NAHANT — The Housing Production Plan (HPP) Sub-Committee, a new group in town, met on Monday night along with the Short Term Rental Committee and the Planning Board. The focus of the meeting was to share information on the sub-committee’s plans and Massachusetts 40B and 3A housing statutes.
“This committee was set up in order to help Nahant achieve its affordable housing goals,” Chair Michelle Capano said at the meeting. “And what this also does is help Nahant for preparedness in terms of its affordable housing requirements, meeting the statutes under 40B and chapter 3A (MBTA communities) as well as any proposed or future grants and funding that may be available by the state.”
Chapter 40B “enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions,” according to mass.gov.
Section 3A requires MBTA communities to “have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets other criteria set forth in the statute,” according to mass.gov. The other criteria to meet for 3A is a “minimum gross density of 15 units per acre,” “located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable” and “no age restrictions and suitable for families with children.”
The sub-committee is supported by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Capano said.
“Consider them like Massachusetts’ internal consultants helping cities and towns across the Commonwealth with different initiatives specifically around open space, affordable housing, housing production plan, and so we’ve engaged them in a contract to work with us,” Capano said.
Plans between the HPP and MAPC are in the works including a public hearing about affordable housing in town to get public feedback. Capano said she “encourages” the community to reach out to HPP with any questions or comments.
“In terms of engaging with our consultants is really around looking at Nahant housing needs, really trying to understand through the data that’s available, how we’re going to be able to meet this goal of affordable housing,” Capano said.
According to HPP Secretary Mark Cullinan, through meetings with MAPC they discovered from U.S. Census data that 40 percent of Nahant residents meet the “requirement of affordability.”
HPP is also planning an event to take place in February that will “bring the community together,” she said.
“[HPP will] share with everyone the housing needs assessment that was done recently and then talk about people’s visions and objectives and what they see about affordable housing in Nahant,” Capano said.
