By Michael Wyner
STAFF WRITER

Progress continues on the plans for the 69-unit Highland Meadows development on the former Paine Estate between Highland Street and Route 20.

The Planning Board opened the public hearing for the project last Wednesday after holding numerous site walks and workshops. The next hearing will take place on Nov. 1 at 8:30 p.m.

In an interview this week, Mark Romanowicz, vice president of development for the project, said the development team is continuing to work well with town officials and neighbors.

“It’s been a very positive experience,” said Romanowicz. “Everyone’s being very thorough. We had a site walk this morning with a subcommittee of the Planning Board, looking at the perimeter of the buffer zone, protecting every tree possible. We’ve been reviewing every tree and asking can we save it, or if we move the line five feet, can we save another tree?”

Planning Board members Stephanie Kelly and Susan Zacharias finished walking the 12,000 feet of the perimeter along with Planning Board consultant Warren Flint on Monday.

Last week’s two-hour hearing touched on everything from affordable housing to construction schedules to groundwater and surface water for the Highland Meadows project aimed at people 55 years and older.

Ten percent, or seven units, of the project will be affordable. Three affordable units will be part of the main 55 and older development, and four affordable units built near the Route 20 part of the site will not have any age restriction.

In addition, the developer is agreeing to build a three-bedroom home entirely at their expense on land owned by Weston’s Affordable Housing Foundation on Church Street.

The sales price of the affordable homes, dictated by state guidelines, is estimated to be $188,000. The condominium fees will be based on the value of the homes, with the result that families living in the affordable homes will pay a lower fee, said Romanowicz.

Weston voters approved the concept for Highland Meadows at Town Meeting last year. Construction will commence on Jan. 1, 2007, and go through four phases, with the last phase estimated to begin on Aug. 18, 2008.

Homes built during a particular phase will be available for sale as construction continues on future phases, Romanowicz said at last week’s hearing.

“We have to be careful about how much inventory we have out there,” he said. “We’ll know more as we go through the sales process — We do know we’re in a strong place being in Weston, which doesn’t experience the bumps and dips like other towns.”

Romanowicz added in an interview this week that they continue to have a “substantial” list of people who have shown interest about possibly purchasing a home in the new development.

“We’re keeping in contact with them,” Romanowicz said. “We’ve had meetings with individuals and small groups to keep them informed on the status of the project.”

Among the items scheduled to be built in the first phase of construction are the tennis courts, meeting house and wastewater treatment plant.

Traffic engineer Robert Nagi, a principal with the firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, said at the hearing that construction vehicles will be using Route 20 to access the site, and will be prohibited from using Chestnut Street as a cut-through.

“Chestnut Street residents are very concerned about the traffic,” noted Cynthia Mattox at the hearing. “We’re very happy traffic will not be on Chestnut Street, but we’re concerned about vehicles using Chestnut as a cut-through.”

Romanowicz replied that the contracts will specifically state where construction vehicles can go. “If neighbors call and tell us there’s a problem, we’ll go directly to the subcontractor,” he said. “The contracts will control the process and enforce it vigorously.”