Littleton Select Board votes to surplus town hall for affordable senior housing

LITTLETON — March 24, 2025 — Littleton Select Board advances surplus of town hall for deeply affordable senior housing. The board voted unanimously Monday to recommend two articles for the May 6 Annual Town Meeting that would authorize the disposition of 37 Shattuck Street — the current town hall — for deeply affordable senior housing and seek special legislation exempting the town from standard procurement laws to pursue a public-private development partnership, with all work required to be paid at prevailing wage. Town Administrator Jim Duggan and General Counsel Jenny Merrill told the board the full project timeline — from special legislation through tax credit approval and construction — stretches five to seven years, with planning consultant Judy Barrett of Barrett Planning noting the low-income housing tax credit program is "really intense" and that "typically no one gets approved the first year." Vice Chair Steve Tarbox pressed for contractual guarantees that the town would not vacate 37 Shattuck Street until a replacement town hall shell was ready. The board also voted to close and post the $63,004,665 FY2026 operating budget warrant, submit a ballot question prohibiting marijuana cultivators in Littleton to the May 10 town election, and unanimously backed a letter opposing a proposed DESE blind lottery for Nashoba Valley Tech admissions — requested by school board chair John Ellis, who warned the change would give towns no ability to predict how many students would be assigned each year.