Acton planning consultants present updated Housing Production Plan; public forum scheduled March 12

Noah of JM Goldson and Kristen Gichard, Acton's planning director, presented a draft update to the town's Housing Production Plan (HPP) at the joint Select Board and Planning Board meeting on Feb. 24, outlining goals and a timeline that includes a public forum on March 12.

The presentation emphasized keeping Acton above the state's Chapter 40B threshold: "maintaining . . . at least 10% of Acton's year-round housing units are accountable on the SHI," Noah said, referring to the Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI). The consultant team said Acton most recently reported a SHI of 10.58%, putting the town technically above the 10% threshold but still in need of planning to preserve and expand affordable housing.

The draft plan lists nine goals, including maintaining the 10% threshold, encouraging diverse housing types across incomes, prioritizing wastewater infrastructure to support development, encouraging sustainable and resilient housing, focusing new housing in village centers and near transit (smart growth), strengthening local implementation capacity, preserving long-term affordability of existing units, stabilizing housing for vulnerable residents, and clustering new development to preserve open space. Noah said the HPP update is about creating actionable strategies tied to those goals and noted the team is roughly two-thirds through the update process.

Planning staff and board members discussed what the goals should prioritize. Select Board member Alyssa Nickel asked whether the goals are hierarchical; Noah said they are not presented in ranked order and that implementation phasing will be addressed in strategy matrices. Planning Board member Pat Clifford asked whether the draft plan will include strategies with measurable targets; Noah and Kristen said yes: the final plan will contain specific strategies, examples, phasing and responsible parties.

Several Planning Board and public participants pressed the consultants to emphasize preserving existing affordable units and to quantify constraints. Ron Beck, a planning board member and property owner in a local 40B community, urged the plan to evaluate the effects of subsidized housing on upkeep costs within such developments and to consider both water and wastewater when evaluating capacity for additional housing. Tara, a caller from the public, urged examining subsidized buy-downs or targeted subsidies to keep existing low-cost units affordable rather than relying solely on new production.

Noah said the project team has completed two public forums and a survey and will hold a third public workshop in person at Acton Town Hall on Wednesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. The project team will bring draft strategies to that forum for community input, then return later in May with a near-final plan. Kristen said staff will circulate draft strategies to the working group in the coming week.

The planning director and the consultant asked boards and residents to review the draft goals and attend the March 12 forum. The HPP update will be used to inform zoning, capital planning and potential grant requests, and to preserve the town's eligibility and policy options under Chapter 40B.

Looking ahead, the team said it will produce a strategy matrix with timelines, responsible parties and likely implementation steps; the draft HPP will also identify projects that could preserve at-risk restricted housing and options for wastewater upgrades that would enable development in portions of town currently constrained by infrastructure.