HADLEY — A project to bring a large-scale apartment complex of two-story cottages and three-story townhomes to a 45-acre parcel situated between North Maple Street and Rocky Hill Road will likely run into resistance from residents if municipal permitting is sought, according to members of a town board.

At the Housing and Economic Development Committee last Thursday, representatives from Trinitas Ventures of Lafayette, Indiana were advised that the 232 units included in a conceptual plan would probably make the project too dense to get the necessary approvals from panels in a town where zoning mostly prohibits more than one dwelling unit per parcel.

“It’s like nothing we’ve seen in Hadley,” said Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer, who serves on the housing committee, observing that the Trinitas plan is significantly larger than the former Windfield Estates, now known as Vesta, on Route 9. That affordable housing project was developed under the state’s Chapter 40B law, which allows for the skirting of town zoning bylaws when a community has less than 10% of its housing stock included in the state’s subsidized housing inventory.

Select Board member Molly Keegan, too, said she anticipates the project facing a steep uphill climb, noting that the sheer number of units would be daunting for a town that has not allowed apartment complexes like those built in Amherst. “This is not something we’ve embarked upon before,” Keegan said.

“There is a need for housing in Hadley and the surrounding communities, and we’re certainly going to add to the market rate housing available,” said Todd Wendell, who is handling the design of the development for Trinitas.

Wendell said that the intent is to file a so-called friendly Chapter 40B, with support of town officials, so that Hadley can have more affordable housing, and to ease the pressure on the region’s housing stock. “Our plan is to entitle this as a friendly Chapter 40B,” Wendell said.

Plans show a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom homes in a multifamily community cottage-style development. The project would have on-site management and a community building with a lounge, fitness and business center, along with amenities such as pickleball and tennis courts.

Wendell said the design will reflect the architecture of the town and that 23 acres would be set aside as a public nature preserve.

Adam Saxon, senior manager for development acquisitions at Trinitas, said the company has built in 15 states, with its properties ranging from high-rise buildings to townhome and cottage-style developments.

The Hadley site, known previously as the Babb Farm, is close to other homes and the Route 9 commercial corridor, as well as the Amherst town line and the University of Massachusetts. It was chosen to be mindful of not developing active farmland when looking for land opportunities, Saxon said.

“We really do envision this to be a multifamily community development, with working professionals and families,” Saxon said. “There’s certainly no denying that students will live here given the proximity to UMass.”

Saxon said landscaping and existing trees would shield the project from the streets, making it essentially a retreat.

Dwyer said not only is the project huge and possibly too big an ask, but he is not comfortable with the location and the substantial increase in density. Planners and others have been examining changes to town zoning, Dwyer said, but mostly in the realm of adaptive reuse of existing properties, such as may happen with turning the EconoLodge hotel on Route 9 into affordable apartments, and a suggestion last year from Pyramid, the owner of Hampshire Mall, about potential residential development on that site.

But this scale is beyond anything that has been discussed, he said. “As a friendly Chapter 40B, it’s going to be a nonstarter without a huge outpouring of community support for it,” Dwyer said.

Keegan said the possibility of constructing the apartments over time, and significantly reducing the unit count, might be the best approach. “If there’s a way to break it apart, if there was some sort of phase-in,” Keegan said. “(Otherwise), I think this will frighten away a lot of people.”

Justin Pelland, who is seeking to be an associate member of the town panel, said Hadley needs more diversity in housing, but he is concerned about development on previously undisturbed land.

Wendell said traffic impacts are still under study. Dwyer said Rocky Hill and North Maple are both at capacity as they continue to face traffic pressures from Route 9, especially during the widening project that is happening. “Adding more traffic there would not be a goal,” Dwyer said.

Wendell said that getting below 200 units is not likely, but he would plan to regroup and see how to minimize impacts on the neighborhood and how to rearrange the project before deciding whether to continue with the plans.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>