Canter Brook Housing Plans Downsized by One Third

The Canter Brook senior housing project is likely to be a lot smaller - probably one third smaller - than .

Frank Tavares, the Hamilton attorney who represents the owners of the Canter Brook property, told the Hamilton Planning Board on Tuesday night that his clients have grown frustrated at the lengthy process of winning approval of a special permit and want to downsize the project to win approval. They also hope a downsized project will avoid an even more expensive and time-consuming appeal.

Tavares said he and the engineer, Robert Puff with Prime Engineering, were told during a 4 p.m. Tuesday conference call with the owners, Jack Larmar and Jerry Dawson, to begin redesigning the project to eliminate the three-story building, which would have housed 23 or 24 units for seniors 55-years-old or older.

The decision to downsize was based largely on a marketing study by the owners that concluded it would be hard to sell the units in the three-story building, Tavares said. More attractive to the senior population would be townhouses clustered in four-plexes and duplexes, the study concluded.

Larmar, who was described as the financial partner, has also grown “very frustrated” at “writing big checks month after month.” Dawson owns the .

The application for by the Hamilton Planning Board for more than two years. In recent months, it appeared to be nearing a vote by the board, which appeared to be leaning toward .

Several neighbors remained opposed to the project, largely because they feared it would increase the flooding on their properties on nearby streets such as Bradford and Sharon roads. They hired John Hamilton, an attorney, to oppose the project before the Planning Board and, if necessary, file an appeal of any decision by the board that approved the project.

A Bullet Proof Project

“We want to make this special permit as bullet proof as possible,” Tavares said of the new design.

Hamilton and several neighbors said they liked the downsized project much better.

“I can work with Frank and maybe we can support the project,” Hamilton said.

Frederick Geisel, an engineer working for the neighbors, said he believes that the site would support 27 or 28 units, only one or two less than the new newest proposal.

The board suggested that the applicants withdraw the current proposal and submit the redesigned proposal in a couple of months. Tavares said he would recommend to his clients that they follow that advice, but he couldn't guarantee they would agree.

“They want to get this done,” Tavares said.

He told the neighbors and the board that it was unlikely that Larmar would continue with the project, but would like to sell it to a developer once the project has been approved by the town.

“He wants to get out of this,” he said.

The downsized project would probably because it would not exceed 15 percent impervious surface.

The new design would place most of the townhouses on the Ashbury Street side of the site and the entrance would be from Ashbury Street.

Much of the discussion was about the possibility of directing the clean storm water from the property onto the adjacent property owned by Peter Britton, who would like to use the extra water to irrigate fields he has leased to an organic farmer.

The board said that issue would have to be worked out between the two neighbors.