By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — There will be a new, 36-unit, 40B affordable housing development at 596 North Ave., just north of the Knights of Columbus building.

Last night, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project after confirming that all loose ends had been tied up to the satisfaction of the board and other town officials.

Representing developers Dana Lopez and Ray Nickerson, attorney Jesse Schomer observed that a ZBA subcommittee had reviewed the draft decision, conditions and waivers for the project and appeared to be satisfied.

ZBA Chairman David Hatfield agreed.

“We’ve vetted everything we need to at this point,” he said.

Greg McIntosh, who served on the subcommittee reviewing the conditions and waivers said that he was comfortable with where things stood with respect to the board’s decision.

The town’s 40B consultant, Ezra Glenn, called it “a well-reviewed project.”

The project still needs to go before the Conservation Commission, and ZBA member Chip Tarbell wondered what would happen if the ConCom insists on moving some elements of the approved plan around.

McIntosh, an attorney, said that any changes that the ConCom might make would have to come back to the ZBA and be treated as either minor or substantial modifications, depending on the nature of the changes.

Schomer promised to be “proactive” in bringing any changes back to the ZBA.

ZBA member Tom Lucey said that the building was “too big for the site” but noted that, as a 40B, the ZBA’s ability to control the project was limited.

Lucey reminded the board that the developers’ original proposal for this site had called for three two-family homes. But at Town Meeting in 2020, anti-development forces defeated a minor zoning change that was needed to allow the three duplexes. The developers then came back with the proposal for a 40B project with 36 units in one large building.

“This is not our fault or the developer’s fault,” Lucey said. “Some of the people who like to wag their fingers in our face about what we do turned it from six units into 36 units. I don’t think it’s the best outcome for the town.”

No one from the public offered any testimony at last night’s final hearing on the project.

The ZBA vote to allow the 36-unit, multifamily 40B apartment building on the site was unanimous.