Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council debates housing committee, Styles Way workforce housing and waits for comp‑plan results
Summary
Councilors exchanged views on resurrecting a housing committee and exploring a town‑led workforce housing project on Styles Way. Several councilors urged waiting for the completed comprehensive plan and recent state statutory changes before pursuing committee action; some favored senior housing work while others raised past public opposition to earlier proposals.
Long‑term capital planning and housing returned to the council’s agenda on April 13 as councilors and residents discussed whether to reconstitute a housing committee and explore town‑led workforce or senior housing on Styles Way.
Bob (a council participant) urged reinstituting an ad‑hoc housing committee to study feasibility and funding options, saying potential revenue streams could include rental income, bonds and tax increment financing. Several councilors pushed back that prior committee work had produced contested recommendations and that the community had rejected a previous plan at the ballot. Multiple speakers emphasized they want to wait for the town’s final comprehensive plan and possible changes to state legislation before committing to a new committee or project analysis.
Councilors also discussed tradeoffs between town‑funded projects and developer‑led proposals, the challenge of finding sites that would be broadly acceptable to neighbors (concerns cited about locating housing near a stump dump and compost area), and the need for hard data before advancing options. Several members suggested an ad‑hoc committee could return findings and recommendations to the full council, but not all councilors supported re‑creating the earlier housing body without clearer objectives and updated information.
No formal vote or new committee formation occurred; the council agreed to await the finished comprehensive plan and additional data before taking further action.
