HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-FHC-rpt.pdf BOARD OF SELECTMEN REPORT ON THE
FAIR HOUSING RESOLUTION
ADOPTED BY THE 1981 TOWN MEETING
The Fair Housing Resolution is concerned with the issues of racial, ethnic, and
economic diversity of the population in Lexington and with encouraging the
development of reasonable priced housing The Resolution requires the Board of
Selectmen to report to the annual Town Meeting on progress in achieving fair
housing objectives
There is no data available on the numbers of racial and ethnic minorities in
Lexington since the 1980 census, which demonstrated an increase of 34% since
1970, with minorities comprising over 4% of the Town's population
Several steps have been taken in accordance with the Fair Housing Plan to
expand the opportunity for affordable housing, which in turn is intended to
lead to increased diversity of residents
1 Conveyance of the Muzzey School for 70 units of affordable housing
2 Creation of LexHAB, which has been authorized to purchase up to ten
units in the Muzzey School to be used for rental purposes LexHAB is
beginning the process of selecting units and designing eligibility
criteria
3 Beatrice Phear, Human Services Coordinator, has been designated by the
Town Manager as the Fair Housing Program Director for Lexington.
4 Regulations for accessory apartment conversion have been printed and
are available to the public Applications will start being accepted
as soon as the permit fee is established Over twenty-five homeowners
have expressed interest in creating accessory apartments in recent months.
5 Copies of the Fair Housing Laws and Codes have been distributed
6 Negotiations are underway with the developers of Potters Pond and 1(
Morrow Crossing to find a substitute plan for the creation of
affordable units in exchange for the density allowances The Lexington
Housing Authority was unable to take advantage of purchasing the
units origionally because of federal regulations
7 The Lexington Housing Authority has been granted five new State 707
certificates for rental subsidy within Lexington
8 The Franklin School Conversion Committee has been appointed and charged with
recommending reuse of the facility; it is possible that alternative modes
of housing will be considered
9 There have been no reports of complaints on Fair Housing issues during
the year
April 1984