Harwich Housing Costs Outpace Earning Capacity

HARWICH – The town’s draft housing production plan was presented to stakeholders last week with a clear message: the cost of housing has greatly outpaced the earning capacity of most residents.

Over the last few years the pandemic brought more people to Harwich, and over the last few years housing demand has outstripped supply, said Karen Sunnarborg, the consultant who worked with the local planning committee on the plan. The town’s population increased by 1,086 residents between 2010 and 2021, she said.

Joyce McIntyre, chair of the local planning committee, said there is a two part mismatch for people seeking to find housing in Harwich. While the community has done well in creating jobs, salaries cannot compete with the cost of housing. She said teachers, medical staff, police and firefighters cannot locate reasonably priced housing.

The housing production plan was last updated in 2016. The revised plan will be completed this fall and added to the update of the town’s local comprehensive plan, which is expected to be done before the end of the year, according to Sharon Rooney, principle planner with Tighe and Bond, the town’s planning consultants.

According to the draft housing update, from 2000 to 2021 the median income of residents increased by 92 percent while the price of a single-family home increased by 195 percent.

In 2023, the cost of a median range single-family home was $650,000, up from $352,200 in 2010, according to the document. To afford that cost, based on 80 percent financing and a 20 percent down payment, the estimated median household income would have to be about $160,200. That is double today’s median household annual income of $79,641. A monthly rental of a two-bedroom unit is in the range of $2,400 and requires a household income of $106,000, according to the draft plan.

The town has 328 units of state-approved subsidized housing, totalling 4.98 percent of the dwelling units in the community. The commonwealth’s goal is for municipalities to have 10 percent of units affordable. According to the draft plan, the town needs to create 33 new subsidized housing units each year going forward. Such an accomplishment would provide the town with additional regulatory oversight of affordable housing developments seeking to alter local zoning through Chapter 40B.

“The lack of community support for new development, including affordable or attainable units, has created roadblocks for some development opportunities,” the plan reads.

Year-round rental housing is a priority in Harwich, according to the plan. There is a need to provide rental housing for vulnerable residents. The plan also calls for diverse housing. First-time homeownership is another priority. The document emphasizes the need for community education, capitalizing on affordable housing trust programs and better defining local housing responsibilities.

Among the housing strategies cited to address housing needs are integrating affordable housing into the town’s open space and recreation plan through cluster zoning, adopting inclusionary zoning and better use of mixed-use development. Updating short-term rental regulations and the town’s local initiative program were also recommended.

The town should be considering the use of public property to partner with private developers to expand housing needs, and to work with private property owners assisting in Smart Growth development, according to the draft. Preserving housing stock is also essential, including having the town provide financial assistance for rehabilitation of aging structures and a small repair program that brings housing conditions up to code. The use of grant programs to assist in encouraging additional units was also recommended.

The document also recommends expanding seasonal worker housing, including the use of dormitories under proper conditions.

Recently adopted state legislation allows communities to create starter home zoning districts, noted Town Administrator Joseph Powers. The district would allow no fewer than four units per acre of developable land. Single-family units would not be allowed to exceed 1,850 square feet of heated living area. Powers said the concept is an outgrowth of Smart Growth planning. Should a development propose more than 12 starter homes, no less than 10 percent of those homes shall be affordable to and occupied by individuals and families whose income is less than 110 percent of the area median income. There can be no age restrictions or any other occupancy restrictions in the district.

Starter districts need only a majority vote of town meeting to be adopted.

During stakeholder discussion in the July 31 session, use of vouchers to assist with rental assistance was a main focus.

A rental assistance program was highlighted as a way of assisting residents. The affordable housing trust is now seeking to establish such a program and has issued a proposal seeking a management consultant to run the program. There was discussion about the use of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to fuel the program. The community preservation committee denied a request from the trust this past year for such a program, citing a lack of specifics.

Select Board Chair Julie Kavanagh said moving forward with a rental assistance program was a good approach. She said rents “are so unreasonable” here. Kavanagh said CPA funding should be used, adding that additional information supporting the program should be available in the coming year.

Waystack said the assessors plan to bring an affordable housing property tax credit before town meeting. The program would provide property owners who create an affordable housing unit on their property with a $1,000 to $1,500 annual tax credit, depending on the size of the unit.

The affordable housing trust is also on the verge of making a developer decision for a 90-bedroom complex at 456 Queen Anne Rd. There was agreement last week that the town is showing progress in addressing housing issues.

Sunnarborg said the next steps should be a community housing forum on the draft housing plan; securing the plan adoption by the select board and planning board; and submitting the document to the state for approval.