Housing plan stirs resistance

GLOUCESTER -- To Mayor John Bell and his Community Housing Coalition, the best way to provide more affordable housing while preserving Gloucester's historic character is to convert more single-family homes into two-family dwellings.

This concept, however, is meeting with heavy resistance from residents who think more housing will tax city services beyond the breaking point without necessarily providing residents with a less expensive option.

To promote the conversions, Bell is proposing that the city relax its permitting process so that developers who want to add to an existing single-family home would no longer have to apply to the city's Zoning Board of Appeals for a special permit.

The city allows conversions from single- to two-family without the permit only if there are no exterior changes to the house, according to Karen Gallagher, chairwoman of the Community Housing Coalition.

The coalition, which Bell assembled in February 2003, concluded that streamlining the permitting process in neighborhoods already zoned for two-family homes seemed a simple solution to providing more affordable housing units, Gallagher said.

By lifting the special permit requirement, Gallagher said, owners of existing single-family homes would have the same opportunities that owners of vacant parcels in the same neighborhoods already have.

''We anticipate the effect of this change means that we will be preserving our older housing stock while at the same time allowing families who live here already to stay here," Gallagher said.

But to Christine Rasmussen, a former city councilor, and a group of like-minded citizens, Bell's affordable housing initiative would lead to an increase in the city's population, putting a greater burden on schools, the police and fire departments, and the water supply.

''They are projecting that these ordinance changes would bring in up to another 2,999 units of housing in Gloucester," Rasmussen said. ''Gloucester is a gem of a community and I fear if we allow these changes, too many more people will discover us. Housing prices will continue to climb, which will make it worse, not better, for those of us who are here already."

James Groves said the new ordinances would rob neighbors of the opportunity to weigh in on conversion plans prior to construction.

''When you take away the special permitting requirement and make the new two-families permissible by right, what you take away is the legal right of the neighborhood to have a say in what their neighborhood looks like," Groves said. ''Neighbors ought to have the opportunity to weigh in on the aesthetics and other impacts on their neighborhoods, like traffic."

Rasmussen and Groves said Bell cannot guarantee that any of the units created under the proposal would be sold or rented lower than the market rate.

Bell said he has considered these concerns and others like them that have been voiced at the three hearings held by the City Council's Planning and Development Committee in recent weeks. But he disagrees.

''We have to find a way to provide more affordable housing in Gloucester and I think this is the way to do it," Bell said. ''We are following through on the mandate to provide more affordable housing which was outlined in the city's community development plan 2001. What I didn't anticipate is the climate of fear and misinformation which has permeated this debate."

Bell notes that five years ago, city leaders recognized that the city was facing a crisis in housing because 73 percent of 9,458 properties at that time were single-families and prices on these homes had climbed steadily in the 1990s.

Bell said that the price of the average single-family home in Gloucester rose from $135,000 in 1995 to $203,000 in 2000, according to an analysis of housing trends included in the community development plan of 2001.

''The salaries of the teachers, firefighters, and police officers, and other municipal workers on the city's payroll have simply not kept pace with the price of housing," Bell said, arguing that the new housing would have a direct impact on how efficiently the city government operates.

In arguing for the change, Gallagher said that she expects that elderly owners of single-family homes might convert them into two-families to allow their children and their families to move in with them but have their own separate living unit.

Or, she said, a young family might be able to afford to move out of an apartment into half of a newly converted two-family unit, freeing up that apartment for older residents who now need less space. They, in turn, could free their homes for other families.

''It is hard to measure exactly how many of these new conversions would attract new residents to Gloucester because certainly not every singe-family property owner is going to rush out and convert their homes to a two-family. But we think it is important that the city have this option," Gallagher said.

Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com