Littleton Planning Board backs declaring town hall surplus for affordable senior housing

LITTLETON -- March 13, 2025, Littleton Planning Board votes 4-1 to support declaring town offices surplus for affordable senior housing. The board backed the first procedural step toward redeveloping the town hall building at 37 Shattuck Street as approximately 40 units of deeply affordable senior rental housing for residents earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income, with Town Administrator Jim Dugan outlining a plan to issue a competitive RFP that would require any winning developer to partner with a nonprofit and pursue low income housing tax credits, while also providing a shell of a new town hall building as part of the deal. One member abstained, citing a lack of project detail; Board Clerk Daryl Baker, who voted in favor, cautioned Dugan that opening the presentation by naming the 550 King Street developer as an interested party effectively signals a preferred bidder before any RFP is issued, a concern Dugan acknowledged. The matter goes to the May 6 town meeting. The board also unanimously advanced two marijuana zoning bylaw amendments, prohibiting new adult use marijuana cultivation facilities and correcting an odor control requirement to cover medical marijuana treatment centers, and approved a site plan for privately funded lights at Jet Field, donated by the Littleton Youth Baseball and Softball Association at no cost to the town.