Affordable Housing
Planning Board Supports Increasing Affordable Housing Requirements for New Developments
|
The Planning Board voted to support a zoning change that would require developers building medium and large housing projects in Watertown to include more affordable housing.
Last Thursday, the Planning Board discussed the zoning amendment and voted unanimously to recommend that the Town Council adopt the changes. The proposal was brought to the Town Council by the Watertown Housing Partnership. It was considered first by the Economic Development and Planning Subcommittee and then by the full Council, before being sent to the Planning Board to sign off on it, said Andrea Adams, senior planner in the Watertown Community Development and Planning Department. The town has a requirement that projects of 6 more units have 12.5 percent of units be rented or sold at an affordable rate. When the Town Council approved the Regional Mixed Use District (RMUD) for the section of east Arsenal Street earlier this year, the affordable housing requirement was increased to 15 percent for that area, Adams said.