HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-02-24-HPB.min
Lexington Housing Partnership
Meeting Minutes for February 24, 2005
Attendees:
Bob Bicknell, Arthur Katz, Florence Baturin, Jeri Foutter, Inky MacDougall,
Tom Harden, Anne Frymer, Sherry Gordon, Ruth Ladd and David Williams.
Bob Bicknell chaired the meeting; Jeri Foutter took the minutes.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
Community Preservation Act (CPA)
1.
Bob updated the Partnership on the Community Preservation Act activities:
Submitted article descriptions and coordinated with legal on motions.
Attended conference to hear experiences of other communities.
Coordinated with Conservation, Historic Preservation, Recreation committees in town.
Discussed CPA with Appropriations (Eric Michelson) and Mary Jo Bohart of the
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Chamber of Commerce and will brief Capital Expenditures committee on March 2 and
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Appropriation Committee on March 3.
Briefed Selectmen on Warrant Articles 7 & 8 and provided supplementary information.
copies being e-mailed to Partnership
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Coordinated with TMMA (Ellen McDonald) for their info to TMMA. Will present to
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them on March 17.
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Selectmen to discuss articles on March 14 9pm with Jay Gonzales, town council.
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Will need Town Meeting member
Town Meeting considers the articles on March 30.
to make the motions.
I will present a report from the Partnership under Article 2 on March 28 and will present
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info on Articles 7 & 8 on the 30 Probably with Conservation Committee (Joyce Miller)
and historical Commission (Marilyn Fenollosa).
2. Franklin School Apartments
The Town of Lexington, Community Builders, Mass Housing and Marshall Derby of LexHab
will be meeting to discuss the possibility of the Town buying the Franklin School Apartments
property. Currently, there are approximately 2 to 3 units that are vacant.
3. Warrant Article 19 – Conservation Land Transfer
Warrant Article 19 concerns the future use of the front lots on North Street, near the
intersection of North Street and Lowell Street. There has been discussion about not
supporting this Article, so that the front lots could possibly be developed in the future by
LexHAB for an over 55 community, with some housing available at 120% of Area Median
Income (AMI). Note: The back lots are controlled by Recreation.
4. Hear Reports from Sub-committees.
Zoning By-Law Changes
: Tom Harden mentioned that the Zoning By-law changes are
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scheduled for one of the 1 sessions at Town Meeting. At this time, the Planning Board is 4
to 1 in favor of the proposed changes.
HOME Consortium
: Jeanne Krieger and Bob attended a meeting with HUD Boston held at
the behest of Framingham. Reps Markey and Franks sent their aides. They will take action
Lexington Housing Partnership
in Washington to see if the errors can be redressed for FY06. All other
avenues have failed, but Sudbury is asking their Republican State Rep to intercede with the
Governor’s office. Looks like the possibilities are dim for any funds before July ’06.
Exploring Options
: Bob reported on a program currently in use by the Town of Stowe, that
he heard about from Bob Wilbur at a seminar. Essentially, the Town of Stowe is buying an
Affordability Deed Restriction for approximately $50,000. Homeowners receive the $50,000
payment in exchange for a deed restriction on their property that restricts the future sale price
of their home. The Town ties or limits the future increase in value to the increases in AMI.
The Town also lowers the homeowners’ tax responsibilities, and the homeowners can take a
tax deduction for the difference between the lowered affordability value and the market
value.
5. Hear Reports on Pending Housing Activities
177 Grove Street
: The original proposal suggested 8 cluster units – 4 groups of 2 attached
homes or townhouses. In addition, Art McCabe was proposing that instead of providing one
affordable unit, he would offer to donate money to the Town for affordable housing purposes.
The Planning Board asked him to reconsider his proposal, reduce density and to consider
building fewer units with one affordable unit.
Homes Development Corp. LIP
: Arthur Katz reported that the developer agreed to connect
to the town sewer.
Chapter 40B Grandview Avenue
: The density has been reduced to 10 units, with the
affordable units targeting 80% AMI. The final board of appeals hearing is scheduled for
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March 10. The Planning Board is holding a review of the revised proposal tonight, Feb 24.
40R Regulation
: Bob attended the hearing and requested that the “Review of Existing
District” paragraph (the one that would allow Avalon at Lexington Square to be
grandfathered) be amended to exclude the requirement to have Smart Growth Zoning be all
inclusive. He wrote a letter to gain DHCD’s views on qualifying Avalon at Lexington Square
for bonus payments. Dialog is now underway between Maryann and DHCD’s Deputy
Director, Sarah Young.
Battle Green Condos
: The current proposal indicates that 4 out of 37 units will be
affordable. Marshall Derby has proposed that the developer provide these affordable units as
a gift to the Town. Bob met with Marshall and agreed to support his position. Locke Village
was given as an example of a developer gifting 6 of 62 units to the Town. An Open Meeting
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is scheduled for March 2 at Cary Hall, the Planning Board will review its position later
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tonight, Feb 24 and the Board of Selectmen will hear mitigation proposals on Feb 28.
Jefferson Union 31 Fletcher Ave
: Proposal includes affordable units that will be available to
former employees and to Town employees. The plan will be presented to the Planning Board
in April.
6. Report from the Chairman (Bob Bicknell):
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Bob is invited to Board of Selectmen Chairman’s Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on March 1.
Lexington Housing Partnership
Avalon at Lexington Square LIP status
: I learned from Sarah Young that the regulatory
agreement is all that is left to complete for Lexington to receive the approval letter. A
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meeting is scheduled for Feb. 28 to finalize the agreements.
Karl Kastorf has announced his resignation from the Planning Board. A replacement will be
appointed to fill out his term. John Davies is stepping down and his replacement will be
elected at the upcoming town election.
Dave Burns found that Lexington has no written info on housing for new employees.
Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Funds
: Pat Nelson is looking into the significance of
the new legislation with regard to our Lexington Housing Foundation.
7. Discussion of fund raising and publicity for Lexington Housing Foundation:
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Arthur Katz, Jeri Foutter and Florence Baturin met on February 4 to discuss the
development of a brochure that would:
Increase the Town’s awareness of the Lexington Housing Partnership/Foundation.
Describe the Lexington Housing Partnership mission, goals and objectives.
List some of our past accomplishments.
Educate the residents about the affordable housing situation in Lexington.
A Grant Application is currently being completed for submission to Cambridge Savings Bank.
The requested amount will be $5,000, and some of the expenses to be included are:
Phil Herr’s contract for consulting on the details of an inclusionary zoning by-law.
Start-up costs for a Lexington Housing Partnership website (development, hosting, initial
maintenance), with a link to the Town of Lexington website.
Costs associated with the design, development and distribution of the LHP brochure.
8. Municipal Mortgage Program:
Jeri Foutter reported that Cambridge Savings Bank will be submitting 14 packets concerning
the Mass Housing’s Municipal Mortgage Program to Linda Vine, for distribution to Town
department heads. Due to high home prices in Massachusetts many police officers, fire
fighters, teachers and other town employees cannot afford to purchase a home in the city or
town where they work. In response, Mass Housing created the Municipal Mortgage Program
which is specifically designed to help town employees purchase a home in the town where
they work, with no down payment. The income limit for Lexington is $111, 510.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.
Future Meeting Schedule:
Thursday, March 24,2005 7:00 to 9:30 pm in the Legion Room (2nd Floor Cary Hall)
Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:00 to 9:30 pm in Room G-15 (Town Hall)
Thursday, May 19, 2005 7:00 to 9:00 pm Large Meeting Room - Cary Library
Thursday, June 16, 2005 7:00 to 9:00 pm Large Meeting Room - Cary Library