The Felician Sisters have proposed converting their Enfield Street convent into housing. They will create about 334 units, a mix of senior and family housing, in a combination of affordable and market-rate units.
This convent has been on Enfield Street for nearly 90 years. Through the Catholic schools, the nuns have educated thousands of the town’s children and have helped our town in more ways than anyone can imagine. They have been a great blessing. But their numbers have declined from 400 to 24, and this complex is too large to support.
The housing plan creates a sense of “community,” a goal of the Felician Sisters. This non-profit project will have a community kitchen and other shared spaces. It represents a continuation of their ministry and mission and will be a huge benefit to this town, but it has a chance of being denied by the Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission.
It needs a zone change to support the housing density. At a recent hearing, commissioners seemed to be assembling reasons to reject this plan. They raised issues about parking, traffic, density, taxes, emergency services, schools, and sewers.
In fairness, commissioners asked pertinent questions, and took their due diligence role seriously. They were tough and challenging about the proposal but at times unclear. One said, it appeared to be a “cash grab” by the nuns, who plan to continue owning the property. Another commissioner, who appears to oppose it, went further and said: “That’s not the vision, I think, Enfield wants.”
Enfield’s fixed-income seniors who are still living in single-family homes may find this complex of great appeal, as will families and single parents hurt by the rental market.
One commissioner pointed out that Enfield has many affordable housing options. But the town’s affordable housing numbers are skewed by duplex and apartment housing units in parts of town with crime and drug abuse problems. The Sisters’ plan is a far better alternative.What is Enfield’s vision?
But let’s get to the problem’s root: What is Enfield’s vision? What does it want?
This town’s population is shrinking. Our population is at 42,140, according to the 2020 Census, a loss of just over 2,500. Even accounting for the decision not to include Enfield’s prison population as part of the Census count, it’s still a net loss.
With our population decline, the concerns raised by the commission that this project will stretch our schools and emergency services ring hollow. And traffic? Commuting rates are declining because of the shift to work at home, and South Road and Enfield Street can easily handle traffic from this complex. It will be far less disruptive than the North Maple Street warehouse truck traffic approved by this town.
And what about schools? When did school children become a negative in this community? In the 1960s, they built one elementary school in each year to keep up with population growth. Today we are closing schools. There was concern about taxes since the Felician Sisters maintain ownership of the land, but the developers clarified this: “The properties that we develop are taxable properties.”
The objection to affordable housing is the hardest point to understand unless you look at the town’s history.
I graduated from Enfield High School in 1972, and there were less than five Black Americans in my class of more than 400. My neighborhood, Southwood Acres, was all white. How did this happen? Black Americans were excluded from Enfield through a combination of housing discrimination and income, namely access to well-paying jobs.The levers of power
The legacy of this suburban segregation is evident in our town today. The Town Council and zoning board are all white. Our political leaders, Democrats, and Republicans think the levers of power in the town are all white because only white people want to run for office. Enfield is still not the best version of itself to paraphrase a prayer said at the end of a Catholic mass.
Public companies are now taking diversity seriously because it is socially responsible, and diversity improves business operations and profitability. Different backgrounds bring perspectives. That’s what Enfield is missing because of its legacy.
If this were a “cash grab” the Sisters would sell the 26 acres to a developer who would pitch 300 plus high-end condos or rentals aimed at young professionals. Would that be more acceptable to the commissioners?
Some commissioners seem to have a problem with the plan’s density. The units are setback to the property’s rear. There is more green space in this project than in any other in this town. The problem isn’t the proposal; it’s the town. What Enfield doesn’t have are smaller units costing less than a single-family home in desirable locations. It needs affordable options for empty nesters, young people, and families.
The Sisters have developed a housing plan that meets critical housing needs and preserves the Enfield Street land and the convent buildings. Its size is amply justified, and the issues the commissioners cited are, in sum, minor and, in some cases, overwrought.
What the Felician Sisters have proposed is not only a regional housing model; it is also a moral model. Even as their numbers decline, the Sisters are working to do the best thing for our community.
Note: Update, Oct. 8. The PZ office says the hearing has been move to the 28th of Oct. Originally it was reported that it would continue on the 14th.
(YouTube: The zoning hearing begins at 1:32)
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