2024-02-15-AHTBT-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 1 of 3 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of February 15, 2024 4:00 pm Remote meeting on Zoom Information session for Precinct 5 and 6 Town Meeting Members and Lowell Street/North Street neighbors Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz, William Erickson Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Liz Rust, RHSO Director; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Ms. Tung chaired the remote meeting on Zoom, and called the meeting to order at 4:01pm. The meeting was attended by Precinct 5 and 6 Town Meeting Members, Parcel 68-44 neighbors, and members of the public. Ms. Tung and Mr. Sandeen explained the format of the meeting. There was an initial slide presentation from the Trust on Article 33. Ms. Payne explained the need for affordable housing. Mr. Erickson provided a site analysis of the Lowell St/North St parcel 68-44. He explained the features of the site, the due diligence performed by the Trust, and the test sketch produced to evaluate the development feasibility on the parcel. Mr. Sandeen shared the community concerns slide and provided an overview of how the Affordable Housing Trust plan to address the concerns. Ms. Prosnitz explained the process once Article 33 passes, the opportunities for community engagement and inputs. The attendees shared their concerns, questions and comments after the introductory presentation: 1) An affordable housing development in Lexington at this location is exclusionary 2) The due diligence that has been conducted 3) Quality of Construction - “Projects” will be built; the Developer will cut corners in construction 4) Design of Building 5) Has Conservation Commission been contacted 6) The prospect of a more diverse housing stock is the direction of where we need to go in order to address the housing situation in our town, region and state; the development built behind her house has been the perfect a ddition with more sunlight and neighbors with children 7) Has there been professional investigation or analysis 8) Are there other sites more adept to the density proposed 9) Mitigation of impact on neighbors; impact on quality of life 10) This is a very early exploration of how the land will be used for housing. This is not a vote to approve a specific development plan. There will be plenty of opportunity for public input and comment 11) Concerns about the financial cost to town 12) Walkability