Trust authorizes chair to seek fee waivers and forms working group for 134 Fisher Street

The Westborough Affordable Housing Trust on May 9 discussed a developer proposal for 134 Fisher Street and voted to authorize two immediate actions: have the trust chair draft a letter in support of waiving building and water/sewer privilege fees for the affordable units, and form a working group to negotiate a subsidy agreement to add one additional SHI-compliant affordable unit.

Trust members reported that Richard Ricard (developer, referenced in meeting) has been pursuing a small-house development originally described as 18 units (and with a longer-term concept of up to 40 units if density bonuses and a sending parcel were available). Staff said Ricard’s project is otherwise through design review and that lifting a local sewer moratorium could simplify infrastructure plans.

Unidentified Speaker 2 summarized the subsidy-analysis method the trust uses: modeling the gap between anticipated market rents and affordable rents, then applying the developer’s financing cap rate to determine the subsidy needed to make one additional unit feasible. "We look at the difference between anticipated market rents versus affordable rents and that gap," Unidentified Speaker 2 said.

On motions: Unidentified Speaker 2 moved to authorize the chair to draft a memo in support of waiver of building fees and water and sewer privilege fees for the four or five SHI-compliant affordable units at 134 Fisher Street; the motion was seconded (Unidentified Speaker 6) and discussed. The trust then moved to create a working group to draft and begin negotiating a subsidy agreement for consideration; that motion was seconded, members volunteered to serve, and staff said they would return with draft language and a subsidy estimate.

Trustees were explicit that any subsidy or fee waiver is tied to program requirements and that the town’s planning and permitting processes (including potential minor changes to a permit) would still apply. No detailed vote tallies for the motions are recorded in the transcript; minutes indicate motions were moved and seconded and that trustees agreed to pursue the chair’s memo and the working group as next steps.