North Reading Select Board Denies Perry's Park Mobile Home Closure in 4-1 Vote

NORTH READING — January 12, 2026 — North Reading Select Board votes 4-1 to deny closure of Perry's Park manufactured-home community. The board, meeting Monday, adopted the findings and recommendations of the town's Mobile Home Rent Control Board and denied the application of 142 Main Realty LLC to discontinue the permit for Perry's Park at 142 Main Street under the town's 1989 special act. Attorney Robert Krauss, representing the applicant, argued the owner had satisfied all legal requirements, waited out a ten-year deed restriction, and proposed a 40B development of 111 units with up to 28 affordable apartments. Attorney Courtney Doherty of Northeast Legal Aid, representing residents, said the proposal would raise living costs for existing tenants by nearly 300 percent, that no comparable vacancies exist in North Reading, and that all five statutory factors favor denial. Chairman Stephen O'Leary noted no formal 40B application has been filed and said he was unwilling to "displace affordable housing that we have in this community right now with a wish." Board member Joseph Massey, the lone dissenter, argued "business is business and the law is the law" and warned of litigation risk. The board also voted unanimously to release a request for proposals for 9,000 to 15,000 square feet of leased senior center space under a gross lease with a five-year initial term, targeting a June 2026 Town Meeting funding vote.