Athol to hold public forum on affordable housing

By GREG VINE

For the Athol Daily News

Published: 05-11-2023 4:48 PM

ATHOL – Despite plans to transform the former Bigelow and Riverbend schools into affordable housing and a private sector for construct affordable units downtown, the town is currently missing the mark when it comes to state guidelines.

A public meeting to discuss strategies for remedying the shortage is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, at the Athol Public Library. Among other things, it’s hoped participants might identify those areas of town best suited for affordable housing projects, as well as the types of developments which might be preferable.

“This meeting we’re calling, the community housing forum, has to do with developing a housing production plan, which is under guidelines established in the state Chapter 40B program,” said Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith.

Smith said that Athol is generally an affordable area in terms of housing, particularly compared to the Boston area. But in terms of the state law, only 5 percent of the town’s housing stock is designated as affordable, and needs to be at 10 percent, according to Chapter 40B.

For communities under the 10 percent threshold, Smith explained, if a developer is proposing a project for a part of Athol that town officials would like to see untouched or set aside for other types of projects, “we’re powerless to disapprove one of those.”

That, he said, is why it’s important to come up with a solid housing plan and that an important part is to understand the housing needs of the community by looking at the demographics.

“At that meeting, we’ll be having a presentation of the housing needs assessment that’s been undertaken, try to identify from the people what they think our housing needs are, and ultimately come up with strategies to address the needs,” said Smith.

Housing Production Plan

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The meeting will also include a detailed explanation of the housing production program, a discussion of housing needs, and “we’ll have some breakout sessions and really try to understand what type of housing is needed; more senior housing, for example, more family housing, smaller units. Those are the types of things where we want input from the residents. They’ll help us put the strategy together. Then we’ll have another housing forum meeting in the fall.”

It’s hoped a draft plan can be presented at that time. The plan would need to be approved by both the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board, then go to the state for approval.

“If you do a housing production plan, and you meet certain housing targets annually – and the state certifies that – it basically gives you, while you’re a certified Housing Production Plan community, the equivalent of being at your 10 percent.”

The effort is being funded by a grant from the state Department of Housing and Community Development and the money used to pay for a consultant to help mold the plan. The town has hired Karen Sunnarborg, an independent planning consultant, to work on this project. The Community Planning grant from DHCD provided about $40,000 to help Athol secure her services.

“The town of Athol has never had a housing production plan completed before,” Smith said. “We felt this was the time to take on this task – and I’m glad we found a grant source to pay for the consultant’s work.”

Smith hopes the state will determine the town is meeting its 40B requirements—not only by Athol developing a housing production plan, but because work on the Bigelow/Riverbend project appears to be just 12 or 18 months away and steps taken to create affordable housing downtown.

“It certainly gives the town something in our toolbox,” Smith said. “We could prevent 40B projects in those areas of town where we think that would best for the community. Right now, we’re essentially defenseless.”

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