2014-06-26-HPB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Housing Partnership: Building a Diverse, Vibrant Lexington Lexington Housing Partnership Meeting Minutes for June 26, 2014 Attendees: Betsey Weiss, Jeri Foutter, Melinda Walker, Nancy Corcoran- Ronchetti„ Bob Pressman, Mary Haskell, Harriet Cohen, Joe Pato Guests: Dan Gaulin — Regional Housing Services Office The meeting was chaired by Betsey Weiss and the minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm. 1. Approval of Minutes The minutes of March 27 were approved with minor corrections. The discussion of the minutes of May 1 and May 22 were postponed to the next meeting. 2. Discussion of Potential Parcel list Joe Pato provided a list of parcels in Lexington that have a total assessed value of less than $550,000, an assessed building value of less than $200,000 and a land size of greater than or equal to 0.49 acres. This information is from the most recent public assessor data set. There are 239 properties on this list. Mr. Pato noted that, on average, the selling price averaged approximately 30% over assessed value. The list was generated to serve as the basis of an inventory of properties that could be developed for a small cluster housing development with a pipeline of $400K per year (estimated). Such properties would need to meet the following criteria: • There is enough space to add additional buildings. • The layout permits additional building, e.g., there's no large drop -off, no steep hill, and no wetlands. • The lot has proximity to mass transit. • The lot is near other similar properties. Dan Gaulin will ask Aaron if Aaron will allow the RHSO to do the property assessment. 3. Update from the Regional Housing Services Office Mr. Gaulin spoke about the "Small Grant Program" sponsored by the RHSO. This program is offered in Lincoln, Sudbury, Bedford and Concord. It offers grants in the range of $3,000 to $5,000 to homeowners for home repair. Mr. Gaulin will send information to the LHP about the program. Mary Haskell will follow up with him. 4. Fall Op -Ed on why we need affordable housing if we are at 10% The goal of the op -ed is to explain why Lexington needs to continue work on affordable housing even though the Town has met the 10% limit in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Act: Chapter 40B. We will continue work on the op -ed in the fall.