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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-20-HPB-min Lexington Housing Partnership Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 20, 2018 Attendees: Harriet Cohen, Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti,Jeri Foutter, Mary Haskell, Paul Linton,Wendy Manz, Rich McDonough, Bob Pressman (via telephone), Melinda Walker, Betsey Weiss Absent: none The meeting was chaired by Melinda Walker and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen.The meeting was called to order at 7:37 pm. 1. Approval of minutes of January 9,2018 The LHP agreed on several minor changes to the minutes.The minutes, as amended,were approved unanimously. Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti moved the motion and Mr. Linton seconded the motion.The motion was approved with five in favor and one abstention. 2. Recap: Manor House Lottery/ Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti At the invitation of Elizabeth Rust of the Regional Housing Services Office, Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti represented LHP at the lottery for the six'first-time home buyers' units at the Manor House. Ms. Corcoran- Ronchetti 'pulled the numbers'for the lottery winners.Although they did not have to be present, Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti did meet some of the lottery winners. If any of the first six lottery winners do not acquire the units, the units will be offered to the next qualified person or persons on the waiting list. 3. Guest Presentation on a "Citizen's Article:Special Permit Residential Developments"/Matt Daggett,TMM To strengthen the Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) process, Mr. Daggett put forward a proposal with three major goals: • Stronger focus on affordable housing • Inclusion of age-restricted housing • Preservation of more open space The age-restricted housing aspect of the proposal may be removed for Town Meeting, since it is not clear that state and federal laws or regulations allow requirements for the particular form of age- restricted housing proposed. His proposal combines public benefit development and balanced housing to create a new type of SPRD with guidelines as to the number and size of the units in the SPRD. Currently,there is no guidance around the number of units. Also as part of the proposal, affordable housing is required. At the 1.5 multiplier, 15%would have to be affordable.There is also a 2x multiplier, with 20% affordable. Per the proposal,the houses will have Gross Floor(GFA) restrictions. The differences between Mr. Daggett's proposal and the existing public benefit development/ balanced housing zoning are the affordable housing requirement,the GFA restrictions, and the requirement for open space. Lexington Housing Partnership Extensive modeling and financial analysis indicates that the proposal is a viable option for the developer and may be preferable to the by-right zoning. Mr. Daggett will be making changes to reflect the input he has received. He will be presenting the updated proposal at the Planning Board meeting on Feb. 28. He anticipates the proposal will go before the Board of Selectmen on March 19. 4. Update on National Development's proposal for"senior housing"/Mr. McDonough National Development has proposed 184 housing units in total, with 15% of the units targeted for affordable housing.The proposal is for both independent living and assisted living units.The last presentation to the Planning Board was in June 2017. 5. Busa Update/Mr. Pressman Mr. Pressman reported that the Lowell Street units are out for construction bid. LexHAB is requesting additional funds based on the bids. LexHAB will be coming to the CPC for the additional funds.The funds are necessitated in part because LexHAB is now required to engage in public bidding process and to follow prevailing wage standards. 6. CPC Update/Ms. Walker Ms. Walker reported that the Community Preservation Committee will continue reviewing funding requests for Annual Town Meeting at their March 8 meeting. There is currently about$500,000.00 in the 'housing bucket.' New Business Ms. Foutter informed the Partnership that Miss Cohen is now the Treasurer of the Lexington Housing Foundation (LHF); Ms. Foutter will continue serving as the President of the foundation. Ms. Foutter said that she is in the process of obtaining a P.O. Box at the Lexington Center Post Office; the mailing address for the Foundation will no longer be in c/o of the Hancock Church. 7. Set next meeting date The next meeting will be on March 20.The focus of the discussion will be on plans for the future and possible fundraising ideas. There will also be a continued discussion on Article 42, Mr. Daggett's special permitting proposal. 8. Meeting adjournment Ms. Ronchetti moved adjournment of the meeting, Ms. Weiss seconded the motion.The motion passed unanimously.