Register O’Donnell Reports on January 2022 Real Estate Activity in Norfolk County

Norfolk County Register of Deeds William P. O’Donnell reported that January real estate numbers relative to Norfolk County real estate activity continue to trend down.

“The Norfolk County real estate market” noted Register O’Donnell, “has continued to slow entering into 2022, which is not uncommon for this time of year. January is typically one of the slowest months for real estate transactions.”  There were 11,622 documents recorded at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds in January, a 25% decrease over last year’s January document volume and a 21% decrease from December.

“The number of deeds for January 2022 which reflect real estate sales and transfers, both commercial and residential, decreased by 4% from January 2021 and by 30% from December. However, the average sales price during the month was $1,439,472, an impressive 51% increase compared to January 2021 and only slightly down from December. Total dollar volume of commercial and residential sales also showed solid gains from one year ago, increasing 57% to over $1.05 billion,” noted the Register.

Overall lending activity showed a decrease again for the month of January. A total of 2,325 mortgages were recorded during the month, a 44% decrease compared to a year ago and a decrease of 22% from December’s number. “It appears that many consumers have already refinanced given the past low interest rate environment,” noted O’Donnell.

A cause for concern in Norfolk County, however, is the increase in foreclosures.   A moratorium on foreclosures enacted on April 20, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic expired on October 17, 2020.  The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has been closely watching the foreclosure market. During January, as in December, there were 7 foreclosure deeds recorded as a result of mortgage foreclosures taking place in Norfolk County.  In addition, there were 18 Notices to Foreclose, the first step in the foreclosure process, recorded in Norfolk County in January.  In January 2021 there was only 1 Foreclosure Deed and 9 Notices to Foreclosure Mortgages filed. “The increase in these numbers remind us that some of our neighbors continue to face financial challenges”, said O’Donnell.  “We will continue to monitor these numbers.”

For the past several years, the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has partnered with Quincy Community Action Programs, 617-479-8181 x376, and NeighborWorks Housing Solutions, 508-587-0950 to help anyone facing challenges paying their mortgage. Another option for homeowners is to contact the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division (CARD) at 617-727-8400. Register O’Donnell stated, “If you are having difficulty paying your monthly mortgage, please consider contacting one of these non-profit agencies for help and guidance.”

Homestead recordings by owners of homes and condominiums decreased slightly this year at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds.   There was a 1% decrease in homestead recordings in January 2022 compared to January 2021 but a decrease of 25% from December. A recorded Declaration of Homestead,” noted O’Donnell, “provides limited protection against the forced sale of an individual’s primary residence to satisfy unsecured debt up to $500,000.  It is great to see folks protecting the biggest asset most of us have, our homes.  I would urge anyone who has not availed themselves of this important consumer protection tool to consider doing so.  Please visit the Registry website at www.norfolkdeeds.org  to get more information on homestead protection.”

Register O’Donnell concluded, “January real estate activity slowed in Norfolk County but again, that is fairly typical for this time of year.  We see available real estate inventory as continuing to be a source of concern in Norfolk County. It’s especially a problem for first-time homebuyers attempting to crack the market.  Nothing we see in the numbers indicates any change in that sector of the market.”

The Registry of Deeds continues to be open to the public for business. Registry personnel are processing in-person recordings while vigilantly maintaining COVID related protocols.  The drop-off box located at the main entrance of the Registry Building will continue to be available for use by those members of the public who may not be comfortable entering the Registry of Deeds Building The volume of documents recorded electronically for many of our institutional users continues to increase.. We are also receiving documents in person, via regular mail, Federal Express, UPS and from our drop-off box located just outside our main entrance at 649 High Street, Dedham, MA.”   

To learn more about these and other Registry of Deeds events and initiatives, like us at facebook.com/NorfolkDeeds or follow us on twitter.com/NorfolkDeeds and Instagram.com/NorfolkDeeds.

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds is located at 649 High Street in Dedham.  The Registry is a resource for homeowners, title examiners, mortgage lenders, municipalities and others with a need for secure, accurate, accessible land record information.  All land record research information can be found on the Registry’s website www.norfolkdeeds.org.  Residents in need of assistance can contact the Registry of Deeds Customer Service Center via telephone at (781) 461-6101, or email us at registerodonnell@norfolkdeeds.org.

January 2022 Real Estate Activity in Norfolk County

Town Council Meeting - 02/16/22 - Audio in 3 parts

FM #735-736-737 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, numbers 735-736-737 in the series. 

This session shares part of the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council and Town Administration personnel, the Police new hires, along with their guest and family members were in the Council Chambers, some members of the public participated in person, some via the Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

I’ve split the three hour and 10 minute meeting into three (3) logical segments:

• First - covers the opening, the swearing in of four Police Dept new hires, the West St/Dean College neighborhood parking discussion (~55 minutes)  https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-735-town-council-meeting-02-16-22-p1-of-3
• Second - covers the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) presentation and discussion by Supt Sara Ahern and Asst Supt Lucas Giguere (~ 90 minutes) https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-736-town-council-meeting-02-16-22-p2-of-3
• Third - covers the Subcommittee reports, Legislation for Action, Council Comments, and meeting close (~ 41 minutes ) https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-737-town-council-meeting-02-16-22-p3-of-3

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda. Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Feb 16, 2022

Part 1 -

Part 2 -

Part 3 -

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

Town Council Agenda document  -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-feb-16.html

Presentation Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - Sara Ahern, Superintendent of Schools -> https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/dei_presentation_february_8_2022_5.pdf

My notes for the meeting ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/recap-town-council-views-4-police-new.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"

Town Council Meeting - 02/16/22 - Audio in 3 parts

Franklin.TV: Finding Ben Franklin, Part 4

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director  02/20/2022

Our Who? Benny. What? On our money. When/Where? The Ben Franklin $100 goes back more than a century. Prior to 1914, the $100 bill featured several different portraits, including 6th President James Monroe and Union Admiral David Farragut. One predecessor stands out from the rest.

His name was Senator Thomas Hart Benton, aka ‘Old Bullion’, who championed the gold standard. He and Andy Jackson both favored ‘hard money’. (Remember All the gold in Fort Knox?)

Ben first appears in 1915 in profile. This engraving was rendered by Thomas Holloway from a 1777 bust of Franklin created by Jean Jacques Caffieri (1725-1792).

Only six years later we see Ben in his forward pose. This 1921 engraved image is believed to originate from a 1777 portrait by French painter Anne-Rosalie Bocquet.

In 1966 and again in 2006 our Benny was again featured more prominently. These most recent engravings were carefully wrought following the Josef  Duplessis  portraits.    Ben’s  portrayals  by Duplessis and Caffieri are remarkably similar in their interpretations of Franklin. Their efforts at expressing realism are the how and why we can recognize Ben Franklin – primarily through the icons on our money.

And –  as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 
And, thank you for watching.

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf    

Franklin.TV: Finding Ben Franklin, Part 4

Senator Becca Rausch: February Beacon Hill Roundup

The newsletter is shortened for publication here. To view the full set of contents, follow this link ->  https://mailchi.mp/162be8a34626/reopeningupdate-15917400

Favorable committee votes, bills passed, and celebrating local Black history in our district!

View this email in your browser Senator Rausch State House Briefing    Part 2, Chapter 13 (February 17, 2021)    Dear friends,    It was great to see many of you last month at Virtual Town Hall! We had a terrific turnout of more than 100 people and discussed a wide range of policy areas and aspects of the legislative process. For those of you who missed it, feel free to join me in office hours or stay tuned for the next one!   With just over 5 months left in this legislative session, lawmaking is in full swing on Beacon Hill. I have been hard at work as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, advancing bills concerning sustainability, environmental justice, and more. I've also been advocating for the legislation I filed, and I am pleased to share that 11 (and counting!) of my bills earned favorable committee reports and are moving forward to the next stage of the legislative process! More details on that below. I was also proud to vote YES on a few key bills that came to the Senate floor. We passed a supplemental COVID-19 spending bill investing another $101 million in our communities to boost access to rapid tests, high quality masks, and vaccines, and shore up the emergency paid sick leave fund. The bill also included a requirement for a vaccine equity plan, derived from my COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Act. While the Governor signed the bulk of that bill into law this week, he vetoed and filed amendments on four key elements, including the vaccine equity component and the February 28 deadline for masks, testing, and vaccine accessibility. I also voted YES for the PACT Act, a comprehensive bill designed to lower prescription drug costs for our Commonwealth's families. Among other things, the PACT Act would cap insulin costs at $25 per 30-day supply and ensure that patients can get their medicines at their pharmacies of choice. I anticipate many more bills to come to the floor shortly, so stay tuned.  Read on for more about legislation on the move, rich local stories for Black History Month, State House reopening, and office hours. For real-time updates, please follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you are a constituent and need assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me and my team via phone (617-722-1555) or email (becca.rausch@masenate.gov). We are here to help.   I wish you and your loved ones strength, health, resilience, and joy.     Yours in service,     Senator Becca Rausch    February has been a busy month for policy work. Joint Rule 10 day is the deadline by which every committee must take some kind of action on every timely filed bill. If you want to learn more about the process, check out my Low Budget Beacon Hill video on how a bill actually becomes a law. I'm proud to share that many of my bills were reported favorably out of committee:  S.142 | An act providing a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness S.142 S.143 | An act providing for diaper changing stations in public buildings and accommodations S.382 | An act relative to celebrating and teaching Native American culture and history  S.608 | An act relative to recycling car seats  S.1127 | An act prohibiting body size discrimination  S.1128 | An act expanding confidentiality to certain sexual assault counselors  S.1356 | An Act further addressing challenges to municipal governance caused by the COVID-19 emergency heard in Municipalities  S.1635 | An act to ensure compliance with the anti-shackling law for pregnant incarcerated women  S.1636 | An act relative to health education in women's correctional institutions S.2106 | An act modernizing birth certificates  S.2232 | An act relative to better buildings  Protects people experiencing homelessness from discrimination in housing, employment and voter registration. Requires gender-neutral, semiprivate baby diaper changing stations in public buildings and accommodations. Requires development of educational curriculum teaching Massachusetts tribal history and issues.  Establishes a state program to enable recycling of child passenger restraints. Updates existing sexual assault confidentiality statute to extend protections to records of licensed mental health counselors.  Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person's height or weight.  Gives municipalities the option to conduct remote town meetings. Ensures that pregnant inmates will not be shackled while giving birth or receiving post-partum care.  Requires the department of corrections to provide health, contraception, and sex education to inmates at women's correctional institutions.  Updates birth certificates to recognize all families and advance equity and inclusivity.  Creates energy use standards for large non-residential buildings in Massachusetts.  Several of the bills I filed received extensions in their respective committees, meaning they are still under active consideration, so I'm looking forward to additional favorable reports in the weeks ahead. Updates to come! Virtual Evening Office Hours   Sign up for a 15-minute appointment here.     My team and I host virtual office hours every month. Residents from any part of the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District, as well as residents of the Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex District (which takes effect in January 2023), are welcome to share their questions and opinions on state issues with me and my team via video chat or phone call.          Upcoming virtual office hours:     Monday, March 7, 5-6 PM  Monday, April 4, 5-6 PM  Our mailing address is: The Office of Senator Becca Rausch Massachusetts State House, Room 218                           24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133

Franklin TV and wfpr.fm schedule for Monday, Feb 21, 2022

• wfpr.fm or 102.9 on the FM dial = Monday

9 AM 12 PM and 6 PM Talkin’ the Blues – Jim Derick & Todd Monjur
2 hours of awesome blues music, info, interviews

11 AM 2 PM and 8 PM A More Perfect Union – with Dr. Michael Walker-Jones,
Representative Jeff Roy and Dr. Natalia Linos

• Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26) = MONDAY

7:59:00 am Mass Department of Public Health: CO-VID 19

8:00:00 am SAFE Coalition: The Hamlins

9:00 am Concerts on the Common: Jamie Barrett & Electric Youth

12:00 pm Brooke'n'Cookin: Mac'n'Cheese

12:30 pm Sandhya: Eclairs

1:00 pm Cooking Thyme: Candy Apples

1:30 pm Pizzapalooza: Margherita Pizza

2:00 pm New England Candlepins: Show 3

3:00 pm Candlepin New Generation: Spring 2019 Show 2

3:30 pm Physician Focus: Common and Emerging Diseases

4:00 pm The Only Cure Is Education

4:30 pm Extended Play Sessions: Season 10 Show 1 - Tweed funk

5:30 pm Senior Connection: Sleep

6:00 pm Veterans' Call: SHINE

7:30 pm Frank Presents: State House Pt. 3

8:30 pm ArtWeek: Airmen of Note

• Franklin Pride TV - Our Educational Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28) = MONDAY

7:00 am Public School Concert: Lifelong Music Pt. 2 01-29-19

8:30 am Public School Event: FHS Winter Jazz Night '22

10:00 am Public School Concert: FHS Concert Night 2019

12:30 pm FHS Boys Varsity Hockey: v St. John's Prep 02-16-22

2:30 pm SAFE Coalition: The Hamlins

3:30 pm The Only Cure Is Education

4:00 pm It Takes A Village: 40 Percent Club

5:00 pm FHS Girls Varsity Hockey: v Mansfield-OA-Foxboro 02-03-22

9:30 pm Hockomock League Swimming Championship Day 2

• Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29) = MONDAY

8:00 am Planning Board: 02-07-22

11:00 am School Committee: 02-16-22: Face Coverings

2:00 pm Planning Board: 02-07-22

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf  

Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm)

Learn about zoning in Franklin! View the Forum March 7

Join the Town of Franklin and MAPC for our first public forum on Monday, March 7 at 7PM! This will be a hybrid meeting that takes place in the Council Chambers at Town Hall (please note the change in location) and over Zoom. Click the link below to register and tell us if you plan to attend in person or remotely.

Register for the March 7 Forum

History of Zoning in Franklin

Franklin Center's building stock is largely historic, with two-thirds of the buildings having been built before WWII, and many much earlier. Franklin Center was predominantly developed around the turn of the 20th century, in the late Victorian/early Edwardian period from 1860 until the stock market crash in 1929. Close to 60% of all buildings in Franklin Center were built during this time, although some date back to the mid 18th century.

 

Source: MA Land Parcel Database, Franklin Assessor

Zoning regulations throughout the United States, particularly in older communities, often result in conflicting goals between a zoning district's regulations and the existing development patterns of that area. Franklin's zoning code and associated districts were first adopted by the Town's Planning Board in 1930, after almost two-thirds of Franklin's current structures were built. As such, many of the most beloved buildings in Franklin Center could not be legally built today because of dimensional or use restrictions in the zoning regulations.

Prior to Franklin's zoning code being adopted, the primary modes of transportation for the average American would have been walking, bicycle, horseback, or using a streetcar transit system. In that year, there were roughly 217 cars per 1,000 people in the United States, a number that grew to 380 in 1955 and to around 800 in 2010. As family and individual car ownership continued to exponentially increase throughout the 20^th century, so did a greater focus on zoning regulations to cater to the experience of motorists above all other modes of transportation. The below photo shows Franklin's Main Street back when its streetcar system was in operation

 

 

This meant that the physical form for urban, suburban, and rural communities was altered to fit the needs of car owners. Parking minimums for developments were established. Roads were built, widened, and then widened again to satisfy induced demand. As the world became more car-friendly, car ownership felt less optional and more obligatory. Jobs, schools, and places where people chose to spend their free time were further and further away from people's homes. Today, if a resident in Franklin or in countless communities across the country wants to get from their home to a place of business, they are most likely taking a car.

Zoning's Impact on the Built Form

Impact of Dimensional Regulations The "look and feel" of a neighborhood depends on how a person traveling in the neighborhood is able to interact with their built environment. Zoning dimensional regulations dictate the size a buildable property can be, where building on that property can occur, and even the architectural design standards that dictate how those buildings must look. The diagram below shows the various dimensions that are regulated by Franklin's zoning code.

 

dimensions that are regulated by Franklin's zoning code

Two of the zoning regulations which dictate the size of a property are lot area and lot frontage (see the Zoning Glossary below for definitions). They are both usually regulated as a minimum amount whereby a property owner would need to obtain a variance to build on a lot that has a smaller lot area or frontage than zoning regulations for that district allow. As we consider what this means for people traveling on foot or cycling, properties with a larger lot area are likely going to have more frontage, and as a result, it will take more time to walk past that lot. Yards, also commonly known as setbacks, are a type of buffer that prevents a property owner from building anything too close to their front, rear, and side property lines and are also usually regulated as a minimum amount. Large front-yard setbacks can impede to access to a building by putting it farther away from the street. In commercial spaces, these setbacks are often reserved for parking lots. In residential spaces, it means larger front-yards. From the perspective of those who are interacting with their built environment, this means a longer walk across a parking lot to get to a store, or many long walks up and down driveways for trick-or-treaters come Halloween. Building height and number of stories are dimensional standards that regulate how tall a building can be. Taller buildings with multiple stories can better maximize limited available land than a single-story building and are generally easier to obtain financing for from a bank. On the other hand, buildings that are too high can also be unfriendly to pedestrians and cyclists, blocking natural light and creating a feeling of being lost in a "concrete jungle". The zoning code should strike a balance to allow for buildings to be built in a way that feels appropriate for someone who is interacting with them at street-level.

Source: Downtown Great Barrington Cultural District A streetwall occurs when you have higher-density, multi-story development lining one (or both) sides of the street with little, if any, setbacks in the front and side. This creates a wall of buildings that offer storefronts with visual entertainment for pedestrians and awnings that provide shelter from harsh rain or sun. See the following photo from Great Barrington, MA for an example of a vibrant streetwall. The streetwall creates an urban form that encourages people to want to spend their free time there and transforms the sidewalk from a place of transportation to a venue for both daily adventures and special events (such as winter ice sculpture displays or a cookoff). Creating an environment where people will want to interact with the surroundings helps to create an area that feels vibrant and active and will also support the local businesses. Impact of Use Regulations Zoning use regulations explicitly dictate what can be built where. For example, a factory of a big-box store cannot be built in a residential district, something most would support. Such a use, with its odors, noises, and inherent dangers, could affect the quality of life for residents in a negative way. Zoning regulations help keep these land uses separate, often with buffers and space between them, ensuring that quality of life and the value of one's home is not negatively impacted by other land uses. However, what we have learned in the one hundred years of enacting zoning regulations in the United States is that too much separation of land uses can have profoundly negative impacts on quality of life as well. As a society, we have used regulations to separate where we live from where we work, learn, and play, preventing the creation of vibrant neighborhoods and encouraging vehicle use. One of the things that we have learned is that a mix of uses in a downtown area, including residential, retail, office, and even light-industrial, helps to foster a wider variety of housing options and create a built-in customer base that will support local business. It is hard for downtown businesses anywhere to survive when there are no customers that live nearby. A mixture of uses combined with residents living near or above them helps to create downtown destinations, that in turn make a downtown more attractive to new businesses, shops, restaurants, and residents. The photo below is an example of a mixed-use development in Franklin with retail uses on the first floor and residential units on the floors above.   Source: Franklin Downtown Partnership   Impact of Regulations on Housing Costs Zoning regulations that unreasonably constrain what can be built on a site are directly tied to increases in housing costs. Setback regulations make the developable part of a property smaller than its area. Height limitations mean a person can only get so much usable space on their land since there is a literal ceiling as to how high a building can be built. Parking minimums mean valuable space is taken up that cannot be built on. All of these factors, combined with market forces related to supply and demand and personal preference on where people choose to live, inflate the cost of land and make development more expensive. Fact finding missions to de-mystify zoning codes fall in the hands of developers, who must spend time and money working with architects, planners, engineers, and attorneys who can help determine what can be built where, and what the stipulations are for building in a certain place. The local municipality is a part of this, who must review submitted plans with accompanying permit fees that pay for the municipality's staff time. These processes can add hundreds of dollars to a small project, and thousands of dollars for larger projects, while adding time and uncertainty to the development process. The longer a project takes to get built, the less likely it is that the project will ever be built, a situation that no property owner or financing organization wants to be a part of. Zoning Glossary Accessory Building: Any building on a property that is reasonably related to the principal building on that property, such as a shed. Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU): A self-contained apartment on the same lot as a single-family residence, either attached to or detached from the principal building. Accessory Use: A secondary use of a property that is reasonably related to the principal use. A home-based business is an example of an accessory use. Building Height: The vertical height (in feet) from the street-side of a building to the highest point of that building. The building or roof type may determine how the height is calculated, however, any part of the structure that does not enclose habitable space (such as a chimney, TV antenna, etc.) is not considered when determining building height. Building Story: The portion of a building between the floor and either the roof or the floor above. District: An area on a zoning map with uniform regulations which specify how the land can be uses and what dimensions a new building must conform to. All parcels in Franklin are currently assigned to one of 17 base zoning districts that serve residential, commercial, and industrial uses of varying densities. Impervious Coverage: Anything covering the ground that surface water cannot penetrate, such as pavement. Lot Area: The total area (in square feet) within the lot lines of a property, excluding any street right-of-way. Lot Depth: The distance between the frontage line and the rear property line. Lot Frontage: The portion of a property where the front entrance faces the street, measured along the street from one edge of the property to another. Multifamily Building: A structure that contains three or more residential units, either for rent or condominium ownership. Mixed-Use Building: A structure that contains a mix of principal uses. Generally, it refers to commercial use on the first story with residential units on the stories above. Principal Use: What any property is primarily used for, such as residential, commercial, or industrial. Rezone: The public process by which a zoning district for a property or collection of properties is changed, culminating in a vote by the Franklin Town Council. Special Permit: A permit granted by a public board (usually the Planning Board) to allow for a use or increased density that is not guaranteed by right, but instead considered on a case-by-case basis.  Variance: A granted exception from the use or dimensional regulations for a property by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Not all regulations can be granted exception. www.mapc.org/franklin-for-all