On Monday, May 7, 2012, the Mattapoisett Planning Board met and voted 2-2 with no abstentions on a motion to require a minimum of one resident of or over the age of 55 to occupy homes at the new Mattapoisett Landing retirement community.
According to Brian Porter, who spoke on behalf of the project builders, they wanted to put a moderate age restriction in place in order to maintain the atmosphere of an over-55 retirement community, though it was unclear whether or not further restrictions would violate federal and state housing laws.
The requirement that at least one occupant be 55 years or older was suggested in order to account for occupant spouses that may be slightly younger than 55. This was the first tie vote for this Planning Board, and Chairman Thomas Tucker said that they would need the Town Council to address the situation. Meanwhile, the Planning Board has encouraged Porter to draft more specific language for the restriction so as to prevent federal and state law violations.
The Planning Board also signed previously approved plans for property at 2 Pine Island Road, submitted by Dave Davignon of Schneider and Associates on behalf of Greta and Timothy Fox. The Board resigned the plans to certify that they had not been modified or amended since original approval in March of 2011.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board will be Monday, May 21, 2012, at 7:00 pm, at the Town Hall.
By Eric Tripoli
