2022-01-20-HPB-min (Community Housing Resources Subcommittee)

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1 Community Housing Specialist Subcommittee Meeting on January 20, 2022 Attendees: Betsey Weiss, Margaret Heitz, Paul Linton, Bob Pressman Absent: Jeri Foutter Guests: Jonina Gorenstein Schonfeld Summary of Discussion 1. Call to Order – HPB Subcommittee on Community Housing Specialist The meeting was held remotely via Zoom conference and called to order by Margaret Heitz at 7:03 pm. Minutes were taken by Paul Linton. Paul will send out the amended minutes (with Bob’s edits) from the Jan 6 meeting for review. 2. Discussion of the subcommittee’s mission Margaret presented the following as a draft of a formal description of the subcommittee’s mission: ----- MISSION: The HPB Subcommittee on Housing Advocacy Resources seeks ways to create and promote more affordable housing in Lexington by researching how that work is done by other Massachusetts towns and by exploring how our current resources can be used more effectively. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why did the HPB form the subcommittee? Responsibility for maintaining public information is unclear. Lexington does not have an advocate for housing when the town considers land acquisition. ----- Discussion ensued. Bob suggested some changes. Betsey requested the draft be sent out to the subcommittee for review. Bob detailed some of the housing activities that consultants (paid by CPC monies) carried out in Amherst. Margaret suggested for the next meeting to create a “master list” of all the tasks the housing personnel carried out in the studied towns. 3. Presentation of CHS’s / housing activities from various MA towns Paul’s research was an email exchange with Provincetown CHS Michelle Jarusiewicz. Provincetown allocates approximately 60% of CPA monies to affordable housing – a considerably higher percentage than Lexington. A copy of the email is attached to these minutes. Betsey spoke to Kelly Lynema who is the Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development in the town of Arlington. Arlington has three people that carry out various affordable housing tasks. She also spoke to Jennifer Raitt who is the Director of Planning and Community Development in Arlington. Arlington passed an Inclusionary Housing Bylaw in 2001; a Mixed- Use Bylaw in 2016 and an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Bylaw in 2021. Arlington has had a director of housing since 2000. Arlington has 1,253 SHI units which is higher number than Lexington, but their higher number of residences (19,881) results in a lower percentage of SHI units -- 6.3%. 4. List of Tasks and Responsibilities The Housing Production Plan needs to be put on our list of responsibilities to be done (or refreshed in our case).