Now a proposal for affordable housing on his neighbor's property jeopardizes some of the open space.
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency recently determined Charles Walima's Halibut Point Village proposal, an age-restricted condominium complex with 23 units on Granite Street, was eligible for a Chapter 40B comprehensive permit hearing by the Board of Appeals.
"We understand why MassHousing approved the proposal," Morrill said. "They approve almost every proposal. We're disappointed, but it wasn't unexpected."
According to MassHousing's response letter to Walima's application, the agency's staff inspected the 2.87-acre property and found that Walima's design plans were "generally appropriate for the site and site location."
Neighbors and concerned citizens were to meet last night at Morrill's home to discuss their options.
Morrill said Walima was in "flagrant disregard" of site plan review bylaws and a cease-and-desist order issued by the town after he dumped 33,000 square feet of gravel on his property without a permit, 3,000 square feet more than he could without receiving approval.
Morrill said Walima has continued dumping gravel and regrading his driveway. He brought this to the attention of selectmen at one of their recent meetings.
Walima was not available for comment when the Times called his business, Walima Plumbing and Heating Co.
Joreen White, who has been living at 7 Woodbury Lane for 18 years, blames the gravel fill for doubling the amount of water running onto her property, which has a septic system.
To make it worse, she said, Walima hasn't talked to anyone in the neighborhood about his intentions.
"There seems to be a contemptuous disregard to the people who lived here for years," White said. "We're doing the best we can to bring this to a reasonable conclusion. ... We're not discouraged; we feel we have legitimate reasons for the project to be reduced."
The approval is expressly limited to the development of no more than 23 condos, with not less that six of the units restricted as affordable homeownership units, the letter said.
Under Massachusetts' Chapter 40B, the "anti-snob zoning" law, cities and towns where less than 10 percent of houses are classified as affordable have little control over projects proposed by developers who designate 25 percent of the homes or condos as affordable.
Rockport's stock of affordable housing is just over 4 percent.
When the proposal was first presented to the town on Nov. 29, 2005, John Connolly, Walima's attorney, said the town is well behind the ball in terms of affordable housing compared to other communities.
At that meeting, Judith Egan Campbell, of 218 Granite St., warned of possible difficulties for drivers entering and exiting her driveway and that of the condos due to the lack of visibility on the road.
She said the proposal would destroy the community feel of the Pigeon Cove neighborhood. She added she intends to "fight it tooth and nail."
Based on its review of comments received by the town, the agency said several issues should be addressed in the project's application for a comprehensive permit.
The agency said the developer must:
* Comply with restrictions related to environmental concerns, including Title V septic system regulations.
* Resolve the issue with the Planning Board over work done on the site without site plan approval.
* Share the results of his drainage analysis and plan at the public hearing.
* Discuss all site-access issues with the town in order to ensure optimum public safety.
* Support the estimated sales prices of the affordable units with a market study that identifies recent sales prices of comparable age-restricted duplex units.
Lars-Erik Wiberg, chairman of the Board of Appeals, said his board hasn't received any request for a public hearing on the proposal but he expects one soon.
Walima has two years to file for a comprehensive permit before MassHousing's approval becomes void.
The town's concerns with the Halibut Village proposal
Physical characteristics: Extraordinary measures will be required to ensure safe management of surface water runoff.
Proposed access: The development has possible safety risks concerning the access of emergency vehicles to and from the site.
Information provided by the application: The preliminary plans upon which the development budget is based are incomplete and flawed, and the budget has numerous errors and omissions.
Financial assumptions: The applicant's development budget is incomplete, incorrect and insufficient.
Violation of the town's Site Plan Review: The owner of the project violated the site plan review bylaw by filling the property prior to the submission of the Chapter 40B application.
Source: Letter from Town Administrator Michael Racicot to the state prior to MassHousing's review of the proposal. The letter was endorsed by the selectmen.
