2021 Housing Production Plan - Planning Board - Public Hearing - Sep 27

2021 Housing Production Plan - Planning Board

The Franklin Planning Board will be holding a Hearing Remotely and in the Town Council
Chambers at the Town Hall on Monday, September 27, 2021 at 7:10 PM to present the
final draft of the Town’s 2021 Housing Production Plan (HPP) for the Town of Franklin.

The HPP has been prepared by the Department of Planning and Community Development with input from the Town Council, Economic Development Committee, Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, Franklin Housing Authority, the Town’s Administration and staff, and the Town of Franklin’s residents.

The HPP can be accessed on the Department of Planning and Community Development
website:     https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/preliminary_final_housing_production_plan_-_august_2021.pdf.

Please contact the Department of Planning & Community Development at (508) 520-4907
if you require further information or if you need to make arrangements to provide
translation services for the hearing impaired, or for persons with language barriers.

Anthony Padula, Chairman

Shared from the Town of Franklin page

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/2021_hpp_legal_ad_for_september_27_planning_board.pdf

2021 Housing Production Plan - Planning Board - Public Hearing - Sep 27

"Affordable housing projects often draw resistance from neighbors"

"Housing costs are soaring across southern Maine, driving families from the towns where they were raised and bringing tensions to a boil as young residents and retirees struggle to compete against an influx of out-of-staters and well-off buyers.

That dynamic, which has intensified across the country during the pandemic, has unsettled quiet Cape Elizabeth, an affluent coastal community just south of Portland, where a proposal to build the town’s first affordable housing project in 50 years has pitted neighbor against neighbor and raised hard questions of who can afford to live here.

“This is a community of tremendous privilege and wealth, but there are other people in this town who are not well-off,” said Jamie Garvin, the Town Council chairman who supports the 49-unit project. “People are being priced out of the community they’ve lived in for a number of years.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/23/metro/affordable-housing-plan-divides-affluent-portland-suburb/ 

Portland, Maine is not alone in having this affordable housing discussion. With the Housing Production Plan being worked on currently, this is a timely topic. Public comment on the Plan closed at the end of June. The revised draft is expected to come back out for review and comment as it needs approval from both the Planning Board and the Town Council. The plan is a component of the overall "Master Plan" for Franklin for which the update process is scheduled to begin next year.

Current draft of the Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

Current Master Plan  https://www.franklinma.gov/planning-community-development/pages/master-plan

The most recent virtual meeting on Housing took place July 14, 2021 and the audio recording is available here  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/07/fm-580-community-conversation-on.html

FM #580 - Community Conversation on Housing & Race - 07/14/21 (audio)

The Housing Production Plan comment period is closing Friday June 25, 2021

Have you sent in your comments yet?

Sections of the plan were shared here in advance of the first public hearing at the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust meeting (June 2, 2021).

Housing Production Plan sections

• The Introduction to the **2021 Town of Franklin - Housing Production Plan - Public Review Draft**

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/the-introduction-to-2021-town-of.html

• Executive Summary: ** 2021 Town of Franklin Housing Production Plan (HPP) ***

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/executive-summary-2021town-of-franklin.html

• Plan Development and Public Participation ** 2021 Town of Franklin - Housing Production Plan - Public Review Draft **

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/plan-development-and-public.html

• Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment ** 2021 Town of Franklin - Housing Production Plan - Public Review Draft **

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/comprehensive-housing-needs-assessment.html

• Strategies for Affordable Housing Production ** 2021 Town of Franklin - Housing Production Plan - Public Review Draft **

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/strategies-for-affordable-housing.html

• Find the full copy of the Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

• Info on the public comment period

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/2021-draft-housing-production-plan-open.html

• Find the full copy of the Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

Meeting notes and audio links

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust meeting (audio with link to recap)

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/01/fm-191-municipal-affordable-housing.html

Economic Development Subcommittee meeting (recap)

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/06/recap-economic-development-subcommittee.html

The Housing Production Plan comment period is closing Friday June 25, 2021

FM #568 - EDC discussion on housing plan and requirements for home based businesses (audio)

FM #568 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 568 in the series. 

This shares the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting that was held on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid mode; two committee members were in the Council Chambers, two participated remotely along with several others via Zoom conference bridge. 

Links to the meeting agenda and my notes are in the show notes. The meeting recording runs about 1 hour and forty (~1:40) minutes.  Let’s listen to the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting for June 16

Audio file -> https://player.captivate.fm/episode/fe96a8ad-4355-46bd-af15-42220606715b

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Meeting agenda 

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/edc_agenda_6-16-2021.pdf

MAHT presentation doc

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/06022021_maht_presentation_-_dpcd.pdf

Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf 

My notes captured via Twitter and shared here in summary form

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/06/recap-economic-development-subcommittee.html 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

 

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

 

EDC discussion on housing plan and requirements for home based businesses

Recap: Economic Development Subcommittee - discussion on housing plan and requirements for home based businesses

Quick Recap:

• The housing production plan was reviewed and discussed. Key among the actions is to further obtain any and all citizen input/comment by June 25 and update this draft. The revised plan would then be approved by Planning Board and Town Council before being submitted to the State for acceptance.
• Key to specific items to address the housing would be the zoning assessment. This analysis would provide an objective 3rd party view on what we have and what we could do to allow for appropriate and affordable housing
• Discussion on home based businesses. Good to boot strap a concept, Health Dept is ok with food production as long as the ServeSafe and other related food prep requirements are adhered to. The wrinkle comes with handling the sewer waste and implementation of a grease trap which can be expensive.
• The Town is not prepared for how to address this opportunity. More research is required which they will conduct during the next couple of months and bring back to Subcommittee for further discussion.

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As with most meetings in this pandemic period, I took my notes via Twitter during the meeting reporting in real-time via the virtual session.
 
The Twitter hashtag can be found online  #edc0616
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Edc0616&src=typed_query 

Photos captured during the meeting can be found in one album
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AayFgpTfmSzB3Y2w9

• EDC meeting to begin soon, awaiting quorum #edc0616
  
• Without quorum, may at least open meeting and have a discussion. #fincom0616
  
• Quorum achieved (with virtual participation of Frongillo and Bissanti), EDC meeting opens at 7:09 PM. #edc0616
  
• Chair Hamblen opens meeting, reads protocol statement, #fincom0616 First item, housing production plan for discussion if needed, plan can be found https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf 
  
• Feedback sought as part of the draft review process. #fincom0616
  
• Cool to be back in Municipal Bldg, Planner Amy Love provides an overview of the plan, similar to what was presented earlier in Housing Trust meeting #edc0616
  
• My notes from that (Municipal Affordable Housing Trust) meeting, for the record, can be found https://franklinmatters.org/2021/06/recap-municipal-affordable-housing.html?m=1 #edc0616
  
• Difference in accounting between apartment and residential units, all apartments count if only a smaller # are affordable; for owned residential units only the # affordable apply to the housing rate (i.e. 6 of 30, only the 6 - if apartments, 6 of 30 all 30 count) condos ->
• Condos count as owned units so only the # would count (like other owned residential, not like apartments). #edc0616 What is considered affordable for Franklin? Major issue
  
• Development costs are hire, art zoning would need to have incentives to allow the developers to make the money back that they give up making some of the units affordable. #edc0616
  
• Multiple discussion points on affordable and how to tackle it, the new housing behind Eaton Place will help but it won't be online soon (still needs funding) #edc0616
  
• Motion to move housing plan forward to planning board and to Council for approval incorporating the changes and comments #edc0616 passes 4-0 via roll call.
  
• Moving to home occupied businesses for next part of discussion. #edc0616
  
• How do you permit a bootstrap business from a home, some i.e. kitchens can pose health concerns, others may have traffic/delivery issues for neighbors. #edc0616 permit some level of production up to which they're good, beyond that next level up. ZBA may be an option
  
• In commercial areas, need to protect the sewer system, with grease traps, when blockages occur it stops things and that is not good. Title 5 systems are built for 3 or 4 bedrooms not commercial industry business. #edc0616 who acts the agent for volume?
  
• We can't use the ZBA or planning board and their temporary benevolence, if something is good, let's make it right. #edc0616 strict guidelines on food prep, zoning is the issue in the case of chocolate bars (as the talking point example)
  
• let's provide some time to research, see what others are doing, Boston is a whole different system. #edc0616 what might work, what would be some controls, there is no capacity at Charles River. we do need to consider the big picture of affordability
  
• Motion to adjourn, second, passes 4-0 via roll call #fincom0616 

Audio file to be available in a couple of days

discussion on housing plan and requirements for home based businesses

FM #558 - Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meeting - 06/02/21 (audio)

FM #558 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 558 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin, MA Municipal Affordable Housing Trust meeting held on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a virtual format: some members were in the Municipal Bldg, other committee members and a small group of public participation were remote via the Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

The meeting was a public hearing on the draft Housing Production Plan. It is open from comment until June 25, 2021. At that time, the comments will begin to be incorporated into an update which will also be subject to public hearings in particular by the Planning Board and Town Council as part of their approval process before being submitted to the State.

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to the presentation document used. Let’s listen to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust meeting of June 2 Audio file = https://player.captivate.fm/episode/9fdbe6af-3f6b-4f3b-922d-bf85ba9af371

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Agenda document 

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/municipal_affordable_housing_trust_june_2_2021_01.pdf 

Copy of the plan can be found https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

Link to presentation doc

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNhzpp7CJn-a8iaCaV3_Ym72o9xrNTy4/view?usp=sharing 

My notes from the meeting

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/06/recap-municipal-affordable-housing.html 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

 

For additional information, please visit www.Franklinmatters.org   or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

 

Planning Director Bryan Taberner

Recap - Municipal Affordable Housing Trust 06/02/21

Quick Recap:

• Presentation by Planning Director Bryan Taberner provides an overview of the Housing Production Plan as drafted for review and comment
• Some clarification questions were asked by the small audience. Who sets the affordable housing rate? The State does and each community uses the same calculation. What is calculated as affordable isn't really affordable for some.
• Before the meeting closed an overview of process from this point was provided: more meetings/public hearings coming, the public comment period closes 6/25/21, then a redraft is made to incorporate the public comments. Another schedule of hearings by the Planning Board and Town Council before they approve the HPP and it is submitted to the State for approval

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As with most meetings in this pandemic period, I took my notes via Twitter during the meeting reporting in real-time via the virtual session.
 
The Twitter hashtag can be found online  #hpp0602

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hpp0602&src=typeahead_click 

Agenda doc for this meeting -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/municipal_affordable_housing_trust_june_2_2021_01.pdf 

Meeting recording to be available soon

• Live reporting underway for the Municipal Housing Trust public hearing on the housing production plan #hpp0602
  
• Copy of the plan can be found https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf #hpp0602
  
• Slides from presentation being shared by planning director Bryan Taberner #hpp0602
  
• (I obtained a copy of the presentation so that is available - see link below - Several tweets shared 3 photos of the slides as Bryan moved through the updates. He read much of the content. When finished, there was more discussion and that is picked up in my notes)
• Affordable rent currently in Franklin is about $1600-1800/month which in most cases is not really affordable. #hpp0602
  
• How do we increase density? In some zoning districts multi family is via a special permit, or we could change the current zoning bylaws to allow for more than we have #hpp0602
  
• Zoning changes take time but the process for housing adjustments starts now. There is a study of our overall zoning regs specifically looking at affordable and housing #hpp0602 the study will help outline some possible changes
  
• At one point we were comfortably over the affordable percent. Every time we build a house and add it to the inventory our percent drops if it is not affordable. So if we add a development of x units with none affordable, it makes a bigger change. #hpp0602
  
• #hpp0602 if a project comes on with a portion of affordable, the whole total, assuming the portion goes thru the state affordable process, can count in the inventory of affordable.
  
• #hpp0602 there have been projects that were good for the Town that didn't work out. We really should go for a friendly 40b where we still get a say and the affordable units.
  
• There are developers who are very anxious to work on affordable units, we (the Town) should have an appropriate set of an incentives available #hpp0602
  
• Four developments and the senior housing account for 90% of our affordable units #hpp0602 attachment D in the plan as linked before contains the details of our current inventory
  
• Some Q&A, overview of process from here, more meetings coming, public comment closes 6/25 and then a redraft is presented for approval by Planning Board and Town Council before submitting to state #hpp0602
  
• Motion to adjourn, passes 3-0. Catch you next time. #hpp0602

Membership of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust

https://www.franklinma.gov/municipal-affordable-housing-trust

• Present: Chris Vericker (chair), Maxine Kinheart, Judy Pfeffer
• Absent: Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, Mary Anne Bertone, Chris Feeley, Robert Keras

Planning Director Bryan Taberner

Link to presentation doc

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNhzpp7CJn-a8iaCaV3_Ym72o9xrNTy4/view?usp=sharing 

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust - Public Hearing on Housing Production Plan - June 2

 Municipal Affordable Housing Trust

Agenda

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 - 6:30 PM

 

 

1. Public Hearing – 2021 Draft Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf 

 

Agenda doc with connection info for this virtual meeting

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/municipal_affordable_housing_trust_june_2_2021_01.pdf

Public Hearing on Housing Production Plan - June 2

Strategies for Affordable Housing Production ** 2021 Town of Franklin - Housing Production Plan - Public Review Draft **

Strategies for Affordable Housing Production
 

Section 3 of this Housing Production Plan (HPP) includes a substantial number of Implementation Strategies, which for the most part are ways to incentivize the creation of affordable housing. The Implementation Strategies section provides an explanation of the specific strategies the Town will achieve its housing production goals. In addition, Section 3 provides a description of Regulatory and Funding Incentives that can be used to stimulate affordable housing or other desired development projects.
 

Strategies include, but are not limited to the following:

• Amendment of zoning regulations in order to increase the likelihood of creating Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) eligible housing developments
• Use an incentivized Inclusive Zoning bylaw to attract SHI unit developments.
• Utilize Workforce Housing Special Tax Assessments (WH-STA’s), multi-year property tax exemption, as incentive to create middle-income housing.
• Perform an extensive assessment of the Town of Franklin Zoning Bylaw, Chapter 185 of Franklin Town Code. Specific attention will be shown to housing density, creating zoning related development incentives, assessing parking requirements, and other Zoning best practices.
• Advance projects under the Local Initiative Program to create the type and level of affordable housing best for the community.
• Consider creating a density bonus incentive program that allow more units of housing to be built than would be allowed under current zoning regulations, in exchange for a developer’s provision of affordable housing units or other public good.
• Actively engage with developers to further incentivize SHI development.

Plan Implementation
The HPP’s implementation will require the commitment of a variety of organizations and individuals, including non-profit organizations, state agencies, resident volunteers, and Town departments, boards, commissions, and committees. Through the combined efforts of all parties mentioned above the Town will implement the goals outlined in Section over a five-year implementation period. Department of Planning and Community Development  (DPCD) will provide an update the HPP implementation on a biennial basis, or as requested by the Town Administrator.

 

Find the full copy of the Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

Info on the public comment period

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/05/2021-draft-housing-production-plan-open.html

Plan Development and Public Participation