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Sharon P&Z discusses expanding affordable, senior and workforce housing and effects of new state review rule
Summary
At a June 24 planning session, the Sharon Planning and Zoning Commission focused on housing needs — affordable, senior and workforce units — and on how Public Act 25-1, which streamlines review for 2–11 unit projects, may change local approval and parking requirements. Staff will circulate a draft plan by August.
The Sharon Planning and Zoning Commission met June 24 at Town Hall to discuss strategies to expand affordable, senior and workforce housing and to consider how new state rules affect review of small multifamily projects.
Janel Mullen, a presenter at the session, reviewed the planning-session process and the town’s Plan requirements and summarized survey findings that highlighted needs for affordable housing, senior housing, multi-family units and housing for the local workforce.
Mullen said Public Act 25-1 changes the review process for small projects: applications proposing between two and 11 units can receive a summary review that may eliminate a public hearing and streamline approval and parking requirements. Commissioners discussed how the state rule could speed some developments but also highlighted the need to ensure local regulations and conservation restrictions do not unintentionally block affordable housing options.
Commission members said a moderate housing project is currently stalled because of an appeal, and they flagged a shortage of state and federal funding to support new construction and operations. Members also asked what Sharon’s current zoning regulations permit and where amendments might be needed to enable more affordable rentals and housing variety.
Residents and attendees urged more housing‑friendly zoning, long‑term community commitment to affordable housing, integration among housing groups, and state support for maintenance and operations at existing complexes. Several attendees noted tensions between the State and the Sharon Housing Trust over development plans and said financing arrangements — including for the Sharon Ridge/Expansion complex — limit how some projects can be changed.
Participants discussed policy tools such as tax abatements or other long‑term incentives modeled after existing programs, exploring development‑rights and deed constraints that affect buildability, leasing land or enabling smaller parcels for development, and increasing senior housing to diversify the town and support enrollment at the local school.
Mullen told the commission that the mandated Housing Growth Plan will be drafted by the regional COG; Sharon can opt in to the COG plan or prepare its own plan if it opts out. She urged that, when the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development is submitted to the COG, the commission advocate for local and regional support and funding for housing initiatives.
As a next step, Mullen said she will circulate a draft of the Plan to boards and commissions in the coming months and hopes to have a working draft by the end of August. The commission scheduled its next planning session for July 22 to address farmland preservation. The session closed at 5:30 p.m.
