HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-01-06-HPB-min.docx (working group)
Housing Partnership Board – Jan 6, 2026, Achieving 10% Working Group Minutes
Meeting was called to order at 4:03pm by Betsey Weiss and seconded by Harriet Cohen.
Roll call taken and all members present: Betsey Weiss, Harriet Cohen, Margaret Heitz, and Chris Herbert.
Carol Kowalski was also present.
Margaret met with Carol after our last meeting to discuss status of Vine Street and the Armory property
as potential sites for housing. With regard to Vine Street, Carol reported that LexHAB had design plans
done about 8 years ago for the site and found that the cost of development was quite high because of
the limited access to the site and the low feasible number of units on the site. The town still owns the
site, and it has not been conveyed to LexHAB. 2025 Annual Town Meeting did approve that the SB could
send out an RFP for affordable housing on Vine Street, but no further action has been taken by the
town or the SB. It was suggested that the HPB inquire with the Select Board about moving the process
for using the site for affordable housing forward.
With regard to the Armory site, it is still being used by the National Guard so it is not clear whether it
could potentially be made available to the town. Carol Kowalski offered to check with Sarah Felton at
DCAM to see it might be worth inquiring about the potential of the site being made available to the
town at some point. Margaret will also contact Michelle Ciccolo to see if she might be able to inquire
with the Governor about the availability of the site to the town at some point.
Chris and Betsey reported on a meeting they had with Carol Kowalski on December 23 to learn about
the efforts being made by Arlington to explore an Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO). In Arlington they
have focused on identifying sites around town that would support a multifamily development at a scale
suitable for a LIHTC ( Low Income Housing Tax Credits) development as a basis for targeting where the
AHO should be applied (see https://www.arlingtonma.gov/town-governance/boards-and-
committees/affordable-housing-overlay-district-committee). Carol also reported that Brookline is also
exploring an AHO and have a consultant report that is publicly available that assesses the feasibility of
LIHTC development there (https://www.brooklinema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/53604/Affordable-
Housing-Overlay-District-Report?bidId). There was some discussion about next steps.
There was also discussion of potential sites within the town that would be large enough and suitable for
development. Betsey will look into previous work that was done to identify such sites.
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The working group will work toward a rough draft report for the next HPB meeting on January 22 to be
revised after that meeting. Harriet and Chris will work on the outline for this report.
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The committee will meet again on Jan 20 4:30-5:30.
Betsey moved and Harriett seconded a motion to approve the minutes for the working group meeting
on December 2nd. The minutes were unanimously approved on a roll call vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:57pm. Margaret Heitz moved the motion, and Harriet Cohen seconded
the motion. Adjournment was unanimously approved on a roll call vote.