[Massplanners] Inclusionary Zoning

[Anthony Flint]

Martha,

I’ve circulated this report before, it’s older now, like us all, but has a good foundation of what other communities have implemented. It’s free to download.

https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/policy-focus-reports/inclusionary-housing

Grounded Solutions has more resources and updates on the use of inclusionary zoning nationwide. https://groundedsolutions.org/

Best,

Anthony Flint<http://anthonyflint.net/>
Senior Fellow
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy<https://www.lincolninst.edu/>
617-930-1044
@landpolicy<https://twitter.com/landpolicy>
Finding answers in land

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Darlene Wynne via MassPlanners
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2022 11:22 AM
To: Martha Taylor <mltaylor.newburyplanner at gmail.com>
Cc: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Inclusionary Zoning

Hi Martha,
Beverly adopted an Inclusionary Ordinance in 2007 (written with the help of Judi Barrett) and made some amendments in 2016. You can find the language here: https://ecode360.com/29285153. While the Ordinance anticipated a housing trust, we did not establish the Beverly Affordable Housing Trust until 2017 when we first started to bring in money from the fee in lieu payment. Though Beverly has a Housing Authority, there is no connection between that organization and the Inclusionary Ordinance. I think our Ordinance has generally worked well and created approximately 75 affordable units.

The 2016 amendments both lowered the threshold for inclusionary housing from 10 units to 6 units and provided more options to reach greater affordability. For example, a developer could choose from 12% of units at 80% AMI, 8% of units at 60% AMI or a combination, where previously the only option was 12% at 80%, because strictly 80% AMI was not reaching the affordability we needed. We have found that most developments since the change are opting for the 60% AMI or combination. We will be taking another look at how we can create/require even greater affordability / more units.

There has been some recent resistance in our community to the fee in lieu option (despite that generating $1m we have since invested in other affordable housing projects) and the "credit unit" option whereby a developer can take credit for units offsite or on another site. The Fee in Lieu has not been used since we changed the calculations in 2017 (increased cost per unit).

Thanks to Katrina for noting our efforts on our Trust.

Darlene Wynne, AICP
City of Beverly
Director of Planning & Community Development
978-605-2341
dwynne at beverlyma.gov<mailto:dwynne at beverlyma.gov>

[https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1YLZ8WVjCU2w3bPsYpcuHS4XU_tk8qpXO&revid=0B9ALRqvKVYgmMkZGbXJBSkR5VHIzY3lFZUpXNEIyUUk5cTVBPQ]
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On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 9:50 AM Martha Taylor via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>> wrote:
Good Morning,

We are considering developing an Inclusionary Zoning By-Law for Newbury and I am wondering if any of you have one in place that you think works well that you would be willing to share.  Also, have any of your communities adopted an Inclusionary Zoning By-Law or Ordinance without having a Housing Authority and Affordable Housing Trust?  We have neither.

Any input on provisions of your by-law that you think work particularly well, or, on the flip side, any pitfalls or provisions that you think have turned out to be problematic, would also be very much appreciated.

Thanks very much!

Martha

Martha L. Taylor, AIA
Newbury Planning Director
12 Kent Way, Suite 101
Byfield, MA  01922
T  978-465-0862, ext. 312


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