Input Sought on Grafton Housing Plan

"Grafton is among the fastest growing communities in the Commonwealth."

That's according to Grafton's April 2013 draft housing production plan.

Residents' input on that plan will be sought during an upcoming meeting involving the Grafton Affordable Housing Trust, the Grafton Board of Selectmen and the Grafton Planning Board.

The officials also will discuss and act on the plan during the session, at 7 p.m. Monday, July 8 in Grafton Memorial Municipal Center Conference Room A, the trust said Friday in a press release.

The plan is available at the Grafton Public Library and at the trust's webpage on the town's website.

Grafton must file the housing plan with the state, the trust said.

New affordable housing built in Grafton otherwise won't count toward the town achieving the state's 10 percent affordable housing threshold, the trust said.

Communities reaching that target are exempt from the state's affordable housing law, known as Chapter 40B, the draft report notes.

"Based on the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development’s most recent data on the Chapter 40B Subsidized Housing Inventory, Grafton had 7,160 year-round housing units (a sizable increase from the pre-2010 level of 5,820 units), of which 313 can be counted as affordable, representing 4.3% (down from the 5.27% level before 2010 due to housing growth) of the year-round housing stock," the report notes.

"Grafton is therefore vulnerable to losing control over housing development through Chapter 40B comprehensive permit applications. 

"To meet the 10% standard, at least 716 of the existing units would have to be 'affordable' based on the state’s definition, requiring more than 400 additional housing units to be converted to affordable ones to meet the 10% standard."