Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Mike Runyan Responds to Claims Board ‘Few Under Radar’ for Proposed Housing Units

To The Editor:

I would like to respond to the ridiculous claims and falsehoods expressed by Mr. Monte Pearson that appeared recently in regards to a proposed 24 unit senior housing development suggesting that the Board of Selectmen deliberately flew under the radar to approve the proposal. He goes on to claim that no other board had knowledge of this despite knowing full well that members of Planning Board, ZBA, Board of Selectmen and Assessors all have a seat at the table on Housing Partnership Committee which held properly posted meetings on the request. The first step of any development is submitting plans to the Building department which was also done.

Under the laws of the Commonwealth for a 40B request to go forward the applicant must present the “concept” to the local Housing Partnership and Executive Branch who can either approve, deny or take no action. Regardless of the decision by local authorities the applicant is allowed to proceed, although an approval is looked upon more favorably. Keep in mind that BOS has no authority to issue any permits and based upon the model presented that mirrors the highly popular Grand View Farm senior “for sale” units and the desire to remain ahead of the curve in terms of (SHI) subsidized housing units, both BHPC and BOS approved of the concept. Once DHCD receives the documents, they circle back to various town departments for comment and in this case not one department responded with any concerns. The public hearing process is currently ongoing at ZBA and all abutters and concerned citizens have an opportunity to thoroughly vet the proposal. The residents at Winnview Heights were fully aware of potential development when they purchased their units as it was noted in the Deed.   

It is ironic that a member of the Committee to Elect Ellis is on this crusade of deception just one week before an election. It is further mind boggling that Mr. Pearson is deeply disturbed that this “massive development” (24 units) is being crammed into a small space even though he voted favorably on 360 units of apartments on Corporate Dr. which abutts Maple Ridge Condominium and is clearly visible to residents who live on Fieldstone Dr.   He was also happy to approve an additional 200 plus units at North West Park that has zero chance of meeting the promise of exclusively serving Burlington seniors without running a foul of fair housing laws. The mouth pieces behind this proposal have been pushing hard to change the DHCD guidelines to exclude Burlington from the Metropolitan Boston Area for marketing purposes and establish a new border that “better reflects the composition and values of Burlington”. They have suggested that Billerica, Bedford, Chelmsford, Tyngsboro, Westford and Dunstable would be more suitable. That doesn’t sound like an attempt to create diversity that they seem to champion on social media pages. 

Michael Runyan

15 Mildred Rd.