MONTAGUE — The Selectboard voted Monday to collaborate with the Planning Board to issue a request for proposals (RFP) this winter for what would be the first deed-restricted affordable housing developed in Montague in more than a decade.
The targeted land on First Street in the village of Turners Falls is municipally owned and one of two parcels within the area’s “Subdistrict B,” with the other under private ownership. The 0.65-acre lot, which formerly contained row housing, is suitable for five to 12 units of new housing, according to Assistant Town Administrator Walter Ramsey. The town hopes to have the RFP released by the end of December or early January.
“Montague has a need to develop approximately 30 deed-restricted affordable housing units in order to meet the town’s 10% affordability goals,” Ramsey explained. “That’s defined under (Massachusetts) General Law 40B.”
The First Street subdistrict, along with the former Railroad Salvage site at 11 and 15 Power St., was zoned as a “Smart Growth Overlay District” during May’s Annual Town Meeting to encourage affordable housing development. Smart Growth Overlay Districts are defined by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40R as “dense residential or mixed-use smart growth zoning districts, including … affordable housing units … in areas of concentrated development such as existing city and town centers, and in other highly suitable locations.” Such zoning changes encourage the development of residential or mixed-use buildings, of which at least 20% of the units would need to be considered “affordable.”
A “low or moderate income household” is defined by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 121B as “a household with gross income at or less than 80% of area median household income,” a definition referenced by Ramsey at Monday’s meeting.
“I think as we move forward with that, we need to help people understand what affordable means,” commented Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz.
Annual Town Meeting voters also authorized the Selectboard to sell the land to a developer. The Planning Board, which voted last week in “full support of timely issuance of the RFP,” said it would be in the town’s best interest to sell the property “for a nominal fee” to keep housing construction costs affordable, Ramsey recapped. The property would be a taxable asset of at least $1 million in value, he added.
“At least two agencies” have expressed interest in developing affordable housing at the site thus far, Ramsey noted. The nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, he said, “remains very interested.”
Ramsey also provided two examples of what housing might look like on the parcel using graphics developed by landscape architecture and planning firm BSC Group. One diagram shows a row of six detached single-family dwellings with a strip of parking at the rear. This housing could be comparable “in size and scale” to existing Habitat for Humanity homes on L and Second streets, Ramsey said. Another design shows 12 townhouse-style units with a similar parking arrangement. The property could also viably support duplex-style construction, according to Ramsey.
“A wide range of housing can be proposed here,” he summarized.
Ramsey said development could be phased over multiple years, should the eventual developer choose to execute the project in phases. Last December, the town set an expectation to break ground at the site in four to six years.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.