Developer appealing Lebanon’s decision to torpedo Prospect Hills housing project
Modified: 5/15/2021 10:58:26 PM
LEBANON A Manchester development firm is using a new avenue in its appeal of the city’s decision to effectively kill a 117-unit housing project near Lebanon Middle School, saying the proposal was met with “hostility and dislike” by officials.
Brady Sullivan argues the Lebanon Planning Board acted unfairly when it voted unanimously in March to deny the Prospect Hills subdivision an extension needed to start work on its second phase.
At the time, officials said they’d allowed the developer enough leeway. The second phase a mix of single-family homes and townhouse-style units on a 40-acre wooded parcel off Prospect Street was first proposed 15 years ago, and the Planning Board issued renewals in 2016 and 2018.
Lebanon Prospect Hills development runs out of time
Modified: 3/14/2021 11:06:12 PM
LEBANON City officials have signaled that they’re tired of waiting on a major developer from Manchester to deliver on its promise to build 117 new homes near Lebanon Middle School, deciding to effectively kill the 15-year-old project.
The Lebanon Planning Board voted unanimously last week to deny Brady Sullivan an extension that would have allowed it to continue work on the Prospect Hills subdivision into 2024.
Construction on the project’s second phase, 43 single-family homes and 74 townhouse-style units on a 40-acre wooded parcel, was supposed to be underway in December.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and unexpected problems wrapping up the development’s first phase 54 homes around Mountain View Drive delayed that work, according to Brady Sullivan’s representatives.
As the City of Somerville prepares to rebuild several major streets in the Spring Hill neighborhood as part of an upcoming sewer project, advocates from Somerville Bike Safety are petitioning the city to prioritize better bike and pedestrian infrastructure over on-street parking on Highland Avenue, a major crosstown route for bikes and buses.
Highland Avenue is a densely-populated corridor that runs from Davis Square to Somerville’s City Hall, main library, and high school campus on its eastern end. It carries two popular MBTA bus routes – the 88 and 90 – and, because it follows the high ridge along the crests of Spring Hill and Prospect Hill (see map below), it’s a popular, relatively flat route for people riding through the neighborhood on bikes.