Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-08-14-HPB-min.pdf Lexington Housing Partnership Board (HPB) Meeting Minutes for August 14, 2025 Attendees: Nanette Byrnes, Harriet Cohen (Clerk), Margaret Heitz, Ravneet Grewal, Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Wendy Manz (Chair), Sarah Morrison (LexHAB), Joyce Murphy, Melanie Thompson, Betsey Weiss (Vice-Chair) Absent: Cindy Arens (Sustainable Lexington), Paul Linton Guests: Sandra Hackman, Carol Kowalski (Assistant Town Manager for Development), Jay Luker, Linda Prosnitz (Affordable Housing Partnership), Elaine Tung (AHT) Voting template: In favor: Against: Abstain: The Housing Partnership Board (HPB) meeting was chaired by Wendy Manz and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen. The meeting was held as a hybrid meeting (in-person in the Town Office Building Parker Room and remotely by Zoom teleconference). 1. Call to Order: Housing Partnership Board Meeting Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. The roll was called. 2. Welcome new HPB member Ravneet Grewal Mr. Zhao has resigned from the HPB. Ms. Hackman is representing the COA at this meeting. Ms. Manz welcomed Ravneet Grewal to the HPB. 3. Update from the August 7th meeting with Carol and Liz and discussion of draft Housing Policy and Strategy for the SB The HPB discussed the difference between missing middle (related to housing form factor) and housing for a wide range of incomes. The HPB reviewed the current housing market situation. Ms. Manz then asked the attendees to describe the housing strategies they viewed as most important. Mr. Hornig said that we need to create housing diversity, i.e., a wide variety of housing. ADUs are an area in which we can accomplish progress by permitting private property owners to create more housing. Ms. Grewal said that Lexington should not try to control the market artificially, instead, the Town should use incentives to address mission-driven developers and work on developing relationships with mission-driven developers. Ms. Murphy pointed out that residents are sensitive to the amount of new housing that has been permitted. ADUs are a great way to get residents to get rental income and is another form of housing. The Town should investigate ways to make permitting less expensive. She also said that there should be a focus on new units that can be purchased rather than rented, to give residents a stake in the Town. Ms. Thompson advocated for more housing between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, priced between $1M and $2M. This would provide smaller – but not small – homes. Ms. Heitz pointed out the need for bringing more street life to the Marrett Square area, with mixed retail and residential housing if that is possible without having very tall buildings. The Town should value the importance of street life and people getting out of their houses. Ms. Byrnes spoke to the need for Lexington Center zoning for mixed retail and residential buildings. Communication is critically important. She also spoke to the need to talk to town residents to get their input on the type of housing they would like to see. She said that the HPB should advocate for a near term and long term plan with staff and budget. Ms. Hackman pointed out that mixed use is important and that the Town should focus on making Hartwell Avenue more of a neighborhood. She also spoke to the need for Lexington Center zoning with appropriate scale to the neighborhood. Ms. Cohen said that the HPB should provide policies and strategies to implement those policies, many of which had been previously mentioned. She also agrees with the real importance of Town-wide communication and education. Ms. Weiss stated her support for Lexington Center zoning, missing middle housing, reaching 10% truly affordable housing, and ADUs. Ms. Morrison also noted the need to encourage diverse housing typology, including multi-family development in the center and that HPB should continue to advocate for funding for very affordable housing. She pointed out that education and public relations about housing needs in Lexington are needed on a continuing basis, with the education also on what affordable housing is, multi-family housing, and what missing middle housing is. Ms. Morrison also advocated for a planned approach to preserve what people love about Lexington, like green space. Multi-family housing preserves green space, doesn’t encroach on it. Ms. Prosnitz said that Lexington should invest small amounts of Town money to leverage additional funding from other sources, as was done for the development on New Street in Cambridge. She pointed out the need to distinguish among the different types of houses – be clear about what types of housing are meant. Carol Kowalski said it was important to explain the calculus behind missing middle housing. It is similarly important to communicate the complexity of financing affordable and other diverse housing types. Ms. Manz agreed that communication and education are very important. She said that we should note that much progress has been made over the last several years. The HPB should establish goals and suggest them to the SB. Over the next year, the HPB should develop a full community education program, pulling housing stakeholders into a community discussion. Use the next 6 months in which the Town will be focused on funding for the high school to build a campaign to engage the community in this project, from a moral, civic, and economic standpoint. The HPB discussed how we could engage with the community. The HPB discussed the process for moving forward. Ms. Manz asked the HPB to send their comments, thoughts, priorities, and goals to Ms. Manz by midnight on Aug. 18. Ms. Manz will collate the comments. Ms. Manz will talk with Jill Hai about a timeline for moving forward. 4. Discuss presentation, assignments, and a date for an October Community meeting on the Housing Needs Assessment and other possible housing topics, with LexHAB and any other housing groups LexHAB is asking for HPB’s assistance in developing a program speaking to some aspect of housing, possibly the Housing Needs Assessment. Ms. Manz asked Ms. Byrnes to be the convener of a working group and for members of the HPB to contact Ms. Byrnes if they are interested in participating in the working group. Ms. Byrnes will work with Ms. Morrison to select a date for the presentation. 5. Reports from Working Groups 1-4 Housing Needs Assessment: Ms. Byrnes reported that Cindy Arens asked questions regarding some of the calculations in the Housing Needs Assessment Report. The questions were sent to Liz Rust of RHSO. Ms. Rust has not yet responded. Ms. Murphy sent the questions to Ms. Kowalski to determine if Ms. Kowalski’s office can respond. There were no other working group reports at this meeting. 6. Liaison Report There were no liaison reports at this meeting. 7. Review and approve minutes for June 18,2025 Ms. Weiss moved approval of the June 18 minutes. Ms. Murphy seconded the motion. In favor: Ms. Byrnes, Ms. Cohen, Mr. Hornig, Ms. Manz, Ms. Murphy, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Weiss Against: <none> Abstain: Ms. Heitz, Ms. Morrison, Ms. Grewal 8. New Business There was no new business. 9. Set next meeting The HPB will meet on August 21, 2025 at 5:00 pm on Zoom The HPB will meet on August 28 in person at 7:00 pm. 10. HPB Adjournment Ms. Heitz moved adjournment. Ms. Weiss seconded the motion. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the HPB voted by roll call of 10-0-0 to approve the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 pm.