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Creation of the Belmont Housing Trust, Inc. was authorized by Town Meeting in 1999. The Trust was then created by special legislation enacted by the Massachusetts state legislature (Chapter 126 of the Acts of 1999). The purposes of the Trust include, amongst other things: (1) to investigate and implement alternatives for the provision of and providing affordable housing for persons of low, moderate and middle income; (2) to enhance the Town of Belmont, Massachusetts and lives of its residents, and so lessen the burdens of government, by promoting and undertaking the development and maintenance` of affordable housing for the benefit of persons of low and moderate
income within Belmont and adjacent communities; and (3) to foster and promote community-wide interest and -involvement in the problems associated with the under-development of affordable housing, and toward that goal, to sponsor and participate in public symposia and discussions involving governmental officials, real property developers, and community organizations and institutions; and (4) to assist parties in obtaining financial support for affordable housing projects from state and federal agencies, foundations and other sources; and by any other means, to cooperate with, encourage and contribute to the efforts of parties in the accomplishment of affordable housing purposes.
In 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust, working in collaboration with the Town’s Office of Community Development, retained Waltham Alliance to Create Housing (WATCH), a local Community Development Corporation (CDC), to manage the construction of four units of homeownership housing on B Street. Three of these four units will be affordable under state regulatory definitions. Construction began in October 2004 and the units are expected to be completed and occupied by the summer of 2005. The B Street development was supported by use of the Town’s federal HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) funds, as well as by financing from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the Boston Community Loan Fund, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).
The Housing Trust also worked with Habitat for Humanity to organize the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home on Brighton Street. The process of soliciting cash and in-kind contributions began, along with the solicitation of volunteer labor for which Habitat is famous. Major contributions were obtained from Mass Housing and from Belmont Savings Bank. Construction of the Habitat home is expected to begin in April 2005 with a new homeowner occupying the unit by Thanksgiving 2005.
In February 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust hosted an educational forum on Chapter 40B for all Town Meeting Members. Chapter 40B is the state’s affordable housing statute, frequently referred to as the state’s anti-snob zoning statute. The faculty for the forum included Toni Coyne Hall, Associate Director of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, who administers Chapter 40B for the state; Aaron Gornstein, Executive Director, Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), to provide a perspective from the community planner’s perspective; and Meredith Gallagher, from the law firm of Riemer and Braunstein (Burlington) to provide a perspective from the developer. The purpose of the forum, the Housing Trust told Town Meeting Members, was to provide as unbiased and authoritative
information as possible, separating what’s true from what’s false, and distinguishing what’s fact from what’s spin.
In April 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust sought clarification that Belmont was entitled to count 25% of all affordable housing units developed at the Metropolitan State Hospital site toward its affordable housing inventory. The Trust was informed that while 25% of all Met State affordable housing units would be made available for distribution by Belmont, including application of the preference for Belmont residents as provided for (and defined in) the Town’s inclusionary zoning bylaw, the number of units to be constructed at Met State would all be counted toward Lexington’s affordable housing inventory.
In June 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust prepared comments on the affordable housing aspects of the O’Neill Chapter 40B proposal for the Belmont Uplands. These comments were then submitted by the Board of Selectmen as part of the Town’s response to the O’Neill Chapter 40B application. The Housing Trust noted in its comments that the 40B proposal submitted by O’Neill would produce fewer affordable housing units than would be required pursuant to Belmont’s inclusionary zoning bylaw. The Housing Trust further noted that the O’Neill proposal would keep the housing units affordable for a shorter period of time than would housing developed under the inclusionary zoning bylaw and would abrogate a number of affordability protections contained in Belmont’s inclusionary zoning bylaw (e.g.,
protections against increasing energy costs, protections against unreasonable non-rent fees). The Housing Trust requested that any Chapter 40B proposal be required to comply with the Town’s inclusionary zoning bylaw in those instances where the bylaw provides for greater affordability than does Chapter 40B.
In July 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust, in collaboration with WATCH and Watertown Community Housing (WCH), received a joint grant from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to support affordable housing planning in the three communities. The Belmont Housing Trust began a planning process to develop a re-use proposal for the property previously used for Our Lady of Mercy, the local parish closed by the Boston Archdiocese. The Housing Trust proposal would produce affordable housing for Belmont, while maintaining the character of the adjacent neighborhood and preserving the historic structure of the church. That planning process continues.
In September 2004, the Belmont Housing Trust completed the Town of Belmont’s new Consolidated Plan to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the West Metropolitan Housing Consortium. Through the HOME Consortium, the Town receives roughly $100,000 annually to support affordable housing in Belmont. The Consolidated Plan presents a five-year action plan for advancing affordable housing in Belmont. Preparation and submission of the Consolidated Plan is a regulatory prerequisite to receiving federal HOME funds.
Throughout the year, the Housing Trust continued to work with Belmont’s Office of Community Development to promote Belmont’s Soft Second Mortgage (SSM) program. Funded with state money, obtained through a grant written by OCD and the Housing Trust, the SSM program offers financial assistance to income-eligible first time home buyers wishing to purchase a home in Belmont. Use of the SSM program in Belmont is frustrated by the high housing costs in Belmont. New homeownership units developed through the Town’s inclusionary zoning bylaw will provide the best opportunity for the SSM to be effective.
Finally, throughout the year, the Belmont Housing Trust continued its work with the Belmont faith-based community to raise funds for, and disburse funds from, the Belmont Affordable Shelter Fund, a fund providing financial assistance to Town residents who face crisis situations threatening their ability to stay in their homes. Working in collaboration with Belmont’s outreach worker in the Town’s Department of Health, throughout calendar year 2004, the BASF distributed roughly $7,000 through 30 grants to 21 Belmont families. Most grants went to pay home heating costs, with a fewer number used to pay past-due rent and electric light bills.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Colton, Chairman, Belmont Housing Trust, Inc.
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