City of Methuen Master Plan

Methuen Master Plan 2007
H-1.3:
All lots or units set aside for affordable housing shall be maintained as affordable housing
for at least twenty-five (25) years after their initial occupation date. If such a unit is sold
within that twenty-five year period, it must be sold at a price that meets the
Commonwealth’s definition of affordable housing. The only type of development that
would be exempted from this mandate would be assisted, supportive or other special needs
housing.
Create an Affordable Housing Plan in accordance with the Planned Production regulation
promulgated by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development
(DHCD).
Based on the information and data contained within the housing chapter of this master
plan, as well as previous planning efforts (such as the City’s Community Development
Plan), the City should develop and adopt an Affordable Housing Plan for approval by
DHCD. The information within an Affordable Housing Plan is contained within this
chapter. The Affordable Housing Plan should contain three sections:
1) Comprehensive housing needs assessment;
2) Affordable housing goals and strategies; and,
3) Description of use restrictions.
Once the plan has been developed and adopted, the City can request certification of
compliance from DHCD by demonstrating an increase of units that are eligible to be
counted on the State Subsidized Housing Inventory of at least 126 units – equating to 0.75%
of Methuen’s year round housing units (based on the 2000 Census) pursuant to the plan.
However, due to the City needing 139 units in order to satisfy the Commonwealth’s 10%
affordable threshold, the City should strive to prepare a plan to develop at least 139 units
comprised of owner and renter units primarily geared toward non-elderly low income
households. It is likely that this goal could be achieved in one year. In a certified
community, decisions by the Zoning Board of Appeals, to deny or approve comprehensive
permit applications will be deemed “consistent with local needs” (meaning that the decision
will likely be upheld by the Housing Appeals Committee).
The goal of the affordable housing plan should be to develop 139 affordable housing units
over the next year which will bring the total number of affordable units in Methuen to 1,685
units equaling 10% of Methuen’s (2000) year-round housing stock.
In order to develop 139 affordable units over the next year, the City should implement the
following strategies;
1) Work with private developers and land owners to develop a “friendly” Chapter 40-B
affordable housing development of at least 120 units comprised of rental units with a
mixture of one to three bedrooms (see Strategy H-1.1).
2) Revise the City’s land use regulations to require that new residential subdivisions,
particularly those located in rural areas, contribute to the provision of affordable housing
(see Strategy H-1.2). It is anticipated that up to ten units of affordable housing could be
added to the City’s supply using this method.
3) As per Strategy H-3.1, the City should amend the current accessory apartment regulation
to encourage the development of affordable accessory units. In order to encourage
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