Milford panel reviews master‑plan timing, housing forum and state proposals on ADUs and manufactured homes

At the meeting, staff described how master plan timing will shift so consultant work can incorporate data from a Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) grant and urged committee members to attend a public housing forum and to share the town’s online materials.

Master plan and grant: Camille Pattison said the master plan was near completion but that the HOP grant — about $78,000 — will provide additional data that consultants want to include, delaying the final master-plan draft by a few months. "Because of that, the data that they're getting from that, the, the consultants wanna make sure they can incorporate the input from the HOP grama into the master plan," Pattison said.

Public engagement: Pattison described an upcoming informal public "vision" event (no presentation; come-and-go format) that will display findings from the housing needs assessment and fiscal-impact analysis and allow residents to mark map preferences and comment on housing types. Staff encouraged members to promote the forum and the project website and to distribute postcards and a QR code to raise turnout.

State policy changes discussed: The meeting included discussion of recent and proposed state-level changes that participants said would affect local housing policy. Pattison summarized two items raised at a public meeting:

- Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): She said pending legislation (at the time of the meeting) is expected to allow one ADU by right and would set a minimum unit size no smaller than 950 square feet; if adopted, she said the change would take effect July 1. "As long as it passes, at which it is, anticipated to pass, it will be effective July 1," Pattison said. She described that permitted ADUs would remove the need for variances in many cases.

- Manufactured homes: Pattison said the state is moving to require municipalities to allow modern manufactured homes in any zone that permits residential development, to reduce discriminatory zoning and expand lower-cost housing options. "Manufactured homes is the most cost effective form of homes, and they're very nice," she said, adding that modern manufactured units differ from older trailer-park models.

Local context and concerns: Committee members discussed barriers to certain projects and the need for clearer communication to residents. The transcript records committee members asking how to bring residents into the conversation and noting misconceptions about housing types; Pattison recommended the website materials and public meeting as educational tools.

What was not decided: No local code changes were voted at the meeting; committee members were advised to await formal legislation and the planning-board/master-plan process before adjusting local zoning or recommending warrant language.

Next steps: Staff will continue to work with consultants to integrate HOP data into the master plan, release a housing impact analysis online, and hold the public forum. Committee members were asked to help publicize the event and to review the existing-conditions and fiscal-impact materials posted on the project website.