On May 16th, Highland Affordable Housing hosted a forum on the “Cloverleaf Project” which was moderately attended and thoughtfully presented.

Previously, the Select Board gave the green light to develop a 41-unit affordable housing project at the 4-acre parcel adjacent to the Highland Road ramp off Route 6, called the Cloverleaf Project.  Ted Malone’s company, Community Housing Resource, Inc. (CHR), was chosen to develop the property.  CHR also developed the Sally’s Way affordable housing complex in Truro. CHR’s proposal for the Cloverleaf included 41 units consisting of 22 one-bedroom, 15 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom units.  The project is slated to include units for residents whose income covers four levels, from 30% of the area median income (AMI, now set at $81,882), to 60-80% of AMI, 100% of AMI as well as 8 market rate units. Up to 3 units would meet federal Americans with Disability Act standards. 

At the forum, plans were presented for the layout of the development, including a three ++ -story community building. This was the object of concern for some participants as Truro’s height restriction is 27 feet, and this building is in development where the ground is well-elevated above road level. It was unclear if and how the Town will address the height restriction issue..

Likewise, the long-term ownership of the land belongs to the Town, but the presentation made clear that the buildings will be owned by an investment entity, and the nature and operating terms of that entity were not discussed in full at this presentation.

We expect additional public meetings to follow and hope these and other issues that merit clarification will be discussed.

We thank HAH for hosting this informative meeting.