable strain on town services and the town’s ability to provide critical life/safety support to the community.
“The 911 call volume from these locations far outpaces any projections, causing both the fire chief and police chief to rethink their deployment strategies,” he wrote.
The Select Board hopes to convince the agency that the proposed projects do not meet guidelines set by the state.
But Lee Hartmann, the town’s director of planning and development, told the board that its chances of success are low.
“The state has stated there is a severe housing shortage in Massachusetts,” he said. “The need to provide housing overrides every other need. So the bar is very high.”
If built, the projects won’t substantially help the town inch toward the 10 percent affordable housing target set by the state. With 40b apartments, all the units are counted toward the 10 percent. But in condo buildings, only the affordable units — 44 in this case — count.
And even those would be marketed to relatively well-off buyers — those earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, which is currently $132,300 for a family of four.
Communities whose housing supply is classified as at least 10 percent affordable can reject 40b projects. Such developments are required to make 25 percent of their units affordable, but in return they can bypass local zoning and other laws. To make them profitable, developers often opt to build many units to offset the price of the discounted ones.
Plymouth’s housing stock is currently at 6.73 percent affordable, but according to town officials, there are an additional 131 affordable units in the pipeline, which would bring it to 7.24 percent — still substantially shy of the 10 percent requirement.
To hit that mark, the town needs 709 more affordable housing units, Hartmann said.
MassHousing told town officials earlier this month the agency is reviewing Pulte’s applications to determine if the projects meet several criteria and can move ahead. MassHousing representatives will also conduct a site visit — town officials said it is scheduled for this week.
If the state issues the letter, the developer can then seek a comprehensive permit from the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, which acts as a one-stop permitting authority — in the place of the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission, the Department of Public Works, and other local government entities.
The ZBA would hold public hearings before deciding whether to issue the permit.
If the board turns down the request, Pulte could appeal to a state housing panel. If that board sides with the developer, the town’s only recourse would be to go to court to try to block the project.
Pulte provided a description of the two projects in its applications filed with MassHousing.
Sandri Drive would consist of 63 condos in a single five-story building on 2.7 acres. It would be built on the site of a two-story abandoned industrial building, once a L. Knife & Son warehouse.
Projected prices for affordable units are $215,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit, increasing to $271,500 for a three-bedroom, two-bath unit, the application said.
Market rate prices would start at $550,000 for a one-bedroom condo and increase to $725,000 for three bedrooms, according to the application. Market rate units can be upgraded with chef’s kitchens, bathroom suites and garage parking, which would add to their price.
“We will continue to host community meetings to keep residents updated on the progress of the proposed project,” Pulte senior manager Essek Petrie wrote in the application.
“These meetings are designed to inform residents and gather feedback, helping us refine and improve the project,” he wrote. “By utilizing the streamlined 40b process, our development will create affordable housing opportunities in a town that has not yet met its 10 percent affordable housing target.”
Oceanview North will consist of 100 condos in two four-story buildings, built on 6.7 wooded acres, according to the application. The buildings will have both underground and surface parking, the application said.
Prices for affordable units in these buildings will be the same as at Sandri Drive. The prices for market rate units will range from $500,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit to $655,000 for three bedrooms and two baths.
Town officials last year said that Pulte was planning to pay the owners, L. Knife & Son and Eight Mates LLC, $11 million for the various parcels, but property records do not show that a sale has yet taken place.
A representative of the seller didn’t respond to requests for information. The Pulte project manager could not be reached for comment.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.