Communities should set own housing priorities
We’re all well aware of the housing-affordability crisis in this state that has frustrated would-be homebuyers and forced them to remain renters, which has driven up prices in that market as well.
Former Gov. Charlie Baker and a like-minded Legislature took some significant steps to encourage more production of various modes of housing.
Amendments tacked on to economic- development legislation in 2020, known as the Zoning Act, reduced the number of votes required to enact or amend zoning ordinances and the issuance of certain special permits from two-thirds to a simple majority.
Many communities used snob zoning — oversized lots — and that super majority bylaw to restrict housing developments. Several tony towns have resisted implementation of the new housing rules. That, and jacked-up inflationfighting interest rates, have discouraged home construction.
Lawmakers added another affordability incentive — more appropriately a mandate — with legislation that requires a community served by the MBTA to incorporate a zoning district allowing for multifamily housing suited for families, located no more than a half-mile from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.
The 177 communities that fall under these new requirements must submit written responses detailing how they’ll comply with this law.
Communities that fail to develop a plan would no longer qualify for certain state housing subsidies and programs.
However, cities and towns need only create a multi-family zone; they’re not required to initiate of facilitate construction.
These big-picture measures, while helpful, can’t replace housing production plans tailored to an individual community.
That’s why other cities and towns should replicate an exercise recently undertaken in Tewksbury.
There, the town’s Planning Board and Select Board voted unanimously to endorse a new housing production plan that officials hope will help address the shortage of affordable homes in Tewksbury over the next several years.
Town Planner and Community Development Director Alexandra Lowder addressed the Planning Board and Select Board on consecutive days, outlining the town’s challenges at a time when a considerable number of Tewksbury households face burdensome housing costs.
“A little over 30% of Tewksbury residents, as well as Greater Lowell households, are spending more than 30% of their annual income on housing,” Lowder told the Select Board. “To put it simply, that just relates to Tewksbury having an affordability crisis.”
A massive run-up in housing values has limited options for families hoping to become homeowners.
Lowder showed the two boards data that clearly showed the significant rise in home costs over the past decade, a startling development that has played out in countless Massachusetts communities.
In 2012, the median sale price for a single-family home in Tewksbury was $297,250, and $290,000 for Massachusetts as a whole. By 2022, those figures soared to $560,000 for Tewksbury and $510,000 for the state.
Lowder put those pricy numbers into perspective.
“Even more staggering, is that the typical Tewksbury home that sold in 2021 would not be affordable to at least 70% of Tewksbury households,” said Lowder.
Lowder said that rents also have risen sharply, due to Tewksbury’s lack of inventory. Of the nine communities served by the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments, Lowder said Tewksbury has the second-highest average rent at $2,130 permonth, exceeded only by Westford, at $2,134.
The housing production plan establishes 15 goals in order to handle the housing crisis locally. Those include a goal to produce an average of 25 affordable housing units every year, and also to monitor the existing restricted-income units in town to ensure they remain affordable.
Lowder said another goal would be to create more diversity in the type and size of both owned and rental housing units, including smaller single-family homes, duplex units and townhouses that could serve as starter homes.
As implementation strategies, the town was urged to work with Tewksbury Home Build and the local Habitat for Humanity to help bolster the number of affordable homes, and strengthen the family suite bylaw for additional dwelling units, which currently are limited to 1,000 square feet and require a special permit from the Planning Board.
“A lot of other communities are exploring making ADUS not only by right, which means just a building permit, but expanding it to nonfamily members.”
Lowder was asked what opportunities a town like Tewksbury may have to receive additional funding for some of these efforts, since larger communities like Lowell or Boston usually take priority for affordable housing funding.
She acknowledged that funding opportunities are “extremely competitive” and said that she looks at every funding opportunity for affordable housing that comes to her attention.
Tewksbury residents are also encouraged to complete a survey about the proposed locations for its “MBTA Communities” zoning overlay district.
“We are looking to take the information from that survey and hold follow-up workshops with folks, similar to how the housing production plan was formulated,” said Lowder.
Instead of waiting to be directed by the state to increase their housing stock, communities should follow Tewksbury’s lead by implementing housing goals that align with their specific needs.