Spruce Street housing project given preliminary approval

GREENVILLE — The Northern Forest Center subdivision application for a 28-unit housing development off Spruce Street to help provide more affordable options in town is nearing final approval from the Greenville Planning Board.

The preliminary near 140-page plan was approved by the planning board during an April 15 meeting, with final approval potentially to come at the next regular board meeting on Wednesday, May 6.

After a public hearing on April 15, Northern Forest Center Senior Program Director Mike Wilson was able to answer questions from attendees, Planning Board Chair John Contreni said.

“The more information we have and the public has, the better it is for all concerned,” Contreni said.

“We have a preliminary application, what is missing from the complete application is the stormwater permit, the maintenance structure in general permit, survey of the individual lots with lot size, the stamped final version of the subdivision plan and final payment after approval,” he said.

Once this criteria has been met, then the planning board can vote on final approval.

The stormwater permit would be going to the DEP at the end of the week, Wilson said. 

“That can be a little bit of a longer timeline for that process,” he said.

The planning board could give conditional approval, pending OK from the DEP which can be up to or even exceed 60 days.

“Those other pieces are all straight forward and those will be lined up,” Wilson said, with planning board members agreeable to conditional approval.

“We hope to be able to approve the final plan (several) weeks from now,” Contreni said after a 5-0 vote. 

Approval involves an 8-part process with the Northern Forest Center now on step No. 6, a submission of a final plan for the subdivision. The seventh and eighth steps are a public hearing and the planning board’s final decision.

The Northern Forest Center is a regional nonprofit working on rural economic and community development programs across northern New England and New York. Center officials have heard repeatedly from local residents and employers that the Greenville housing market is out of reach for young people, teachers, tradespeople, hospitality workers and others.

Development of homes will be done in phases and will come in different options across the 5-acre property.

A town infrastructure project to extend water and sewer into the property is scheduled to break ground next month. A municipal road will go in.

This project is being funded by the town with $1 million in funding from the Northern Border Regional Commission and $265,000 matching funds provided by Northern Forest Center. Sargent Corporation is carrying out the work and Haley Ward, Inc. is providing civil engineering.

Several years ago a multigenerational zoning overlay was approved to the property and adjacent land.

The Northern Forest Center has been working with the TMBR — a mass timber design company — and Maine contractor Big Country Built on construction with an innovative mass timber housing platform.

TMBR takes small sections of wood that are then pressed, glued and laminated together to create strong structural pieces. The process would be efficient to create something replicable to help address housing issues in other communities.

The subdivisions will consist of one, two and three bedroom homes and duplexes. The houses will feature open concept floor plans and range from about 1,000 to 1,600 square feet. None will be available as short-term rentals.

Some houses will be sold on the market immediately after completion this fall and others will be long-term rentals.

The target is to have the first three homes complete and available in autumn.

The project is scheduled to complete by the spring of 2028 at the latest, with the potential to have construction done sometime in 2027. The 28 units would have a homeowners association to manage basic maintenance and common areas. A snowmobile trail running through the property will stay open to the public.

The Northern Forest Center has developed new housing in historic buildings in Bethel, Lancaster, New Hampshire and St. Johnsbury, Vermont and is working on nine new apartments in Tupper Lake, New York in a new building that also uses some mass timber components.

The housing initiative builds on the organization’s other past and current work in the Moosehead Lake region, which includes funding for an Extended Learning Opportunity coordinator in the high school, producing the new Moosehead Outdoor Recreation Investment Strategy, providing grants to help downtown businesses improve storefronts, helping to redevelop the lake-front boardwalk and Crafts Landing Park and providing business innovation grants to tourism-related enterprises.