Habitat for All: final recommendations, Feb. 12, 7pm
Debra Simes
Please join the Planning Division next week, February 12, at 7pm, for a virtual webinar on the final recommendations for the Habitat for All Initiative!
Meeting link: https://actonma.zoom.us/j/81976155209
What is Habitat for All?
Affordable housing and housing options are scarce, while open space is finite and valuable. Though Acton generates affordable housing, it does not have infinite funds to create enough affordable housing to address the magnitude of the housing crisis. The Town also spends a significant amount of its limited funds purchasing land for open space. The Planning & Conservation Divisions and Sustainability Office received a grant from the State to conduct a community engagement effort to explore how Acton can improve their current natural resource protection zoning and also implement inclusionary zoning to address these crises on a local level.
What is natural resource protection zoning?
It’s a form of zoning that concentrates development within a specific portion of a parcel, and then the remaining portion of the parcel remains protected and undeveloped for natural resource values. This is different than a conventional housing development, where the entire lot is typically developed for housing.
What is inclusionary zoning?
Inclusionary zoning laws create affordable housing by encouraging or requiring developers to set aside a percentage of housing units to be sold or rented at below-market prices. Acton has a few older bylaws that includes forms of inclusionary zoning, but they have rarely been used due to infeasibility. In May 2024, Acton passed a new bylaw, called the MBTA Overlay District, that includes inclusionary zoning, but it has not been used yet.