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Date: 9/28/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – The Southampton Housing Authority hosted the first of two open forums to receive feedback on the communities priorities and concerns as it continues the process of formulating its Housing Production Plan.
The forum, conducted virtually via Zoom in conjunction with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission(PVPC), drew nearly 30 public officials and residents with most of the active participants identifying as seniors. In response to an initial poll question posed by Ken Comia, a senior planner for the PVPC, 67 percent were between 65 and 74 years old, while an additional 24 percent were 75 or older.
One resident expressed concerns that the needs of younger demographics would not be reflected in the process based on the group of participants at the forum. Comia said the town and the PVPC has sought out and would continue to seek additional feedback from the community. He and Housing Authority member James Seney pointed to a recent survey as a valuable resource that offered a broad perspective. Seney lauded the town for its high participation in the survey, noting slightly less than 900 of the town’s 6,229 residents had submitted responses.
“Nearly 900 residents in a town of 6,000, that’s off the charts for a survey response, so I consider that survey data to be very robust and will provide a lot of guidance in addition to what we’re gathering tonight,” Seney said. “We had good response rates from all age groups to the survey. To me that’s a piece of solid data that we can really look at and pull from.”
Comia explained to forum participants that according to 2020 Census data, Southampton experienced 7.5 percent growth over the last decade, the largest rate in the Pioneer Valley. There is, however, a dearth of affordable housing options. The median sale price of a home in Southampton in 2020 was $345,000. Eighty-nine percent of the housing stock being detached single family homes – mostly two to three bedrooms – and 58.7 percent of those homes were older construction built before 1979.
The remaining 11 percent of units are apartment complexes and townhomes. Less than 2 percent of the town’s housing stock – 44 units out of 2,511 – is subsidized.
Affordable housing, Comia explained, is housing that is affordable to households whose incomes are at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) according to HUD. For example, the AMI for a family of four in the greater Springfield area is $67,300.
According to 2017 information offered by Comia, the median household income of Southampton was $89,423, a figure one member of the public opined was misleading. To their point, Comia’s data also illustrated that while nearly 1,100 households reported incomes of $100,000 or higher, significant numbers of households were well below the median figure. A total of 344 reported income levels of $50,000 to $74,999, 288 had incomes between $35,000 and $49,999 and 259 made between $15,000 to $24,999.
Comia also noted 31.3 percent of homeowners and 38.6 percent of renters in town were considered “housing cost burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.
Likewise, in interactive sessions during the meeting, several community members reflected concerns with the lack of housing options through which older residents would be able to remain in town by either downsizing or entering assisted living. Others felt younger families were being priced out.
In response to questions posed by Comia, the majority of residents stated they wished to make Southampton a more welcoming community to a more diverse population while 61 percent stressed the need for more affordable options.
Comia’s figures from the town survey indicated most in town are in favor of adding more housing in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act – 30.8 percent said they would “strongly support” this while an additional 24.8 percent indicated a level of support.
Residents in survey results and in the interactive portions of the meeting indicated they wished to maintain the town’s current character. During the meeting, 94 percent of those who responded to a poll question said they were concerned about the town losing its historic or rural charm while 63 percent were concerned about the loss of open space.
Likewise, Comia shared survey data that indicated 64.9 percent said they would oppose or “strongly oppose” the development of apartment buildings. The strongest support for additional housing was in the form of more detached single-family homes or townhouses and condominiums.
An additional public forum will take place in October. The date had not been determined as of press time.