After a three-year struggle to bring an affordable housing project to Weston, ground was finally broken on the 18-home Dickson Meadow development in the affluent Boston suburb April 19.

The celebration was bittersweet, however, as one of the donors of the 10.86 acres of land that made the project possible – Edward Dickson – passed away several days before the ceremony. It was the Dickson family’s wish that the land adjacent to their Weston home be used to develop a mixed-income homeownership community for families.

“Today we celebrate the realization of the dream to bring affordable housing to Weston,” said Edward Lashman, a member of the Dickson Meadow Advisory Committee. Lashman, along with several others, remembered Dickson in his remarks. “Every blade of grass … every nail in the rafters of each house is a tribute to him,” he said.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, members of the Dickson family planted a tree in the meadow in honor of Edward Dickson.

Dickson’s widow, Polly, used the ceremony to issue a challenge to the town. “Affordable housing can be done [in Weston], and it must be done. Six units is not enough for Weston,” she said, referring to the number of units in the development that have been deemed affordable.

Those six homes will be sold for $105,000 each to homebuyers who meet the income and household criteria established under the state’s Local Initiatives Program. The remaining units will be sold at market rate.

The town of Weston received more than 180 applications for the six affordable homes, and a lottery was held by the town on Nov. 2, 1999 to narrow the field of applicants.

Decisions on who will be able to purchase each of the selected homes will be announced early this summer, according to town officials, once Weston has completed a screening process for each of the applicants.

Permanent deed restrictions will assure that if the affordable units are resold, potential buyers will be restricted to those who meet certain income and household guidelines. There is a possibility that two of the 12 market-rate homes will be offered to families with incomes higher than those permitted under LIP, but not sufficient to support a full market-rate price, officials said.

“There’s more work to be done,” Dickson continued. “I challenge you to continue. Let’s have some more LIP projects in town.”

“We know we must do more,” said Douglas Gillespie, a member of the Weston Board of Selectmen. “[Affordable housing] can be a reality. Let Dickson Meadow be the challenge so that the Dickson name can live on.”

“All people deserve a home they can afford in the community of their choice,” said Lisa Alberghini, director of the Boston office of The Community Builders, the project’s developer. “Weston is one of the most prominent towns in the commonwealth. If affordable housing can work here, it can work anywhere.”

Overcoming Resistance
The Dicksons originally met resistance to the project, as neighbors claimed 18 units were too many for the site. One neighbor, Parametric Technology Corp. President C. Richard Harrison, went so far as to offer a $1 million subsidy for a scaled-down development of 12 homes. The neighbors did not appeal the Zoning Board of Appeals’ ultimate decision to give the project a green light, however. Town officials at the groundbreaking thanked those neighbors for letting the plan proceed without getting bogged down in a costly legal battle.

“Ed and I anxiously awaited this day for more than three years,” said Polly Dickson. “It is a wonderful feeling to see a personal dream come true. I know Ed would have been thrilled to be here today with me not only to celebrate but to thank all the people who helped make Dickson Meadow possible.”

Dickson Meadow is located in a neighborhood dotted with luxurious homes on Highland Street just off of one of the town’s busier thoroughfares, Boston Post Road.

Fourteen of the 18 Dickson Meadow condominium homes will be single-family detached homes with the remaining four being attached homes in two buildings. All buildings will be sited around a 2.25-acre meadow that will be preserved. Each three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home will have an attached two-car garage and full basement. Excluding the basement and garage, the homes each have 2,100 square feet of living space.

According to the project designers, each home features a bright, open floor plan and large-volume spaces. All of the homes will have a family room with fireplace, living room, dining room, and fully equipped, modern kitchens.

Lashman said each home has a distinct exterior so the project will look more like a neighborhood that grew slowly instead of a development that went in all at once. “This neighborhood will fit in nicely with Weston,” he said.

There has been substantial interest in the market-rate homes, and at least one may be coming under agreement shortly, Lashman reported. The entire project is being privately funded, with the proceeds from the sale of the market-rate units being used to offset the costs of the affordable units. Offers for the market-rate units thus far are in line with project estimates, officials said. The units were expected to be sold for about $550,000 each, according to project proposals. The total cost for the development is expected to be more than $7.7 million.

Wainwright Bank provided construction financing. The development team includes designer Acorn Structures, builder L.D. Russo Inc., MetroWest Engineering and landscape architect Thomas Wirth Assoc.

“I am honored to be here on behalf of the Cellucci administration to celebrate another milestone in our commitment to provide affordable housing to the people of Massachusetts,” said Jane Wallis Gumble, director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development. “I hope that the Dicksons’ extraordinary demonstration of generosity, inclusiveness and forward thinking will inspire others to do the same.”