Photo from The Concord Bridge
At Town Meeting on April 29th & 30th, 2024, voters approved four warrant articles with implications for affordable housing.
Article 35. Two family homes in Residence Zone B
Concord already permits two-family homes near town centers in Residence Zone C. This article allows duplexes in Residence Zone B, where lots are generally larger and further from town. The footprint of these duplexes can be no larger than that permitted for a single-family house. Too many smaller houses in Concord are torn down and replaced with the largest single-family home that zoning allows. Without subsidy, units in new duplexes may not be technically affordable, but will be less costly than the single-family alternative. This article offers home buyers a less-expensive alternative to new construction or renovation. Article 35 expands the array of housing options, consistent with the goals of the Concord Housing Foundation.
Article 34. MBTA Zoning
Passed by a substantial majority, the new rules comply with state law and create opportunities for affordable housing in Concord without compromising the “look and feel” of our Town. The Planning Board identified ~80 acres, most near town centers, where an owner can build housing at a density of fifteen units per acre. The areas proposed already have, or abut, mixed-use and multi-family residence projects. Most are close enough to walk to our MBTA stations. Multi family homes here could fit into our townscape as neatly as Concord Greene or the Keyes Road condominiums.
The new zoning overlay district does not mean that large projects will be built right away, or ever. In Concord, some of the newly zoned areas already have, or soon will have, multi family housing. Other developments may occur in these areas, but only if the owner wants to do so. If developments do happen, they will not reduce the amount of open space which we so value. The Boston area needs more housing, and Concord can play its part. Any projects within this zone will have 10%-20% affordable units, enabling Concord to become more diverse and affordable.
Article 32. Amendment to the Fossil Fuel Free Bylaw
Concord has qualified under state legislation to participate in a pilot program to require fossil fuel free construction in new buildings. Originally passed at Town Meeting in 2021, the bylaw exempted affordable housing from such requirements. While capital costs may be slightly higher, the life cycle cost of such climate-friendly construction is likely lower than using fossil fuels for heating, hot water, and cooking. The pending 40B project at Baker Avenue will be fossil fuel free, using geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The approved amendment, which contains some other technical changes, requires that affordable housing projects be fossil fuel free. This is consistent with Concord’s climate goals and should not inhibit the future construction of affordable homes in town.
Article 40. Community Preservation Allocations
There are three projects here which housing advocates support, and all were approved:
$33,500 for Regional Housing Services Office (RHSO). This modest sum enables Concord to use RHSO resources to manage existing affordable units and navigate the complexities of housing development and finance—without creating its own housing department.
$500,000 for the Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (CMAHT). The CMAHT is the “bank” for Concord’s affordable housing efforts. CMAHT is helping to fund the Concord Housing Development Corporation’s project at Assabet Bluff and the purchase of additional units for the Concord Housing Authority or for resale with income restrictions . In the past, funds for such programs have come from free cash, the excess of Town revenue over expenditures. With funding of the new Middle School and increasing tax rates, this source of housing funds is no longer available. Until the Legislature votes to allow Concord to implement its real estate transfer fee, the CMAHT is the only continuing source of funds for affordable housing projects.
$200,000 to complete planning for a pedestrian bridge over the Assabet River. Once planning is complete, Concord can apply for state funds to build this bridge. Once built, the bridge and connecting trail will provide a direct route to West Concord and the train station, as well as to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Residents of the new NOVO Riverside Commons and workers at Baker Avenue offices will be able to walk or bike to West Concord Center.
Amended: 5/118/24
One “40B” Project Approved, One Pending
In May 2023, recalculation of the Subsidized Housing Index (based on 2020 Census results) showed that Concord fell below the threshold of 10% affordable units. Almost immediately, developers filed a proposal with Mass Housing (the responsible State agency) for a multifamily project at 320 Baker Avenue, to be called NOVO Riverside Commons. This is a “40B development,” which would be built under a section of State housing law permitting developers to override local zoning if a municipality falls below the 10% affordable housing threshold.
The site is on the edge of the large Baker Avenue office complex, abutting a small pond and the railroad tracks. The site is an appropriate one for multi-family housing, within walking distance of the West Concord train station once a bridge is built across the Assabet River. In a letter to Mass Housing, the Foundation indicated qualified support for the proposal. The Riverside Commons project provides 51 affordable units, Importantly, Riverside Commons helps meet Concord’s climate goals because it will be “all electric.” Creation of the affordable housing units is a major step forward in Concord’s Housing Production Plan.
The other units would be market rate, but within reach of many households who cannot afford to buy a home in Concord. The State approved Riverside Commons as a qualifying project. In April, the Zoning Board of Appeals issued a comprehensive permit for the project, which has now been added to the Town’s subsidized housing inventory, taking the percentage of affordable units over 12%. The final permit included a number of suggestions made by the Foundation and Town officials to improve the visual impact of the building, lessen traffic problems, and make use of parking spaces at the office park to reduce the number of new spaces required for the project.
**********************************************************
A second 40B application was filed in the fall of 2023 for the current site of Camp Thoreau. After reviewing the site and proposal, the Foundation recommended that the project not receive State support. The location puts a large number of additional homes close to the largest existing multi family housing project in town (The Prescott) and over two miles from West Concord center—-clearly contrary to the intent of transit oriented development spurred by the MBTA zoning law. The development does not appear to be fossil fuel free, would require major alterations in land forms, and would create substantial additional traffic and vehicle pollution along Rte. 62. Based on comments by the Planning Board and town staff, the Select Board submitted a similar recommendation to the State. However, the State allowed the project to proceed in December. The developer is responding to concerns about septic, drainage and placement of the entrance road. The deadline for decision by the Zoning Board of Appeals has been delayed to October 2024
Updated: 5/18/24
Legislative Developments
Special Town Meeting in January 2023 reauthorized the real estate transfer fee, changing the previously approved language to exempt the amount of sales below $1,000,000. Our legislators (Sen. Barrett, Reps. Cataldo and Gentile) promptly filed home rule petitions to obtain Legislative approval for the transfer fee and a previously approved building permit surcharge for affordable housing. Home rule petitions have now been filed for other jurisdictions that have approved a transfer fee, including Amherst, Arlington,Boston, Chatham, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet. Boston, Cambridge and Somerville
A bill that would permit any municipality in the State to adopt a real estate transfer fee under certain conditions was again submitted by Senator Comerford and Representative Connolly. (S .1771/H.2747). The Concord transfer fee could be implemented as written if this bill passes. Sen. Barrett and Reps. Gentile and Cataldo have co-sponsored the bill. With the housing affordability crisis reaching emergency levels on the islands, Sen Cyr has filed a separate bill (S. 1786) that would permit transfer fees under somewhat different circumstances.
On June 6, 2023 the LOHA coalition (Local Options for Housing Affordability) held a Day of Action at the State-House to urge passage of the transfer fee bills. Among the speakers was Lise Holdorf of the Concord Housing Foundation. You can see a brief video here—-Holdorf Testimony.
Not long after, the Boston Globe published an editorial supporting the transfer fee.
In October, Governor Healey submitted a multi-faceted housing bond bill (H.4138) designed to greatly stimulate housing production in Massachusetts. In addition to bonding authority for a variety of housing investments, the bill contains important policy provisions——-including authorization for communities to adopt a real estate transfer fee for affordable housing. The language in the legislation would permit Concord to implement the transfer fee as approved by Town meeting. A recently issued analysis of real estate sales data confirms that Concord can expect to realize $2 million per year or more from the transfer fee. The Foundation submitted a strong letter of support for the January hearing before the Housing Committee. Concord housing agencies and the Select Board submitted support letters as well. Community, religious and business organizations spoke in favor, Only the real estate industry provided significant testimony against the bill, citing a questionably relevant study of the implementation of a transfer fee in the city of Toronto during the 2008 “housing crash.”
On March 6 2024, the Housing Committee reported favorably on H, 4138, making no changes in the transfer fee language. The bill has since been approved by the Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State assets. It is now pending before the Ways and Means Committee. Housing advocates continue to press strongly for the inclusion of authoirty for a local option transfer fee in the final bill, expected to pass this summer
Updated: 5/18/24
Five Year Housing Production Plan Accepted by Select Board
Every five years, Concord and other Massachusetts municipalities must produce a document called a Housing Production Plan (HPP). The last HPP was developed in 2015, and the new plan has been delayed by COVID. It contains a detailed analysis of Concord’s demography, housing inventory and housing market. The new report submitted for Select Board review on December 19 can be found HERE.
No surprise, the report shows that the number of units in the official Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) has been effectively static for the last decade, while Concord housing prices grow further out of reach, even for current residents. To buy a single family home at the median price in 2020 would require (using standard criteria) a household income of $283,000. In an interesting analysis, the report finds that many “new” homes in Concord were tear downs. In the process, homes with an average of 1,473 square feet selling for $591,000 were replaced by homes averaging 3,917 square feet and selling for $1,460,000.
Because of delays in issuing the 2020 Census results, the report does not contain an updated calculation of the SHI. But with a recent small decline in the number of SHI units while permits were issued for 205 new housing units, Concord will almost certainly fall below the 10% SHI threshold used to determine the applicability of Section 40B. This shortfall would permit developers to override some zoning rules with dense new developments so long as the project contains enough affordable units.
The way forward is difficult. With the death of Junction Village, two single family units and the five homes at Assabet Bluff are the only units now in the pipeline. A new project at the Junction Village site, and a small number of units on existing Concord Housing Authority land are at least several years in the future.
The HPP looks beyond subsidized housing to consider how homes could become generally more affordable in Concord. Suggestions include:
Allowing duplexes “as of right” in all residential zones
Revisiting regulations (including the Thoreau Depot District) to encourage more housing in multiple use districts
Considering smaller lot sizes and increasing sewer capacity
The HPP is comprehensive in considering environmental protection, climate change, and making Concord a more inclusive community. The report lays out a complex web of options for the community. Now it is up to Concord citizens, the Planning Board, and the Select Board to choose and implement options which will reverse trends that price still more citizens out of Concord.
Added to website: December 2022
Concord Housing Foundation is a a non-profit 501c3 corporation dedicated to community outreach, education, and fundraising for affordable housing.
Help us by making a donation using the button below.