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2015-04-16CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE OR COMMISSION: Community Preservation Committee SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: April 16, 2015 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, Third Floor City Hall Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Wendy Pearl — Chairperson, Marilyn McCrory — Vice Chair, Heather Richter, Lincoln Williams & John Thomson MEMBERS ABSENT: Darien Crimmin, Robert Buchsbaum, Henry Pizzo, Leland McDonough OTHERS PRESENT: Environmental Planner Amy Maxner, Endicott College Student Luke Rivers, Beverly Planning Director, Aaron Clausen, Community Housing Coordinator Margaret O'Brien, Andrew DeFranza, Mickey Northcutt, Don Preston RECORDER: Aileen O'Rourke Pearl calls the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. She introduces Shelly Goehring, Program Manager with the Mass. Affordable Housing Alliance. (MAHA) who will be giving a presentation on CPA & Community Housing. Goehring provides background information on what MAHA does and her role at the organization. MAHA helps low to moderate income people become first time homebuyers. MAHA is located in Dorchester but the organization provides statewide assistance. Goehring specifically helps communities use their CPA funds for community housing. She explains that under the funding categories CPA funds can be used including: Open Space, Historic, Recreation, and Housing. She notes that housing is the only category that includes "support", which provides great flexibility for how housing funds can be used. She refers to slides of terms defined from the CPA and DOR Allowable Uses chart: acquire, create, preserve, restore, rehabilitate and support and provides examples of each. Acquire- to obtain by gift, purchase, devise, grant, rental, rental purchase, lease or otherwise Create -new development or re -use, no formal definition Preserve- is protecting real property from injury, harm, or destruction. Some communities would like to use preserve like rehab but it's very specific. For example, some communities would like to help their housing authority buildings but because these units were not created or acquired with CPA funds, cannot use under support. But if there is such destruction to the building that units are no longer habitable, can use CPA funds for preserve to help with major repairs such as roof repairs /replacement. Support- provide grants, loans, rental assistance, or other forms of assistance, for the purchase of making housing affordable. Goehring provides an example, some communities would like to help seniors stay in their homes but really just making the housing accessible. If the housing is already affordable, then this would be rehab to make accessible. Rehab /or restore- CPA funds can go toward rehab /restore only if the unit was created or acquired by CPA funding. Pearl asks if expanding the eligible population would qualify. Goehring states would need to purchase an affordable deed restriction to make sure that housing stays affordable, if funds not enough to purchase the deed restriction, would be rehab. Goehring explains that some communities used the CPA funds to hire a consultant to create a housing plan. MAHA suggests conducting a needs analysis and have an updated plan in place so that the community has a guiding document that supports affordable housing and shows how data drives decision - making. She notes that CPA funds under "support", can be used for planning. Thomson asks who could assist with a housing plan. Goehring states MAPC could or sometimes in -house staff, depending on the community. Clausen states the Beverly housing plan is at least 10 years old. Goerhing provides examples of how other communities have utilized CPA funding for housing projects and initiatives: • Medway created a housing trust. The CPC hired a consulting team to talk about housing needs in the community, goals were formulated and then under the goals initiatives were established with concrete action plans. Before additional money is transferred to the trust, the community can ensure the goals are being met along the way to provide accountability. • Some communities create new housing or add to existing, partnering with a housing authority or non - profit developer. • Sudbury utilized a trust to buy modest homes by negotiating the sale price with seller and then paying the difference between the sale price and the affordable rate. • Martha's Vineyard provides rental assistance so owners will provide 12 month leases for year round residents instead of only providing 9 month leases to take advantage of higher summer rental income, leaving some year round residents without a home during the summer months. For those who qualify, tenants pay 50% of the rent and the housing authority pays the difference. The benefits to owners are: tenants are screened yearly, there is a stable rent and they can invoice the town monthly. No hard cutoff of when to get off the program. Goerhing notes that CPA funds are used for hiring a Housing Coordinator. Smaller communities are paying for housing coordinators to be their voice, to staff different organizations, and monitor affordable housing, Community Preservation Committee April 16, 2015 Meeting Minutes Page 216 She explains the Federal Fair Housing Act, which is an anti - discrimination law, not just dealing with blatant race discrimination but also "disparate impact" when communities create different policies and programs that make it difficult for certain people to get into those towns. For example, if a town passed a by -law that new development can only be townhouses with stairs that means people with disabilities cannot live there. Or a majority white community only advertises affordable housing units in libraries, communities centers, etc. where people of color may not frequent. Additionally, if a community only accepts developments with one bedroom units that discriminates against families with children who are considered protected groups. Additional protected groups are people with disabilities and people of color. Some communities choose to create a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the benefits of which include: the Trust can be more nimble than CPC in real estate market, designated funds for affordable housing and trust distributes funds, trustees can be additional voices to advocate for affordable housing. Drawbacks may include: existing efforts could be duplicated, another board to staff, and need to ensure trustees have expertise. Goehring suggests a legislative body give the trust ability to enter into grant agreements and specify funds are to be used for CPA - eligible activities. She explains that a regional model aided by MAPC was adopted in Sudbury in which the Sudbury housing office provides services to other communities for a fee and by partnering with other communities, that allows them to pool their resources. Scott Houseman, Ward 4 City Councilor, asks a question regarding the appropriateness of CPA funds for a local housing authority to use for maintenance expenses or repair. Goehring states that CPA funds can be used in the preservation category if it is to protect real property from injury, harm, or destruction. Some communities have given money to housing authorities to expand a parking lot for example, and that is not the intention of CPA and doesn't fall in any of the categories. But some communities have given money to their local housing authority in order to bring some units back online because they were no longer habitable due to severe damage or destruction. Communities have used CPA funds for roof repair. She notes the question should be: is it protecting units from injury, harm, or destruction? That is the litmus test. CPA funds are not for renovation or repairs unless the units were bought or created with CPA funds. Maintenance expenses would not apply. Houseman asks an additional question regarding using CPA funds to hire staff to monitor /enforce affordable housing covenants. Goehring states yes can use CPA funds for this purpose, some communities have hired consultants, some towns do not have capacity because they do not have a town planner or housing coordinator so they have used CPA funds to hire a part-time housing coordinator. There is discussion of how some towns share a housing coordinator but this has not happened yet. Discussion with local Community Housing Organizations Pearl welcomes members of local housing organizations and asks representatives to add their thoughts to this presentation. Community Preservation Committee April 16, 2015 Meeting Minutes Page 316 Don Preston, North Shore Habitat for Humanity, states the problem they face is not being able to move quickly enough on a property in this market which precludes them from using CPA funds. He states that with a trust, it would allow them to move within 60 days which is what they need to do to acquire properties. Thomson asks about a development that is generating a fee, how will that money be allocated? Clausen, answers the money could go to a housing trust or to the CPC. Clausen's concern is staffing a housing trust when Beverly has a CPC and is lucky to have so many capable non - profit developers but the trust would allow the City to move funds to programs or non - profit developer more easily. Pearl asks if Beverly has ever had a housing coordinator. Clausen states Beverly does, who is present, Margaret O'Brien who works in Community Development. Clausen states there is limited HOME funds in Beverly and the City has not received CDHB funds since 2005. The City receives about $70K a year in HOME funds for affordable housing and this number has dwindled down in recent years which means it's basically going towards managing rehab projects and monitoring projects. North Shore Community Development Coalition CEO Mickey Northcutt addresses the CPC explaining that the North Shore CDC owns 117 affordable units in Beverly since 2004. They have been using HOME funds as seed money in order to get private donations and loans. CPA was not in place at the time but have used it in Salem. Northcutt's suggestion is for the CPC to be a part of a housing trust. He worries about having to wait for the next round of funding which would take too long for which transactions cannot wait. Additionally he suggests creating permanent affordable housing units, and not use CPA funds for rental assistance because there are other funds that can be used for rental units but so little state and federal funds for permanent housing. Pearl asks Northcutt if Beverly should do a housing plan. He replies that he's seen that a housing plan can be useful in certain towns to encourage development, but here in Beverly there are 3 active developers ready to go. Clausen states Beverly has over 12% housing restricted for affordability but it has also been 10 years since the last housing plan. An updated plan would build a constituency of affordable housing advocates, identify tasks, and be helpful to know what Beverly should focus on as well as keep affordable housing in the minds of residents. Andrew DeFranza, Executive Director of Harborlight Community Partners addresses the CPC explaining that Harborlight has used CPA funds three times in the towns of: Hamilton, Rockport, and the property in Beverly and is also looking to develop in Wenham. He would like to see CPA funds be used to improve timing and leverage. Right now they use small money locally to obtain State funding for more units of housing. He wants to ensure that there are no net loss of housing. Pearl asks DeFranza if he thinks a housing trust would be helpful. DeFranza has interacted with a trust in Rockport, Hamilton and Wenham and would like the trust to be a subset of the CPC. The Committee thanks Goehring for her presentation and time. Community Preservation Committee April 16, 2015 Meeting Minutes Page 416 Pearl thinks the next step is to coordinate with the Planning office and figure out where CPA funds can go first. McCrory asks if the Beverly Housing Plan identifies needs. Clausen states yes but it's old and the market has changed. Thomson notes that there are big projects in Beverly with expiring uses in 3 -5 years, which will put Beverly under the 10% threshold under 40B. BevCam taping can be viewed at: https: / /www.youtube.com/watch? v= pOwCFhSKpQ8 &feature =em- upload owner Shelly Goehring's powerpoint presentation also attached to the meeting minutes Other business Hale House Masonry Repair — Preservation Restriction Condition Maxner explains that the Beverly Historical Society's Preservation Restriction on the Hale House has recently expired. She reads correspondence from Society's Executive Director Sue Goganian. Maxner states the Hale House project is slated to commence on May 1st and the Society is concerned that the project will be delayed absent the Restriction because masonry work cannot be carried out during the hotter weather. The Society is asking that the Restriction be established later or coincident with the work on- going. Thomson states this is a very visible premier historic property in Beverly and he has little concern that it will change any time soon. Discussion ensues as to whether the project should be allowed to move forward absent a Restriction. The Committee agrees that the project should not be held up but there should a restriction in place at a later date, and perhaps during a second phase application process. Thomson moves to amend the Grant Agreement and allow this project to move forward without requiring a preservation restriction. Williams amends vote to make sure a reasonable effort is made to put in a preservation restriction within a year. The amended motion passes unanimously 5 -0. Ellis Square Redesign — Restriction Condition Clausen addresses the Committee regarding the Ellis Square project and the MOU condition requiring a conservation restriction (CR) on the property. He explains that there are challenges with a conservation restriction for a property that size, and proposes instead that perhaps Article 97 protection as recreational space can be accomplished with a vote by the City Council. Discussion ensues as to the pros and cons of this proposal. McCrory notes that a CR is permanent protection whereas an Article 97 can be reversed and is open to interpretation. Clausen also notes that it may be difficult to identify a third party organization who will hold the CR without an endowment. McCrory states that the Beverly Conservation Land Trust could be the appropriate organization. Williams contends this is a small property in a prominent location Community Preservation Committee April 16, 2015 Meeting Minutes Page 516 but no one can look that far into the future as to the City's needs, and thinks that Article 97 provides flexibility many years down the line. Williams moves to amend the MOU with the City to allow for Article 97 protection instead of a permanent CR. Thomson seconds. The motion carries unanimously 5 -0. Clausen notes the project timeline will shift about a month to June /July, with first disbursement anticipated after that, as Main Streets is still fundraising and final plans /designs are being worked on. Administrative Business Pearl would like to see a CPA sign installed at Lynch Park next to the new play structure. McCrory moves to approve the March 19, 2015 meeting minutes with minor edits. Motion approved unanimously (5 -0). Maxner provides status update on the MOD's and Grant Agreements, noting that a majority of them are in the midst of applicant sign off and City review and Mayor sign off. The CPC agrees to schedule its next meeting for May 28t Discussion ensues on how to best handle the May meeting. Committee agrees to use part of the meeting for administrative discussion on how to use funding for creating a CPA Plan and prioritizing needs, followed by the Committee beginning its review of Round 2 applications. Discussion ensues as to how to advertise CPC vacancies which will need to be filled in July. There being no further business before the Committee, Thomson moves to adjourn. Seconded by Richter. The motion carries unanimously (5 -0). The meeting is adjourned at 9:07 p.m. Community Preservation Committee April 16, 2015 Meeting Minutes Page 616