Peabody Mayor, Residents Petition Against Housing Development

PEABODY, MA — Mayor Ted Bettencourt is leading a petition drive against a plan to convert the vacant JB Thomas Hospital site into 133 housing units.

Hemisphere Development Group LLC is working with MassHousing on the proposal and using the state's affordable housing law to bypass local oversight of its proposal. Known as Chapter 40B, the rules are aimed at increasing the state's stock of affordable housing and suspends local zoning regulations in towns where affordable housing makes up less than 10% of the total available housing.

According to the Daily Item, which first reported this story, Bettencourt distributed the petitions at a community meeting last week. He plans to deliver the signed petitions, which outline concerns and say the plan will add "strain on our municipal infrastructure," to MassHousing.