2016-12-00 Community Preservation Plan: A Needs Assessment.rpt

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At the 2014 Annual Town meeting, voters approved CPA funding for LexHAB to construct two residences, each with three apartments, on a half -acre portion of the Busa land, purchased earlier with CPA funds. One apartment in each building will be handicapped accessible. The motion authorized LexHAB to utilize $535,000 in unused CPA funds from the two previous years' appropriations, as well as an additional $750,000. An application for initial Department of Housing and Community Development approval of this Local Initiative Program project will be submitted in the near future. LexHAB is also in the process of developing four units of housing on a 25,000 square foot parcel on Fairview Avenue purchased with its own funds. This project entails rehabilitation of an existing house and construction of a new residence with three apartments, one handicapped accessible. This project has been approved by the Selectmen, DHCD and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Construction is underway with completion expected in April 2017 At the 2009 Annual Town Meeting, Town Meeting Members approved use of about 30,000 square feet of the 14 acre Leary parcel for affordable housing. More than five years ago, a Committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen made recommendations for housing at this site. Progress to date is limited to the removal of the Leary residence from the site. LexHAB will be rehabilitating a single family home on the one -acre Wright Farm parcel. CPA funds for this work have been approved. The Town completed the purchase of the property in February 2016 and transferred ownership of the parcel to LexHAB for the renovations to take place. Approvals by DHCD and the Zoning Board of Appeals are necessary before construction begins. NEEDS Both locally and statewide, the demand for housing affordable to low and moderate income residents exceeds supply. The lack of such housing leads to a loss of diversity at the local level and a loss of population at the state level as individuals and families abandon Massachusetts for more affordable areas of the country. The State has sought to foster the creation of affordable housing through M.G.L. c.40B, which mandates that each municipality have a minimum of 10% of its housing stock in the affordable category in order to avoid the potential imposition of housing developments that do not conform to local zoning bylaws. In Lexington there continue to be frequent "teardowns" of existing smaller homes, to be replaced by much larger and more costly homes. This pattern contributes to the very high average cost for single family homes in Town. While the Town of Lexington is currently in compliance with the 10% requirement of State law, as more market rate housing is constructed, and as price restrictions on some currently affordable housing units expire, the Town could easily drop below the 10% threshold, allowing a developer who allocates 25% of a rental project to affordable housing to avoid being subject to the density and siting restrictions of Lexington's Zoning Bylaw. This provides a practical incentive for the Town to continue to add affordable units to its inventory. It should also be noted that the 11.2% SHI figure which is presently quoted as Lexington's percentage of affordable housing comprises both deed -restricted affordable units as well as market rate rental units. The inclusion of market rate units to determine a community's 11