Town Meeting Finds Affordable Housing Increase Unrealistic

ARLINGTON, MA — Town Meeting members debated an increase to Arlington's affordable housing requirement during Session 8 Wednesday.

The Arlington Redevelopment Board recommended "no action" – keeping the number of affordable units in a development at 15 percent – but Precinct 8 member Rebecca Gruber proposed a substitute motion to increase the proportion of affordable units to 25 percent.

While proponents argued the increase would raise the amount of affordable housing available in Arlington, Redevelopment Board members discussed the constraints of local developments. Member Eugene Benson said that higher percentages led to fewer projects in communities with smaller developments, such as Arlington, according to notes from Town Meeting member Christian Klein.

Klein remarked that he was concerned raising the percentage would either curb development or lead to more applications under Chapter 40B, the state's affordable housing law that relaxes permitting and zoning rules if a development allocates at least 20-25 percent of its units to low- or moderate-income families.

"Both would be a bad outcome for the town," Klein wrote.

The substitute motion failed 71-164. The vote of no action passed 195-41.