The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2020-06-26-SPRD-min SPECIAL PERMIT RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT MEETING MINUTES June 26, 2020 Call to Order: A public hearing of the SPRD was held remotely through Zoom. The meeting convened at 9:05AM Members in Attendance: Jill Hai, Chair; Richard Canale; Scott Cooper; Matthew Daggett; Heather Hartshorn;, Joyce Murphy, Richard Perry; Taylor Singh; Betsy Weiss Staff in Attendance: Katherine Scotti, Planning Intern; Wendy Manz; Carol Kowalski Others in Attendance: Ted Brovitz AGENDA ITEM SPRD Project Analysis- Ted Brovitz DOCUMENT(S): SPRD Project Analysis Slideshow SUMMARY: Ted Brovitz shared slides of the SPRD projects dating back to 2008. He lists 27 different projects including Balanced Housing Developments, Public Benefit Developments and Sensitive Site Developments. Ted states the benefit of the existing bylaw is that it is geared to a bunch of different types of settings and projects but the affordable units are not happening. How well is the bylaw achieving the committee's value statement? MEMBER COMMENTS: Taylor Singh commented that contractors talked about open space that was to be preserved and it was only after that she realized the open space was on unbuildable wetlands. In terms of projects, she doesn't believe Pony Brook, Lincoln Woods (Grey Oaks), and Hobbs Brook achieve the goals and values of the committee. Richard Canale states they are evaluating all of these against a conventional subdivision. Grey Oaks may not appear to serve the town but it does serve the town better than the conventional. That is what the Planning Board takes into account. Also, they should look to start to benefit moderate income and define that term. Wendy: Grey Oaks is an attractive development- small units, high density- how much density are you willing to tolerate to get houses under $1 million. Likes the idea of using town owned land. Betsy Weiss: Riverwalk and cottages - which have smaller units and more density brings the price down. Emerson Garden has to be viable for the developer but there has to be some way to add a percentage of affordable units. Developments should have uniform affordable housing percentages. Scott Cooper: For smaller units and greater density. Concerned of high land cost. Cannot make affordable for the workforce population. Taylor Singh: Bylaw has not produced many affordable units. Grey Oaks scenario- see how they can get an affordable unit Ted Brovitz: Grey Oaks looks dense but it is not. Riverwalk is realistically only 1 acre of land and there are 13 units. Higher density but perception is not as such, as they are clustered. Density is a perception issue. Smaller footprint wouldn't feel dense. Richard Perry: Cost of land makes any kind of affordable housing difficult. Only way to do it is to do a percentage dedicated to low and moderate and the rest have to be market rate. Only way a developer can recuperate land cost. There is a demand for smaller houses at this time. Carol Kowalski: When a lot of communities recognize land cost as an issue they start to look at town owned land as an option. If the town wants the low/moderate income housing, then they should be doing it as well. Have to acknowledge the price of affordable restricted units will go up and income eligibility could be a requirement of units. Matthew Daggett: Site can change what a project can look like. Some projects should be denser. Affordability gap in smaller home inventory is increasing significantly. There are areas where a conventional will sell but there may be an instance where it is not suitable ie, near highway. We should understand the financial end. Richard Canale: Cedar Street only offered a conventional subdivision because land owners talked to neighborhood and that's what they wanted to see. Typical for other projects. Victory Garden-looked at options but decided it was bad for neighborhood, wanted to see big houses. Doesn't know how fruitful it is to get these types of developments in Lexington. Should look into moderate income. How do we end up with the right mix of population in the town overall? Richard also spoke and wanted to know if this was going to be ready for the fall town meeting. Jill: Should be more of a"by right"path so we don't lose out on meeting Town goals due to individual objections. Is there a way to maintain moderate income housing? Melinda Walker: Lexhab isn't the only ones who can build affordable housing, ie. Manor Housing by Brian Kelly. Joyce Murphy- Comes back to neighborhood push. Neighbors need to know what the town's goals are regarding housing. Need to push guidelines to allow for affordable units. Ted Brovitz: Less and less property around town to develop. The typical reaction is that they want something that looks like their house. They don't want multifamily housing. Next step is to discuss other options. Do basic mapping with potential lots whether privately or publicly owned. How do we look at other projects in the metro area that wouldn't be allowed today but it is something we like. Next meeting to send out more examples of successful projects. Ted will draft something for fall town meeting but it is important to get everyone on board. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None ADJOURN (10:32AM)