Housing articles appear headed for Wellesley Annual Town Meeting

At least a couple of housing-related articles appear to be headed for Wellesley’s Annual Town Meeting in the spring.

This would come on the heels of this past fall’s Special Town Meeting, which approved motions regarding the MBTA Communities plan and voted against those about zoning changes that could have paved the way for multifamily developments in Lower Falls.

The Wellesley Housing Development Corp. was established in 1998 with a mission “to sponsor and assist in the development of affordable housing opportunities for persons of low, moderate, and middle income in the Town of Wellesley in order to implement the Town’s Affordable Housing Policy.” The appointed body, which has been reconstituted in recent years with an active roster of members, is revving up to convince Town Meeting to approve a change to the organization that would make it an affordable housing trust with much more flexibility to get things done (a proposal to do this in 2021 was deferred; the Advisory Committee, which vets Town Meeting articles, voted unfavorable action 9-4). The Housing Development Corp., has attempted to address all concerns raised a few years back by the Select Board and other town bodies as it makes a renewed pitch.

The Housing Development Corp., also seeks to gain Town Meeting approval for a zoning change that could pave the way for building two duplexes with a combined four affordable units on Weston Road.

The appointed town body most recently discussed its strategy at its Nov. 21 meeting (see Wellesley Media recording), and then at the Planning Board’s Dec. 2 meeting (see Wellesley Media recording). The Housing Development Corp. is on the Select Board’s Dec. 3 agenda, as it hopes to gain joint sponsorship for its proposed articles by the Planning and Select Boards.

At the Planning Board meeting on Dec. 2, Wellesley Housing Development Corp.’s Micah O’Neill explained the rationale for converting to a trust, including that the current organization is set up unlike those in 140-150 communities that are operating based on a law passed in 2005. “What we’re really trying to do is bring Wellesley sort of into the mainstream of how communities are currently managing and overseeing affordable housing.”

Current challenges for Wellesley’s organization is that it can’t seek federal funds, can’t invite developers in to redevelop properties, and faces restrictions on receiving monetary or property gifts. The change could, for example, enable the body to work with the Wellesley Housing Authority to bring in developers to rethink and redevelop the Barton Road public housing property by accessing more than just limited state funds. The Housing Development Corp. currently has about $1M at its disposal from the Community Preservation Committee and other sources.

Having the freedom not to wait for Town Meeting approvals to make purchases would allow the Housing Development Corp. to take advantage of opportunities as they arise in a more timely manner, Executive Director Meghan Jop said.

While the proposed change would give the outfit more flexibility, controls would remain for certain activities. Select Board approval, for example, would be required for large transactions, but Housing Development Corp. members say more typical activities would involve relatively small amounts of money. The group would continue to have public meetings and be audited annually.

Separately from the reorganization issue, the town is rethinking how to handle its property at 156 Weston Rd. along the North 40 property acquired by the town from Wellesley College. Originally, the town was looking to rehab the house and make it available for rent as an affordable unit, but ran into various red tape. Now the Wellesley Housing Corp. is looking to get approval for rezoning of the property and an adjacent parcel as part of a general residence district with the idea of building two duplexes to be offered as affordable housing (the existing home at 156 Weston Rd., may or may not survive, depending on how hard it is to rehab). “We feel that the landscape and scale of the two buildings and properties would be very much in line with the streetscape that is there now, so it wouldn’t deter from the current neighborhood,” O’Neil said. (Neighbors were to be made aware of the Planning Board and other meetings about this topic, per discussion at the Nov. 21 Housing Development Corp. meeting.)

There would be various options for funding and building at the site, from Habitat for Humanity to developers building in other parts of town that need to get credit for affordable units as well as part of negotiations with the town.

While there are broader discussions to be had about the North 40 itself, the Housing Development Corp. is focused for now on these specific parcels.

The Planning Board seeks to vote on these matters on Dec. 16, ahead of the Annual Town Meeting warrant closing on Dec. 18.

Wellesley is currently working with a consultancy on a strategic housing plan as it balances local efforts to deliver more and diverse housing with those rules imposed by the state through the MBTA Communities Act.

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