WHO NEEDS IT? WHO ARE THE FUTURE RESIDENTS OF VALLEY CDC’s PROPOSED AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT ON NORTHAMPTON ROAD?

Amherst residents and officials have for many years talked about our commitment to affordable housing. This commitment has been tested by high market-rate rentals that are unaffordable to many in our town and collegiate workforces, especially at the entry level. The need for mixed mid- and low-income affordable housing here led Valley Community Development Corporation (Valley CDC) to propose, and Amherst’s Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC)  to recommend, a bond issue to leverage significant state funding for a 28-unit Studio Apartment project at 132 Northampton Road that is now before the town council. But faced with abutter and neighborhood opposition, the finance committee has delayed action on the bond question, pending an open meeting for town residents to be held by the council on June 24.

It is important to know that of the 28 affordable units (each with bathroom and kitchenette), 16 will serve workforce housing with income caps of $31,050 (50 percent of the area median income) and $49,700 (80 percent area median income). This workforce housing is likely to accommodate Amherst service workers, maintenance staff, teachers, aides, social workers. The town of Amherst’s collective bargaining agreements document in detail the workforce-housing need based on the Amherst entry-level (2018) salaries for firefighters ($40–$47,000), Department of Public Works level 1 ($43,000–mid $50s), clerical salaries step 1 in our schools (2016: $23,294–mid $40s). Thus, 16 of the 28 Valley CDC apartments will be available to mid-income workforce who have been squeezed out of Amherst’s high-end rental market. Ten of the studio apartments will have a homeless preference and an income cap of $18,650, and might well serve those who have been rendered homeless for various reasons including the closing of  the nearby Amherst Motel. Two units are reserved for people referred by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.

In its “Response to Neighbor’s Concerns” Valley CDC notes: “A person working full-time at the current MA minimum wage earns $24,960 annually. The median per capita income in Amherst is $20,336; the median single person household income is $28,018; and the median rental household income (all size households) is $28,290.

The best source for Valley CDC’s proposal is posted on the Town of Amherst website.    The website explains the format for the June 24 open meeting  of the residents that was called to address concerns about the project.  According to the town:

 ”The purpose of the meeting is for the Town Council to hear from the public on funding recommended by the Community Preservation Act Committee and also to hear general observations, questions, or comments on other elements of the proposed project.”

Readers who plan to make comments at that meeting might want to look at the website. It offers  documents prepared by the Town and prepared by Valley CDC as well as letters from members of the community and media coverage. Especially useful are the documents provided by Valley CDC that address concerns raised by abutters and neighbors who object to the project. 

By funding the $500,000 Community Preservation Act bonding issue, Amherst can leverage $4,000,000 in state funding to meet a desperate mid- and low-income rental shortfall. The June 24 open meeting will be a valuable opportunity to hear the facts of the proposal, engage with each other as neighbors, and support the bond issue.  It is important that town residents be knowledgeable about what Valley CDC has proposed and CPAC has recommended.  The documents assembled on the town website help to provide that clarity.  There will be ample opportunity for the Zoning Board of Appeals, in the months ahead, to discuss details of the plan.