Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-23-AHTSC-min RECEIVED 2022 27 Apir, Ipirvi TOWN CLERK LEXINGTON MA The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) Meeting Minutes of March 23, 2022 Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee members present for the public meeting: Kathryn Roy, Chair; Betsey Weiss, Gretchen Reisig, Jeri Foutter, Linda Prosnitz, Carol Marine, Tara Mizrahi. Lexington Staff present for the public meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Administrative Assistant. Non-voting liaison of the Select Board: Mark Sandeen Other Attendees: Ann Sherry, Medway AHT; Keith Bergman, Concord AHT Ms. Roy conducted a roll call to ensure that all the members of the Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Ms. Roy chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order at 4:02 pm. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Address by Guest Speaker Ann Sherry Ms. Kowalski introduced Ms. Sherry to the committee and asked Ms. Sherry to share her experiences and recommendations in drafting a Declaration of Trust. Ms. Sherry began by explaining how the Affordable Housing Trust was passed in Medway, based on the ground work done by the Affordable Housing Committee and by bringing out the benefits of having an Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Sherry listed the members of the Trust and added that all the trustees were voting members. Ms. Sherry mentioned a few objections they faced initially when creating the Trust which included understanding the level of authority and getting the community to understand the real meaning and need for affordable housing. Ms. Sherry said educating the public and having an open communication, helped them to overcome the objections.They used a consultant to help them hold public sessions and went on cable.They stressed that many people couldn't afford to buy in the town: seniors, people working in the town, resident's offspring, or people who divorced or lost a spouse. They explained that affordable housing isn't all voucher users and showed what the income limits were to make people more comfortable. Ms. Sherry said the composition of the Trust was the town manager, a member of the select board, an attorney, a banker, and 2 people who lived in affordable units. The town manager left after a year and membership changed but the select board member stayed. Initially, the select board expected requests for specific projects. 1 Ms. Marine asked whether the town had already done a Housing Needs Study or a Housing Production Plan,when they were in the process of forming the Trust,just so that they had a better idea of their priorities. Ms. Sherry said that shortly after the Trust was founded, the Trust worked with an outside consultant to determine their goals and updated the Housing Production Plan. Ms. Roy asked about the type of projects the Trust was planning to get funded. Ms. Sherry said that initially they were planning to do smaller projects and were contacting residents who owned non- conforming lots and considering possibilities of zoning requirements,that would allow affordable housing. Ms. Sherry said that the Trust felt that the funding was not effectively used when doing small projects. Ms. Sherry said that they work with non-profit developers,who are cognizant of the happenings in the town and willing to work with the Trust and build a large number of affordable units. Ms. Sherry explained that the non-profit developers have tax incentives, financing through the state and private financing and the Trust gave a total of two million dollars to the developers, for a total of 92 affordable units (the second development was for seniors); and for this project Ms. Sherry said,they are working with Metro West Development. Ms. Roy wondered about the source of funding and Ms. Sherry explained the way the funding worked. Ms. Sherry said that the funds go into the Community Preservation Committee and then with the approval of the Select Board and Town Meeting, the Trust receives the fund; and the Trust has specific plans when the Trust approaches the Town Meeting. Other sources of fund include inclusionary zoning payments. Ms. Mizrahi wanted to know Ms. Sherry's experience on expediting the availability of funds for the Trust and not having to wait for the Town Meeting and thereby miss the opportunity for a development. Ms. Sherry said that the Affordable Housing Trust in Medway always had funds in reserve to act quickly if needed;they also received grants from the state periodically and the funds from inclusionary zoning were always routed to the Trust. Ms. Mizrahi then asked how the funds from inclusionary housing were routed to the Trust, was it part of the Declaration of Trust or was a special Town Meeting convened to do so. Ms. Sherry said that the inclusionary housing bylaw was drafted in such a way that the money from inclusionary housing would go directly to the Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Prosnitz asked if the developer had site control before going to the town.The 92-unit project was a little unique in that the property had a commercial developer who tried to get state funding to build affordable housing. When that developer failed to secure funding, Metro West bought the property, so there wasn't competition for the property. Multi-family housing is allowed in some areas of town by special permit of the planning board. There are parts of town where they are looking at making it by right. Mr. Sandeen wanted to know the provisions of the inclusionary housing bylaw. Ms. Sherry said that for any development over six units, one of those has to be an affordable unit, and bigger the development, more the number of units or payment in lieu. Mr. Sandeen then asked if it is only for residential housing or if it includes commercial properties as well. Ms. Sherry said that inclusionary zoning is only for residential houses, but when big developments come up,there is always some money that is negotiated for affordable housing. Ms. Reisig wanted to know how long it took for the Trust, from its formation, to actually begin a project and what did they do during the wait time to get prepared. Ms. Sherry said after the Trust was formed, the Trust members visited other towns to learn their best practices for affordable 2 housing, then adopted a new housing production plan, and consulted with non- profit developers. The Trust was authorized in 2008, then they went to other towns, 2010 they adopted their housing plans, then they spoke to developers, 2011 they looked at projects, and in 2014 Metro West joined discussions. 2015 was when the initial buyer gave up. 2017 Metro West went to the planning board. They didn't get funds the first time. Ground breaking happened in 2019. The volunteers at the Trust are not developers which made smaller projects untenable.The Trust would like to create some senior housing and move folks from the Housing Authority residence to this new project so they could renovate the Housing Authority residence. 2. Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 03.09.2022 The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee reviewed the draft minutes of meeting held on 03.09.2022. Ms. Marine moved that the committee approve the minutes of meeting held on 03.09.2022, as presented. Ms. Reisig seconded the motion.The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion 7-0-0 Roll Call Vote: MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Address by Guest Speaker Keith Bergman Ms. Marine introduced Mr. Keith Bergman to the committee. Mr. Bergman shared his slides from his MHP webinar titled: Building Your Housing Infrastructure: Helping Multiple Housing Entities Work Collaboratively.The focus of the presentation was on how housing entities could collaborate and Mr. Bergman said it is important for the committee to determine where the Trust would fit in the pantheon of housing entities in Lexington and what function it would perform. Mr. Bergman gave a list of housing entities present in Concord before MAHT was formed and explained the operations of these entities briefly. Mr. Bergman shared the SHI status of the Concord Chapter and explained the process of how the Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (CMAHT) was formed and its milestones. Concord has a Housing Foundation that raised $1M over 20 years, a Preservation Committee that received 22%of CPA funds ($27.1M) since 2004, a Housing Authority formed in 1961 that serves 375 people in 228 units, a Housing Development Corporation that was formed in 2007 and has created 83 affordable units at Christopher Heights.They are also a member of the RHSO with Lexington. The various housing agencies meet quarterly to coordinate. Mr. Bergman said that they are above the 10%SHI of 40B but need to go well beyond that to accommodate seniors in their community. It took 4 years to set up their AHT.They started off discussing how to fund the Trust in 2017.They filed a statute in 2019. They drafted the Trust by-law in 2019—2020 when it was adopted.The attorney general approved it in 2021. The Trust spent$650k towards a new Assabet River Bluff project to add new affordable units, $2.2M is the total cost, $1M for housing (5 units), $1.2M for open space. The Foundation will contribute 3 $50k and the CPA$350k.The closing will happen in July. The seller required a non-refundable deposit and the fact that the Trust had a balance made it possible. They are asking the Town for another$500k from ARPA or free cash in 2022.They weren't able to request funds from CPC due to timing. Mr. Bergman said that the Affordable Housing Funding committee realized the importance of having funds readily available when affordable home opportunities arise. Mr. Bergman explained the measures taken by CMAHT to fund the Trust and make sure the funds are readily available.The first one being to accept the statute to authorize MAHT in Concord, followed by filing home rule legislations for dedicated funding for the Trust from real estate transfer fees and building permit surcharges which they estimate will bring in $2.6M/year. Mr. Bergman said that Concord Town Meeting voted to approve a transfer of$500,000 from free cash towards affordable housing and cumulatively$1.5 M was appropriated over the last three years. Along with Boston, Somerville, Nantucket, Brookline, Provincetown, Chatham, Cambridge, and Arlington, Concord is working to create and support a real estate transfer fee.The coalition is called Local Option for Housing Affordability(LORA). Mr. Bergman explained the Affordable Housing Trust bylaw in Concord and stressed the importance of stating to act quickly when affordable housing opportunities arise. Mr. Bergman then explained how there were 5-7 trustees and that they were appointed by Select Board and how the select board approval was needed for the 3 important powers of the Trust. Mr. Bergman said that the bylaw also directed the trustees to develop policies, goals and statements that are consistent with the town's adopted housing goals and subject to approval of the Select Board. Mr. Bergman stressed that the Trust works cooperatively with the other agencies.That is one of the reasons the town authorized the Trust. Their by-law stresses this with "The Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust complements the Town's existing affordable housing efforts, entities, and programs and can act quickly when affordable housing opportunities arise." The interim town manager is on the Trust along with Keith (housing background), former chair of the select board, and president of the Housing Foundation. Concord is developing a Housing Production plan with Jenn Golden who wrote the last 2 plans. Mr. Bergman also gave examples from Littleton; and explained how Littleton brought five housing goals from their Master Plan update to Annual Town Meeting and how all of them were approved. Mr. Bergman then showed how Nantucket and Province Town achieved their affordable housing goals. Littleton allows developers to pay a fee in lieu of housing for developments between 6—20 units. Adjourn Ms. Marine moved that The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee adjourn the meeting held on March 23, 2022. Ms. Reisig seconded the motion. 4 The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion 6-0-0 Roll Call Vote: MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Meeting adjourned at 6.02pm. 5