Winchester Discusses Adding Affordable Housing Units

When Duffy Realty presented a plan to , the requested that 10 percent of those homes be turned into affordable housing units.

The will have five affordable units, costing approximately $170,000.

Now the board needs to make a decision on . The town has a Request for Proposal (RFP) that they are preparing to send out, but one of the issues that still needs to be agreed upon is whether or not the Wright-Locke Farm complex should have affordable units.

The state encourages communities to strive for that 10 percent number, a number Selectman Roger Berman supports.

“When the opportunity arises we need to create more affordable housing,” Berman said. “But I recognize that will reduce the amount offered in the RFP.”

According to Assistant Town Manager Mark Twogood, there’s approximately $12 million still owed on the Wright-Locke Farm BANs. Before the town $1.6 million, while Winchester paid one principle payment of approximately $300K last year. That payment has been postponed due to the passage of the

Selectman Thomas Howley said that since the town has set a precedent of requiring 10 percent, they should continue with that standard.

However, Selectman Jim Johnson would prefer to give developers an option, while Doug Marmon wanted a number lower than five percent.

“I think we should offer them five or 10 percent for affordable housing,” Johnson said. “We can get real numbers and then the board can make a decision. We should put both numbers in the RFP.”

Johnson went on to say that since the Town of Winchester owns the property, it’s the board’s responsibility to try and get as much money for Wright-Locke Farm as they can.

“It’s our obligation to address the concerns of the public,” Johnson said. “We need to try and get as much out of this project as we can, whether that’s five or 10 percent.”

According to John Suhrbier of the Winchester Housing Partnership Board, the number of affordable units should have a minimal impact on the price a developer is willing to pay for the property.

“The Housing Partnership Board believes that the modest affordable housing provisions being recommended for the new Wright-Locke Farm RFP will likely have no material impact on the proposed purchase prices,” Surhbier said.

Twogood and Town Counsel Wade Welch recommended the board require five percent of the units to be affordable, a number Berman disagreed with.

“With all due respect to Mark (Twogood) and Wade (Welch) they had an opportunity to respond and all they gave was their personal opinion of five percent,” Berman said. “We’ve done 10 percent in the past and we should have the backbone to do 10 again.”

The board will continue discussing the matter at their next meeting, August 22.