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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-08-15-HPB-min Lexington Housing Partnership Board (HPB) Meeting Minutes for August 15, 2024 Attendees: Harriet Cohen (Clerk), Margaret Heitz, Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Paul Linton, Wendy Manz (Chair), Bob Pressman, Melanie Thompson, Betsey Weiss (Vice-Chair) Absent: Cindy Arens (Sustainable Lexington liaison), Nanette Byrnes, Rodney Cole (Capital Expenditures Committee liaison), Jill Hai (Select Board liaison), Samita Mandelia, Sarah Morrison (LexHAB), John Zhao (COA) Guests: Jay Luker, Linda Prosnitz (AHT) 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 7:05 pm. The roll was called. 2. Review and approve Annual Town Report draft Ms. Manz had previously sent a draft of the Town report. Ms. Heitz had provided feedback. The HPB discussed the draft and generally approved of the comment. The one area of substantial discussion was regarding the wording of the item on the Housing Resource Officer. Ms. Heitz will update the wording after the meeting. Also, the draft is over the word count permitted for the Annual Report. Ms. Heitz and Ms. Cohen will provide edits to reflect this feedback. Motion: Ms. Weiss moved that the HPB approve the draft with edits to be provided by Ms. Heitz and Ms. Cohen. Mr. Linton seconded the motion. In favor: Ms. Weiss, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Heitz, Mr. Hornig, Mr. Linton, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Manz Against: <none> Abstain: Mr. Pressman 3. Update on any SPRD proposals and MBTA Multifamily proposals: ▪ 5 Piper Road ▪ 89 Bedford Street ▪ 231 Bedford Street ▪ 331 Concord Avenue The Planning Board has received 6 application under the MBTA zoning. 89 Bedford Street was the first to be finalized in the site plan review that concluded on August 14, 2024. The Planning Board imposed approximately 60 conditions. No local preference for the affordable units will be required. The Planning Board has written a decision and anticipates it will be filed next week. 5 Piper Road was the first proposal to be received. The Planning Board has held two hearings to date, with a third hearing to be scheduled. The project now has 46 units rather than the 59 originally proposed with 6 affordable units rather than the 8 affordable units originally proposed. Technical planning is still in progress, though the number of units and the size and appearance of the building are likely to remain as currently proposed. The applicant has said that they will be responding to all questions from the Town staff and peer review. The next hearing is on Sept. 25. 331 Concord Avenue: This is a larger site and a larger project with 200 units, of which 30 are affordable. A lot of technical issues need to be investigated and resolved. The next hearing on this proposal is on August 28. 231 Bedford Street: This is the third application under the MBTA Communities Act. The original plan for this site had some zoning flaws that couldn’t be fixed. After discussion by the applicant and Town staff, the applicant changed the product from mixed use to residential-only. The Planning Board has not yet held a hearing on the updated plan and the staff has not yet completed their reviews, so not much to be said about this proposal at this time. The applicant is proposing 7 units, with no inclusionary units. The project is near North Lexington Brook, so the Conservation Commission will be involved in the discussions regarding 231 Bedford Street. Mr. Hornig noted that the purpose of the MBTA Act is to create more housing, whether affordable or not. 17 Hartwell Avenue: This is the first MBTA housing project on Hartwell Ave. A hearing has not yet been held. The proposal is for 312 units, of which 15% are affordable. The proposed building will replace an older low-rise commercial building. The new building will be 5 stories rather than the 6 stories allowed under the zoning. The first Planning Board hearing will be on Sept. 11. 231 Massachusetts Avenue: This is the most recent application under MBTA zoning. The proposal is for 46 units, mixed use, with retail on the first floor. It is near Munroe Brook, so there will be some Conservation Commission overview. This is the first project in East Lexington. The first hearing date has not yet been set. Mr. Hornig noted that there is a diversity of projects (from 7 units to 300 units) that are in different locations across Lexington. This helps to achieve the Planning Board the goal of having a diversity of projects and of locations in Lexington. 4. Begin review of HPB annual goals for 2024- 2025 Housing Resource Officer: Last year’s first goal was to persuade the Select Board to create and fund a part-time or full-time position for a Town Housing Officer/Director. Senior Town management supported the establishment of a Housing Resource Officer, but budget constraints did not permit one to be hired. The HPB did not come to a clear conclusion as to whether to have this as a 2024 goal. Stakeholder Land Acquisition Working Group: The second goal of the HPB last year was to establish a policy of review of all potential Town land acquisitions by a Stakeholder Land Acquisition Working Group. The HPB briefly discussed carrying this goal over to the 2024 goal set, but did not reach a conclusion. 5. Liaison Reports-COA, CPC, LexHAB, Sustainability, AHT Ms. Heitz (AHT Liaison) provided a liaison report regarding the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT). The AHT is working to meet an aggressive schedule for the affordable housing project on Lowell and North Streets. Please refer to Ms. Heitz’s report (included below) for more information. Ms. Heitz reported that Representative Ciccolo is optimistic that the legislature will approve the conversion of LexHAB to an independent not-for-profit organization. Please see the AHT liaison report below for information on H.2740 and H.2741 (to establish a surcharge on specific commercial and residential developments to fund the creation of community housing). The liaison report also includes information on the next steps for a Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF). Ms. Arens (Sustainable Lexington liaison) said in her liaison report that there had not been much movement on efforts to provide various kinds of subsidies to residents of affordable housing. She would be interested in exploring a joint effort between Sustainable Lexington and the HPB to move this work forward. 6. Review minutes for the July 18, 2024 HPB meeting Ms. Weiss moved approval of the minutes of the July 18, 2024. 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. 7. New Business Ms. Mandelia said that she was often unable to attend the Thursday evening meetings and so would withdraw from the HPB. Ms. Manz will ask Ms. Mandelia to submit a letter of resignation to the Select Board if she hasn’t already. That will notify the Select Board that the HPB has an opening. 8. Next Meeting Date The next meeting will be on Sept. 12 at 7:00 pm on Zoom. 9. Adjournment Ms. Weiss moved adjournment; Ms. Cohen 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 8:37 pm. Attachment: Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) Liaison Report Housing Partnership Board - Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) Liaison Report Margaret Heitz (heitz.up@gmail.com) AHT Meeting: 7/31/24 AHT trustees present: 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 Guests: Bob Pressman (HPB, CPC) Margaret Heitz (HPB), Abelia Wood (student, Lexington Scout) 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Reports Pending Legislation/Elaine Tung ■ Elaine and TMM Matt Daggett have been in touch with Rep. Ciccolo’s office regarding status of H.2740 and H.2741 (Home Rule petitions to implement “linkage fees” i.e., surcharge on residential and commercial development to benefit affordable housing) They have not received votes. However, as informal petitions, they still could be voted on by the legislature before the end of the session in early January 2025. [8/14/24 Update: Per Rep. Ciccolo, if the petitions are not passed this session, they must be re-authorized by town meeting before they can be re-filed next session. - MH] LexHAB/Bill Erickson ■ The recently purchased Mass Ave. property turns out to need plumbing repairs, which insurance may cover. ■ 5 properties are up for the housing lottery with 20 applicants. (Bob Pressman asked about the apparent low number of applicants. Liz Rust and others had no information, but said that MetroWest was likely the lottery agency. Carol Kowalsky said that the Town had not received an announcement about the lottery. Linda Proznitz requested information about income levels and unit sizes. Bill E. to follow up with LexHab.) ■ The vote to redesignate LexHAB as an LLC is still pending in the legislature. [8/14/24 Update: Per Rep. Ciccolo, this is the first session for the LexHab bill, so if necessary, it can just be refiled. She spoke with the relevant folks about this and hopes to see this bill move forward quickly. - MH] ■ A new property has been donated to LexHAB. ■ LexHAB is anticipating preparing its requests to the CPC for the coming year. (AHT board members briefly discussed the ongoing topic of LexHAB and LHA applying directly to CPC versus to AHT.) Lex Housing Authority/Tiffany Payne: no report Town Development office/Carol Kowalski ■ Carol alerted the board to a 7/29/24 BBJ article praising Lexington, “Lexington embraced MBTA zoning. The housing proposals are rolling in.” (Boston Business Journal, 7/29/24) [NOTE: BBJ is behind a pay wall.] Housing Needs Assessment/Liz Rust ■ Draft of the report from the Housing Needs Assessment team will be available early August. Input is requested on whether enough of the right data is collected and how to present the data (video 0:14:20). Met with IT and Carol Kowalski regarding how to best present the Affordable Housing information on the town’s web site. [Team: Melinda Walker (LHA), Tiffany Payne (AHT), Nanette Byrnes (HPB), Kathryn Roy (CPC), Sarah Morrison (LexHAB), Carol Kowalski (Asst. Town Manager/ Development)] Housing Partnership Board/Bob Pressman (video 0:17:18) ■ Bob reported to the HPB at the July meeting on the RFP schedule/time starting with the site walk for developers on 7/23; Charles Hornig gave information on four proposed MBTA projects including the prevalence of ledge on some sites. Margaret Heitz added that LOHA (local option for housing affordability coalition) is considering how an RETF- type bill might be approached in the next legislative session. LOHA suggested that communities in a region might share strategies. FY2024 fiscal report/Elaine Tung ■ See below. Additional reports including audited reports will be needed starting in September. They will also be needed for the November 2024 CPC application. Parcel #68-44 development ■ For the RFP and related documents, go to https://lexingtonma.gov/bids.aspx?bidID=106 ■ (video 0:25:46) AHT board members commented on the July 23 site walk with individuals or teams of development professionals (company heads, architects, civil engineers). Generally, members felt there was a good turnout with a variety of good companies. 28 applicants attended the 1-hour tour, which took people by bus to and from the site. Carol Kowalski, Karen Mullens (conservation) and Bill Erickson attended for Lexington. Some particular Interest was expressed in the wetland boundaries. The group appeared to be excited about the site. ■ The bidder conference at the Town Office Building following the site walk was attended by fewer people, though some said they’d attend via Zoom. ■ (video 0:31:20—1:45:06) The board reviewed the pre-bid questions submitted by developers (or posed during site visit) and discussed responses to each question. Before the meeting Carol Kowalski created a document, “Compiled Lowell Street RFP Questions” and during the meeting entered the board’s responses. ■ Timeline: The deadline for submitting proposals in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) is August 22. The proposal review group (see final bullet) begins reviewing and evaluating proposals against evaluation criteria on August 22. Interviews with developers (including public), first 2-3 weeks in September. Select Board review to begin after the third week of September. The Town’s goal is to make the award by the Select Board during the week of Oct. 14-18, so that the developer could apply for credits in this calendar year. Elizabeth Mancini, Procurement Director for Lexington, will evaluate incoming proposals for adherence to procurement standards before passing on acceptable proposals to the SB. ■ Elaine Tung plans to recommend the following seven people to the SB as the proposal review group: Mark Sandeen (AHT), head; Linda Proznitz (AHT); Carol Kowalski (Asst. TM) Michael Schanbacher (PB), Sean Osborne (Appropriations); Carol Marine (CHAPA); Bob Pressman (HPB, CPC). MBTA/SRD/ADU buydown ■ Developers are okay with the number of requested affordable units in proposed projects. Developers have offered to assist with researching and providing information about economics of buying down market rate rental units to make them affordable. ■ A Lexington resident has proposed that the town have a grant program to make ADUs affordable in exchange for a deed restriction. Liz Rust discussed what Lincoln tried to do for many years, but abandoned partly because homeowners often are not open to a lottery for ADU occupants. Tiffany raised complications involving restrictions: e.g., landlord training. Resident Support Program ■ Last discussed 11/9/23. ■ What are possibilities of developing assistance programs that are not already covered by something else? Tiffany, Linda, and Liz to look into other programs (through Human Services?). Bill, Tiffany, and Liz investigated programs along with Cindy Arens related to sustainability in housing development. Bill has notes on conversations he could submit to Trust. Becoming a resource may be out of AHT’s scope. Tiffany commented on LexHAB’s initiatives regarding installing solar panels and eliminating oil tanks. But is LHA taking advantage? Mark stated that the combination of solar and heat pumps makes sense. Getting information to people in affordable housing, especially low-income residents, is a hard challenge ■ Tiffany raised the issue of ongoing violations of the Section 8 voucher program by landlords. Liz Rust discussed Fair Housing testing, which is a topic for a future meeting. ---------------end