Comments on: Public Meeting re: Senior Housing Zoning Amendment

By: eila

eila — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:14:20 +0000

Hi Somerspeak, want to name that developer and tell us more?

Has anyone sent any comments in and did anyone attend the Public Hearing?

I sent in written comments, and received no acknowledgement of receipt.
(My comments can be viewed at:
http://www.slideshare.net/eilily/somerville-senior-housing-ordinance-proposalpublic-comments )

By: Somerspeak

Somerspeak — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:56:48 +0000

Is it true that this proposed zoning change is being pushed by city hall for the benefit of one of the Mayor’s most favored developers? Who just happens to want to do something down off of Park Street? Anyone?

By: Jeff Levine

Jeff Levine — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:05:53 +0000

Actually, 40B does allow a profit of up to 20%, if I remember correctly, which is often de facto higher depending on how creative the accounting is. So using the lack of a profit motive as a drawback to 40B is somewhat incorrect. In fact, most 40B’s are done by for-profit entities like Avalon Bay. On the other hand, the true private sector development world expects a profit of more than 20%.

The main drawback to the 40B approach to producing affordable housing of any sort is the fact that the City loses most or all control over where and when the housing happens. By proactively creating zones where it is encouraged, the City keeps some control. So that is something I like about this proposal.

What I don’t like about the proposal, at least as I understand it right now, is the implicit anti-family intent. Somerville has lots of families that want to stay and are priced out. And, unlike many other communities, Somerville has excess capacity in its schools. I am not sure why we wouldn’t seek smaller, defacto affordable units for all prospective residents in these zones, rather than limiting them to seniors.

By: eila

eila — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:41:27 +0000

great, Barry! Representative Provost’s informative Citywide news from May, 2002 says, “The more-than-10% provision is the only measure currently used by DHCD to certify compliance with 40B. The statute, however, also decrees compliance where subsidized housing exists “on sites comprising one and one half per cent or more of the total land area zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use,” in a city or town.”

As of Sept. 29, 2009, Somerville’s Chapter 40B subsidized housing inventory (“SHI”)is counted as 3,118 = 9.6% SHI units. (Our total development units counted as 3,226. The 2000 Census Year-round housing units counted as 32,389).

Source: http://www.mass.gov/Ehed/docs/dhcd/hd/shi/shiinventory.htm
note: “This data is derived from Information provided to the Department of Housing and
Community Development (DHCD) by individual communities and is subject to change
as new information is obtained and use restrictions expire.”

By: Barry Rafkind

Barry Rafkind — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:30:41 +0000

Thanks for the heads up, Eila! This, for me, is the key paragraph (page 6, under "Limitations within Somerville Zoning Ordinance" in the staff report (pdf):

While 40B has proven to be an excellent vehicle for the creation of high-quality senior housing, it should not be the sole vehicle for senior housing construction, as it excludes the potential for private, for-profit housing to be built. Reliance on the 40B zoning exemption means that construction of senior housing is largely a charitable enterprise, undertaken only by public and non-profit agencies, because in addition to setting a minimum affordability threshold, 40B imposes limits on construction overhead and profits. These constraints limit who can participate and, by extension, sites that can be put to this needed use.

So I'm not sure how 40B limits which sites that can be used for this purpose, but basically, the City is claiming that the amendments are necessary because the 40B zoning exemption is just too restrictive on private profits. Are they for real? I'm sure there are plenty of well connected developers in the City and even possibly some on the BOA who see some business opportunities resulting from these changes. I wonder when our elected officials will get back to looking out for the public welfare instead of maximizing private profits.