The Marion Affordable Housing Trust’s ongoing work with the Barrett Planning Group for Housing and Community Engagement Services will focus on the property formerly occupied by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Discussion on that topic dominated Tuesday night’s scheduled AHT meeting, but all town boards, commissions and committees will be represented on a subcommittee formed by Town Planner Doug Guey Lee to focus on the property. Members include: Cynthia Callow, Dr. Ed Hoffer, Jennifer Francis, John Waterman, Margie Baldwin, Nancy McFadden, Will Saltonstall, Terri Santos, Jay McGrail, Alanna Nelson, Harry Norweb, and Norm Hills.
The group will eventually engage the public on the subject, as the town forms a strategy and an approach regarding the Lockheed Martin property.
According to AHT Chairperson Terri Santos, the trust put together a Community Preservation Committee in order to garner funding for a feasibility study to look for properties for housing earmarked for senior citizens at market rates.
Meantime, Lockheed Martin announced it would be closing down, making its large piece of property available for such consideration.
Also on the AHT agenda was discussion about a broader piece of education awaiting members, and that is their acquaintance with and opinions on the proposed Style Growth District Overlay Zoning bylaw first rolled out on April 1.
Hills, the principal author of the bylaw and leader of the Codification Committee, summarized the bylaw for the trust membership, crediting the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) for its work.
In specifying Residence C or Residence D housing, Hills told the AHT membership that the key is a specific process and piece of land in developable areas.
The three main points of the proposal are: 1. to make the land usable; 2. to give the developer incentive to provide senior or affordable housing; and 3. to maintain open space.
The bylaw is set up so that four units per acre is the default density limit but that, if senior housing is involved, more units per acre are allowed up to eight per acre. The bylaw includes a Step 9 that proposes up to four-family lots and, if located on Route 6 would be allowed mixed use.
“At least two elements have to be in the design,” said Hills, noting stipulations around dimensional requirements, design standards, that the units be hooked up to town sewer, that they meet stormwater-management requirements and minimize disturbed areas.
Parking is also addressed in the proposed bylaw, in some scenarios a vehicle could be parked up to 150 feet from the unit or in a common garage.
Open space requirements would stipulate a contiguous arrangement of the unit with the open space and strict rules on who would own and/or maintain the open space.
“The bottom line is we’re trying to provide a bylaw that can be used,” said Hills, noting that developers won’t need 50 acres or a 200-foot setback. “It’s just not going to work.”
He told the trust that the study done by SRPEDD indicated that there is a significant number of parcels could be available for this kind of development and encouraged the members to review the proposal and make comments.
In answer to Santos’ question about the multi-family Residence B designation, Hills said that the process has not gotten that far. “If this goes through, then we’d have to do something about the multi-family one because this one wraps it all up,” he said.
Given the discussion of affordable housing, it was noted that affordable units at Heron Cove Estates, which has applied to build on a local initiative application (LIP) have increased in price.
“As time goes on, they’re going to get more expensive,” said Hills.
At the request of the Select Board, the AHT held a discussion on its goals and visions.
Santos put in the members’ packet for Tuesday night’s meeting an old Housing Trust brochure from 2010 and asked the members to suggest three ideas for achievable goals. For example, the past effort that resulted in the creation of the CERTA transportation service in town.
In instructing the membership toward what can be considered and what cannot, Santos said that someone had suggested assistance on a down payment for a rental property, but she explained it is difficult to put Community Preservation funds toward something like that unless it’s a deed-restricted property.
Also noted were ramifications of the fact developer Sherman Briggs has pulled his application for a permit to build market-rate housing off Spring and Mill streets. Per the town’s bylaw and Briggs’ former proposal, going forward would have resulted in Briggs writing the AHT a $150,000 check in lieu of including affordable units. Santos acknowledged that the application is presently off the table.
Hills, who will help bring the file up to date, plans to bring a rough draft to the next AHT meeting.
In other business, the AHT approved the payment of $4,400 for services provided by the Barrett Planning Group.
The next meeting of the Marion Affordable Housing Trust is scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, at 6:00 pm.
Marion Affordable Housing Trust
By Mick Colageo