Posted on June 27, 2016
(Every year at its Housing Institute, MHP recognizes towns and individuals for their outstanding work in affordable housing. On June 15, 2016 at the Devens Common Center, MHP Executive Director Clark Ziegler presented the Town of Concord with a Housing Hero Award. His presentation remarks tell the story).
In the process of reviewing the Town of Concord’s outstanding housing record, we came across a list of “planned residential developments” the town has done.
We googled the term to double check what it meant. Guess what came up first among 85 million search results? The Town of Concord’s pdf explaining its planned residential option.
That’s impressive for a town with a population of around 18,000 and it is one indication why MHP has selected Concord as a Housing Hero for 2016.
The list of Concord’s achievements in the last 10 years is long:
- It has approved four Ch. 40B comprehensive permit totaling 521 units. Over 10 percent of its housing is affordable.
- To promote open space and density while preserving the community’s character and environment, the town has OK’d seven planned residential developments, including the nationally recognized Concord Riverwalk.
- The housing authority and the town’s nonprofit development corp. have created or preserved 100 units.
- The town offers a home rehab grant program that helps residents under 100 percent AMI.
- The town has enacted numerous zoning amendments to require more affordable housing and to control the loss of existing starter homes to mansionization.
There are many reasons why Concord has been so effective.
- Its housing plan doesn’t sit round collecting dust. It’s been updated three times in 10 years so the town is always up to date on what it has built and what it needs.
- In 2004, Concord was one of the first towns to adopt the Community Preservation Act.
- It has a strong housing authority that develops housing.
- The Concord Housing Foundation raises money for its housing trust.
- The Concord Housing Development Corporation develops and preserves housing on behalf of the trust.
- It has a significant number of people in town who are committed to providing affordable housing. It has strong town manager form of government, a select board that sets a vision and an experienced planning department led by director Marcia Rasmussen, now in her 30th year in Concord.
“There’s a core group of people in town who are passionate about housing, and that’s why we’re able to get things done,” says Rasmussen. “Because of the town’s commitment, we’re able to approach development in terms of what’s the best use of the property, what’s important about the land, and what’s important to the community. Developers know what we want and we know what they want. We’re aware of each other’s interest and we’re able to move forward.”
For putting this philosophy into practice, the Town of Concord is a housing hero.
Accepting the award for the Town of Concord is Town Manager Chris Whelan.
(To view the official press release and Town Manager Chris Whelan's acceptance remarks, go here).