Watertown Town Council COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Meeting: November 7, 2018 Report: December 3, 2018 Read: January 8, 2019 Theme: Solutions and Examples to Create Affordable Housing Executive Summary Committee Chair Anthony Palomba, Councilor at Large, called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chamber. In attendance were Vice-Chair Councilor Caroline Bays; Secretary Councilor Susan Falkoff; Cliff Cook of the Watertown Housing Partnership; Kelly Donato, Assistant Housing Director of Somerville; Rachel Heller, Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA); Brian Costello, Executive Director of Watertown Housing Authority; Michael Lara, Assistant Director of Watertown Housing Authority; Fred Reynolds, Chair of Watertown Housing Partnership, Helen Oliver, member of Watertown Housing Partnership; and Watertown residents. State Senator William Brownsberger along with Town Councilors Anthony Donato and Lisa Feltner later joined the meeting as well. Councilor Palomba introduced the first presenter, Cliff Cook, a resident of Watertown, a member of the Watertown Housing Partnership and Senior Planning Information Manager at the City of Cambridge. See Mr. Cliff’s PowerPoint presentation attached to the complete minutes. Major points of interest included: - Cambridge has made the development of affordable housing a major goal for many years. Presently, roughly 15% of the city’s housing stock of 54,700 units is affordable. - Cambridge has devoted significant Community Preservation funds to affordable housing. To date, $109 million of CPA funds have been dedicated. - Direct city support comes in several forms including operating funds (CPA, Dedicated Permit Fees, General Revenue, and Incentive Zoning Funds), capital funds, and city property. - Cambridge has a large housing staff within the planning department and they work with top-notch partners including the Cambridge Housing Authority and great affordable housing developers, nonprofit organizations and housing managers. - Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Trust in many ways functions as the city’s housing developer. It sets housing policy, distributes city housing funds, and supports non-profit housing developers. - Cambridge has an “Incentive Zoning” program that requires commercial developers to make housing contributions to offset the impact of increased housing costs attributable to new commercial development. - Cambridge’s inclusionary zoning is based on square footage, focuses on family size units (2 and 3 bedroom units), has a permanent deed restriction on the unit, and does not allow for in-lieu payments. Councilor Palomba introduced the second presenter, Ms. Kelly Donato, the Assistant Housing Director for the City of Somerville. He noted that Ms. Donato, a resident of Watertown, is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. See Ms. Donato’s presentation attached to the complete minutes. Major points of interest included: - Somerville is the most densely populated municipality in the Commonwealth. Similar to Watertown, the city is approximately 4 square miles, yet has a diverse population of 75,754. - Somerville has approximately 33,000 housing units, 66% of which are rental units. - The city has a demonstrated history of a commitment to creating affordable housing and stabilizing existing housing. - Some of the key programs announced in January 2018 by the Mayor of Somerville include the creation of an Office of Housing Stabilization, establishing a transfer tax on real estate taxes, revising the condominium conversion ordinance, creating a new emergency rent stabilization program, and utilizing district improvement financing. - Somerville’s Affordable Housing Trust plays a central role in the development of affordable housing and administers funds from inclusionary and linkage payments. Linkage payments have been an incredible powerful tool for financing. The Trust also administers the CPA housing funds, which has been a steady source of funding. Between 2014 and 2018, The Trust has received over $6 million. - Somerville’s “100 Homes” program has been particularly successful. Working with the Somerville Community Corporation and the Mass. Housing Finance Corporation, the program has created 50 units of affordable housing in that last two years. Councilor Palomba introduced the third presenter, State Senator Will Brownsberger. See the fact sheet on the Massachusetts Bond Bill attached to the complete minutes. Major points of interest included: - The Bond Bills allocates $1.8 billion over 5 years and is used for a variety of programs, including support for public housing ($600 million), for development and preservation of affordable housing ($400 million), and for the preservation of exiting expiring use affordable units. ($125 million). - The Bill provides critical support for maintenance of units at housing authorities, include the Watertown Housing Authority. - The Bill has also provided funding to protect units that can be converted from affordable to market rate by owners after a certain number of years. - Funds from the Bond Bill might be used as a component of a financing package for affordable housing creation in Watertown depending on the size and characteristics of the project. Councilor Palomba then introduced the final presenter of the evening, Rachel Heller, Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). See Ms. Heller’s presentation attached to the complete minutes. Major points of interest included: - CHAPA’s mission is to encourage the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to households with low or moderate incomes and to foster diverse and sustainable communities through planning and community development. - CHAPA works on state policy so, for example, the Housing Bond Bill was their top priority during the last legislative session, as was the Governor’s Housing Choice legislation. - CHAPA has expanded its services to provide the resources and technical assistance to help communities build coalitions to achieve community support for affordable housing projects. In addition, CHAPA works with many other state and non-profit organizations and is able to draw on their expertise and experience to provide a community additional services that they may not be able to provided. - CHAPA has worked with a diverse group of communities, including Acton, Newton, Arlington, and Essex. Communities can apply for help and, if selected, CHAPA will work with the city or town to determine what they wish to accomplish and therefore what services they need. Services can range from organizing community meetings and facilitating discussion with stakeholders to developing priorities and creating action plans. Councilor Palomba thanked the presenters and noted that the Committee is hoping that at the December meeting there will be a discussion of what the Committee has learned and what policies and programs might be helpful to Watertown. Residents will be encouraged to present their ideas at the December meeting. Councilor Falkoff made a motion to adjourn. Councilor Bays seconded the motion. All were in favor. The meeting concluded at 9:32 pm. The minute were prepared by Satenik Karapetyan Watertown Town Council COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Meeting: November 7, 2018 Report: December 3, 2018 Theme: Solutions and Examples to Create Affordable Housing Committee Chair Anthony Palomba, Councilor at Large, called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chamber. In attendance were Vice-Chair Councilor Caroline Bays; Secretary Councilor Susan Falkoff; Cliff Cook of the Watertown Housing Partnership; Kelly Donato, Assistant Housing Director of Somerville; Rachel Heller, Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA); Brian Costello, Executive Director of Watertown Housing Authority; Michael Lara, Assistant Director of Watertown Housing Authority; Fred Reynolds, Chair of Watertown Housing Partnership, Helen Oliver, member of Watertown Housing Partnership; and Watertown residents. State Senator William Brownsberger along with Town Councilors Anthony Donato and Lisa Feltner later joined the meeting as well. This was the sixth meeting the Human Service Committee to discuss the need for affordable housing in Watertown. Councilor Palomba introduced the first presenter of the evening, Cliff Cook of the Watertown Housing Partnership and Senior Planning Information Manager at the City of Cambridge. Mr. Cook began his presentation (see attached) with a brief review of the housing stock in Cambridge that includes over 54,700 units, including those currently under construction, 8,100 that are affordable units. The greatest source of growth for affordable units in Cambridge has been through the Inclusionary Housing Program. The ratio of affordable housing is at roughly about 15% but it has been slipping which has been a source of concern for the city. Area Median Income (AMI) has increased dramatically over the last few years and at the same time, the median condominium sale prices in Cambridge have more than doubled which has resulted in an overall lack of affordability in the market. Mr. Cook explained that while it is important to develop housing for those who cannot afford to live in your community, it is also important to develop housing for those who can. Cambridge’s success with affordable housing relates to the City Council’s goals adopted in 2016: 1) To increase access to affordable housing for all income