Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-05-05-HPB-min Meeting Minutes for May 5, 2022 Attendees: Paul Linton, Harriet, Jeri, Betsey Weiss, Joe Pato, Melanie Thompson, Wendy Manz, John Zhao, Mary Haskell Guests: Maureen Rynn, Charles Hornig Absent: Bob Burbidge, Melanie Thompson The Housing Partnership Board (HPB) meeting was chaired by Jeri Foutter and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen. 1. Call to Order: Housing Partnership Board Meeting Ms. Foutter called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and the roll was called. 2. Passage of OSRD at TM Mr. Hornig reported: The Planning Board is working on regulations to implement the OSRD. The new zoning is in effect but must be approved by the AG. A proposal for the new regulations is due in September or October. 3. Land Acquisition Subcommittee Ms. Weiss reported: The committee met on April 26 and are still working on the policy proposal. Will be provided to the HPB and then sent to Ms. Kowalski for her comments. Presentation to be created. And then to the committees. 4. Affordable Housing Resources (formerly Community Housing Specialist) Subcommittee There was no update for the Affordable Housing Resources Subcommittee 5. HPB Charge & Membership Ms. Foutter reported that the Human Rights Committee has agreed to provide a liaison to the HPB (Stephanie Hsu), as has Sustainable Lexington (Cindy Arens) 6. Board Member Updates Planning Board: Mr. Hornig reported: The Planning Board met last night to discuss its work plan. The first item of business is the Comprehensive Plan which has a housing component. The goal is to present the Comprehensive Plan at a public meeting in the fall. The Planning Board will be addressing the MBTA housing requirement following the Comprehensive Plan, when further guidance is available from the state on the implementation requirements. SPRD: Ms. Weiss reported: The committee met yesterday. The committee is assessing two different paths for the SPRD: Site Sensitive and an Alternate. The Alternate path is going to be developed to show what could have been possibly built at 6 Elliott and at 53 Hancock St. The committee anticipates that it will hold is to have public hearings shortly, obtain community input, and incorporate the community ideas. The committee's goal is to provide additional options to builders so there are housing developments other than the conventional large single family home development. Early versions of draft proposals have been written. The committee is putting them into presentable format prior to public meetings. Both proposals would permit some multi-family housing. LexHAB: Mr. Pressman reported: LexHAB met yesterday. They discussed approaches that could be taken reconstitute LexHAB such that it is not a town entity. This would give them more latitude to create affordable housing. As a town entity LexHAB is required to have Select Board approval to purchase a property. The approval process typically takes a few weeks. By that time, the property has been sold to another purchaser. COA: Mr. Zhao reported: the COA yesterday. Gary Fallick and other members of the Lexington at Home (LAH) group presented to the COA regarding seniors needs for aging at home. (LAH is a group of older residents working together to be able to age in place.) LAH would like to work with COA and the Town to improve seniors abilities to age in place. Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (AHTSC): Randy Johnson from Natick presented to the AHT in Natick. The presentation is available on LexMedia. The AHTSC has a draft proposal. It will continue working on the proposal. 7. New Business Ms. Haskell: HPB has, in the past, taken positions to express them before the SB and TM, but also writing letters to the community. It is now unclear how to communicate to the community. This comment is prompted by the recent discussions on the TMMA mailing lists and the lex- polrel list. The HPB created a working group consisting of Ms. Foutter, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Haskell, and Ms. Cohen. The working group will draft a response on these two issues. Mr. Pressman reported on two articles in the Boston Globe talking about housing stress for many households. 8. Approval of Minutes Ms. Weiss moved approval of the minutes of April 7, 2022. Ms. Cohen seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously with abstentions by Ms. Thompson and Mr. Pressman. 9. Set Next Meeting The next meeting will be on May 19 and then on June 9. 10. Adjournment Ms. Weiss moved adjournment; Ms. Cohen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.