North Adams Community Development Panel Mulls Affordable Housing Trust
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — One City Council committee is looking to take more active steps on housing and economic development in North Adams.
The Community Development Committee has met infrequently over the years, primarily to respond to referrals on zoning issues. Chair Andrew Fitch, however, has more recently responded to inquiries about housing opportunities and development of the Mohawk Theater. This has turned the conversation to how the city can support new growth.
One idea: an affordable housing trust.
Fitch floated the concept at Tuesday's meeting at the library, saying he was seeking opinions from his colleagues Keith Bona and Lisa Blackmer.
"If this is something that you have an appetite for supporting, and what steps you think that we could take for the general council to support this, if it's something that we want to move forward with," he said.
Bona and Blackmer were supportive but wanted more information.
Several Berkshire communities have trusts set up, including neighboring Williamstown. Town meeting had established the trust in 2012 and set it up with a deposit of $200,000 from Community Preservation Act funds. The municipal trust had grown out of work done to encourage housing for lower-income residents and the forced closure of the Spruces Mobile Home Park by Hurricane Irene.
Since then, the trust has supported housing at Cable Mills and Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity projects, purchased property, and developed mortgage and rental assistance programs, among other endeavors.
One aspect of a trust, Fitch pointed out in reading notes from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, "is the ability to move quickly and efficiently when housing opportunities arise."
Williamstown's is funded through the CPA, which allows towns to add a surcharge to property taxes to fund open space and recreation, historic preservation and affordable housing. Trusts can also be backed by zoning payments, developer fees, municipal general funds, tax title sales, cell tower lease payments and private donations.
North Adams has not adopted by the CPA, but Fitch suggested that some of the town's rooms taxes could be put toward a trust or the fees from short-term rentals.
"It's something that I've been interested in for quite some time," he said. "I know that we as councilors and as a City Council don't have a lot of options to impact housing, but this I figure is one thing that we could at least explore doing."
Bona said his concern was how it would affect the administration and city staff.
"I find it difficult for us just to create things that are going to put more on staff and offices," he said. "I assume this would have to be approved through the administration."
Fitch said it wasn't clear whether mayoral approval was necessary but he has spoken with Mayor Jennifer Macksey about the possibility.
"I think I remember correctly, she generally said she's open to this concept," he said. "But I don't know that we technically need approval."
MGL Section 55 states a city or town must adopt the section and that a board of trustees would be appointed by the mayor with City Council approval.
"I need some time to deep dive into some of this," said Blackmer. "I'm not against the idea, but I'm always the one who says, where are the weeds, how's it going to operationalize?"
She said she'd like to see more done through the city's Community Development Block Grants. The grants in the past had been used toward a facade program and first-time homebuyers program; they've more recently been used for demolitions and renovations at the Armory and Mary Spitzer Center.
Bona said he and his wife had been able to get a first-time homebuyers loan through the Community Development Office when they first got married.
"I don't think we've had something like that in a long time, but that did help us out at the time, and I could see it helping other young people who want to buy a home," he said rather than the absentee landlords that have been buying up properties. "I think it could be beneficial to the city to have new residents that are here living in houses."
Resident Virginia Riehl, a housing advocate involved with the North Adams Community Housing Organization, said creating an affordable housing trust might not fit everything but it could be a vessel to show the state it is prepared and a way to collaborate with other city departments as well as with private and public housing ventures.
"I think it's also a positioning thing for the city ... it doesn't mean you're going to have money in it tomorrow. It means you're ready to seize opportunities," she said.
Tags: affordable housing trust, community development,
