Hamilton Planning Board Closes Public Hearing on Chewbacca Hill Senior Housing Project

HAMILTON -- July 26, 2022, Hamilton Planning Board closes public hearing on 50-unit Chewbacca Hill senior housing proposal. The board voted 8-0 at its July 26 meeting to end the evidentiary phase of the special permit application filed by Tobacco Hill Capital Partners LLC for 133 Essex Street, opening a 90-day window to deliberate and render a written decision. Attorney Jill Mann, representing applicant and developer Larry Smith of Restoration Capital, cited a $2.174 million payment to the town's Affordable Housing Trust, projected annual tax revenue of $750,000, and 42 acres of permanently preserved open space as project benefits. Attorney Deborah Ellison of Ellison Law Office in Gloucester, representing opposition group Save Tobacco Trails and Watershed, urged denial, arguing that more than 10,500 round-trip truck hauls, a construction timeline she estimated at seven to eight years, and missing hydrogeological data meant the applicant had not met its burden of proof. David Lash of the Chewbacca Lake and Watershed Association warned that aging stormwater design standards and a downstream watershed serving multiple towns made the project's environmental risk unacceptable. The board's deliberations are set for August 16 at 7 p.m.