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Date: 5/10/2022
EASTHAMPTON – After over a year of meetings and discussions between the Planning Board and City Ordinance Committee, changes to the Smart Growth Overlay District were unanimously approved by the City Council at its May 4 meeting.
The special zoning district, permitted by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40R, is designed to encourage the development of and access to deed restricted affordable housing. Working essentially as an incentive program, 40R allows a developer to create more housing than zoning would normally permit provided at least 20 percent of the units are affordable.
The city’s 40R district prior to the City Council vote included the Pleasant Street Mills, Main Street, Union Street and Cottage Street. With the council’s approval, the expansion of the district will include the Center-Pepin Elementary School property and a significant portion of the Highway Business district on Northampton Street. The changes also include amendments to the existing language to add flexibility.
District 3 City Councilor Thomas Peake, a member of the Ordinance Committee who has worked on this proposal, described some of the steps they have taken to this point and said the goal of the town in adding this expansion is to set up an incentivized development of affordable housing in Easthampton.
City Planner Jeff Bagg, who has also been involved throughout the process, gave a brief presentation to the council before questions were opened to the public. Bagg shared that the three main elements of the changes to the Smart Growth Overlay District was a new subdistrict on Northampton Street that includes 21 properties, the expansion of the existing subdistrict over Pepin Elementary and changes to the Planning Unit for Affordable Housing section in the city’s ordinance.
Bagg said that the idea was to continue to work with people to develop these units, as additional incentive payments from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) can come from the growth of the city’s affordable housing market. He added that the initial incentive payment to the city is going to be $250,000.
Bagg noted the city received a similar incentive payment from the DHCD when first creating the Smart Growth Overlay District in 2009 and some affordable housing units were developed then but, he felt most would argue it was not enough based on the efforts being made now.
During the process of making these amendments, Bagg has been in contact with the DHCD as they reviewed and approved Easthampton’s proposal. That approval allowed for the City Council to vote on the project, but Bagg noted the city still needed a final approval from DHCD.
At-Large Councilor Owen Zaret asked Bagg about sustainability and green standards for the future development of these affordable housing units and if they were recommendations or rules to follow. Bagg said the current writing regarding sustainability and green standards are currently just a guideline and not strict requirements in terms of planting and energy efficiency. He did note that DHCD standards were soon to be raised as they reviewed more of what they are looking for in the units.
“Between the two we will be seeing more and more sustainable plantings and more general sustainable principal practices,” Bagg said. “Solar, low impact developments, rain gardens, it’s moving towards those being expected.”
When opened to the public for comments, Jessica Allen of Valley Community Development Corp. (Valley CDC) spoke in favor of the proposed changes. Valley CDC, seeks to empower low- and moderate-income people and underserved populations by focusing on community development of housing services, affordable housing development and small business development.
Allen explained that through Valley CDC she does housing pre-development assessments and looks into how zoning works in favor of parcels the group is vetting.
“The city can best support affordable housing by providing an easy, efficient and clear permitted path for developers as we move forward,” Allen said. “Having clear 40R language is beneficial.”
Resident Kiam McQuaid, a resident and member of the Easthampton Affordable and Fair Housing Partnership, also spoke in favor of the proposed changes as he felt young people who rent in the city like himself don’t have many options for finding a better option that is affordable. McQuaid noted younger residents like himself were being pushed away from Easthampton without the proper affordable housing options and most were stuck with renting if they wanted to remain in the community.
“It’s clear to me that Easthampton needs housing to support and grow our population of young artists and professionals, as well as provide for our aging population that face the challenges of rising costs at a fixed income,” McQuaid said. “I’m happy to report the city has acknowledged this need.”
McQuaid credited the housing production plan for clearly outlining the need for affordable housing production in Easthampton and that this amendment would help take the next steps to create more affordable housing in the city.
The City Council then voted unanimously to approve the zoning ordinance amendments and will now gear up to welcome in new developers of affordable housing in Easthampton.