Developer returns to Millbury with 192-unit 40B plan after condo proposal denied
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Cobblestone Village in Millbury was developed by Steven Venincasa, who is proposing another Millbury complex on Rice Road.
The Millbury Board of Selectmen last week heard a proposal for a 192-unit, 40B housing complex on Rice Road, which has been the site of controversial housing proposals in the past.
The 15-acre parcel at 17 Rice Road was originally set to become a 52-unit condominium development, proposed last spring by Steven Venincasa, a Westborough-based developer.
Over the course of the year, Millbury residents spoke out against the proposed development, and the Millbury Planning Board eventually denied permitting for the project in a February meeting. The board cited the project’s size, location, and traffic impacts as reasons for the denial, as it would be squeezed between the narrow Rice Road and a railroad track.
Since the Planning Board’s vote, Venincasa has drawn up a revised site plan, which his representatives debuted at a select board meeting on May 24. The new proposal is a 40B affordable housing project including three four-story buildings with 16 units per floor, totaling 192 units.
The Millbury-Sutton Chronicle was the first to report the story.
As a friendly 40B project, 25% of the units would be affordable. Friendly 40B, also known as a Local Initiative Program, allows municipalities to have a greater say in proposed affordable housing developments because the developer seeks local approval before submitting an application to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.
An entity registered to Venincasa purchased the site at 17 Rice Road for $500,000 on May 13, according to the Worcester South District Registry of Deeds.
Selectboard member Scott Despres expressed concerns about the size and location of the new plan, but members Chris Naff and David Delaney said they were open to working more on the proposal as a LIP project.
Venincasa, who owns Elite Home Builders in Westborough, has constructed a number of large-scale housing projects in the region, including Cobblestone Village in Millbury. He proposed two separate friendly 40B projects in Grafton, both around 300 units, earlier this year.
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The proposed 192-unit 40B LIP project is a disaster for Millbury. Between 2010-2020, Millbury added 570 residents to town. As proposed, this project will add 375-500 residents on a 6-acre project site. The MA 40B laws don’t afford any additional funding to Millbury’s fire, police, school system, or EMS. The developer’s previous impact statement identified the cost per school age student at ~$13,000 per student. Millbury consumed 592 million gallons of water in 2020, and had to buy 57.4 million gallons from Worcester (9.7% of our consumed 2020 supply). What happens when Worcester won’t provide us with that extra water? Both ends of Rice Road are already highly dangerous - one a railroad crossing with an ‘impossible turn’, adding hundreds of additional cars per day without a technical solution will result in a fatality. The pond on Rice Road is a pristine natural resource, home to a diverse and abundant wildlife population. The 2019 Millbury Master Plan calls for the construction of single-family homes and protection of natural resources. If you live near a large parcel, with a home on it or not, this same scenario could end up on your doorstep (Google “14 Snow Road Grafton” - currently being reviewed, same developer). This project is reckless and irresponsible and the community must force the Millbury BOS and ZBA to protect the town.
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