Residents like the idea of more affordable housing for seniors citizens, but would rather the two recently proposed affordable elderly housing projects -- to be built under Chapter 40B -- be scaled back.

That was the sentiment during back-to-back public hearings as selectmen collected comments on the proposals Tuesday night. One of the proposed 40Bs would put an 62-unit elderly housing apartment building on Harvard Avenue next to Congregation Kehillath Israel.

The other would place a 14-story, 108 mixed- unit apartment building and retail space with 22 units considered affordable housing for the elderly at 1299 Beacon St., the current home of Neena’s Lighting.

Chapter 40B allows a developer to circumvent most local zoning if the project provides a percentage of units at rates deemed affordable according to state income guidelines. The state law was enacted in 1969 to address affordable housing shortages statewide.

It’s difficult for towns to fight a project planned under 40B.

The state defines affordable housing as an apartment or home that can be purchased or rented by a household making up to 80 percent of the median income of the area. Once a town meets certain requirements, such as having more than 10 percent of the town's housing stock deemed affordable, developers can no longer use 40B.

As of Feb. 2, 410 of Brookline’s 26,201 year-round dwellings, 9.2 percent of the total, qualified toward state requirements, according to town documents.

There are nine proposed developments now in the 40B process, according to the town’s website. Town officials have said they suspect the uptick is because Brookline is near the 10 percent threshold.

384 Harvard St.

Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly is proposing a 62 unit building – all affordable - next door to Congregation Kehillath Israel.

The Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly officials said they held off designing the building until they got input from the community.

The 59,012 square-foot building set on a 17,183 square-foot plot – is slated to be about 69 feet tall at its peak.

The architect showed a one-story entrance area with potential for shops, a green roof, a “pocket park” between Kehillath Israel and the building and a public roof deck.

“We see ourselves as village centers,” said Amy Schectman, of JCHE.

About a dozen residents spoke, both registering support for elderly housing and concern about parking, garbage disposal, the location of the park, safety of children on the small street behind the proposed project and the look appearance of the building.

“It is so noisy in my backyard that I can no longer eat breakfast on my back porch,” resident Beth Kates told selectmen referencing the current renovation at KI. “I dread the felling of trees and din of construction that groundbreaking for the new building on the north side of the sanctuary will bring.”

1299 Beacon St.

Chestnut Hill Investments, and Raj Dhanda are proposing 108 units and 183 parking spots on the site of a narrow 18,632 square foot lot. The developer plans to cover about 88 percent of the land and mostly build up, proposing a garage with 24 hour attendants to park cars, a retail space and then 12 floors of one- and two-bedroom apartments. Dhanda estimates the project will cost $67.4 million.

When the architect showed renderings of what the building would look like against the current skyline, there were murmurs, then gasps and then cries of “Oh no!” among the two dozen or so people in the selectman room audience as he clicked through the slides.

As proposed, the building is 165 feet tall.

“Would this be the tallest building in Brookline?,” Selectman Neil Wishinsky asked the architect.

It would, he said, topping the current highest, built in the 1970s, by two feet.

“Say good bye to Coolidge Corner,” someone in the audience said.

“I would say welcome,” responded the architect.

Sixteen residents stood in line to register their concerns with the selectmen, including the proposed building’s height..

“While I can embrace the concept of senor housing, I must say this proposal seems to be an assault on Coolidge Corner,” said Susan Roberts. “It’s mind-boggling and audacious.”

“The proportionality is just way out of whack. I think the intentions here may be good, but the scale is outrageous. Hopefully there can be some kind of compromise,” said Malcolm Russell, who lives on Sewell Avenue, the street the project backs up to.

Residents expressed concerns about parking in an area with chronic issues between Trader Joe’s overflow and the Post Office workers who used their private vehicles to deliver mail. The owners of the neighboring buildings also said they were opposed to the building, concerned about it blocking emergency exits, traffic, potential harm to the functioning of the cell tower antenna, emergency responders ability to get down Sewell, and trash delivery logistics.