More than 100 people attended a June 18 kickoff event for Wellesley’s strategic housing plan, a Town Meeting-approved effort to address the need for more housing options in town. (See Wellesley Media recording.)

The plan would succeed Wellesley’s housing production plan, released in 2018 to help the town achieve a 10% threshold of affordable housing stock that would fend off unfriendly 40B projects.

The strategic plan is being crafted against a backdrop of increased urgency across the town and state to address housing needs, as illustrated by the emergence of the MBTA Communities Plan and other efforts. Wellesley is well along toward meeting its MBTA Communities Plan requirements, and has also made updates to its inclusionary zoning bylaw and taken steps to encourage building of accessory dwelling units.

Despite such efforts, buying into Wellesley’s housing market keeps getting harder. Since 2018, the median price of single-family homes has risen 52% and for condos, the median price is up over 200%, according to a presentation shared at the meeting. The prices and availability of rentals are bleak too for those seeking a place to live here.

Consultancy Barrett Planning Group worked on the now expired housing production plan and is back for the strategic plan. Judy Barrett presided over the June 18 meeting at Wellesley High School’s cafeteria, attended by plenty of familiar faces from town government (some on the town’s Housing Task Force) as well as residents interested in the subject. Some attendees expressed concerns about what they see as the town’s efforts to overdo it on new housing, while others acknowledged a need to address housing needs of all types and at different price points.

Barrett shared a brief update on the plan, took some questions, then sent attendees off to complete an intricate sticker project that entailed sharing their thoughts on six main subjects at stations positioned around the room. Attendees could place stickers representing different housing types, for examples, on a map of the town to indicate where they thought such housing would be appropriate or desired. Other stations focused on issues such as barriers to housing, strategies, and what still works from earlier plans. For variety, sticky notes were also available for those looking to do some explaining.

A half hour into the exercise, posters were covered in stickers, and it will be up to the data crunchers to make sense of the results.

The community meeting was part of the first phase of three, all of which will include public participation. The goal is to present a final plan by year-end.

Next up will be an assessment of housing barriers.

A website for the planning process has been published where you can learn more, share feedback, and get updates on future meetings and developments.