NORTON - A Bay Road resident has stopped contesting a 36-unit housing project planned next door.

Shirley Giroux, 137 Bay Road, contended in court that the new Spice Hill project extended onto her property, developer Nick Adams has said. Giroux cited the legal description of her land drafted by her attorney when her deed was filed in 1971, and the engineer's drawing of the parcel.

Giroux last fall appealed the zoning board of appeals' Oct. 16 approval for the project.

However, attorneys for both sides filed a stipulation of dismissal, dated March 7, in Bristol Superior Court.

Neither Giroux nor her attorney, Suzanne Tedeschi-Freij of Taunton, could be reached for comment Wednesday. Adams said Wednesday he and partner Shaun Kelley now can begin pursuing financing for their nearly 32-acre site at Bay Road and Leonard Street, across from the state park.

Infrastructure could be under construction by late summer or early fall, Adams said. He would not commit to a timetable for starting construction of the housing.

Formerly known as Bay Road Heights, the project was submitted under the state's Chapter 40B affordable housing statute.

That allows developers to circumvent local zoning and most town boards by setting aside 25 percent of the housing units as affordable.

The approved plans include 10 new three-bedroom, single-family colonial-style homes; two existing single-family homes, one at 50 Lincoln St., and one at 135 Bay Road; and 24 three-bedroom condominiums, 10 of which will be detached and seven which will be duplexes.

Three new homes and six condos would be set aside as affordable.

However, the struggling housing market might prompt the developers to build the homes first, or build smaller condos, Adams said.

"We just want to make sure we are building what the market wants," he said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER covers Norton for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.