The Finance Committee met on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 to review the June 21, 2022 Special Town Meeting warrant and discussion Article 1: Acquisition of the 46 Sandwich Road property (the former Entergy training facility). After a long debate. FinCom voted 6-5 to not recommend purchasing it. 

This article will require a 2/3 majority vote. Contact your Town Meeting Representative to share your individual views on the parcel.

Looks like Chiltonville encompasses precincts 4, 15, and 18 (see interactive map here)

Here are some of the details about the property (courtesy of new Planning Board member, Steve Boloton):

1. It is almost 25 acres.
2. It is located in an R-40 residential zone, which allows for single family home construction as a matter of right.
3. The developer can build approximately 20 single family homes on the site, but has expressed interest in building a 55+ community on the site. That would require Planning Board and Zoning Board approval of a Special Permit. If that were denied, the developer could proceed with single family homes or decide to try for State approval of a 40B development.
4. In response to an expression of interest, the developer has agreed to sell the property to the Town.
5. The purchase price for the Town would be $3.75 million. This would pay for the engineering and design work done by the developer and afford a profit. It is believed that the developer is purchasing the property for $2.3 million.
6. The property is assessed at $3.45 million, but has now been appraised at $4.35 million.
7. The Town has indicated its would like to use a portion of the property for a new fire department headquarters station and public safety training area.
8. The developer had intended to present its residential design proposal to the Planning Board on May 4, 2022. However, because additional studies were needed to finalize the design (most notably traffic and water availability), and given the pending Town Meeting vote on the purchase, they decided not to proceed at that time.
9. The overwhelming sentiment of the residents who spoke (and those who submitted written comments to the Planning Board) was opposition to additional residential development in general, the preference being for the Town to purchase the property and use it for public safety as has been suggested.