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Board weighs workforce housing options — tie ADUs, bonuses and deed restrictions into compliance plan
Summary
Planners debated whether to treat ADUs as part of the town’s workforce-housing response, how to structure density bonuses in commercial districts, and tradeoffs of deed restrictions and long-term affordability controls.
The Brentwood Planning Board discussed strategies to satisfy the state workforce‑housing law while tailoring protections to local conditions on Sept. 24. Members considered whether ADUs, multifamily bonuses, and deed‑restricted units could be combined to meet the state’s requirement for “reasonable opportunities” for workforce housing.
Some members suggested using ADUs broadly because ADUs create distributed small units across residential lots; others cautioned that ADUs rented at workforce levels would require monitoring and reporting to ensure long‑term affordability. Board member Paul noted the difficulty of enforcing price or rent caps, and a consultant warned that rent control or strict resale limits would be difficult to implement and administer.
The draft multifamily approach discussed elsewhere on the agenda — a density standard described as “6 units per upland acre with a 20% bonus” — was presented as one pathway that could produce workforce units: two of the units in the bonus could be deed‑restricted as affordable. The board discussed practical tradeoffs: deed restrictions commonly limit resale appreciation (members cited 30‑year deed restrictions and examples where resale gains are capped at a percentage) and can deter buyers who expect normal market equity growth.
Board members asked staff to incorporate workforce housing language explicitly in the commercial/multifamily sections so the town triggers statutory definitions and demonstrates effort to comply. Members also asked whether incentives could be offered (for example, slightly larger ADU size allowances) for owners who commit to renting at workforce rates; staff and some board members urged caution about legal defensibility and administrative burden.
The board tasked staff with drafting workforce language that ties bonuses and inclusion requirements into the commercial districts and with preparing clear purpose statements for the public: that the town seeks to comply with state law while preserving locally appropriate uses and scale.
