The largest residential development ever proposed in Tiverton was expected to be back before the town Tuesday, more than five  years after it first gained master plan approval from the Tiverton Planning Board.

Tiverton Heights, a 275-unit housing development that would be cover approximately 77 acres of land at Fish and Sousa roads, is being proposed under the state's Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, which allows developers streamlined approval processes when they pledge to sell a portion of the units to those of low to moderate income. To that end, developer Christopher Harkins of Portsmouth (Tiverton Heights LLC/Harkin Homes LLC) is seeking a comprehensive permit from the planning board and has entered the preliminary plan stage of local review.

In its original form as proposed six years ago, developers had envisioned 305 units, 75 percent of which would be sold at market rate and 25 at reduced cost.

The housing would be built in condominium-style units, with a mix of one, two and three-bedroom single family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings. Though the homes would be built on 77 acres, the entire parcel covers more than 130, much of which is wetlands.

When the project earned master plan approval from the planning board in late 2016, board members stipulated that no more than 275 units would be allowed, and among other stipulations required that moderate income units would be integrated throughout the development, and would be comparable in scale and architectural style.

William Landry, the attorney for Harkins, said Monday that it took several years to enter the project's next phase not only due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also as a result of a lengthy review of the project by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's Office of Water Resources. As a result of that review of the potential impact on wetlands, he said, developers reconfigured portions of the development and "I think it's a better project now as a result."

"We thought their comments were constructive and we redesigned (the development)around them."

In 2016, developers set the maximum sale prices from $145,076 to $270,163, but wrote that market rates could be subject to change.

Project officials have estimated that it could take six to eight years to completely build out the development, once all approvals are in place.