Ashland officials are hoping to control the development of affordable housing, now that residents voted to create a new trust fund to oversee its creation in town.
Residents at last week's Special Town Meeting voted to launch the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and to start it off with $500,000 from the Community Preservation Act coffers. Money raised through the act, which comes from a property tax surcharge and matching state contributions, can be used only for open space, recreation, historic preservation, or affordable-housing projects.
Normally, officials would need to wait until the twice-annual rounds of Town Meeting to make land purchases. But the board of trustees being established to run the new trust fund can buy property or receive it as a donation, and use the property to preserve or create housing set aside for families with low or moderate incomes. Any earnings from selling or renting the properties would go back into the trust fund.
"It gives the trust fund the opportunity to act, rather than having to wait for Town Meeting," said Steven Greenberg, chairman of the town's Community Preservation Act Committee.
A third of Ashland households qualify for affordable housing, Philip Jack, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, told residents at last Wednesday's Special Town Meeting, citing information from a recent study.
"If you yourself don't qualify, then statistically, the person on your left or the person on your right does," Jack said. While he was initially surprised by the figure, he said, the survey results illustrate the need for affordable housing in Ashland.
Only 4 percent of the town's approximately 6,000 housing units are considered affordable, Greenberg said. That leaves the town susceptible to developments brought forward through Chapter 40B, a state law that loosens zoning restrictions for projects offering roughly 25 percent of their units as affordable.
Through the trust, the town - rather than outside developers - would drive the development of affordable housing, officials said.
"We need to do something about affordable housing before somebody does it to us," Greenberg said.
The trust board will comprise two selectmen and three other members appointed by selectmen. Trustees will serve two-year terms.
Much of the last week's discussion focused on whether trustees should face a borrowing limit. Robert Powderly, the town's Finance Committee chairman, initially proposed a $5 million borrowing limit, though he later said he would be content with a higher limit, so long as some cap existed to instill "good fiscal discipline."
Jack said he opposes a limit.
"You're sort of undermining the purpose of the trust if you put a cap," he said. He added, though, that a $15 million ceiling seemed workable.
Residents agreed with the latter sentiment, ultimately voting to set the fund's borrowing limit at $15 million, though more borrowing could occur with approval at Town Meeting.
Some questioned whether the town is setting itself up to be sued by establishing the trust.
Thomas Urbelis, Ashland's town counsel, emphasized that the trust is a legal entity separate from the municipal government.
So while he and Jack, who is also a lawyer, agreed that, as Jack first put it, "anyone can be sued at any time, for anything," both also said it was unlikely the town itself would be sued successfully for activities related to the trust fund.
This wasn't enough assurance for one resident, Joan Gonfrade. "My overall gut feeling is that this is very dangerous," she said.
"There's no real confirmation that we don't have any liability," she added after the meeting. "And I don't think the town should be in the business of developing."
