Hamilton Planning Board Hears Pre-Application for 50-Unit Chewbacco Senior Housing Project

HAMILTON — March 6, 2021 — Hamilton Planning Board takes first public look at 50-unit senior housing proposal on Chewbacco Road. Attorney Jill Mann presented a conceptual plan for Tobacco Capital Partners LLC's proposed age-restricted development at 133 Essex Street, featuring 50 single-family and duplex units on roughly 66 acres, with about 40 acres dedicated to open space and a conservation restriction. Developer Larry Smith told the board the project would generate approximately $735,000 annually in property taxes, a one-time payment of about $350,000 in fees, and a $1.5 million contribution to the town's Affordable Housing Trust in lieu of on-site affordable units — a structure required by state policy governing age-restricted communities. More than 100 residents joined the Zoom hearing, hitting the platform's capacity limit, and three representatives of Save Chewbacco Trails and Watershed — Kent Wasepka, Heather Ensworth, and Ani Sarkisian — delivered detailed objections covering well contamination, habitat destruction, blasting impacts, and storm water runoff, with Wasepka citing a 641-signature petition against the project.