Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board Approved Meeting Minutes October 16, 2018 A meeting of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board was held on Monday, October 16, 2018 in the first floor public meeting room at 98 Washington Street, Salem, Massachusetts at 8:00 a.m. Members present: Mayor Kim Driscoll, City Councillor Christine Madore, Ben Anderson, Rebecca Curran, Grace Harrington Napolitano, Mickey Northcutt. Members absent: City Council President Beth Gerard, City Councillor Bob McCarthy. Other present: Amanda Chiancola, Senior Planner; Tom Daniel, Planning and Community Development Director; and John Borris. Mayor Kim Driscoll called the meeting to order at 8:10 AM. Approval of the Minutes Motion and Vote: Rebecca Curran makes a motion to approve the September 10, 2018 meeting minutes. Seconded by Ben Anderson. The vote was unanimous with six (6) in favor and none (0) opposed. Data Review and Exchange Amanda provided the data noted some key points, noting that 1,395 units have been permitted (this is only counting new construction units). Of this total, 274 units have been built, 417 units are from projects that were permitted prior to 2010 but commenced construction after 2010 and the 36 units are under review but have not permitted yet. Of the 274 new construction units built, 56 are affordable: 51 from St. Joes, 4 from 28 Goodhue and 1 from the Old Salem Jail. Ben Anderson spoke to the 812 units that have been permitted but not constructed yet. He is curious why that are taking so long, presumes it may have to do with financing. Mr. Anderson notes that the City cannot rely on those as new units that may or may not be constructed, we need a good enough back log of projects. We should have a pipeline of projects and the City should not solely rely on private development to fulfill our affordable housing needs. The City should look at other mechanisms. Board members mentioned adaptive reuse, Salem Housing Authority properties, City and Housing Authority owned land, and combined uses as some options. Mayor Driscoll --- mapped out city owned land, should do a feasibility study of land use look at topography, utility connections, wetlands, what the potential of the SHA or a private developer to build. seniors being prices out Grace Harrington Napolitano comments that people feel that the city is over developed but that’s not true. Councillor Madore asks about waiting lists. The Mayor explains they were scrubbed, meaning if folks still want housing they need to resubmit. There are approximately 1,000 seniors on the waiting list. Family housing was not even taking applications because so many. Page 1 of 3 The Mayor notes that the Trust should look at existing SHA developments which could be updated. For example, Pioneer Terrace needs improvements. Development could also occur on top of existing structures or in addition to, such as Lee Fort Terrace. The Massachusetts Housing Partnership is a potential partner for nonprofit or private or public development projects. Mickey Northcutt comments that the Housing Authority is not building developments anymore lack of a funding scheme for them. Mr. Northcutt explains that mixed income is a key for the project to pencil out, the market rate offsets the affordable. Discussion regarding downtown land cost compared to other locations ensues. Amanda Chiancola provides an overview of the Inclusionary Ordinance. MAPC will be looking at tiered affordability approach based on the local market. Factors such as ownership or rental may impact the requirements. The ownership development products are having a difficult time building their Affordable units onsite, MAPC will look into options allowing offsite units. The Board members all agree that units should be provided rather than an in lieu of fee. Mickey notes that non-profits, such as the NSCDC, who would take advantage of the AHTF Board’s funding would build affordable units regardless, the in lieu of fee ultimately does not result in a net gain of housing. The Mayor informs the Board that a polling grant has been applied for. If awarded, the grant would fund a citywide poll that assess resident’s opinions regarding affordable housing. The poll could also test policy test terms such as ADU- do people know what that is, or in-law unit? Councilor Madore makes a recommendation that the poll include commuters who work in Salem but live elsewhere. Workforce versus retainment of existing residents are two separate groups but both important to the growth of the population. Rebecca Curran agrees, and recommends that the City also talk to major employees. NEW BUSINESS Maps of vacant City and Housing Authority owned land will be reviewed at the next meeting. Update on Housing Production Grant Amanda provides an update on MassHousing Production Grant. The public engagement campaign will be front loaded to ensure there is enough support for the inclusionary ordinance. The Board commented on the sense of urgency for Inclusionary Zoning component of the project. The Board recommended that a draft ordinance be ready for their review in December and for the ordinance to be filed in January. The board noted that they are confident that that the Inclusionary Zoning should be filed asap rather than waiting for the engagement campaign to be complete. This is because for Salem an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance is not that controversial, in considering that the City is already asking for the units to be included as part within Special Permit decisions, all our neighboring communities are doing it and we already have quite a few coalitions of support. The public engagement campaign is still very important, but more so for other affordable efforts that the Trust will be rolling out, e.g. using city owned land for affordable units. Amanda will work with MAPC to speed up the time frame on the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance. ADJOURNMENT Motion and Vote: Councilor Madore makes a motion to adjourn, seconded by Ben Anderson. The vote was unanimous with six (6) in favor and none (0) opposed. Page 2 of 3 Meeting adjourned at 9:10 AM. Approved by the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board on 5/7/2018 Know your rights under the Open Meeting Law M.G.L. c. 30A § 18-25 and City Ordinance § 2-2028 through § 2-2033. Page 3 of 3