Just in time for Christmas and the third night of Hanukkah, the city has a gift for all the land use nerds, housing advocates and even the developmentally disinclined on your shopping list: A memo outlining the latest safe harbors calculations which determine whether or not Newton has met the requirements under the state’s 40B law.
Here’s a summary (bold added for emphasis):
The City of Newton previously conducted its 1.5% and 10% calculations at the end of 2018 and February 2019, respectively. Those calculations were reported to the ZBA in a Memorandum dated February 15, 2019. A copy of that Memorandum is attached here as Exhibit A. At the time of the previous 1.5% calculation, the City’s land area percentage of affordable housing equaled 1.27%, and at the time of the previous 10% calculation, the City’s affordable housing unit percentage equaled 8.3%. Please refer to the prior Memorandum at Exhibit A for a detailed analysis of the City’s methodology and the Guidelines enacted by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) governing the calculation. In conducting its 1.5% calculation, the City is required to follow the prescribed methodology and technical instructions that were enacted by DHCD in 2018.
The City’s updated calculations show that Newton still has not met either safe harbor threshold. As of December 16, 2019, the City’s 1.5% calculation has increased to a total of 1.33% and the 10% calculation increased to 8.58%.
For those of you who think this beats chestnuts roasting on an open fire..the comment section is open. Happy holidays!
Good! Build more of everything.
I found the memorandum to be clear and understandable. Kudos to its authors!
once Northland becomes a 40b project, we should meet our requirements. If citizens were truly committed to affordable housing, the referendum vote will be the first step in this process.
Perhaps long term development in Newton may be helped more by supporting the referendum rather than opposing it.
Northland break! Merry Xmas and happy holidays!
I believe that the 10% affordable is a moving target. If you add 800 units of housing in Newton, that increases the total number of units multiplied by 10%. So it’s 10% of an ever increasing number. So if Northland were to build 1800 units of housing on three lots of land, and if they were all affordable, we could get to 10%. But they won’t be all affordable . I’ll let Jim Epstein do the math.
I don’t think that’s the way it works Jack. In a rental apartment building constructed under 40b, ALL the units are factored into the municipalities 40b obligation. This distinguishes a rental apartment building from a condominiumized building where only the affordable units are counted.
@mike striar, thank you, I went back and reread the memo and then the zoning calculations. And there is an important distinction, if the project has 25% affordable units, then all the units in the project count. So, in the Austin street project, all the units counted. But if it is only 10% of the units affordable, then only those units count. The memo notes that the city needs 461 new affordable units. And if the accessory apartment ordinance was crafted correctly, we could have those units spread all over Newton, tucked away in back yards.
Jack,
For accessory units to apply to 40b units, wouldn’t the homeowner have to rent ‘below’ market rates?
Realistically, how many landlords are going to essentially PAY renters to live in their units?
Or i should ask, what is missing from the accessory ordinance to make it better?
@bugek, I tried to build an accessory apartment for my daughter. And plan for my old age, creating an 800 sq ft unit with a master bedroom, kitchen, bath , living room all on one floor, with two bedroom on the second floor, 1400 sq ft in total. Except that the ordinance , which allows for a 1500 sq ft unit but By special permit, only allows 700 sq ft on the first floor. So, you create a bauhaus style. That’s what needs to be changed. Meanwhile, I am one of those people who was willing to build something that could be affordable for someone like my daughter, but it couldn’t work. I may try again