Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, March 7
- Board of Assessors, 11 a.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., Nauset Middle School Auditorium
Monday, March 11
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 12
- Conservation Commission onsite, 8:15 a.m.
- Capital Projects Committee, 3 p.m.
- Zoning Task Force, 4 p.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, March 13
- Finance Committee, 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 14
- Affordable Housing Trust, 9 a.m.
Conversation Starter
Housing Production Plan Updated
Community Development Director Paul Lagg presented an interim update of the town’s housing production plan to the select board on Feb. 26. The plan was last updated in 2021, Lagg wrote in his memo to the board, before the pandemic had a “severe” impact on housing supply and affordability.
The five-year plan follows rules set by the state’s Chapter 40B. It aims to create year-round housing eligible for inclusion on the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI), so as to be counted toward the state’s goal of having at least 10 percent of towns’ housing stock be affordable to those earning 80 percent or less of the area median income. That 80 percent number in Barnstable County is currently $67,700 for a one-person household.
Given the changes to the housing stock in recent years, the town will need to introduce 16 new units to the SHI every year in order to meet its production goals.
“It’s kind of awkward to say this, but the state is not necessarily expecting us to meet the goals,” said Lagg. “They just want to see how we could do it.”
But if the goals that the plan lays out fall short of the expectations set by Chapter 40B then the town’s zoning board of appeals loses the right to deny “inappropriate comprehensive permit applications” for development.
In other words, the state could force the town to create housing “in a way we might not enjoy,” said select board member Suzanne Bryan. That additional housing could be approved “whether or not it’s a right fit for the Cape,” said member Jamie Demetri. “We want control over this.”
Second-home seasonal use is currently the basis of housing stock growth in the town, according to the update. It emphasizes the need to build subsidized rental units and expand the availability of workforce housing, which can serve populations earning more than 80 percent of area median income.
Lagg said that even if the town reaches its housing production goals, “it will not solve the housing crisis,” and that additional work needs to be done. —Olivia Oldham
