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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-02-01-HPB-min Lexington Housing Partnership Board (HPB) Meeting Minutes for February 1, 2024 Attendees: Nanette Byrnes, Harriet Cohen (Clerk), Margaret Heitz, Jill Hai (Select Board liaison), Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Wendy Manz (Chair), Bob Pressman, Betsey Weiss (Vice Chair), John Zhao (COA). Absent: Cindy Arens (Sustainable Lexington liaison), Paul Linton, Samita Mandelia, Sarah Morrison (LexHAB), Melanie Thompson Guests: Abby McCabe (Planning Director), Linda Prosnitz (AHT), Kathryn Roy The Housing Partnership Board (HPB) meeting was chaired by Wendy Manz and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen. The meeting was held remotely via Zoom teleconference. 1. Call to Order: Housing Partnership Board Meeting Ms. Manz called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The roll was called. 2. Report on site visit to Widnall property Ms. Weiss and Ms. Manz joined the Conservation Committee in walking the property belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Widnall. The Widnalls are considering selling to the Town the back part of their property, which fronts on Follen Road. The portion of the property that is being considered for sale may not be suitable for housing because it is steep and wooded. While the parcel under consideration may not be suitable for housing, Ms. Manz notes that she was pleased that the HPB was invited to do the walk through, as a test of the proposed land acquisition policy. Mr. Pressman noted that the parcel can be reached along Follen Road. According to Mr. Pressman, Ms. Weiss has previously said that LexHAB had assessed that parcel for housing and did not think building housing on it would be financially viable. 3. Report on AHT Neighborhood Meeting re North St. Ms. Heitz attended via Zoom; Ms. Manz attended the meeting in person. Ms. Manz estimated that 15 to 20 people were at the meeting. The attendees were mostly abutters. Ms. Heitz said that Ms. Tung gave an overview of the project as it stands today. The abutters asked as to how many units would be built. Ms. Tung said that no decisions have been made, that the AHT would be creating an RFP to explore the housing possibilities, but there was a potential for 50 units. The neighbors raised issues of density and traffic. Ms. Rust said that the concerns that the neighbors raised were very similar to concerns raised by neighbors to other similar projects. Several attendees at the meeting said they thought the tone of the meeting was not cordial. Ms. Hai said that the next morning the Board and Ms. Hai received letters with objections to the plan. Ms. Hai has written back to the person who had written to the Board, laying out the process for development of the land, should that happen. Mr. Zhao said that letters objecting to use of the land for housing have been sent to Precinct 5 Town Meeting members and possibly to Precinct 6 Town Meeting members. Ms. Prosnitz noted it was not a meeting of the AHT because they did not have a quorum. The neighbors’ objections were not a surprise, though Ms. Prosnitz did note that there was a lot of emotion in the meeting. The AHT is preparing an FAQ to address the concerns and to show that the AHT is taking note of them. Ms. Prosnitz asked for the HPB’s support at the many upcoming meetings about the Lowell Street projects. The members of the HPB then asked questions of Ms. Prosnitz. 4. Warrant Article 33: Authorize AHT to seek Affordable Housing Ms. Prosnitz asked for a letter of support regarding Article 33. Ms. Manz asked for the HPB’s sense as to whether the Board should support the article with a letter. Ms. Hai clarified that Article 33 both designates the land for affordable housing and authorizes the Select Board to provide the land to the AHT. Mr. Pressman added that the article also says that an RFP will be issued. Ms. Cohen moved that Ms. Manz or her designee write a letter of support of article 33. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the HPB voted by roll call of 8-0-0 to approve the motion. 5. Report on outreach to Michelle Ciccolo on receipt of Lexington SB RETF letter Ms. Heitz reported that Ms. Ciccolo submitted the Select Board’s letter of support for the RETF to the legislative hearing regarding the RETF. 6. Report on Fair Housing Webinar This discussion was deferred to a later meeting. 7. Report on SB receipt of Housing Feasibility Study on Town-Owned Land, brief summary of content, discussion of next steps Ms. Byrnes reported on the presentation by LDA Architects of the study of 3 town-owned properties: the Depot parking lot in Central Lexington, the parking lot across from the bike trail from the depot parking lot behind the CVS, and all or a portion of 171 to 173 Bedford Street, currently being used as a temporary police station. The report makes the case that there is demand but not supply for affordable housing. LDA views this as a marketing failure. The Town set the parameters for the LDA Architects study. These included but were not limited to optimizing for number of units and also for assessing a given mix of one, two, and three- bedroom units. LDA concluded that, for a variety of reasons, mixed income housing is not economically feasible on the lots in the center of Town. Mixed income housing is feasible on 171 to 173 Bedford Street, but that property may be required for other uses, for example, using the property for swing space for Town school offices. Ms. Hai added that the Select Board pushed back on the feasibility for commercial development. The SB also pushed back on the presumption that $6M be spent on making 173 Bedford Street suitable for swing space. The Town has issued an RFP for quotes on renting office space rather than using 173 Bedford Street. Mr. Pressman commented that on one occasion the Town Manager anticipated that the rental information would be available at the end of February. Ms. Hai had asked at the Select Board meeting if housing could be added at the back of the 173 Bedford Street lot. At this time, that does not appear to be feasible. Ms. Heitz put forward the position that the Housing Partnership Board should support using 173 Bedford Street for housing instead of as swing space. Ms. Manz suggested that this topic be discussed at the next HPB meeting when we have information as to whether rental space will be used. 8. Warrant Article 27: Appropriate for Renovation of 173 Bedford Street This will be discussed at the next meeting. 9. Warrant Articles 50 and 51: Amend Zoning Bylaw, GFA Definition and Overlay Districts Mr. Hornig: Articles 50 and 51 specify adjustments to the village overlay zoning based on feedback from staff and that the EOHLC deemed the feasibility study as inadequate. Mr. Hornig said that the EOHLC did not approve 15% affordable. The new feasibility study said that larger developments would need to be 15% affordable and smaller units would require 10% affordability. The other change modifies the circumstances under which a height bonus would be awarded for mixed-use development. The original zoning did not address several edge cases. Mr. Hornig also noted that hearings will be held on Articles 52 and 53. Both are related to landowner petitions to add properties to the MFO district. Adding the properties to the MFO district would permit multi-family housing to be built on those parcels. The Planning Board will be holding a hearing regarding these modifications on Feb. 7. Mr. Hornig encouraged everyone to attend the meeting. Ms. Weiss requested that the HPB vote in support of the 15% / 10% change. Ms. Manz suggested that we have the vote at the March meeting. 10. Lyceum Jan. 30th event- Affordable Housing panel and movie Mr. Pressman noted that Ms. Kluchman on the panel was a chair of the HPB. She made a presentation focusing on the many positive elements in the bond bill. Ms. Tung gave an excellent presentation about the AHT. Tiffany Payne spoke about the difficulties of obtaining housing when someone can’t afford MA rents or purchases. Ms. Heitz said that she thought the breakout sessions were useful and informative. Ms. Manz said that it was very helpful to have meetings such as this one to reach people about affordable housing and why it’s needed. She noted that we need to have more such meetings. Ms. Pressman and Ms. Manz spoke about the video that was showed at the start of the meeting. The video is “Segregated by Design (https://vimeo.com/328684375/description). There were about 50 attendees, many of them housing advocates. 11. Liaison Updates Liaison reports were sent to the HPB prior to the meeting for ▪ Affordable Housing Trust (Ms. Heitz) The report is in an attachment below. Planning Board: as noted above. Also, the Planning Board has received the first SPRD application. LexHAB: no report. Council on Aging (COA): no report Sustainable Lexington Committee: no report Affordable Housing Trust (AHT): as noted above. Community Preservation Committee (CPC): no report. 12. New Business Ms. McCabe asked for time to update the Board on the first SPRD application. The Planning Board hearings are scheduled for March 13 and 16. The project is at 28 Meriam Street and 32 Edgewood Drive. There are currently two houses on both lots. The proposal is to keep the large home at 28 Meriam. It will be preserved and converted into two units. One will be an inclusionary unit with 4 bedrooms. The house at 32 Edgewood will be demolished and replaced by three new buildings, two with three condos and one with two condos. The inclusionary unit will be available for 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and will be deed restricted. Ms. Manz said that an agenda item to further discuss the SPRD application will be added to the agenda for the next meeting. 13. Approve Minutes of January 11, 2024 Ms. Weiss moved approval of the minutes of January 11. Ms. Heitz seconded the motion. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the HPB voted by roll call of 8-0-0 to approve the motion. 14. Next Meeting Date The next meeting will be on March 7, 2024 at 7:00 pm on Zoom. 15. Adjournment Ms. Weiss moved adjournment; Mr. Zhao seconded the motion. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the HPB voted by roll call of 8-0-0 to approve the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm. Attachments: Liaison Reports Affordable Housing Trust (Margaret Heitz) HPB/Housing Partnership Board - Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) Liaison Report 1/31/24 Margaret Heitz (heitz.up@gmail.com), Liason Period covered: from January 11, 2024 to January 31 (1/12, 1/16 (meeting with Lowell Street neighbors at Lex Community Center), 1/17, 1/22,,1/31) AHT trustees: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, William Erickson, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Analyst Housing consultant: Elizabeth Rust, RHSO Videos of meetings available from https://www.lexmedia.org/programming/on-demand/ AHT-approved minutes posted when available: https://records.lexingtonma.gov/weblink/0/fol/2770358/Row1.aspx ----------------------------------------------------------------------- • Lowell Street Project Tue., 1/16 Lexington Community Center/ Presentation and conversation led by AHT Chair Elaine Tung with neighbors of the town-owned parcel at the northeast corner of North and Lowell Streets (parcel 68-44) proposed by AHT for affordable housing development. Focused on aspects of the project including wetland and feasibility studies and others. Attendees made many comments and raised concerns. … On Wed., 1/17 at its meeting AHT spent a substantial part of their time debriefing what they heard and learned at the meeting with neighbors and how to factor the input into future communications and planning. Liz Rust (RHSO director) said that what the neighbors expressed was very typical of comments and concerns by citizens in other towns facing the prospect of new housing development; e.g., impact on schools, traffic, home values. • ARTICLE 33 AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO SEEK AFFORDABLE HOUSING The AHT submitted the article on 1/18, the town’s deadline for the warrant. The article not only asks Town Meeting to approve designating parcel 68-44 on Lowell Street for affordable housing development but also to authorize the Select Board to serve as project overseers, an unprecedented role for the SB at least in housing development. (The objective is to promote a more efficient project because it will avoid the need to go back to Town Meeting for decisions; e.g., approval of the RFP to developers.) The AHT developed presentation slides and a video in support of Article 33, which are posted under General Articles on the Town Meeting website. It has made or is scheduled to make presentations at town committee— e.g., Appropriations, Capital Expenditures—and seeks their endorsement. An FAQ: The AHT is currently working on an FAQ (frequently asked questions) document to answer a range of known and anticipated questions from both Town Meeting members and town residents about the Lowell Street Project. The FAQ is expected to be posted on the town website and updated as information is available. The trustees are discussing at length at what level of detail should the FAQ discuss the project and how it should be organized. As a final note: One expected question regards how long it will take to create the planned affordable housing on Lowell Street. The trustees asked Liz. Rust for her estimate based on long experience. To paraphrase her response: You’re not going to create housing quickly with this--- the current way you’re proceeding--as a process. Every town’s culture is different. When pressed by AHT trustees for examples of towns that produce housing at a different pace, she mentioned Bedford. Housing Needs Assessment Liz Rust, working with Carol Kowalski, a grant for $10,000 to conduct a housing needs assessment beginning this spring. The HPB alongside the other housing committees will be asked to participate. AHT trustee Tiffany Payne asked that the Human Services Department be included. Next posted AHT meeting: Thursday., 2/15, 4-5:30pm: Article #33 Information Session for Precincts 5 & 6 Town Meeting Members and Lowell St/North St. neighbors