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Richmond planning board urges residents to take new housing needs survey; council discusses mailing with tax bills
Summary
The Planning Board and Affordable Housing Committee unveiled an anonymous housing needs survey to inform local housing policy; members and the committee discussed outreach strategies including mailing a paper copy with tax bills to reach roughly 2,900 households.
Vivian, speaking on behalf of the Planning Board and the Affordable Housing Committee, told the Richmond Town Council she and committee members prepared a housing needs survey to gather public views on affordability, housing choices and future housing challenges. "Any member of the public can complete the survey, and you do not even need to be a Richmond resident to participate," she said.
The committee framed the survey as a tool to inform planning and policy. Vivian cited the municipal code authority for planning studies and said results would be compiled into a report for the council. The committee plans to host the survey via Google Forms and to make hard copies available at locations such as the senior center and local libraries so people without internet access can participate.
Councilors pressed the committee on outreach and sampling. One councilor noted prior surveys of the senior center produced a high share of nonresident responses and asked how the town would ensure input reflected Richmond residents. Vivian said the survey includes a carve‑out to identify whether respondents live in Richmond and that committee members discussed options to limit or separately tabulate responses from nonresidents so the council can distinguish resident views.
Discussion focused on practical outreach steps. Committee members proposed using bulk mailing and estimated roughly 2,900 households could be reached if the survey were mailed with tax bills; that option was discussed as a way to ensure every homeowner receives a paper copy. Vivian said the survey questions were prepared by the Planning Board and Affordable Housing Committee and that the council would receive a report and the underlying data after responses are tallied.
The presentation did not produce a formal council vote on the survey itself; the council discussed next steps on outreach and review. The committee said it will circulate the final survey and provide the council with results once data collection is complete.
