Local Housing Partnership
June 24, 2005
9:00 a.m.
Members
absent: Scott Campbell (excused)
Staff: Maxine Notaro and Doug Taylor
Agenda:
Update on pending projects:
It was felt that the
prior meeting on June 3rd had covered the pending projects.
Discussion:
Membership.
Eileen Kennedy resigned from the Local Housing
Partnership Committee. She will be
missed by all the members and was a valuable addition to the group. Tim told the group that we need to find
replacements for both Teri Nezbeth and Eileen Kennedy. He wondered about getting Dixie on board;
he’s anxious to get on a board.
Amnesty.
Amnesty for “illegal apartments” was
discussed. The apartments will gain
amnesty and, provided the people in the apartments are income eligible, the
tenants will be able to stay in the apartments. These apartments (there are only two – to date) will not be
counted toward the 10% affordable housing numbers. The advantage to the home owner is that (s)he will receive a tax
deduction for having an affordable housing unit. The renter will have a permanently fixed legal rental. Also it was thought that the landlord should
have to come before the Partnership on an annual basis. Details will have to be wrestled!
Affordable Housing Expert.
Once again an affordable housing expert is a
dire need. A monitor, if nothing else,
for these cases is mandatory. AJ cited
his condo docs as an example which say that he can rent for a 2 week period –
or – for a whole year at an affordable housing rate.
Maxine Notaro says she is running through the
income eligibilities of Clem and Ursie’s and she feels that their regulations
should be on a sliding scale. Tim Hazel
says there’s a lot to do and – as we go along – we’ll learn more and more. He also feels that there has to be a set of
rules for the amnesty rate. Doug said
that perhaps putting an article before the Town Meeting would be valuable and
we could give an abatement for the permitting fees for any new affordable
plans.
What happens to the amnesty if it’s not an
affordable rental and then it becomes a legal apartment? The response from Tim was that we do need an
affordable housing expert. Doug Taylor
thought that maybe it’s a simple data inputting function and he feels the
computers we, the Town have, aren’t being used to full advantage.
Affordable Owners’ Housing Needs.
The discussion bounced back to the last
meeting’s dilemma of affordable housing purchased units requiring emergency,
essential repair, i.e. septic, etc. It
was told that Hensche Lane, for example, with its septic problems found that
Seamen’s wouldn’t finance a second loan to pay for repairs. Citizens Bank agreed to do it. Maxine felt that the Local Housing
Partnership doesn’t need to get involved in this.
Application Fee for Developers.
Tim Hazel felt that the group should talk about
an application fee for permits for builders.
There should be no charge for affordable units but developers should
have to pay for market rate unit permits.
Tim wondered why not a fee for everything? Maxine replied that the application fee relates to the time it
takes her department to review it. The
thought was that about a $100 fee should be for market rate units while the
affordable units fee might be forgiven.
Motion: Tim Hazel made a motion to charge for
permits for the market rate units only (to be consistent with other market rate
units) and not to charge application fees for affordable units. AJ Alon seconded the motion and it passed
3-0-0.
Recommendations brought forward by Community Housing
Resource (CHR)
AJ Alon said he really wants to have a full
committee before a complete discussion on the recommendations.
Tim Hazel wondered why no other developers for
affordable housing units have come forward.
He questioned aloud whether the application process has become too
cumbersome? Doug further said that part
of the reason is the economy. Lots of
stuff being completed now has been in the pipeline for awhile but there are
very few new plans under consideration.
New projects.
953 Commercial
St. Doug hopes the amnesty thing works
out for this property.
AJ said that there is
not a whole lot of land is left.
Pennsylvania Company had plans that look pretty impressive for affordable
housing. They look good but maybe the
owner will decide to go with market rate units. (He is on the beach and commands beautiful views, etc.)
Tim Hazel said that everything seems to be
slowing down and he wondered, again,
what the reason was. Doug Taylor
said the slowdown’s reasons may be that there is a “punk” economy and the
summer season acts as a brake.
Affordable Housing Task Force Report.
Tim feels that the Affordable Housing Task Force should be having regular meetings and act upon any decisions they make. Regular meetings are Tim’s main concern.
Other Business.
This discussion mirrored the previously addressed concerns, i.e., rentals are off and people are hurting. Many condos which have been rented for the season in the past are now unoccupied. The poor weather forecasts were also cited as reasons for the poor tourist season (thus far).
Minutes – June 3rd Minutes
Motion: Cindy Bowes made a motion to accept the June
3rd minutes. Tim Hazel
seconded the motion and it was approved 3-0-0.
Next meeting – Friday
– July 15th 9:00 a.m.
Agenda for July 15th meeting.
It will be comprised of a work session on the CHR recommendations and will be an opportunity to “tweak” criteria.
The
meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Evelyn Gaudiano
Approved by ____________________________on
______________, 2005.