Chelsea Planning Board recommends revised inclusionary zoning that raises triggers, adds tiers and cuts buyout fee

The Chelsea Planning Board voted on May 19, 2026 to recommend City Council approve a revised inclusionary housing amendment that raises the number of units required to trigger affordability requirements, adopts a tiered affordability schedule and lowers the fee-in-lieu payment.

At a special meeting chaired by Regina, staff described the working-group proposal submitted by City Manager Fidel Maltis and recommended the board forward it to council. Will Cisio, planner and land use administrator for the city of Chelsea, told the board the proposed change is intended to align inclusionary zoning with current market conditions and to avoid deterring new development. “Inclusionary zoning policies are often most effective where housing is expensive,” Cisio said, adding that ‘‘policies need to be tailored to your local market conditions and be constantly reviewed as those conditions change.”

Under the version the board recommended, projects citywide would generally trigger inclusionary requirements at 50 units (instead of the current 10), with a 100-unit trigger retained for the West Chelsea mixed-use overlay. The proposal uses a tiered approach for smaller projects: 10–19 units must provide one unit at 80% area median income (AMI); 20–29 units would provide one unit at 80% AMI and one at 60% AMI; 30–39 units would provide two at 80% and one at 60%; 40–49 units would provide two at 80% and two at 60%; projects of 50 units or more would provide 10% of units split between 5% at 80% and 5% at 60% AMI. Homeownership projects of 10 or more units would require 10% at 80% AMI. The fee-in-lieu option was reduced from $400,000 per required affordable unit to $200,000 per unit.

Ben Cares, director of housing and community development, told the board that administering inclusionary units imposes substantial costs—especially for smaller builders—citing marketing plans and ongoing monitoring that can cost ‘‘upwards of $20,000’’ for a two-unit requirement. He said the Affordable Housing Trust Fund had disbursed about $1.5 million since 2020 and had roughly $200,000 remaining, and that fee-in-lieu revenue could be an important source for deeply subsidized housing the city already funds. “This program is extremely difficult to administer,” Cares said. “For small developers, that is a meaningful amount of money.”

Supporters on the board and staff argued the amendment aims to unlock new development and the tax revenue it generates—revenue they say the city needs to sustain services and to fund larger deeply subsidized projects. One board member summarized the trade-off: stricter rules can produce deeper affordability on a small number of units but may block the larger volume of new housing and the new-growth revenue the city relies on.

Residents, nonprofit leaders and some councilors urged caution. Dozens of public commenters told the board they were concerned the proposal reduces production of deeply affordable units (30% and 50% AMI levels) and that the public process and feasibility analysis were insufficient. “If you build 70 apartments and only 10% are affordable, the rest is market rate—that’s what drives displacement,” said Joavanni Rubro, a long-time Chelsea resident. Roseanne Bonjani, executive director of GreenRoots, and other local organizations submitted a joint letter asking the board to delay any recommendation until a feasibility study and more community engagement are completed.

Developers and some elected officials countered that the current ordinance has produced few new projects in recent years and that high construction and financing costs make rigid requirements infeasible. Mark Robinson, a developer of One North, described repeated loan denials under the stricter thresholds and said some projects can be built only if inclusionary requirements are scaled to local market realities.

On enforcement and oversight, staff said fee-in-lieu approvals require a city manager recommendation and a City Council vote if a developer chooses to pay rather than build the unit, and the Housing and Community Development Department performs annual monitoring and enforces deed riders and lease documentation prior to occupancy. Staff also explained AMI is a regional measure used by funding sources and is not Chelsea-specific; they said Chelsea’s median household income is closer to 60% AMI.

After deliberation and an amendment to clarify fee-language, the board took a simple majority vote to recommend approval to City Council and asked staff to return with follow-up analyses during the new two-year review cadence written into the amendment. The Planning Board’s recommendation replaces the version earlier referred by council with the working-group proposal presented at the May 19 meeting.

What happens next: the recommendation will go to the City Council for a formal vote, where councilors may adopt, amend or reject the board’s recommendation. Staff said the proposed two-year review frequency is intended to allow the city to recalibrate the ordinance as market conditions change.

Questions and missing specifics: the transcript of the meeting records the board’s recommendation passed by simple majority but does not provide an exact aye/no tally or the name of the motion’s mover; the City Council will be the body to set the final language and vote on any fee approvals or exceptions.