As we get closer to the November 18th Special Town Meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the high school, more and more citizens are starting to gather information on the articles that will be before voters. As stated before, the main attraction of the meeting is proposed zoning that aims to bring the Town into compliance with the state’s “MBTA 3A” requirements.
As people do their due diligence on the proposals it is worth looking at some of the broader issues and concerns that are in play. Going back to the origins of the new law, state legislators and housing advocates were and remain very concerned about the high cost of housing and the negative impact high housing costs can have on the economy.
This is a national, state and local issue. They choose to address this desire for more housing by focusing on zoning near transit stations, requiring towns with transit stops to allow multi-family housing as a by-right use meaning the use cannot be subject to a special permit though it can still be subject to site plan review.
It is not hard to see that, in Manchester, the majority of homes are very expensive single-family homes. The median home value is over $1.2 million. We typically see a handful or less of new homes constructed annually and most of these are rebuilds of a teardown. There is very little opportunity for young families to move into town or for empty nesters to downsize and remain in town. We are seeing this tight housing market play out in our demographics. The most rapid growing cohort of the population is those over 65 and student population has been shrinking. A call for a more diversified housing stock was one of the highlights of the Town’s recently adopted Master Plan.
Understandably, there is a very strong desire to maintain the character of the community. These concerns have been at the forefront of much of the work of the MBTA Task Force and the Planning Board as they craft proposed new zoning. They have focused on zoning areas of town that already are developed with the majority of the areas consisting of small lots. This results in a lower net number of potential new housing units and avoids large structures. In addition, the new zoning comes with design standards that requires new construction to fit into the look and feel of existing buildings in Manchester. All told, only 37 acres of land out of a land mass in excess of 5,100 acres is impacted by the proposed new zoning. But change is change and residents should make sure they are comfortable with the protections the planners have proposed.
The law requiring the new zoning stipulated as the penalty for non-compliance the withholding of certain state grants. There is some confusion over what these grant totals for Manchester have been and could be going forward due to the state adding more grants to the list that could be withheld. We know that grants to the Manchester Housing Authority would be withheld as well as MassWorks and Housing Choice grants. We are told that the MassWorks grants include the funds that we have received from the Seaport Economic Development Council and the recently re-established library construction aid. The Town has grant applications before both of these entities.
To some people, these amounts are not important enough to risk what is viewed as detrimental to the character of the town. Others view the millions that we have received over the years as an important incentive to comply (the larger grants have been the recent MassWorks grant of $3.5 million for the water and sewer line extensions to the Limited Commercial District, numerous Seaport Economic Development grants for harbor improvements totaling over $1 million and MassWorks funds for dredging at $500,000).
This is an area where reasonable people can disagree and is really secondary to the main issue of creating a more diverse housing stock for the community. In terms of tax impacts, a 1% tax increase generates about $300,000.
The new law is the subject of a case before the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. The Attorney General filed the case against the Town of Milton for not complying with the law when voters rejected the new zoning after it had been approved by the town’s representatives (Milton does not have an open town meeting.) Some residents believe Manchester should hold off voting on the proposed zoning pending the outcome of this court case. This request has been put to the Select Board who ultimately control what goes on Town Meeting warrants. Legal opinions vary on how the Court will rule but the basic law will likely stand though some of the guidelines promulgated by the state agency responsible for implementation of the law may be revisited. The Select Board feels that
Manchester should proceed and if some of the rules change that impact our proposed zoning, changes can be made at a subsequent Town Meeting.
There is a lot to consider as we get closer to decision time at the November 18 Special Town Meeting. All voters are encouraged to become familiar with the wealth of materials available on the Town’s website under “MBTA Zoning.”
