SMITHFIELD – Plans to build a 38-unit affordable housing development on Wadsworth Avenue have been pulled and discarded, says Town Councilor John Tassoni, who says a prominent building in town is being eyed for a replacement housing development.
Tassoni said the Smithfield Housing Authority and non-profit Gemini Housing, a development arm of the Smithfield Housing Authority, had several conversations about concerns related to the development’s location and decided to nix the application.
After visiting the site, Tassoni said there were concerns over how apartments would impact the area and how school buses would move in and out of the dead-end street.
“They were very attentive to that project. It is not the best use for that property,” Tassoni said.
Residents of Wadsworth Avenue rallied to share concerns about the development in their neighborhood in March after reading about the potential purchase of the Wadsworth property in The Valley Breeze & Observer. More than a dozen residents of Wadsworth Avenue, a dead-end street, had gathered to discuss their strong opposition to the project. Neighbors said the development would be “absolutely devastating,” and expressed fears of losing rural character, lowering home values, the environmental impact, and increased traffic.
Michael Boyle of Wadsworth Avenue led the campaign against the development. When he learned of the plans being retracted, he said he could not have wished for a better outcome.
“It’s awesome. It was stupid to begin with,” he said.
Boyle said he wishes he could purchase the property, and says “the writing is on the wall” that the peaceful days on Wadsworth Avenue are coming to an end.
Tassoni said the Housing Authority has identified a different location in Smithfield that involves no land clearing, and would instead involve the remodeling of an existing town-owned structure. He added that it would potentially create a larger impact in addressing the housing situation.
“We’ve received a lot of phone calls attempting to purchase this location,” he said.
Town Manager Randy Rossi said the town is not ready to release the location of the property, though he said it checks off all the boxes for what a low-to-moderate-income project location needs. He said that includes proximity to services and amenities as well as public transportation.
“We’re not selling it,” said Rossi.
If it passes, Smithfield residents would get preferred treatment at the subsidized development. All units would be affordable housing, Rossi said.
“It will definitely be more with additional units. There’s a good amount of property there,” he said.
In February, the Town Council approved spending $204,000 toward the purchase of a lot on Wadsworth Avenue from the fee-in-lieu-of account, which developers pay into when they chose not to include LMI housing in residential developments.
While the money does not need to be returned to the town, Rossi said Gemini will use it toward another affordable housing project in town within a specific timeframe.
“We appreciate our partnership with the Smithfield Housing Authority and will continue to work together to bring the best projects to the town of Smithfield,” Rossi said.
He said there is “no cookie-cutter way” to go about creating LMI housing, but the Wadsworth property was simply not a good fit.
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(2) comments
Hopefully, town council is smart enough not to turn old Winsor elementary into affordable housing with the closure of NRIC. They can’t figure out the traffic issue in Greenville already at the intersections. Imagine the increase in traffic from the additional housing. It would become a parking lot of 44
No! They should just let the building sit as an abandoned building!
Its bad enough that the town dropped the ball with the ADA upgrades for the past 30 years! Now you want them to drop the ball with the future of the building?? They have two choices with the property, either sell the property so they can bring the town within the low income housing guidelines or let it be knocked down and become more commercial property!! As far as the traffic issues in the area, The State and town need to realize the fix is staring them in the face!
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