Community Housing Council
Meeting Room A
Members Present: A.J. Alon,
Elaine Anderson, Catherine Brouillet,
Joe Carleo,
William Dougal, and Molly Perdue.
Members absent: none
Staff: Matt Mulvey and Maxine Notaro
Others: Polly Hemstock, David Krohn, and
Jessica Waugh
The meeting was called to
order at
Meeting Agenda
Minutes of the August 6th meeting.
Motion: Approve the minutes of
the August 6th meeting as written.
Motion: Molly Perdue Seconded:
Cathy Brouillet Vote:
6-0-0.
Presentation/Update on Herring Cove Village,
David Krohn
verbally presented his new plan to the CHC.
They were hoping for a real plan.
Mr. Krohn said he had previously given out
packets to the Local Housing Partnership and thought that would suffice with a
spoken update. He said that there are an
existing 8 units and his plan is to put in an additional 9 units; three of
these 9 units will be one bedroom affordable units. He further said that they anticipate spending
a lot of money on native landscaping, etc. and he is trying for the “oh wow”
ambience on his 4.1 acres.
David Krohn
was asked why he hadn’t pursued a 40B opportunity. The answer was unclear since D.K. said that many
communities are not in favor of this but this community is. Bill Dougal wondered
about the policy issue since when we have a 40B project we have to have a 20%
affordable component. A.J. Alon said that during a May 18th meeting with
the Local Housing Partnership (LHP), the developer proposed three – 1 bedroom
units as the affordable component of the development. David Krohn felt
that this was agreed to but A.J. said that the directive at that point was for
Mr. Krohn and his partner(s) to go through all the other
committees, i.e., ConCom, ZBA, Planning, HDC, etc.
and then come back for an opinion of the LHP and/or current CHC. Matt Mulvey – said
the plan had been agreed to.
David K. said that the Fire
Chief advised him to put in all median housing since most of his firemen make
too much money and wouldn’t qualify for affordable. Joe Carleo asked, “So
where are you now with the other boards?”
Ans: Tomorrow he’ll be meeting w/ConCom.
Bill Dougal
had questions regarding the anticipated prices of the completed condos:
1 bedroom upper $425,000
1 bedroom lower $400,000
(A one bedroom unit would have 760 sq ft. and
all 3 affordables will be
on the 1st floor selling for less than the above prices.)
2 bedroom $700,000
(some at $600,000)
3 bedroom $770,000
Joe Carleo
said that he would prefer more diversity in future developments. Molly P. said that if our aim is to keep
families here, a 2 bedroom unit is a more sensible way to do this – not a one
bedroom unit.
Bill Dougal
said, “What if we came back to you and said we would need affordable housing
for a 2 bedroom unit?” David said you’re
asking for $6K loss for each of these.
Cost is the same to
build. David K. threatened that he may
just redo the 8 units he has and make them all market rate. Joe said the moderate rate would be preferable.
After a whole lot more conversation, Joe
said he would like a complete packet for the entire group at the next meeting
and then David K. could come back for a discussion. The next meeting is on Monday, August 27th
and the deadline for the new plans to be placed in the Building Department will
be on Friday, August 24th, in the morning. The Council members will then pick them up
and study them prior to the meeting.
A.J. Alon
said that our legal counsel has to be consulted. They will be given the entire scenario and
then they will determine whether the development will have 20 or 33%
affordable; then David Krohn will determine on the
basis of that whether or not he will move forward with his plan.
School Department Needs
Jessica Waugh was invited by
Bill Dougal to come and speak to the group about the
needs of the School Department’s employees.
She had not been put on the agenda but since Bill Dougal
invited her to the meeting, he asked if – in deference to her busy schedule –
she could be heard ahead of the other agenda items. It was agreed.
She said that last year there
were 74 employees – 40 at Provincetown High School (PHS). They placed an ad and most of the candidates
were from either
People want to be in our
school system but their biggest struggle is housing for the paraprofessionals,
custodians, and other support personnel.
Examples of the salary range are:
$34,815.02 for bachelor degrees and $67,483.66 for master degrees.
Molly Perdue asked how many
families are lost annually. Jessica W.
said about 3 or 4 and mostly to Cape Cod Tech.
Discussion with Polly Hemstock
Polly Hemstock
who officially had been on the agenda was finally interviewed. She is being hired as a consultant to fulfill
the requirements of the TAP grant.
Polly H. is very knowledgeable
in housing circles. She previously
worked for the CDC but many of her previous employments have been grant related
and eventually peter out – thus her availability at this time.
There are three areas for her
to focus her attention:
1.
property tax
exemptions
2.
accessory
apartment by-law
3.
outreach and the
amnesty program.
She fully understood what
would be required of her but had an important question: After the outreach and information imparting,
etc. – how would people get back to her – as in contact number? Joe Carleo said
that it was hoped that there would be a housing specialist in place by that
time with a bona-fide office and real phone number.
It was discussed that
Wellfleet – establishing a pilot program – is using CPA funds as a loan fund
for people who want to become legal residences – as in illegal in-law apartments. The CPA funds are helping the people of
Wellfleet to accomplish this. A.J. Alon suggested that the CHC could use some of the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund money to accomplish something similar.
Tenant Selection
The above areas spawned many
questions, i.e.,
Bill Dougal asked: Who would review the housing applicant?
Polly said that the Housing
Office would review income verification and current pay stubs BUT the landlord
gets to choose the tenant.
Bill, again: Who is
driving the placement of the tenant?
Polly said the landlord has
the choice, i.e., if there were 5 applicants and one was known to have an
alcohol affinity – then the landlord could opt not to have him as a
tenant.
Joe Carleo
explained the process through section 8 tenants and this process would be
similar.
Bill Dougal
– repeating what had been previously explained – said that the main fear of a
landlord would be that they would have to take a tenant they didn’t want. Once again, Polly explained that the landlord
selects the tenant and the choice is based on approval of the landlord as well
as the tenant’s qualifications.
Accessory Dwelling Units
Bill Dougal
said that the sewer system imposes limitations on the number of bedrooms
allowed, etc. You can’t put in an extra
unit without upgrading to a title 5. The
way to avoid this is to remove a bedroom from the main dwelling and put it into
the accessory unit; this shifting of the allowable flow is done quite
frequently.
Polly Hemstock
said she would also devise a check list for people with affordable housing
questions and it would contain who they would see first and then in what order
they would ask for their variances. The
first step would probably be starting with the Building Commissioner and then
perhaps the committees they would need to consult, i.e., ZBA, Planning, HDC, BoH, and on down the line.
Polly H. would provide the list in order to guide them.
Polly wondered aloud regarding
the outreach program – How many people do we have out there?
– then how large must the property be and what is the
criteria for water, density, etc. She
then decided that she will provide a draft for review by the Community Housing
Council at their meeting after Labor Day.
She will also develop a mailing list.
Bill Dougal
said that licensed facilities are tied in with the conversion by-law
(4170).
Real Estate Tax Abatement
The Real Estate Tax Abatement
List should be separate from the accessory dwelling unit list. Polly, once again, reassured the council that
she will prepare a draft.
Molly P. suggested a sheet on
each specific program – amnesty; accessory dwelling; tax abatement program,
etc.
Draft of One-Year Goals for PCHC and the new Housing Office
At
1.
Administrative
2.
Research/Needs
Assessment
3.
Coordination
4.
Development/Pipeline
This rough draft was handed
out at the meeting and perhaps everyone could look the list over and have
comments on the goals at the next meeting.
Public Statements
There were none.
Other Business
Tbc – as in “to be continued”
Adjournment happened at
Respectfully submitted,
Approved by
_____________________________ on ____________, 2007.
Joe Carleo, Chair