HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-07-27-AHOC-min.pdf AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS COMMITTEE
Meeting of July 27 1989
The fourth meeting of the Affordable Housing Options Committee was
held on Thursday July 27 in the Selectmen s Meeting Room at 8:00 PM. The
meeting began by dividing up into its two task forces which then proceeded
to convene separately to pursue their respective agendas for the next hour
and a quarter
The Techniques and Strategies Task Force devoted its efforts to
classifying possible techniques and strategies into a matrix as proposed by
the Planning Director This matrix organizes housing development
techniques under the headings of Construction. Land and Finance and by
horizontal groupings, according to their readiness for application, ranging
from 'Off the Shelf to Not Promising. The results of the group s
deliberations, as expanded in a subsequent session, are shown on the
attached table
The Goals and Policies Task Force used its meeting time to look at
land use policy in the context of other Town policies as a way of reaching
conclusions on how much land might be used for affordable housing. The
group also continued work on its proposed needs assessment and related
questionnaire.
Robert Bowyer spoke briefly to each of the task forces on a recent
meeting he had attended of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Two
subjects which were addressed at that meeting were• a) requirements for a
local housing plan, and b) techniques to promote housing which do not
involve state subsidies.
Under the latter heading, a number of communities have pushed the
concept of having local banks provide below market interest rates, with no
points and reduced attorneys fees fur permanent mortgages. Banks have
also been persuaded to accept a higher percentage of family income being
devoted to housing costs - up to 35%. Another technique has been to F
develop instruments to help families provide money for down payments.
Homeowner clubs and employer assistance have been used to help families
get their finances in shape
Bob Bowyer also reported that housing programs had mostly
survived' cuts in the state budget but that applications for such funds were
going to be very competitive.
The two task forces reconvened at 9:20 in full committee session.
After each task force had given a short progress report, committee members
were asked their views on how the Town could get the most affordable
housing withleast impact on the land.
There followed a discussion of the potential contribution of accessory
apartments to easing Lexington s housing shortage Jan Brandin pointed out
that there were 2200 housing units in the Town which could qualify fur
accessory apartments. If five percent of these units were to add on
apartments, that would yield 110 new lower cost units. Questions were
raised as to the affordability of the accessory units and the obstacles to
constructing them under the provisions of the current by-law It was felt
that, to generate a significant increase in the number of accessory
apartments, it would be necessary to provide assistance to home owners in
getting through the complexities of financing and construction. This led to a
discussion of the need for publicizing the possibilities of accessory units and
a suggestion for creating a video presentation on constructing them along the
lines of This Old House A question was also raised as to whether the
pursuit of the accessory apartment approach would contribute to Town
Meeting s objective of increasing ethnic diversity
The meeting then turned its attention to the Options Committee s need
to communicate on a continuing basis with Town Meeting members and with
other interested Town residents. Sara Schoman presented a draft of a
possible news article which she had made available to the Minute-man. It
was agreed that this article should be followed up by letters to the editor
and that the Committee should also find ways to communicate directly with
Town Meeting members.
The meeting was adjourned at 10.10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Eddison