SHELBURNE — The Planning Board will present a proposal to increase access to affordable housing on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
The board has proposed to update zoning laws to encourage more development. At the moment, the town requires a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet in both village districts. The board plans to reduce this lot size to 8,000 square feet in the commercial village district and 5,000 square feet in the residential village.
Planning Board Chairman John Wheeler said that decreasing lot size would incentivize development.
“If a developer was willing to build affordable housing, there are more potential lots where they could build,” Wheeler said.
To balance reductions to lot size, the board has also proposed to adopt new design guidelines to “preserve the existing character” of the town. This would require new and existing homes to be built or renovated to reflect the historic character of the town.
The town enacted a housing plan last year to increase affordable housing options from 5.7 percent, as it currently stands, to 10 percent. The plan, created by the Shelburne Housing Committee and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, explains why the town needs more affordable housing. Homes in Shelburne cost more than many residents can afford, the plan states. An affordable price for a home in Shelburne, according to its median household income, is $180,000, while the median sale price in 2016-2017 was $296,000. Nearly 40 percent of renters spend too much of their income on rent.
Another obstacle to finding affordable housing is Shelburne’s relatively limited pool of available properties. Only 1 percent of ownership units were vacant according to the plan, while 4 percent of rental units were vacant.
Also, Shelburne’s population is aging fairly rapidly: 39 percent of residents will be 65 years or older by 2035, up from 20 percent in 2010. The younger population is also shrinking, as families with children under 18 dropped 21 percent between 2000 and 2010.
One respondent to a 2017 town survey on housing in Shelburne described unsuccessful efforts to move to the area: “Our family has been trying to move to the Shelburne area for a few years now. Unfortunately, there has been a very limited number of houses that have come on the market. Additionally, many of the homes are well above what most first-time homebuyers can afford. Our children choice into BSE (Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School), but if we can’t find affordable housing in Shelburne or Buckland, we may have to move elsewhere and change schools.”
Reach Grace Bird at: gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280