Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Comment 2
Hello,
Although a google form would probably be easier to both provide and collect information, I will do the best I
can at a summary of my thoughts about the fair housing action plan.
1) It is very well done. I hope teachers at AHS will use the historical info. I may very well use it in my US History
course in a different affluent suburb.
2) The % of affordable housing should be on a progressive scale based on the # of units. The more units a
building contains, the easier it is for the builders to offset the cost of the affordable units. My suggestion:
6-10 units = 17% (so 6-8 units would have 1 affordable unit; 9 or 10 would have 2)
11-15 units: 20% affordable
over 16 units: 25% affordable
3) There should be a progressive, incremental tax on buildings and renovations to force wealthy families to pay
closer to their fair share. This money would go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to buy and maintain
affordable rental units.
My suggestion: Any single residence (full house, unit of a condo, town house, etc) pays an additional, incremental
fee once the unit is over 1600 square feet. This includes renovations that expand the size of an existing unit.
Basement space does not count in my size limit, unless the basement is more than 3 feet over ground level.
For example: 1601 - 1800 sq feet - $10 per additional square foot over 1600.
1801 - 2000 square feet - an additional $15/sq foot on top of the first charge. (So a 2000 square foot home
would pay $2000 for the first 200 extra sq footage and $5000 for the second 200 extra sq footage.)
The scale continues so that each additional 200 sq ft costs $5 more than the previous 200 sq ft. It's a fair market
process to limit the size of giant houses.
3) 2-3 family units are automatically legal in single-family zoning