{"id":43116,"date":"2023-03-30T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=43116"},"modified":"2023-03-30T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T10:00:00","slug":"holden-exploring-options-under-multifamily-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/03\/30\/holden-exploring-options-under-multifamily-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"Holden exploring options under multifamily regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ken Cleveland <\/b>
\n Landmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 An effort by the state to expand multifamily housing in town is being met with questions.<\/p>\n

The so-called MBTA Communities Law, which requires allowing multifamily housing in communities adjacent to a community with an MBTA connections, has Holden officials objecting to the way the law is being presented, as well as its impacts. All the while, they say, the town already has multifamily housing and does not object to more of it.<\/p>\n

But local officials want to maintain local control for planning, so that they are ready for the impacts that come with more residents.<\/p>\n

And the word \u201caffordable\u201d is no where in the discussion, Selectman Chairman Anthony Renzoni said.<\/p>\n

With any housing development being market rate, the prices or rents would likely be in the range of existing rents.<\/p>\n

Town Manager Peter Lukes said a two-bedroom apartment in town currently rents for about $2,500 a month.<\/p>\n

Affordability is not in the formula, selectmen said repeatedly, adding that more housing could help provide spaces for people who already cannot find homes in Boston.<\/p>\n

Lukes said that under the legislation, some existing housing, including existing multifamily units, could be included in any zones that are developed under the law.<\/p>\n

A total of 50 acres, with a minimum of 5 acres and at least one of 25 acres, is required, he said, with the ability to support 750 units.<\/p>\n

The criteria has many area towns feeling overwhelmed by more state requirements, as they already deal with affordable housing that skirts local rules.<\/p>\n

And developers taking advantage of the MBTA rules can already come in and develop on buildable property.<\/p>\n

But Renzoni said that \u2018adjacent to the MBTA links\u2019 does not mean close. With Holden\u2019s center being 9 miles from the Worcester MBTA station, he estimated it could be a 3.5 hour commute to drive to the station, take the train to Boston and then the \u2018T\u2019 to get to a job.<\/p>\n

There was support for more housing, as the town continues to grow and attract new residents.<\/p>\n

The board will take up the issue during April\u2019s first meeting, having not voted at the March 20 meeting.<\/p>\n

Jacob Love, an attorney for Lawyers for Civil Rights, spoke to the board and said he was \u201cspeaking to encourage this board to comply with the housing law.\u201d Love said the town zoning increases costs and reduces housing additions.<\/p>\n

That Boston-based legal group stated on its Facebook page regarding the state attorney general\u2019s statement that the zoning law is not optional: \u201cHousing organizations and civil rights groups expressed support for the AG\u2019s statement. Some, like Lawyers for Civil Rights, had already been eyeing some sort of legal action against the non-compliant towns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreater Boston is mired in an affordable housing crisis that harms Commonwealth households of all incomes and backgrounds, but particularly low-income households of color,\u201d Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in a statement. \u201cMunicipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is critical to begin combatting that crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Holden selectmen indicated they could not solve Boston\u2019s housing issues.<\/p>\n

In its March 20 meeting, selectmen noted housing costs are already high in Holden as a desirable community with new homes in the $700,000 range, Renzoni said.<\/p>\n

Lukes said the town had initially read the words \u201cencourage\u201d rather than \u201cmust\u201d or \u201cshall\u201d and responded with less haste.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is important to remember is that it has nothing to do with affordable housing,\u201d Lukes said. \u201cThe statute does not mention affordable housing or force anyone to develop affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he acknowledged that \u201cthe debate has morphed,\u201d as if there is some intention to keep folks out of Holden.<\/p>\n

\u201cHolden has affordable housing now and lots more room. A developer can move in and build affordable housing. This law does not change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the formula for affordable housing is based on income, and even for existing affordable units, \u201cIt is affordable in name only,\u201d Lukes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t change any of that. Our noncompliance has not been an issue with affordable housing,\u201d he said. \u201cHolden has multifamily housing all over the place, and the town has supported that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want more of that. It\u2019s benefited the town quite a bit,\u201d Lukes said. \u201cThe difference is, we\u2019ve had the ability to plan for it,\u201d working needed increases due to growth in staff and services such as police and schools into the planning.<\/p>\n

He suggested his office continue working \u201cso we can figure out some potential overlay and move forward on the path that would be able to be part of this program in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think from a cursory exploration, we could do it without having a negative impact on the town,\u201d Lukes said.<\/p>\n

Since existing housing counts, \u201cI think we could do it creatively,\u201d he said, adding there was \u201cvery little chance a developer would come in and plop down 750 units of housing. I think it is potentially possible to bring this without having a terrible impact we feared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selectman Stephanie Mulroy said the town should \u201cslow down the ball a little bit. I think we\u2019re all in support of multifamily housing but without destruction to the already overburdened system we have.\u201d \u201cRelinquishing local zoning and local planning to the statehouse is a big mistake,\u201d Renzoni said, considering Holden has, for 281 years, been holding town meetings to decide what is best for the town.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re changing that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s because Boston has no place for their people to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Town Counsel Steve Madaus said that the attorney general\u2019s office did reach out in a cooperative way to say \u201cthere is some avenue for discussion there. There hasn\u2019t been a wall of silence.\u201d He said he would work with the town manager for discussions as appropriate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLDEN \u2014 An effort by the state to expand multifamily housing in town is being met with questions. The so-called MBTA Communities Law, which requires allowing multifamily housing in communities adjacent to a community with an MBTA connections, has Holden officials objecting to the way the law is being presented, as well as its impacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}