DHCD cooperation would be key

A carrot was dangled before Harvard residents at a League of Women Voters forum on June 2 when officials raised the possibility that the development of Vicksburg Square could, in one fell swoop, meet much or all of the town’s affordable housing obligation.

No guarantees or even predictions were made at the meeting, which featured two planning experts who answered questions about the possible rezoning of Vicksburg Square, which will be voted upon at the Special Town Meeting on June 8. Nevertheless, the forum revealed that conversations have been held with Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) officials about how flexible DHCD might be in crediting Harvard with affordable housing units if, in fact, Vicksburg Square is developed as apartment buildings, which officials expect.

(Tina Brooks, undersecretary at DHCD, in response to a question raised at the public hearing May 21, sent a letter this week to Joint Boards of Selectmen Chairman Leo Blair, affirming support for the proposed redevelopment of Vicksburg Square.)

Fiscal Impact Analysis Team member Bruce Leicher asked if the Vicksburg Square proposal would enable Harvard to meet the 10 percent affordable housing target, thereby eliminating the risk that developer would receive 40B comprehensive permits. Judi Barrett,  director of planning at Community Opportunities Group, Inc., responded that the impact will not be known until development plans for Vicksburg Square are approved. However, she said that the zoning language would ensure that the same affordable housing requirements that would apply to a 40B project would apply at Vicksburg Square. If the campus is developed as rental units, 100 percent of the units would be credited to the  Subsidized Housing Inventories of Ayer and Harvard.

The issue is muddy because the boundary separating Harvard from Ayer runs through Vicksburg Square. Most of the campus, in fact, is in Ayer, which means that most of the affordable housing probably would fall in Ayer.

However, Harvard Planning Board Chairman and Vicksburg Square Subcommittee member Joe Sudol said there have been conversations with DHCD about allocating affordable housing credits flexibly based on each town’s needs. According to the DHCD Subsidized Housing Inventory, Ayer is 75 units below the 10 percent goal, while Harvard is 156 units short. It is likely that more affordable units will be developed in the Ayer portion of Vicksburg Square than the 75 units Ayer needs. If DHCD were willing to allocate the “excess” Ayer units to Harvard, both towns would easily satisfy 40B. The warrant article allows up to 350 units at Vicksburg Square.

In an e-mail followup Wednesday, Blair confirmed discussions with DHCD about evaluating affordable housing needs on a regional basis, but that “to date they have not given us any reason to believe that is either likely or possible under the current law.”

Some of the 30 residents of Harvard, Ayer and Devens at the forum raised questions about the complexity caused by Vicksburg Square falling in two towns, two counties, and two Fair Market Rent (FMR) Areas. (FMRs determine affordable housing eligibility and rents.) Barrett observed that FMR boundaries change from time to time; Harvard has sometimes been in the Boston FMR, sometimes in the Worcester FMR, and is currently in the Eastern Worcester County Metro FMR Area. She said it is within DHCD authority to change boundaries, or create a new FMR, and there would be nothing preventing an FMR being created for a region that included all of Vicksburg Square without changing town or county boundaries. If the boundary issues are not resolved, she speculated, the developer of Vicksburg Square would almost certainly seek simplification to avoid difficulties in marketing and managing two sets of requirements.

Harvard resident Steve Finnegan asked if it is unusual to seek zoning changes before a project has been outlined, as will be the case if Vicksburg Square is rezoned. Barrett acknowledged that sometimes zoning changes are requested for a specific project, but that raises the danger of “spot zoning,” which is illegal. She said it is better for a community to decide what it wants, create zoning that would encourage it, and seek developers to build what is desired.

Ayer resident Frank Maxant said that he objects to the warrant article because the Devens Reuse Plan, which was developed to guide the development of Devens, states, “The physical and thematic core of the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone is centered on the Innovation and Technology Center (ITC) proposed to be located in historic Vicksburg Square with its campus-like atmosphere.” That statement will be removed from the reuse plan if the warrant article passes.

The forum was videotaped, and will be re-broadcast
on channel 12 on June 6 and 7.