2006-09-00-CPC-rpt (Needs Assessment Report)

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Lexington Housing Partnership Board In 2003 the Lexington Housing Partnership Board was formed to promote and support affordable housing activities and to recommend appropriate actions to the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board to further these goals. The Board consists of 21 voting members and six liaisons representing the many committees, groups and dedicated individuals who share a goal of providing affordable housing in Lexington. Resources The Lexington Housing Authority owns 252 units of low/moderate income housing. In addition, the authority owns a two-family house and seven condominium units. The majority of the units are state subsidized (153 units) while most of the remainder are subsidized by HUD (77 units). The units are mostly occupied by seniors, disabled and handicapped individuals and families. The Housing Authority also administers Section 8 vouchers and project based Massachusetts rental vouchers. In 2005 the Housing Authority administered 340 units of affordable and low income housing for elderly, family, handicapped, Section 8 choice vouchers, and MRVP project- based vouchers. LexHAB currently owns 50 units. There is no line item in the town budget supporting LexHAB. It does not receive state or federal funds. The seed money that got LexHAB started was provided by the developers of Potter Pond and Brookhaven, who donated funds for affordable housing in order to comply with the Planning Board’s inclusionary housing policy. LexHAB purchased units at Muzzey and Emerson Gardens. A number of units have been donated to LexHAB as a result of rezoning plans approved by town meeting. Two homes were donated to LexHAB by their owners and were subsequently moved to town-owned lots. LexHAB has built 11 single and two-family homes on scattered sites throughout the Town with the help of Minuteman Tech students and the Rotary Club. Needs and Goals The Town of Lexington presently is one of the few municipalities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that has met the requirements of state laws that mandate a minimum of ten percent of housing stock be in the affordable category in order to avoid the imposition of housing developments that do not conform to the Town’s zoning bylaws. Nevertheless, as more market rate housing is constructed, and as more currently affordable housing units are freed from price restrictions, the Town could easily find itself slipping below the ten percent threshold. There is an ongoing need to rehabilitate existing units owned by the Housing Authority and LexHAB, including upgrades of the heating system at Vynebrook Village and Greeley Village. The Housing Authority would like to build four – eight elderly/barrier free additional units on its Greeley Village site., as well as two two-bedroom houses on scattered sites. LexHab would like to build 1-1/2 new homes per year. 8