2019-06-25-HPB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Housing Partnership Board 4. Planning Board Update Mr. Peters said that the Planning Board will be meeting on June 26 to discuss Bridges and Waterstone. The balanced housing special permit for 15-17 Fairland Street is also continued to the meeting on June 26. The Rangeway discussion has been postponed until July 24. The Concord Ave subdivision proposal has been withdrawn. The Planning Board has tentatively schedule a hearing on July 10 for the 186 Bedford Street property. 5. 186 Bedford Street Development Precinct 8 town meeting members met privately with the Ciampas and Michael Martignetti to discuss their concerns. The Ciampas answered many questions. Some minor changes were made to the plan to reflect Precinct 8 TMM concerns. The general sense of the attendees is that it was a very productive meeting. 6. SPRD Update Ms. Weiss reported on the recent SPRD meeting. Several people who have experience in property development in Lexington said that Lexington's SPRD is well done, but the interpretation of the SPRD by the Planning Board is often at issue. 7. LexHAB Update LexHAB received one proposal for a developer who can build on Lowell Street using pre -fab units. Even that proposal came in over budget. LexHAB needs an approximately $500K additional to complete the project. LexHAB is seeking a grant for the additional funding. If they are not able to fund the additional money through a grant, they will ask for CPA funds to cover the shortfall. 8. HPB letter - supporting Baker Act to Promote Housing Choices Ms.Weiss sent out a draft of the letter to the HPB on the morning of June 25, 2019. Ms. Walker moved that the HPB approve the letter as sent to the HPB with final wording to be determined by a subset of the HPB. Mr. Linton seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 9. Massachusetts Housing Partnership's 13th Annual Housing Institute Ms. Walker and Ms. Thompson attended the Mass Housing Partnership's Annual Housing Institute. Training for officials in suburban and rural communities for advocating for affordable housing. The day was extremely useful in providing background information on affordable housing and on reframing the arguments for affordable housing. Ms. Walker strongly urged HPB members to review the information at www.mhp.net/2019HI and at www.thecasemade.com. Further useful information can be found at www.housingtooIbox.org. 10. An Act Establishing A Right To Counsel In Certain Eviction Cases, House Bill No. 1537 There is a Massachusetts Right to Counsel Coalition that is working to provide legal counsel to indigent tenants facing eviction.