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Truro Housing Authority

    HOUSING

    After 3-Year Delay, an Affordable Housing Trust Takes Shape

    Truro Housing Authority readies MAHT draft for select board approval

    By

    TRURO — Nearly three years after town meeting voters approved the creation of a municipal affordable housing trust (MAHT), the town has yet to appoint trustees or file the paperwork needed to get its work underway.

    “I think everybody got sidetracked,” housing authority chair Betty Gallo told the Independent. That’s no longer the case.

    At its March 20 meeting, the housing authority finalized draft recommendations for the MAHT’s board composition and operating structure. After a public forum on April 2 and any resulting revisions, the recommendations will go to the select board to put the trust to work.

    Truro already has an affordable housing trust fund (AHTF), established in 2002. It holds funds from town meeting appropriations, the sale of town-owned properties, and tax-title property sales to be spent on housing programs. The fund has no board. Instead, decisions on its use are made by the select board and town meeting.

    The new fund was made possible when Truro adopted the state’s MAHT statute in 2022. One goal of the MAHT is to ensure that towns’ housing needs are met in more community-specific ways.

    It allows for the creation of a trust with more autonomy — one that can acquire property, manage funds, and support affordable housing without returning to town meeting for approval of each decision. Still, the housing authority’s draft proposes that the select board be consulted on decisions with significant budgetary or staffing implications.

    Once the MAHT is operational, funds from the AHTF intended for creating housing solutions for people earning up to 100 percent of the area median income (AMI) would be transferred to the new trust.

    Gallo said that the funds remaining in the AHTF would continue to be allocated as before “until there is another option.” One such option might be a new year-round housing trust for households earning above the 100-percent-of-AMI threshold. That’s a proposal under the “seasonal communities” designation article headed to town meeting in May, she said.

    The housing authority’s recommendations on the MAHT include a preference for participation on the board by full-time residents with experience in housing development, finance, or real estate, or who have lived in affordable housing or experienced housing insecurity.

    “We wanted people outside the town government to be on this trust,” said Gallo.

    “What we’re looking for is a lot of forward-facing transparency about money in and money out,” said vice chair Mara Glatzel.

    At the same time, the MAHT also “adds some layers of approval — or scrutiny at least — that don’t exist right now,” said member Kevin Grunwald.

    The draft recommends a seven-member board with two-year terms, composed of five voting members, two alternates, and the town manager or designee as a nonvoting participant. One member each from the select board and housing authority would be required, and the select board would appoint all members.

    The housing authority got help in arriving at its recommendations. It heard two presentations by Shelly Goehring of the Mass. Housing Partnership, who Gallo described as one of the state’s foremost experts on MAHTs.

    At a Sept. 12 joint meeting with the select board, Goehring said that most MAHTs draw funding from a mix of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds, free cash, donations, and other mechanisms like tax overrides. In Orleans, for instance, a $275,000 annual tax override has made that town’s trust eligible for a line of credit, she said. Wellfleet’s version aims to raise $1 million annually through short-term rental tax revenue, CPA funds, and donations.

    The housing authority also hired Michelle Jarusiewicz, who lives in Truro and retired from her job as Provincetown’s housing director in 2023, to compare how housing trusts across the Outer and Lower Cape are structured and funded and how they set their goals.

    Some residents are skeptical of the trust board’s broad authority. At the March 20 meeting, Gallo said she had received several phone calls from people concerned that “nobody can control what the group does,” said Gallo. “That’s just not true.”

    Glatzel pointed out that the MAHT had passed easily in 2022. “It’s about having more infrastructure for affordable housing,” she said. Glatzel also said she wanted to “turn down the volume” on concerns about the board’s makeup.

    “This is not a rogue entity,” she added. “It’s a concentrated working group that is hyper-focused on housing. This has a select board member. This has the town manager or designee. This has a housing authority member. It’s not a group of randos who have their own separate agenda.”

    The housing authority will hold a public forum on the MAHT recommendations at town hall at 5 p.m. on April 2.

    ON THE WARRANT

    Truro Looks Ahead to a Hefty Town Meeting

    Voters will weigh Walsh property, DPW building, duplexes, and senior passes

    By

    TRURO — At the special town meeting on Oct. 21, plans for the 70-acre Walsh property, which has been in limbo since the town bought it in May 2019, will come before voters for the first time.

    “How did we get here?” was the question atop a slide at the pre-town meeting on Oct. 5. Town Moderator Paul Wisotzky walked attendees through the 15-article warrant. (Photo by Sophie Mann-Shafir)

    Article 5 asks to adopt the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee’s list of 18 recommendations. Those include developing a maximum of 160 housing units — down from a previous plan for 252 — with a first phase consisting of 50 to 80 units. The plan also calls for a multi-use community space that could include child care and a community kitchen and for 60 percent of the property to be preserved as open space.

    The Walsh committee took almost three years to develop the recommendations and will dissolve after town meeting. Newly elected Town Moderator Paul Wisotzky is a member of that committee and had served as co-chair until February.

    Wisotsky is also the governor’s appointee to the Truro Housing Authority. At a pre-town meeting forum on Oct. 5, Karen Ruymann asked Wisotzky if he would recuse himself from moderating votes on various articles.

    “Will you recuse yourself from Walsh article votes and any other articles that include Walsh, LCP, and HPP, for example?” asked Ruymann, referring to the local comprehensive plan and the housing production plan. “What assurances can you give us all as to your impartiality as moderator during this debate?”

    Wisotzky said that both the state ethics commission and town counsel had advised him that he does not need to recuse himself or file a disclosure — although he said he plans to file anyway.

    Warrant Article 6 would create a six-member Ad Hoc Walsh Property Advisory Committee and is itself based on Article 13, a citizens’ petition submitted by planning board vice chair Anne Greenbaum.

    The local comprehensive plan, in the works since 2017, appears as Article 7 on the warrant. The plan outlines goals for housing, environment, infrastructure, economy, and community.

    Article 12 is designed to boost year-round rentals in town by allowing new duplexes by right, except in the town’s Seashore and Beach Point zoning districts. The amended zoning bylaw would require one unit of a new duplex to have a signed 12-month lease and the other either to be owner-occupied or also have a 12-month lease. The article also lowers the lot size required for a duplex and increases the permitted gross floor area.

    Similar measures were postponed at annual town meetings in 2022 and 2023, according to the warrant. Article 12 would require a two-thirds vote to pass.

    Voters will also consider three Proposition 2½ overrides, which require a two-thirds majority at town meeting and a simple majority at a town election.

    Article 1 is a debt exclusion for $1.4 million in borrowing to upgrade the Truro Central School’s roof and ventilation system. Classrooms on the west side of the school “have no air exchange whatsoever,” DPW director Jarrod Cabral said at the Oct. 5 forum, a deficiency that came to light during Covid. If the measure passes on Oct. 21, construction could take place during summer break.

    Articles 3 and 4 are mutually exclusive DPW facility funding articles. They ask for $35 million and $3.5 million, respectively, to fund either the whole project or just its engineering costs. Cabral said that the $35 million price tag is a “worst case scenario,” since the project will be eligible for some funding from the Cape Light Compact.

    Article 2 asks voters to dedicate a 2.7-acre town-owned parcel at 340 Route 6 for the new DPW project.

    Article 14, a citizen’s petition from a self-styled “DPW study group,” proposes an alternate DPW project at the department’s current location on Town Hall Road. As reported in last week’s Independent, the group claims its proposal would be “bigger, significantly cheaper, safer, and faster” than the plan produced by the town’s contracted professionals and that it would cost less than half the price.

    Another pair of dueling measures are Articles 8 and 15. Article 8 is a nonbinding resolution advising the select board to research a “Senior Pass Pilot Program.” If implemented, the program would either reduce or eliminate transfer station and beach permit fees “for Truro property owners and resident seniors of an age to be determined” in a year-long pilot program.

    Article 8 was “adopted” by the select board from petitioned Article 15, submitted by Joan Holt. Holt’s article specifies that people age 60 and over would be eligible for the senior pass, which would have a one-time cost of $50.

    According to the select board’s explanation on the warrant, the specifics in Holt’s article were problematic because “town meeting is not an authorized fee-setting body” under state law. Town Manager Darrin Tangeman said at the Oct. 5 forum that Article 8 “mirrors the intent” of Holt’s Article 15.

    Holt was not pleased, however. She said that Article 8 was a “power grab” by the select board.

    Rounding out the warrant are Articles 9 and 10, general bylaw amendments on stormwater and curb cuts, respectively, and Article 11, which would extend the duration of special permits granted by the zoning board of appeals from one to two years.

    Registration for special town meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Truro Central School. The meeting will begin at 10.

    WALSH PROPERTY

    Committee Considers Mixed-Use Development for Truro Tract

    Food insecurity and housing insecurity are related, advocates say

    By

    TRURO — Wendy Lurie, a founder of the Truro Community Kitchen (TCK), proposed to the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee on Dec. 14 that a “food security joint facility” for the TCK and Truro Food Pantry be located at the property.

    The Walsh property’s 69.9 acres were acquired by the town in 2019, and the committee is discussing development proposals for the southwestern part of the property. These 28.5 acres have been designated “Area A” by Tighe & Bond, the town’s development consultants, who in November presented four concepts for the area that include 57 to 210 housing units.

    “Food insecurity and housing insecurity are two sides of the same coin,” Lurie said. TCK’s proposal is not meant to come at the expense of housing development, she added.

    “We think the biggest issue in town is lack of affordable housing,” said Lurie. “Our proposal is strictly to provide food at no cost for people who need it without taking away housing.”

    The Walsh Property Community Planning Committee offered Truro residents notecards to solicit feedback about development possibilities for the land. One response included a diagram of suggested development for the property. (Photo by Sophie Mann-Shafir)

    Committee member Russell Braun raised questions about the need for kitchen space. “The municipality already has a really nice commercial kitchen at the Community Center and it is really underutilized,” he said.

    Committee Co-Chair Fred Gaechter said that the TCK had tried to use that kitchen but “it was too small and did not have enough storage.”

    TCK currently operates out of the Christian Union Church, which does not have a commercial kitchen. “We are trying to build ourselves out in various ways to be a more stable and permanent presence in the community,” Lurie said.

    The committee also heard from Nancy Medoff, vice chair of the Truro Economic Development Committee, which held five roundtable discussions and one public summit with businesspeople.

    “Loud and clear, the number-one challenge for business owners is housing,” Medoff said. Local businesses also cited “the unpredictability of the visa process, lack of affordable child care, supply-chain issues, and onerous permitting” as major struggles, Medoff said.

    There is also a “very low percentage of property that is zoned for commercial use in Truro,” Medoff added.

    Gaechter said that development space on the Walsh property is limited and wondered how the economic development committee would prioritize different uses. Medoff said no vote had been taken, but so far the committee favors maximizing housing at the Walsh property.

    Kevin Grunwald, chair of the Truro Housing Authority, presented the latest draft of the town’s housing production plan, which foresees a need for 260 more units by 2035.

    “If you look at who lives in Truro,” said Betty Gallo, a member of both the housing authority and the Walsh committee, “we have people of fairly high income and people of fairly low income — it’s the middle income we don’t have.” Gallo said the reason was “we don’t have housing for them.”

    Gallo also said that the 2020 census showed Truro has lost 24 percent of its 18-to-34-year-olds. “That includes a lot of our workers,” Gallo said.

    The housing production plan notes that the median single-family home price in Truro is nearly $1.4 million, considered affordable for a household with an annual income of about $375,000. Currently, the median household income in Truro is around $69,000.

    Sticker-Based Voting

    The Walsh committee held an event on Dec. 8 at the Truro Central School to update residents and gather public input. Posters laid out the committee’s planning principles and the site’s constraints alongside maps and diagrams. A sticker-based voting system allowed residents to indicate their preferences on housing design, recreational uses, and the potential inclusion of commercial or retail space.

    “This is by no means scientific,” Tighe & Bond consultant Sharon Rooney said at the meeting, but “the clustering of dots indicates some preferences.”

    The stickers showed a preference for traditional architectural styles in single-family, multiplex, and townhouse-style developments. For duplexes, both traditional and contemporary styles earned support.

    Braun, who had been managing the sticker voting at one of the posters, said he thought the process confused issues of aesthetics with issues of density.

    On the open space and recreation posters, “hiking/walking trails and/or fitness circuit trail was probably the top preference,” said Rooney, although a summer camp facility, multi-use event space, and climbing wall were also top choices.

    Violet Rein Bosworth, the student liaison on the Walsh committee, added “community pool” in marker at the bottom of the recreation poster, and it received many votes. A pool hadn’t appeared on the poster because town staff hadn’t identified it as a priority. Committee member Morgan Clark said that “future data collection should incorporate things that this committee has collected as options and not just what Truro staff has offered.”

    The voting on mixed-use development showed preferences for ground-floor commercial with apartments above, buildings set back from the street, and establishments similar to Salty Market on Highland Road.

    Select board member Stephanie Rein said that her board had voted to reduce the Walsh committee from 13 members to 11. The death of member Susan Howe and the resignation of Craig Milan created two vacancies; rather than fill them or elevate alternates to full members, the select board decided that the group should have 11 members and two alternates.

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.

    Thursday, March 11

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.
    • Finance Committee, 4 p.m.
    • Housing Authority, 4 p.m.
    • School Committee, 5:15 p.m.

    Tuesday, March 16

    • Board of Health, 4 p.m.

    Wednesday, March 17

    • Planning Board, 2:30 p.m.

    Thursday, March 18

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of March 3, Truro had six active cases of Covid-19, according to the town. The state reported there have been 39 total cases as of March 4, and no deaths related to Covid-19.

    Select Board Calls for Pier Fee Moratorium

    Select board member Jan Worthington authored a letter to the Provincetown Public Pier Corp. and the Provincetown Select Board calling for a one-to-two-year moratorium on fee increases at MacMillan Pier.

    Worthington wrote that 24 commercial fishermen and six “eco-tourism” or charter boat owners who live in Truro fish out of Provincetown.

    “So, this is really an issue for Truro,” she said. “These are our neighbors and we need to support them.”

    The letter, signed by all the members of the select board, is a reaction to the fee increases recently announced by the Pier Corp., which over two years will just about double the dock fees on MacMillan Pier.

    Fees for large fishing boats will go from $44 to $85 per foot by 2023, and the fee for smaller vessels will go from $61 to $120 per foot by that year.

    The Truro Select Board is also asking the Provincetown Pier Corp. to include Truro residents in the definition of Provincetown-based vessels. Under the pier’s new rules, everyone who uses the pier is grandfathered to have a slip, but when a space opens up, Provincetown residents would have priority for renting it. The argument for the local preference, according to Pier Corp. member Scott Fraser, is that Provincetown taxpayers already pay millions to repair and improve the pier, so they should have some advantage.

    Worthington’s letter asks that Truro residents be represented on the Pier Corp. board. In fact, they already are allowed to be on the board, as are other nonresidents. The current application pool for two open spots on the Pier Corp. includes one Truro resident, one Eastham resident, and both a resident and a second-home owner from Provincetown.

    The Provincetown Select Board will choose new Pier Corp. members in the coming weeks.

    The Truro Select Board unanimously approved Worthington’s letter on March 9.

    “The fishing community cannot live with this,” said Worthington of the increased fees. “This is not the time to put this kind of burden on them.” —K.C. Myers

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.

    Thursday, March 4

    • School Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.
    • Shellfish Advisory Committee, 2:30 p.m.

    Monday, March 8

    • Energy Committee, 4:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, March 9

    • Council on Aging, 10 a.m.
    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Wednesday, March 10

    • Planning Board, 5 p.m.

    Thursday, March 11

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of March 1, Truro had four active cases of Covid-19, according to the town. The state Dept. of Public Health reported that there have been 38 total Truro cases and no deaths attributed to the virus.

    Brotman Won’t Run Again

    After 10 years on the Truro Housing Authority, Carl Brotman is done. He said he will not run again for the board this year. His term expires on May 11.

    He said the town has been sued three times trying to bring affordable housing projects into Truro during his time on the authority.

    A legal challenge delayed the affordable homes on Sally’s Way for years, and three Habitat for Humanity homes at 181 Route 6 (near the Pamet Road exit) have been held up in court for years. On Feb. 25, two people filed a lawsuit that will delay the Cloverleaf. At 39 units, the Cloverleaf is the largest affordable housing project in Truro history.

    The last day to register to vote in the May 11 town election is April 7. —K.C. Myers

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