Dana’s Fields in Sandwich, a housing development modeled after a project in Denmark, will feature rental units and onsite job training for homeless individuals.

An innovative housing development for the homeless on Cape Cod, modeled after a project in Denmark, is likely to test the limits of the state’s so-called anti-snob zoning law.

Housing Assistance Corp., a regional nonprofit group based in Hyannis, has applied for a comprehensive permit to build low-income rental units on about 48 acres in Sandwich. The group applied for the permit under Chapter 40B, a law that enables developers to build residential projects with an affordable component regardless of zoning in communities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is considered affordable.

But unlike other Chapter 40B projects, which for the most part feature only housing units, the proposed development will include onsite businesses and job training services.

“One of the outstanding questions … is can you do housing with supportive services under [Chapter] 40B,” said Rick Presbrey, executive director of Housing Assistance Corp. “In the world of welfare reform, where everyone has to work, an important component [of any program] is helping people learn how to support themselves.”

The $8 million planned community, called Dana’s Fields, will feature 63 housing units, a community building, two greenhouses, an indoor sports facility with athletic fields, farmland, classrooms and riding trails and stables. The Sandwich Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to consider the permit application for the project in August.

Fifty of the housing units will be reserved for homeless men and women, 10 will be set aside for graduate students, and three will be for staff members. The nonprofit corporation is planning to get the units subsidized – with either project-based or Section 8 vouchers – and residents will use no more than 30 percent of their income for rent.

In addition to housing, residents will get training in six areas – trail riding, culinary arts and catering, building maintenance and landscaping, farming or horticulture, community recreation through the indoor sports facility and information technology.

“[Chapter] 40B doesn’t exclude this but it also doesn’t envision it,” said Presbrey.

According to Presbrey, a developer applying for a comprehensive permit under Chapter 40B could construct as many as 200 housing units on the land, which is zoned single-family residential. The land, located off Victory Drive, is adjacent to an industrial park and conservation land. Abutting the property on two sides are about 15 single-family homes.

Already, abutters have shown resistance to the project, expressing concerns about traffic and other issues. At one point, there was even a rumor going around the community that the housing units were being constructed for ex-convicts.

But Presbrey explained that residents will be referred by the NOAH Shelter and O’Neill Services Center in Hyannis and screened and interviewed by a committee of local officials. They will live in single rooms, sharing bathrooms, kitchens and living space, and work at the site. Rents will be $500 to $600 a month per room.

No alcohol or drugs will be permitted on the premises – even staff members will be barred from using alcohol – and residents will be screened to make sure they don’t have substance abuse problems or criminal backgrounds, according to Presbrey.

Livia Davis, who heads a division for homeless individuals at Housing Assistance Corp., said the onsite businesses will not only provide job and vocational training for residents – teaching them to be self-sufficient – but will also generate income to pay for day-to-day operations at Dana’s Fields.

“By having businesses there to generate income – that will support the project itself and we will be less dependent on public funds,” said Davis.

‘Visionary’ Concept

For example, the 70,000-square-foot enclosed sports facility – which will include athletic fields, an indoor track, a driving range and snack stand – can be rented by the public. Since there is currently no large enclosed sports facility on the Cape, soccer and other athletic leagues in the region have already shown interest in using the fields.

In addition, Cape Cod Community College wants to use two classrooms planned for the site, and a catering facility will also be available for public use.

Residents will be able to sell flowers and produce grown on several acres onsite or in the greenhouses, and farmers from the community will also be invited to sell their own fruit and vegetables. Working at all of these facilities, residents will acquire various job skills, including landscaping, building maintenance, business management, catering and farming. They will be available as “mobile contract workers,” using their newly acquired skills not only for work at Dana’s Fields but also in the community.

Another unique component of Dana’s Fields is the 10 graduate students from Suffolk University who will reside there. The students will be getting master’s degrees in philanthropy and film, documenting their experiences living with formerly homeless individuals who are trying to become self-sufficient, according to Presbrey.

Staff members will also be on hand to provide training. Three staff members will live at Dana’s Fields with their own families. One staff member, a former ranch manager, will be in charge of the riding stables and trails. Another one will be the business manager, overseeing the finances. And Davis, who has degrees in business and social work, will be running the facility.

Dana’s Fields is modeled after Moltrop, a farm in Denmark established by Davis’ great-grandfather in 1912 to help the disenfranchised in his country. The farm has housed thousands of homeless men and ex-prisoners throughout the decades.

Dana’s Fields has been in the works for six years, according to Davis and Presbrey.

“We wanted to refine the concept,” said Presbrey. “It’s not everyday that you can do something this visionary and creative.”

Presbrey said the group wanted to take time to educate the public about the project and also to make sure it was economically feasible. The project will be funded mostly through millions of dollars in private donations and a tax credit program. Housing Assistance Corp. is also planning to get bank loans.

Supporters of Dana’s Fields say it offers a more innovative response to homelessness than emergency shelters, which provide temporary housing and meals to people on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“We need a more comprehensive response,” said Davis.