City Council - Property Committee

Property Committee Meeting Meeting Minutes: January 14, 2021 Councilor Zaret called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Members Present: Councilors T. Peake, JP Kwiecinski, O. Zaret, and EA. Flood. Also in Attendance: Janna Tetreault, Chair of the Affordable & Fair Housing Committee. Jeff Bagg, City Planner. Approval of Minutes: No minutes to approve. Public Speak Time: No comments from the public. Continuing Business: Re-organization of committee. Councilor Flood nominated to be Clerk by Councilor Kwiecinski, Second by Councilor Zaret. Unanimously approved. Housing Production Plan (HPP) Discussion: 12/16/20 plan was transmitted in City Council Agenda packet. 2/17/21 meeting slated for plan presentation & vote for approval by full city council & planning board. Janna Tetreault gave overview of HPP: This is a state sanctioned document. It is our city’s 3rd such document; Judy Barrett consulted on this one. Plans shows commitment and action steps towards affordable housing preservation and creation. In addition, makes city eligible for funding resources. Lays out # of units to be produced --> 37, as a goal which allows deniability of 40B apps once achieved.2014 plan had 23 action items in plan, 8 of which have been achieved. Plan provides data & context for our community. City Planner Jeff Bagg discusses: HPP is biggest part of what Barrett group is doing, the HPP is part of a Masterplan Chapter. ADUs will be looked at further as a result of the data collection & work done to support this process. EDIC was instrumental in the process. Document (HPP) lends a list of properties where 40B would be welcomed by the city, along w/illustrations. Councilor Zaret comments: Noted data shows a decrease in population of school age children & families, while median income has not increased in decades. Asks why Park Street parcel near Treehouse Community was not included in list of properties? Planner Bagg clarifies the majority of properties listed are in the Smart Growth District closer to downtown. Councilor Peake notes a discussion of allowing duplexes by right city wide as a recommendation he supports. Councilor Kwiecinski asks why there is a loss of total # of units from SHI? No solid answer given at this point, may be just due to a loss of deed restriction – housing rehab units. (41 in total) He also asks if the stagnancy in wages is Easthampton centric, Councilor Peake notes this is scene nationwide. Councilor Flood asks Planner Bagg if there are incentives & strategies for capturing units that are poised to fall off inventory (SHI). Planner Bagg suggests this could be added as an action item in the report. Councilor Peake asks if there are zoning recommendations fleshed out into more model zoning? Notes we have complex zoning and we don’t have professional planners on council. where do we go to move forward in a comprehensive way? Janna T. – city needs help re-writing zoning by-laws, 33% of kids in our schools live in poverty. Parking restrictions are a major issue and prohibit or discourage multifamily housing. Planner Bagg – suggests integrating strategies such as ADUs with no land use permitting required, multifamily w/affordable housing by right rather than by special permit. Next step here is to make a recommendation to the full council to adopt this plan. Motion to recommend the HPP plan as presented here to the full council (Councilor Flood) Second (Councilor Kwiecinski) Discussion: Councilor Kwiecinski expresses concern regarding how much public process was included? Planner Bagg replies 80% of plan is data – nothing here is automatic. Public engagement is difficult on all topics, amendments through public process will follow. Councilor Zaret comments we need to maintain momentum in the process. Motion is approved by unanimous vote. Discussion on how 2/17/20 report would proceed, Councilor Zaret, Barrett Group, Housing Partnership, EDIC all would present. It is noted that approximately 1 hour will be required for that meeting. Motion to Adjourn by Councilor Kwiecinski, Second (Councilor Flood). Unanimously voted. Meeting adjourned at 7:34pm. Respectfully Submitted, Councilor Erica Flood Clerk to the Property Committee