Housing Corporation Director Cool To Development Of Webster Woods

FALMOUTH- Falmouth Housing Corporation President Robert H. Murray has had great success with creating affordable housing in Falmouth in recent years. From the 50 units in the human resources campus on Gifford Street to the 58 units at 704 Main Street to the 24 units at Edgerton Drive in North Falmouth to his latest project at the former VFW building on Teaticket Highway, his agency is, by far, the most successful developer of such housing in Falmouth.
But Mr. Murray said last night at the selectmen’s meeting that he would not touch the Falmouth Affordable Housing Committee’s proposal to build units in Webster Woods with a 10-foot pole.
Webster Woods is the name for the 16-acre, town-owned parcel at 419 Woods Hole Road. The proposal to build affordable housing there has met with opposition from Woods Hole residents and open space advocates.
“I don’t want any part of it, because I don’t think it’s good for the community,” Mr. Murray said. He gave a number of reasons for that, citing the long process in which members of the community worked with a developer and the science institutions in Woods Hole to come up with an alternate plan that creates more units on a site nearby that would be easier and less expensive to develop.
But members of the affordable housing committee did not appear supportive of Mr. Murray, questioning why both properties—Webster Woods and Oshman Way—could not be developed and wondering whether Mr. Murray’s plan for Oshman Way could be sidelined by the tough economic times.
They pressed Mr. Murray on the economics of the Webster Woods project. Mr. Murray shrugged and said any project could go forward, if enough money was available. But he said Webster Woods would likely result in about five or six units, and the effort to develop it would probably not be worth the trouble for the small number of units.
“I’m not sure it’s worth disturbing those woods for five or six affordable units at this time,” Mr. Murray said. “Leave them alone and then make a decision later,” he said of saving three acres for future municipal use.
Mr. Murray said developer Christopher Wise of Chatham is offering to give the housing corporation land nearby off Woods Hole Road on Oshman Way, a newly constructed road, where a weathertight 6,000-square-foot home had been partially constructed before its original builder went bankrupt.
“This is the proverbial gift horse. We’re not going to look it in the mouth,” Mr. Murray said of Mr. Wise’s offer.
Plans are to finish the partially constructed building to accommodate eight units and to construct a second building with six units for a total of 14 units. Another four units are planned in a building on Little Harbor Road closer to Woods Hole village. The two projects together would add 18 affordable units to Woods Hole.
The Webster Woods proposal was to build 15 units, but Selectman Kevin E. Murphy said the final project would likely be closer to 13 units, and Mr. Murray estimated that only five of those would likely be affordable.
Deals worked out over many months call for Mr. Wise to purchase the Oshman Way property and turn it over to the housing corporation and also for him to purchase a property with an apartment house on Little Harbor Road from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for additional affordable housing units.
Negotiations have taken place over the last eight months with a subcommittee that included town officials.
Selectman Kevin Murphy, who was on that subcommittee, urged his fellow selectmen to support the Oshman Way project and to support placing a conservation restriction on Webster Woods, while saving three acres of it for future municipal use.
But two selectmen, Brent VW Putnam and Carey M. Murphy, pressed him on why some housing should not be developed in Webster Woods.
Carey Murphy referred to a subcommittee that had worked on a feasibility study for housing in Webster Woods and said the town’s process with such studies is to move forward with the development. He cited projects on Cloverfield Way in Hatchville and on the corner of Ward and Chester streets in North Falmouth. Kevin Murphy said those two projects resulted in a total of three units and the process took five years.
Of developing the Oshman Way site instead of Webster Woods, Mr. Murray said, when it comes to publicly subsidized housing projects, the feelings of the community matter. He also said that he envisions a project with rental units, “which would be really good for that area.”
Of the economics, he said, “We think there’s funding for this type of housing.”
Mr. Putnam expressed concerns that the plan at Oshman way is within 100 feet of wetlands on the property. He suggested scaling back the plan and using one acre of Webster Woods for an additional housing project.
Affordable Housing Committee Chairman Edward H. Schmuhl said with the current economic situation, Mr. Wise’s plans to build a housing development on the former Dome restaurant property in Woods Hole might not happen. Mr. Wise’s Dome project is connected to the affordable housing plans, because he is required by the Cape Cod Commission to create five units of affordable housing as mitigation for the Dome project.
Kevin Murphy said Mr. Wise has spent three years already on permitting for the Dome project, and so permitting is very far along. He also said Mr. Wise has been very successful at getting financing for projects over the years.
Marc P. Finneran of Trotting Park Road, Teaticket, also questioned why the Webster Woods project should not go forward, saying the Woods Hole community is not creating its share of affordable housing. Mr. Finneran lives next door to property on which a large affordable housing project is being constructed. He questioned Kevin Murphy’s motives in supporting the Oshman Way plan, since Mr. Murphy has a business in Woods Hole. “Everyone knows how these people are,” he said of Woods Hole residents.
Kevin Murphy took offense at Mr. Finneran’s comments. “I’m not intimidated by any group in this town. I take exception to your comments.”
He called Mr. Finneran’s comments, “ludicrously false.”