After Worcester Inclusionary Zoning Vote, Coalition Mobilizes For Election

WORCESTER, MA — Days after the Worcester City Council approved a new affordable housing ordinance, a group that pushed for a stronger version of the law is vowing to continue its activism through the municipal election in November.

The city council approved an inclusionary zoning ordinance Tuesday unanimously, but the vote came after a months-long battle over differing versions of the law: one backed by the Worcester Together Affordable Housing Coalition that would've set higher affordability requirements for developers; and one pushed by the city administration that was seen as less restrictive for those same developers.

The coalition's proposal would've mandated that new developments set aside at least 5% of all units as affordable for people earning 60% or less of the area median income in Worcester. The city administration's proposal allows developers to choose between units at either 60% AMI or 80% AMI, or a combination. The coalition argued that, given the option, developers would likely pick the higher AMI, leaving low-income renters in the cold.

The coalition had also wanted the affordability levels to stay in place for 99 years as opposed to the city's 30-year window, and to increase the size of a payment-in-lieu — the amount a developer could pay to get around the IZ ordinance — from 3% to 5% of a project's building permit.

The city administration's version was the one approved Tuesday. To pass, the coalition's version needed eight of 11 council votes, but only had the support of councilors Etel Haxhiaj, Khrystian King, Thu Nguyen and Sarai Rivera.

Members of the coalition spoke for more than an hour before Tuesday's vote in favor of their proposal, and held a pre-meeting rally outside the council chambers.

"We heard loud and clear from our community: The Worcester City Council and the administration must act with urgency and bold vision. At this time, both are missing," the coalition said in a news release Friday. "To reject a bare-bones proposal that would have supported them during the worst housing crisis we have ever seen is unconscionable."

The coalition's Friday retort said the members will carry the memory of Tuesday's vote to the ballot box in November.

Some of the coalition members who spoke Tuesday intend to run for city council, including likely District 2 candidate and disability advocate Rob Bilotta, and likely At-Large candidates Maydee Morales and Domenica Perrone.

"The people who stand to lose from the city council’s unwillingness to act forcefully in the face of a housing disaster are also the people the seven city councilors claim to represent. We will continue to educate and mobilize the community, which includes their constituents. We hope these votes will matter in November," the statement said.

Of the seven who voted in favor of the city's version of the ordinance, only Mayor Joseph Petty and District 1 Councilor Sean Rose spoke Tuesday about their vote. Rose, who is not running for reelection in 2023, said he was afraid a more restrictive IZ ordinance would constrain development in Worcester, and said rising rents are in part due to housing scarcity. Rose also amended the city's version of the ordinance to include one of the coalition's asks: that a share of affordable units are set aside as accessible for disabled people.

"It's not as simple as one side or the other," he said Tuesday. "Developers don't like either proposal."

The coalition, however, said the city's proposal still put developers ahead of people struggling to find housing in Worcester. Rental prices in Worcester have increased about 3 percent over the past year, with the average one-bedroom now fetching $1,500 per month, according to the listing website Zumper. Family-size rentals with three or more bedrooms were also up, with average rents at $2,000 or more per month.

After Tuesday's vote, City Manager Eric Batista told the Talk of the Commonwealth radio show he considers it a win that Worcester now has an IZ policy, and that the process involved the community.

"I think the outcome we achieved is that we have inclusionary zoning for the city of Worcester. We have a policy here that provides mixed options; it makes opportunities for developers, but also at the same time incentivizes developers to do the best they can to [build affordable housing]," Batista said.