2 - Town of Colchester

Elderly Housing Options
1. Remain in current home.
2. Move to smaller home.
3. Move to condominium
with
exterior
maintenance provided.
4. Retain day-time help.
5. Remain in home with an
accessory apartment for
caretaker, caregiver,
and/or income.
6. Move in with family in
their home or accessory
apartment.
7. Move to congregate or
assisted living complex.
8. Move to subsidized
elderly housing
development.
9. Move to nursing or
convalescent home.
Encourage Housing Diversity
In addition to development densities and patterns, provisions also need to be made for housing needs. About ten percent
of the housing units in Colchester are non-single-family housing types. These housing types can help meet the diverse
housing needs of the elderly, the disabled, moderate income families, ‘empty-nesters’, and people relocating to this area.
While Colchester already has a reasonable share of “affordable housing”, appropriate opportunities to enhance housing
diversity should be considered. Opportunities to be explored include:
• requiring a certain percentage of all developments (subdivision lots or multi-family units) to meet
affordability criteria,
• creation of affordable rental units by churches or other local organizations, and
• development of housing opportunities with state and federal grants or subsidies.
In addition, the zoning regulations should continue to allow residential units in non-residential buildings in the village
areas.
In addition, there is expected to be a need during the planning period for additional housing units in Colchester that are
suitable for the elderly and/or the disabled. Some senior and disabled persons will want to remain in their own homes as
long as possible. This can be facilitated through such local policies as tax “circuit breakers” and the availability of local
assistance such as dial-a-ride, meals-on-wheels, senior activities, and home health services.
In a single-family home, an accessory apartment (a secondary dwelling unit located in the home) may be established by a
homeowner in order to accommodate an elderly or disabled family member, allow an on-premises caretaker or caregiver
for an elderly or disabled person, or to generate additional rental income. Colchester allows accessory apartments in
residential zones with Special Exception approval. These provisions should be maintained, with appropriate controls, to
help meet the housing needs of Colchester residents and provide housing opportunities with minimal community impact.
Other senior or disabled persons will look forward to moving to congregate and assisted living developments that provide
some services (such as meals, recreation, and minor assistance with daily living). While some of these types of
developments are being undertaken by the private sector, there is still a need for housing developments for elderly and
disabled persons of limited means.
Nursing and convalescent homes provide services for the elderly and disabled who need significant assistance with daily
living. At this time, these types of developments are also being undertaken by the private sector.
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