LYNN — A housing forum Wednesday evening will focus on what locations in the city present the best opportunities for development.
The virtual public forum, which will be held via Zoom at 6 p.m., is another step in the city’s development of its comprehensive Housing Production Plan, dubbed Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth.
“We’re more than halfway done,” said Jeffrey Weeden, planning and development specialist for Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND), which is working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to develop the plan.
“We should have a plan by the end of the year. We’ve made significant progress,” he said.
As part of the process, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) requires communities to complete a development site analysis.
The findings of that study, which has identified what sites are best primed for development in the city, will be presented Wednesday in a forum that will be facilitated by the MAPC, according to Weeden.
Part of that analysis has included factoring in land constraints on certain potential sites, such as how they would be impacted by nearby wetlands, woods and schools. Planning experts have also looked at areas that have a high acreage and what parcels could be combined for development, Weeden said.
Some areas that could be best suited for development, such as the waterfront, sites along the Lynnway and some wooded areas in Ward 2 that have high acreage and low land constraints, will be presented and discussed during the forum, Weeden said.
Some specific examples will include the former Lynnway Mart Indoor Mall & Flea Market on the waterfront, which is expected to become market-rate apartments, and the former Thurgood Marshall Middle School on Porter Street, according to Weeden.
“They’ll bring it up in terms of zoning and what will fit there, (and) if there’s any recommendations to get its highest utilization,” said Weeden. “The main topic will be getting out this information on the development site analysis, and we’ll do a question and answer toward the end.”
When completed, Lynn Housing for All would meet all of the requirements of a Housing Production Plan, a proactive strategy for planning and developing affordable housing that would have to be approved by the Lynn City Council, the city’s Planning Board and DHCD.
Since Lynn has met its state-required affordability threshold under Chapter 40B, with 12.5 percent of units considered affordable by the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory compared to the 10 percent stipulation, the plan being developed by the city is not a requirement.
However, statistics shared by the MAPC regarding a high number of low-income and cost-burdened households show that the city’s housing needs have not been met, despite exceeding the state’s requirement for affordable housing, which led to the city’s interest in developing the plan.
To date, the project has included efforts to understand housing challenges, establish housing goals, and consider programs and policies to meet them. Following a developer’s panel discussion in June, the project team now wants feedback from residents on the location, scale and design of new housing given different community benefits that could be negotiated, according to the MAPC.
“There are many residents that are passionate about the city’s future developments because they are already burdened by the rising housing costs, and we want to continue to hear from them,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “We are committed to an inclusive process for a strategy to develop without displacement. As we continue to move forward to grow and develop, we want to make sure we have the right plan that captures the broad range of housing needs facing the city.”
According to the MAPC, more than 42 percent of Lynn households are in a home they cannot afford. More than half of all households in Lynn are low-income, while 63 percent of those are cost-burdened, meaning that more than 30 percent of their income is spent on housing. Many are spending more than 50 percent on rent.
“It’s important that we listen and adapt to the voices of the residents of Lynn. Our goal is to address housing challenges and create vibrant neighborhoods in our city, and receiving public input is fundamental in accomplishing that goal,” said Charles Gaeta, LHAND executive director.
“The city of Lynn and LHAND are dedicated to creating and overseeing these efforts, but we need help to understand the needs of our diverse community and to shed light on those unspoken housing narratives. These public forums are imperative to the planning process and we encourage everyone’s participation.”
The final public housing forum will be held in October and the planning team, LHAND and the MAPC, are aiming to have a completed plan before the City Council by Jan. 1, Weeden said.
