A six-year trustee of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust has resigned, objecting to a new policy of having a majority of the trustees be selectmen. In addition to opposing what he called the trust’s “reconstitution as a subcommittee of the Board of Selectmen, ” Bruce Nickerson protested the trust’s strategy for selling a Littleton Road property that had been the site of a failed affordable housing proposal. He also expressed disappointment at the trust’s exclusion from recent selectmen plans to create housing near the town’s senior center, Hildreth House. The objections were raised in a letter to the editor published in the April 1 Harvard Press, but Selectman Leo Blair, who is also a member of the trust, defends the changes.
Selectmen: Problem or solution?
The stage was set for a newly constituted trust last summer, when Blair proposed not to eliminate the trust, as Nickerson charged in his letter, but to reconstitute it. In October, selectmen voted to lift the policy limiting selectmen to one seat on the trust. With the appointment of Selectman Ken Swanton last month, the seven-member, selectmen-appointed trust now consists of four selectmen and two citizens-at-large. Nickerson’s resignation leaves one vacancy, but the only selectman who is not already on the trust, Stu Sklar, has said he will not join the trust.
Last week, Blair defended the trust’s new composition as a more practical approach to creating affordable housing: “I believe that given the circumstances surrounding 166 Littleton Road, the reaction of the neighbors, and the subsequent loss of trustees based on that reaction, the better way forward is to become a facilitator, not an originator, of affordable housing.” The trust had purchased the 30-acre parcel of land at the corner of Pinnacle and Littleton roads in 2013 with plans to find a developer to build affordable homes. After a developer who specialized in affordable rentals proposed up to 36 non-age-restricted rental apartments, neighbors objected to many aspects of the project, but especially to its density. After the developer deemed a smaller project economically infeasible, the trust put the property on the market, where it remains for sale.
“In 10 years, the MAHT has never created a unit [of affordable housing], but it has financed them and has done it well,” Blair said. He cited the trust’s contribution of $200,000 to the completed 42-unit Bowers Brook senior apartment house on Ayer Road and a planned $140,000 contribution to Devens Green, which will add 40 units to Harvard’s affordable housing inventory. Blair further noted that as elected officials, selectmen have the visibility and the accountability needed to withstand the difficult task of supporting affordable housing.
New composition ‘makes sense’
Again referring to the Littleton Road controversy, he said, “Given the comments bordering on slander, the threats of personal litigation [against trustees], and subsequent decision of two very qualified trustees to not renew their terms, I think [the new composition of the trust] makes a lot of sense.” Long-term trustees Barbara Brady and David Hopper did not renew their two-year terms; they did not respond to requests for further explanation.
Another trust-initiated project at 361 Ayer Road ended similarly in 2008, with trustees voting to give up the trust’s option on the land after threats of personal litigation. At the time, trustee Victor Normand explained that while the trust was indemnified, even baseless allegations could tarnish good names, incur personal expenses, and take an undue toll on town volunteers.
Nevertheless, Nickerson sees the selectmen majority less as a solution and more as an obstacle to citizen participation on the trust. On this point, Blair does not agree, but he conceded to Nickerson’s related point that a selectmen-heavy trust isn’t necessarily required to implement the “facilitate and finance” philosophy that Blair strongly believes in. Instead, Blair said, “it was my solution to cope with reality and actually get something done for affordable housing.”
The notion that originating projects is an unrealistic goal given the trust’s history is another point of contention for Nickerson, who last week said he thought the trust may have given up too soon on the Littleton Road project. “We might well have issued another request for proposals to attract another developer,” perhaps with more detailed directions as to the town’s preferences, he said.
Lately, Nickerson said, he has consulted with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission and participated in a networking group that includes housing authority and trust officials from the region. His conclusion? “I’ve been getting the message that [a trust-originated] project, such as Littleton Road, is thoroughly doable, and that it’s the best way to get what the town really wants and needs.” But in a trust that appears to be leaning toward simply financing projects, Nickerson said he is “clearly out of phase” with the group and worries that like-minded volunteers could also be discouraged.
When in doubt, lay it out
Both facilitating and originating affordable housing are worthy approaches, according to the “Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Operations Manual: How to Effectively Operate Your Local Trust.” A publication of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, the manual’s “Getting Started” chapter offers best-practice procedures for creating a successful trust, with Step 8 being especially pertinent.
“Determine operating approach,” the manual states. “The board of trustees will operate in one of three ways: 1) as a funding entity that solicits project ideas to consider for funding, 2) an active initiator of projects and programs, or 3) a hybrid of both. Most boards operate with a hybrid approach—both soliciting and initiating projects.”
This is where a more detailed trust document would come in handy, according to independent planner Bonnie Heudorfer, a Harvard resident who specializes in housing and community development. Heudorfer says that the trust’s current three-page “Policies and Procedures” document should be expanded. She suggests a more comprehensive document that includes housing goals and priorities taken from the town’s Master Plan, a clear statement of the trust’s operating approach, and a list of tasks required to keep track of current affordable units, especially for units that are set to lose their affordable status, due to expiring affordability covenants. “It’s all down to transparency,” she said, emphasizing that the trust had certainly done nothing wrong, but that it could benefit from an expanded plan and should consider the possible unintended consequences of a selectmen-dominated trust.
Sales strategy questioned
Nickerson said the last thing Harvard needs is “more big houses,” but the latest marketing strategy for 166 Littleton Road is likely to yield just that. According to MAHT Chairman Greg Schmidt, the trust has little choice. The property “has been listed twice as an entire [30-acre] parcel,” and since the first listing of the property in April 2015, he said, two sales have fallen through. In an email he wrote, “We are hoping that dividing the property and selling lots will allow us to make back the money the trust has invested in it. We think we are listing the property in such a way that the [existing] house can and will remain.” Schmidt added that the trust would not want to see the antique, nine-bedroom home–which once served as the town’s Poor Farm– razed, “but ultimately that is not up to us.” Currently, the house is for sale as part of a parcel ($650,000) that also includes two building lots with frontage on Pinnacle Road. Also for sale are two separate lots, again with frontage on Pinnacle Road, one priced at $300,000 and the other at $310,000. At least one additional lot will soon come to market; plans for the sale of the remaining land will emerge in the coming weeks, Schmidt said. The trust bought the property in 2013 for $1.2 million, with a down payment and a $1 million mortgage. As of last year, carrying costs had amounted to more than $300,000. After the property is sold and the mortgage paid off, any profit will return to the trust’s coffers, which currently contain $332,397.
The idea of housing on a 5.66-acre parcel adjacent to Harvard’s senior center has been floating around for years, says Selectwoman Lucy Wallace, but the lack of sewer prevented its serious consideration. Now that the town center sewer system is in place, housing near Hildreth House is again under discussion. And the current discussion has Nickerson worried. Instead of requiring some certified affordable senior units at the site, the selectmen are talking about turning the acreage over to a developer for the construction of downsized housing—affordable, perhaps, by Harvard standards but not by state standards—that would be suitable for elders in its location near the senior center.
In exchange, the developer would complete renovations on Hildreth House and, according to Blair, would lease the land back to the town for a nominal fee. Nickerson said he questions the legality of the scheme and is concerned about the plan’s lack of state-certified affordable homes.
As for the new zoning that would be required, Wallace explained the current view on the trust is that housing built at Hildreth under the affordable housing law, 40B, would yield housing at price points—both at the low-income and market-rate levels—that would not serve the moderate-income Harvard residents who want to downsize within Harvard. Others point out that the Master Plan identifies smaller, “empty-nester” homes as an unmet need in Harvard, and that the plan proposed by Blair might be a good way to get Hildreth House fully renovated.
As to the trust’s involvement in the plans, MAHT Chairman Schmidt said, “I think it is still early in the process, but at this time I see the trust being involved in this project only if it can provide state-defined affordable housing. As of today, [the trust has] no plans to move ahead, or stay out, of this development.”
