Southborough Affordable Housing Trust to submit minor modifications to state Housing Production Plan

The Town of Southborough Affordable Housing Trust agreed to pursue minor modifications to the town's Housing Production Plan after the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) asked for more specificity on sites and town-owned parcels.

Trust member Ellen (trust member) told the board HLC requested clarification about specific sites the town would encourage for Comprehensive Permit ("40B") filings and asked the trust to identify town-owned parcels for which the municipality commits to issue requests for proposals for Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI)-eligible housing. Ellen said the consultant, Community Scale, created a revised plan page that keeps identified 40B sites and potentially underutilized parcels along Route 9 while listing municipal parcels and next steps, including pursuing a 40B filing for 250 Turnpike and hiring a consultant to study municipal site feasibility.

The changes seek to balance meeting HLC regulatory expectations with the trust's view that naming specific parcels without broader community engagement would be premature. Doug (chair of the Affordable Housing Trust) and other members asked the consultant to mark parcels already encumbered by conservation restrictions on the map so reviewers understand which town-owned parcels are effectively off-limits unless special legislation were obtained. Several members said their primary interest remains parcels near the Route 9 corridor; adding town parcels does not change that focus.

Ellen said HLC classified the requested edits as "minor modifications" that would not require additional local approvals. The trust asked Ellen to coordinate with Sarah Brent and the consultant to update the plan page and submit the minor revisions to HLC so the state can issue its approval letter.

Trust members emphasized the edits would not amount to a town commitment to develop particular parcels; local approvals such as town meeting would still be required before any municipal land was selected for development.

The trust directed Ellen to have the consultant (and staff) add a visual overlay showing conservation-restricted parcels and to proceed with submitting the minor modifications to the state.

The discussion also noted the housing production plan update is one of several strategies the trust is pursuing to meet affordability goals.