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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-01-22-HPB-min.pdf Lexington Housing Partnership Board (HPB) Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2026 Attendees: Cindy Arens (Sustainable Lexington), Nanette Byrnes, Harriet Cohen (Clerk), Ravneet Grewal, Sandra Hackhman (COA), Chris Herbert, Paul Linton, Wendy Manz (Chair), Linda Prosnitz (AHT liaison), Michael Schanbacher (Planning Board), Melanie Thompson, Russ Tanner (LexHAB), Betsey Weiss (Vice- Chair) Absent: Margaret Heitz, Vineet Kumar (Select Board liaison), Joyce Murphy Guests: Dawn McKenna, Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Elaine Tung (AHT) Michael Schanbacher joined at 7:09. Russ Tanner at 7:14 pm 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. 1. Call to Order: Housing Partnership Board Meeting Ms. Manz called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The roll was called. 2. Progress reports of the 4 Working Groups for the SB Housing Policy and any specific actions that need to be voted on by the HPB Achieving 10% affordable: Elizabeth Rust calculated that we are 502 units short of 10% affordable. Building that many units requires approximately 10 Lowell Street-sized complexes. Unfortunately, there is very little town-owned land on which to build. The Lowell Street development will provide 40 affordable units and another 52 are permitted, so the 502 units number comes down to 410 units. 109 units of affordable housing have been proposed in the developments that have been submitted to the Planning Board, but it is unclear as to whether they will be built. One way to obtain more housing is to use an Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) district, with density bonuses and other incentives, with the requirement that the developer build 100% affordable. This would have to be done in conjunction with subsidies to the developers as it is not economically feasible to build a small number of affordable units without subsidies. Cambridge has created AHOs and Arlington is exploring the creation of AHOs. The Achieving 10% Affordable Subcommittee will recommend that the Town investigate this approach, including the investigation of sources of subsidies. Exploring housing in the Center: Input to date is that there is strong support for additional housing in Lexington Center. The subcommittee spoke with 3 developers to get their input on creating more housing in the Center. Two near term suggestions (1): broaden the composition of the HDC to include one or more members that have an economic perspective and a housing perspective; (2) to make a zoning change such that buildings on side streets be allowed to have residential on the first floor, which is not currently permitted. At this time, residential is more in demand than retail. As a longer-term effort, create a broadly diverse committee to address housing in the Town Center. Another long-term approach is to implement form-based zoning, which would allow development appropriate to the different areas of the Town Center. The 1956 Special Act governs the historic district. The frozen parcels in the historic district are allowed to be 52 feet or 4 stories. This statue governs rather than the HDC guidelines, which are guidelines only and cannot be imposed by the HDC. As such, the HDC does not have the authority to limit height in the Center (other than as governed by the zoning). Smaller, more diverse, less expensive housing: the most viable option beyond the Special Residential Permit (SRD) is Chapter 40Y in Section 89 of Chapter 268 of the Acts of 2022 – which allows the creation of overlays that prevent the teardown of smaller houses to build very large, expensive homes, thus preserving less expensive housing. There are payments to the Town at various Chapter 40Y milestones. The subcommittee is also looking at how the state regulations on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) could be implemented. Ms. Thompson noted that discussion at the Planning Board is ongoing with respect to implementing the ADU zoning regulations. The PB is also assessing whether to modify the SRD zoning as there have only been two SRD developments proposed. Finally, for the longer term, the Planning Board is looking at implementing zoning for cluster housing. There will likely be a November 2026 ballot question as to whether to require that towns allow housing on lots of 5,000 square feet. Communication, education, and community engagement: The subcommittee is working on structuring a program to introduce the new concepts that the subcommittees may bring forward. The subcommittee is also working on a more comprehensive website for the HPB. The subcommittee met with the “Design Hive”, a group at the high school who are interested in design. This group is very interested in building the website and the subcommittee will continue to meet with them. The students are going to take field trips to take pictures of new housing developments in Lexington for inclusion on the website. The HPB had some suggestions as to items to be considered for the new website and suggestions on the implementation. Ms. Manz asked each of the groups to prepare a report on their activities in preparation for a presentation and report to the Select Board. Ms. Cohen said she would provide a presentation template. 3. Summary and discussion of Jan.8, 2026 ZBA meeting update on Lexington Woods The ZBA was very positive on the proposal. Subsequent to the meeting, the ZBA approved the proposal. There is now an appeal period on the proposal before it becomes final. 4. Summary and discussion of Dec. 4,2025- HDC meeting on Clarke St In response to HDC suggested changes, there is a new design for the building. The design is now for two three-story buildings with sub-surface parking. This is one story shorter than the original design while taking up more area on the site. Discussion of the new design will continue at a later HDC meeting. 5. Discussion and vote on sending out RFP email to SB on Vine St. The subcommittee requested that this item be tabled. 6. Discussion of sending a letter to the Select Board asking them to write Rept. Ciccolo to cosponsor H.3056 RETF legislation Ms. Heitz is working on gaining passage of the Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF) legislation. Ms. Heitz was unable to attend this meeting, so the item was tabled. 7. Liaison Reports CPC: Mr. Linton: one article for TM has been drafted with the CPA-requested fundings. It is Article 10. Sustainable Lexington: Ms. Arens: House bill 4744 was brought forward with no hearing. It has some damaging items with respect to housing and the environment, for example to cut MassSave funding. MassSave has save Massachusetts rate payers close to $40 billion since 2016 in lower energy costs. The funding cut will directly impact any resident who is energy-burdened. Ms. Arens spoke with Representative Ciccolo regarding the proposed legislation. Affordable Housing Trust: Ms. Prosnitz: the AHT is continuing to talk with developers regarding buy-downs. A few weeks ago, an RFQ was issued for a tenant assistance program for rental tenants who are burdened by housing costs. This is for a pilot program. If successful, it will likely be expanded. LexHAB: LexHAB is preparing for a lottery solicitation to refresh the waiting list. LexHAB is underway on construction at a Douglas Road property that was purchased with assistance from the AHT. LexHAB is also applying for grants to build ADUs on three LexHAB-owned properties. The state has been providing very favorable feedback. Planning Board: Mr. Schanbacher: the Planning Board will be working on zoning amendments over the course of the year. Work has started on ADUs and SRDs with a goal of creating warrants for a future Town Meeting. The Planning Board had its first meeting for the application for 475 Bedford Street. The general sense is that the design needs improvement. The design calls for 150 ownership units with 22 affordable units. 8. Review and approve minutes for Nov. 20, 2025 and Dec. 18, 2025 Ms. Weiss moved approval of the minutes for both Nov. 20 and Dec. 18. Ms. Byrnes seconded the motion. In favor: Ms. Weiss, Ms. Byrnes, Ms. Grewal, Mr. Linton, Mr. Herbert, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Hackman, Ms. Manz Against: <none> Abstain: Ms. Cohen, Mr. Schanbacher Harriet, Michael abstain, everyone else yes. Russ Tanner not present. 9. New Business There was no new business. 10. Set Next Meeting Date The next meeting will be on Feb. 19, 2026 at 7:00 pm on Zoom. 11. HPB Adjournment Ms. Weiss moved adjournment. Ms. Cohen 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 adjourned at 8:54 pm.