More Affordable Housing


Q: You state that the town needs more affordable housing. The only way to do that is to increase housing in general. No one is going to build a development of strictly affordable housing. In fact the only affordable housing that has been built in recent years has been in condo and apartment developments.

The reason the only affordable housing that has been built in recent years has been nothing but condos and apartment buildings is because that's what the current zoning laws encourage. 

Town Meeting is the authority for all zoning and taxes laws. We get what we vote for. If we want more affordable housing, we can create new zoning laws to encourage that. For example, I would like to see more two-family homes built and sold to homeowners. Homeowners make better landlords and the additional income from the second unit makes the home more affordable. Renters receive the benefit of living in a home and a neighborhood rather than in an apartment building. 

Will large, national corporations and development firms provide more affordable housing of their own accord? No, I wouldn’t expect that. I’m sure that there are smaller developers who would be interested in building more affordable homes in Billerica if the incentives were there. It’s simply a matter of creating the incentives for what the town wants and the disincentives for what the town doesn’t want. The current PUD zoning laws add the wrong incentives and remove the right disincentives. This is why we are besieged with development proposals that we don’t want.

Q: I would be interested in hearing how you plan to accomplish this goal. The goal of more affordable housing cannot be accomplished by a member of the PB or the PB as a whole. None of it is within their authority to control.

This is true. The Planning Board has no power or ability to control the zoning laws. It's a regulatory board assigned to ensure the zoning laws are followed. The only way to truly address the problem of better housing development is through careful deliberation and action by Town Meeting and by the Select Board. I'm running for Town Meeting as well as Planning Board. The way I plan to accomplish these goals is by encouraging and supporting others to get involved and to work together. The Planning Board needs to work together with those on the Select Board and at Town Meeting who truly want to see the zoning laws fixed and the planning process improved.

The Committee to Elect John Meneghini
33 Timbercreek Rd, Billerica, MA 01821
https://planning-for-meneghini.blogspot.com/
Email: planning.for.meneghini@gmail.com
Phone: 978-435-4224

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

Image
My name is John Meneghini and I will be on the ballot this April 10, 2021 in Billerica MA, running for Town Meeting (Precinct 7) and Planning Board. Welcome to my blog. I will use this blog to communicate my campaign platform, my goals in running for office, and my vision for Billerica. First, a little about me. My wife, Karen and I have lived in Billerica for 28 years and have a family of five children and two grandchildren. We moved to Billerica in 1993 when our family was young and we have enjoyed all that this small but wonderful and unassuming town has to offer. As a software engineer I have worked all over the Metro west area and have enjoyed the great central location of this town. Billerica has always offered relatively affordable housing and a lower cost of living. Sometimes I think we never could have afforded to raise such a large family without Market Basket - the best supermarket in the country - and I am glad to see that we have three in our town. For many years Biller
Read more

Planning Board Candidates Forum

On Thursday night I joined a Candidate’s Debate Zoom call sponsored by the Billerica Minuteman and BATV. This was a recorded debate moderated by Joy Hosford. I’ve been preparing and studying up for this debate for weeks and I planned to take all of my talking points from my blog: https://planning-for-meneghini.blogspot.com/ . I went to this debate prepared to be challenged by my primary opponents, Bill Bulens and Chris Tribou. I was completely surprised by a 180 degree turn in both of my opponents position. Marlies Henderson was also there but her statements were all inline with her campaign - sensible green growth. Thank you Marlies for remaining true to your campaign. https://billerica.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/3326?channel=1 The Committee to Elect John Meneghini 33 Timbercreek Rd. Billerica, MA 01821 https://planning-for-meneghini.blogspot.com/ Email: planning.for.meneghini@gmail.com Phone: 978-435-4224
Read more

BATV Candidate Statements

If you watch the BATV candidate statements my video is not included.  This is because of some last minute production problems.  Specifically, I was not supposed to have my sign up in the background of the video.  However my candidate statement will be broadcast on BATV immediately following the the other videos. So if you'll stay tuned, you'll see my candidate statement, without the BATV banner at the bottom of the screen, immediately following all of the other the candidate statements. In addition, you can see my candidate statement on my YouTube channel: planning-for-billerica . For people who are interested in seeing others' candidate statement here is the link: https://billerica.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/3283?channel=3 The Committee to Elect John Meneghini 33 Timbercreek Rd. Billerica, MA 01821 https://planning-for-meneghini.blogspot.com/ Email: planning.for.meneghini@gmail.com Phone: 978-435-4224
Read more