Residents Rally For More Affordable Housing In Waltham

WALTHAM, MA — As more jobs are created in Waltham and the rate of new housing is struggling to keep pace, advocates and residents argue the city needs to start doing more to help businesses find people who can live and work in the city and maintain the city's diverse population.

A proposal to update Waltham's "inclusionary zoning" to incentivize developers to increase the number of units deemed affordable looks set to get that ball rolling, and advocates are cheering it.

Inclusionary zoning sprang up in the 1970s in response to "snob zoning," which worked with loopholes in the law to keep affordable housing out of some neighborhoods. The Inclusionary zoning asks developers to earmark a certain percent of the units in their project as cheaper than their value to allow for more people to have access to affordable housing. The state mandates 10 percent of any building with more than six units do just that.

But even so, about four of every 10 Waltham renters pay more than the recommended 30 percent of their monthly income in rent, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

"Many people are only a paycheck away from being homeless themselves—A crisis happens and you fall behind on the rent," said Phelippa Hurley is looking for housing she can afford in Waltham, but in the meantime has to pay for a hotel room.

The wait list for public housing is two years long.

"We need to get beyond the red tape," said Hurley who told city councilors along with 66 others, Monday night she was in support the proposal. And so were more than 125 others who signed a petition online.

City Councilor Robert Logan, who sponsored the proposal, said what's critical is that it proposes developers ensure 5 percent of affordable housing units be targeted at people who make less than 50 percent of the area median income. This is in addition to the 10 percent of units which is currently required to be affordable to people earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.

"And 50 percent is what the housing authority units are targeted at. So the question everyone has been asking is; 'yeah we've created affordable housing, but affordable to whom?' There was a feeling that people were being left out of inclusionary zoning," he said.

The state determines the area median income based on census data projections for the region. Waltham's area median income for a family of four is $107,845, according to Huduser.gov. And 80 percent of that is roughly $81,100. Rent considered affordable for that family would be around $1,806 a month.

"Those who work in Waltham who are paid low wages – waiters, house cleaners, cashiers, childcare providers, and others – should also be able to afford to live here- and this requires a commitment to creating and sustaining affordable housing," Deborah Jose, who is the board chair of the housing advocacy group Waltham Alliance for Teaching, Community Organizing & Housing (WATCH CDC), told the city council. "Given the already substantial competition for housing, guaranteeing access for Waltham’s lower income residents is more critical than ever."

Logan, who brought the proposal forward, said it was originally part of a larger comprehensive review package of the zoning set before city council, but after hearing from more and more community members who are having difficulties finding affordable housing and hearing from the advocates, he said it made sense to pull that piece from the package and get it moving through the process.

"We knew we needed to act quickly," said Logan.

The proposal will go to Ordinances and Rules Committee for possible tweaks and amendments, before it heads back out to the rest of the council for review in the next month or so.

"It's something I think everyone thinks is a real priority," he said.

"It's only one piece of the puzzle," said Logan. "We're not going to be able to provide an adequate level of affordable housing just by passing this, so we will really need to have a multi-pronged approach going forward."

Although no one spoke out against the proposal during the public hearing, some criticism of inclusionary zoning in general mostly come from the developer side, as they swallow the cost.

Are you or someone you know struggling to find or keep affordable housing in Waltham? Tell us your story, email Jenna.Fisher@Patch.com

RELATED: Waltham Property Taxes To Go Up In 2019

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