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Date: 1/5/2022
Editor’s Note: The original version of this story printed on Jan. 6 contained factual inaccuracies. In the interest of correcting the record, Reminder Publishing is reprinted a corrected version on Jan. 20. We regret any confusion.
PELHAM – These days, even small houses sell for big money.
“A small ranch house sold for $365,000,” said Tilman Lukas, chair of the Housing Committee. “A buyer from California bought it sight unseen. I thought it would be about $320,000, but it sold in just a few days.”
Lukas and the Housing Committee are working to create more affordable housing in Pelham, which makes it possible for young families to move into town. Young families stabilize school enrollments and the tax base – but several conditions are driving home prices through the roof and up past the chimney.
A shortage of student housing in Amherst has boosted the price of properties. Another longstanding problem, according to Lukas, and also difficult to address, is the reach of town sewer and water service is limited. The pandemic recently added fuel to home prices through supply chain interruptions, which drove up the price of materials and fixtures. Building new, and building subsidized housing, became that much more expensive.
The town responded to the need for affordable housing by authorizing $250,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to subsidize the Amethyst Brook Apartments. According to Susan Cooper, a member of the Housing Committee, all 34 rental units will be affordable housing, with rents as much as 20 percent below the state’s maximum allowable rents for affordable housing. A lottery determines who will occupy them in 2024, when construction will be completed.
Habitat for Humanity has two projects underway, houses that will sell for $155,000 or less, depending on an applicant’s income. Cooper informed Reminder Publishing that the abutters, Home City Development Inc., donated 30 feet of road frontage to enable a second lot, adjacent to the first. The lottery for ownership of those homes has been completed.
Cooper also informed Reminder Publishing the town has requirements of 88,000 square feet, approximately two acres, for building lots in most of Pelham, with smaller lots allowed in the Town Center area. According to Cooper, “only approximately 8 percent of all the land in Pelham is deemed developable, according to a 2017 Land Inventory & Assessment. More than half is permanently protected and about a third has geological constraints.”
Acres that may turn into lots, though, might yield fewer buildable spots than hoped. Some lots may not pass a drainage test for a septic system.
“Pelham has a higher water table, so percing lots is difficult,” Lukas said. “The perc test is critical.”
One bright spot is the cost of installing sewers. According to Lukas, many towns, including Amherst, are adopting sewer technology that utilizes worm drive pumps. The pumps, mounted within much smaller piping, make utility lines cost less. A trencher further reduces the costs by cutting a narrow channel in the ground, rather than a wide ditch.
The committee is working to ensure the Amethyst Brook Apartments will best serve the community. Funding to install sidewalks from the community buildings down to the town line with Amherst are being sought. Funds for planning must be secured first.
“The town is going to use some of the ARPA funds,” Lukas said, referring to the American Recovery Plan Act, “to do a detailed analysis of the geography, the roads, whatever else is required, between town line and the community buildings. Then they’ll take that information and give it to contractors to get really solid prices.”
Committee members commented on another downside to the lack of affordable housing in Pelham: traffic. According to Cooper, those who work in Pelham, where there are no commercial businesses, have an impact.
“I had it in my talking points,” Cooper said, “the high percentage of commuters, not just out of town, but also the number of people working in Pelham.”
According to town statistics, 70 percent of Pelham residents drive alone to their place of business. Ninety-one percent of school employees commute to Pelham, as do 14 town employees. Public transportation may help alleviate the wear and tear on roads, and help relieve the housing shortage, by connecting Amethyst Brook Apartments to Amherst public transit.
“Pelham should be tied into it, as much as possible,” Lukas said.
Committee member James Lumley foresaw the difficulties. “It’s not easy to change people from car transportation to bus transportation,” he said. “It takes a long time.”
Lukas replied, “You have to start somewhere.”