Harwich Planning Board Endorses Housing Production Plan

HARWICH – The planning board has approved the housing production plan despite concerns that it doesn’t provide concrete steps to address the housing crisis.

The board agreed in a Nov. 12 session that the town needs to have the document approved and forwarded to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to access grant funds.

“The town needs us to pass this. I think we voiced our disappointment,” planning board chair J. Duncan Berry said when opening discussions on the plan on Nov. 12. “I think it would be good to have a planning board open meeting without an agenda so we can discuss the planning needs of the town.”

The board scheduled an open session to discuss ways of addressing housing issues with town departments and the public on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Board members agreed the housing plan has a lot of good ideas and direction, but said it needs to focus on a few priorities that will increase affordable and workforce housing in the community. 

“My problem with the document is it has 152 pages, and what is the conclusion?” said planning board member Ann Clark Tucker. “All these zoning and bylaws are contradictory and we’re not doing anything to fix it. It would be wonderful if we could say we have a direction and a list of priorities, and move something forward.”

The town has been focusing on housing issues since 2003, she said, but the subsidized housing inventory (SHI), the percentage of the town’s housing units that are subsidized or restricted as affordable, has not moved over 4 percent in that period. The SHI is presently at 4.95 percent.

“There are some excellent resources and ideas,” Tucker said in a review of the plan she provided to the planning board. “However, it is a laundry list without a call to action or a set of priorities.”

Berry called for the planning board to get together with the affordable housing trust, housing committee, housing authority, select board and the public to discuss housing in an open session. He said there needs to be a frank and honest conversation about what his board and the town can do to provide leadership in addressing housing.

The approach board members discussed was starting small and focusing on a couple of priorities that will generate affordable and workforce housing. Berry said land use and zoning are part of the problem and need to be addressed.

“We’re part of the problem here,” he said. “We can figure out ways to deal with it, stand up and do something.”

“There are a lot of guidelines and generalities in there,” Tucker said. “I don’t see a tactical on-the-ground, village-by-village approach that we can use.”

Planning and Community Development Director Christine Flynn said the village-by-village items will be contained in the town’s local comprehensive plan, which is also in the process of being updated.

Berry said one of the specific components of the housing plan he is interested in is the concept of setting up a zoning district for first-time homeowners that reduces barriers to creating smaller, more affordable homes.

There is a need for the planning board to work hand and glove with town departments and the state to vet and change zoning laws, he said. The board needs to begin a serious initiative to see what changes are applicable. 

Board members agreed it’s time to be proactive in addressing housing issues in the community while not usurping the powers of other town departments.  

“In the meantime, I think we owe it to the town and the state to vote for it (the plan),” Berry said. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan.