By Beth David, Editor
At its meeting on 1/12/25, the Fairhaven Select Board heard from local housing advocate, Michelle Costen, about the possibility of creating a Community Land Trust/Housing Trust with Community Preservation Act Funds. CPA funds come from a surcharge on real estate taxes. The money is then recommended for distribution by the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) which submits its recommendations to Town Meeting. TM is the authority that expends the funds.
CPA funds are allowed to be spent on projects in the community for historic preservation, open space preservation, outdoor recreation, and affordable housing. The current state match is about 18%.
Ms. Costen told the board that she believed CPA funds are being misappropriated. She said the CPC has not done its job correctly. The percentages outlined in the act can be overridden if there is an urgent need, she said. And the lack of affordable housing creates an urgent need. She said the town could have been using the funds to buy houses.
Ms. Costen also criticized the appropriation of funds for pickleball and other suggested projects.
Town Administrator, Keith Hickey, said he appreciated Ms. Costen’s “passion” to find affordable housing. But he also defended the actions of the CPC, saying they can only appropriate money to projects that have been submitted to them. He also noted that the deadline has passed for CPC applications.
He said the “challenge” is that the CPC has not had an application submitted to them.
Ms. Costen said the CPC is not addressing the urgent need of the community for affordable housing. She said the town needs to reevaluate everything the CPC has been doing for years.
SB member, Keith Silvia, asked Mr. Hickey if he could look into the possibility of creating a land and housing trust.
Mr. Hickey said it can be established at any time, but an application needs to be submitted to the CPC before they can award a grant for housing. Nothing has as yet been submitted, he said.
Mr. Hickey said he would be happy to work with community and professional partners, such as the Housing Authority.
Mr. Silvia said if the town has a land/ housing trust, then developers would know they can put an application in.
Mr. Hickey noted that the CPC is not responsible for establishing a land trust, it is responsible for reviewing applications to make sure they are consistent with the laws and regulations. The CPC cannot be responsible for not spending money for applications not submitted.
Ms. Costen also said she spoke to some TM members and they did not know what CPA funds were or how the could be used. She asked the board to make an effort to educate Town Meeting members on the CPA.
The matter will be addressed again in a future meeting.
To learn more about the CPA, visit https://www.communitypreservation.org/about. Or see Mass. General Law Chapter 44B on Mass.gov
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