2021-12-00-CPC-rpt (Needs Assessment)

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Town of Lexington Community Preservation Plan Community Housing BACKGROUND Lexington's efforts to maintain an economically diverse community are evidenced by actions spanning many years. The Lexington Housing Authority (LHA), established in 1969 pursuant to Chapter 121B of the Mass. General Laws, now provides 338 units for low-income individuals and families, including veterans, the elderly and the disabled. LHA operates three apartment clusters (Greeley Village, Vynebrooke Village and Countryside Village), family scattered sites, and implements several other programs, including privately owned developments and voucher subsidy programs. The Lexington Housing Assistance Board(LexHAB), created by a special legislative act in 1983, now administers 77 housing units for persons of low, moderate and middle income. The Select Board created the Housing Partnership Board in 2003; its primary function is to advocate for housing for persons of low and moderate income (now generally referred to as "affordable housing"). Lexington Housing Foundation, Inc., is a private charitable corporation which promotes affordable housing in Lexington. The Town's housing goals have also been expressed in planning documents. The "Town-Wide Vision Statement,"written in year 2000 by the 2020 Vision Committee, referred not only to "preserving and maintaining a sense of community that includes [the Town's] historic tradition, its public and private open spaces, and its public support for civic life,"but also to "striv[ing]... to maintain a range of affordability." More recently, the 2014 Lexington Housing Production Plan prepared for the Town of Lexington by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council reiterated the need for additional affordable housing in Lexington. An updated Comprehensive Plan is in progress, to be completed in 2022. Creation of an updated Housing Production Plan will follow. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B, enacted in 1969, mandates that each municipality have a minimum of 10% of its housing stock meet certain requirements in order to avoid housing developments that do not conform to local zoning bylaws. With 11.1% of its housing units included on the "subsidized housing inventory" (SHI), Lexington is currently in compliance with the Chapter 40B standard. However, only about one-half of these units actually satisfy the regulatory affordability definition. This is explained by the fact that DHCD regulations provide that when 25% of the units in a rental development are deed-restricted as affordable, all units are counted in the SHI tabulation. This approach was adopted to encourage the creation of rental units. Compliance with Chapter 40B alone has not satisfied the community. Continuing efforts to create additional affordable units evidence this fact. The Town remains committed to the diversity goal expressed in the Vision Statement and the Comprehensive Plan. 8