The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Monday, Jan. 30. The primary purpose of the meeting was to address whether to create and submit an MBTA action plan. New Town Administrator Cody Haddad had told the Selectmen during their previous meeting that to remain in compliance for certain funding sources, including specific grants, the town would have to submit an action plan. The plan would identify at least one zoning district of reasonable size for multi-family housing. Haddad had said that they only needed to identify the zone and show that they were taking some actionable steps toward considering construction to remain in what was called interim compliance for a few years. He stressed that the town would not have to engage in construction of any sort. Several residents in attendance at last week’s meeting opposed even the creation and submission of the plan.
Dottie Fulginiti, a senior planner with the Old Colony Planning Council, attended the Jan. 30 meeting to address the concerns and offer a different perspective. Fulginiti said she also serves as the Chair of Easton’s Select Board so she understands the impact the plan will have on a community. She said that the law was developed by the State about a year ago and noted that the intention was to have the zoning within a half mile of an MBTA station. She said that exceptions could be made for communities that don’t have zoning available within a half mile of a station but noted that what they don’t want is for communities to zone an acre here and another there. She said once an action plan was submitted the zoning bylaw would need to be amended through a vote at town meeting, likely in the fall since the spring is so soon.
“I guess the overall concept of this is, right now, there are certain compliance pieces, for instance the action plan is due tomorrow, which is basically a questionnaire on what your town is doing about housing… kind of an informational sheet.” She continued, “You have to have that submitted to stay in interim compliance… if you’re not in interim compliance… the town won’t get granted any State grants… that includes Mass Works, which is a big infrastructure grant that are millions of dollars, it includes other smaller grants, but it also includes a little bucket of money that impacts your housing authority.”
Fulginiti told those assembled that the law came from a lack of diverse housing in Massachusetts saying that students are drawn here for our colleges and universities but leave after graduation due to the cost of living. She also noted that seniors also face difficulty finding affordable housing. Fulginiti defined multi-family housing as “a building with three or more residential dwelling units or two or more buildings on the same lot with more than one residential dwelling unit in each building.” She said that the buildings could be created to blend aesthetically with the town. She said that tools were available to help MBTA communities with compliance as well as technical assistance resources.
Selectmen Chair John Bruno asked Haddad what exactly they would be voting on that evening. Haddad said, “You would be allowing us to submit the action plan in which the action plan… is really us saying we’re going to investigate implementing this zoning, identify where to put it, and then bring something before Town Meeting; so, you’re not committing to anything other than investigating where you would do it and if you would do it, at this point.”
If Town Meeting passes the amended bylaw, it would put the town in compliance through the end of 2024. Haddad said they would employ technical assistance in identifying the zoning and envision getting public input regarding location, etc. “If you do file it [the action plan], it just means that you are in compliance and eligible for grant funding,” Fulginiti said.
A resident asked if this was a 40R project and was told that it was not. Haddad said this was called 3A zoning. The same resident asked if the 40B project that was on the table for the town right now could count toward compliance. Haddad said that it was possible that it would were it to be officially adopted.
A resident asked where the 750 units that were required of Halifax came from, and Haddad said the State was requiring a minimum of 50 acres and 15 units per acre of density (15 multiplied by 50). Another resident asked if they would be touching conservation land and was told if it was restricted, they would not be able to encroach upon it. Several residents expressed concern that they couldn’t imagine a 750-unit building fitting anywhere in Halifax. Bruno said, “I’m not sure that we’re going to get everyone to the point where we see a good idea of a five-story apartment building anywhere; I just don’t see that and I agree with you, I live in Halifax for a reason and that’s part of it.”
“This is something that the government is just telling us we have to do and I’m telling you it would be foolish on our part if we don’t at least investigate it,” he continued. Another resident of over 50 years said that in the past the town has expressed a desire to have “home rule” saying, “but since those 53 years, we don’t have home rule anymore, the State is dictating exactly what we can have and when we can have it and what we can do.”
Planning Board member Amy L. Troup spoke passionately against the town even submitting a plan. “We bought property and we’re taxpayers, we want to keep this town the way it is, don’t even look at the carrot; we’re not really going to miss anything because the grants that you’re looking at are not even enough to supply the schools,” Troup said. She likened it to having a $10 coupon, but you have to spend $75 to use it.
Another resident brought up running into water issues the previous year saying, “Is the State going to give us water when we can’t meet our water demands for the residents that live here in town… that’s a massive amount of people that we would be adding at once to the town.” Bruno pointed out that currently in Halifax, people can build multi-family residences. Yet another resident expressed frustration that the deadline to submit the plan was the very next day though he said it wasn’t the fault of the Board. Still another resident said, “You can’t have clean water, a clean environment and be pushing all this growth and urban squall; at some point, all these towns are going to get together and make the State defend it.”
Bruno said, “At this stage in the game, I don’t see that we’re committing to anything other than an investigation and I don’t see any real harm in an investigation.” A resident asked if it would be the State or the town that would look into which areas to consider rezoning for a multi-resident district. A few residents expressed concern that single-family homes within a half mile of the station could be claimed through eminent domain. Bruno said that a process like that is actually a very complicated one and that it would not be something to worry about.
Bruno said that he heard everyone but that he just couldn’t see not investigating it and moved that they submit the action plan. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “And I don’t think anyone here, either in this room or on this Board, would want to do anything to jeopardize our town and I don’t think that by being in compliance, at this stage, we are. We still have Town Meeting, we still have other steps that would need to be made.”
He went on to say that Halifax has previously not received a lot of grants and said that one of the reasons he wanted to hire Haddad was that he brought his previous municipality from $1,000,000 in grants to $3,000,000 in grant funding. Naja Nessralla said he agreed, and the Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the submission of the plan.