40B, Part IV - Solutions

(WARNING: This is a long post)

Thus far, we have asked the question about 40B developments and what can be done about their proliferation.

We have defined what 40B is and the role the state plays in all of this.

We have - I hope - agreed that there are good and bad 40B developments and developers.

And we have detailed the reasons why 40B is a no-win scenario for Falmouth.

So, what can we do about it?

I'm always reluctant to offer a solution because, as I noted in another post "Why should I vote for you?", I would be but one of five selectmen. However, I also said that I would stand up and speak out.

Here goes...

1) Buy the land, or at least tie it up.

You can't have 168 units on 17 acres if the 17 acres doesn't exist. Nor can you have 175 units on 31 acres if the 31 acres doesn't exist.

I've made it clear before that I am opposed to the public funding of New Silver Beach because there is no public benefit to the project. It will be a neighborhood septic plant that will only serve a single neighborhood. Yet our selectmen want us to publicly fund this project to the tune of nearly $4 million.

I can think of better uses for that money. Uses such as buying 17 acres near Little Pond. Or 31 acres on Route 151.

One of the planks in my platform is to build a more proactive government, and we can start by identifying parcels at risk - large parcels like Moonakis Farm, which may become yet another 40B - and finding ways to protect those parcels BEFORE they become yet another housing development.

The 300 Committee has started to shift its emphasis from land acquisition to land stewardship. Frankly, I think it's premature. The 300 Committee should continue to focus on working with the town to acquire large parcels of land.

But if we cannot acquire the land - there's only so much money to go around - we can at least open a dialog with the owners of these parcels. Perhaps we can encourage them to put deed restrictions on the land. In the case of Moonakis Farm, there are farm-related funds available to Falmouth if we meet certain guidelines.

One of those guidelines is to have a Right-To-Farm bylaw, but the selectmen slowed that for 6 months when they recommended indefinite postponement last fall. So we're now six months behind in getting more funds to preserve more land.

2) Draw a line in the sand sometimes.

My mother - God rest her soul - always told me to pick my battles. In other words, fight for the important things and let the little stuff go.

Yet that is exactly the opposite of what our town goverment does. In spite of the fact that the Altons Lane project in Waquoit is the least dense 40B project ever built in Falmouth (44 units on 36 acres) or that it has 10 acres of open space, John Druley was still raked over the coals. Indeed, some folks even tossed barbs in my direction over that project.

Yet the town simply rolled over and died when it came to having 168 units on 17 acres at Little Pond Landing!

WHAT WHERE THEY THINKING!?!

Let's face it - they were grandstanding. Every denial of a 40B can be appealed to the state, so our administration makes a good show of giving developers a hard time, but in the end they back off because they're afraid of the state.

How about making the distinction between good and bad 40B developments? Instead of trying to make an example of every developer, let's actually heap some praise on those developers who do good work. Show the state that we're OK with 40B, as long as it doesn't turn our rural town into a city.

How about - as one person put it to me - drawing a line in the sand? Sure, the developer can appeal to the state. Why not make them? Deny projects like Little Pond Landing and force the developer to go to the state or the courts. Drag out the process and make the developer spend more money. The fatalistic, "there's nothing we can do," attitude may apply if you're trying to deny a project that has 1/3 acre lots, but we may be able to do something about the Little Pond Landing's out there. The problem is that we've never tried.

Think about it; what's the worst thing that could happen if we deny a project? The state will approve it. How is that any different from what's happening now?

More importantly, why is it that we can sue a cranberry farmer over a couple of pump houses, but we can't sue a developer for putting 168 units next to an overstressed salt pond?

3) Redevelop, redevelop, redevelop.

There's a dilapidated house in Waquoit, right on Route 28. The place looks like a tear-down.

Why haven't we purchased it and built an affordable house there? There's money available via the Community Preservation Act; why aren't we agressively tapping into those funds to buy and redevelop derelict properties?

A side effect of the bog issue was that the selectmen evicted my neighbor from a house on Lower Bog, just off of John Parker Road, under the pretense that the town could get $2000/month in rent, or that it could count as part of our affordable housing allowance.

That house has been vacant for six months now.

4) Count what we've got.

Barnstable held an amnesty not long ago. Owners of unpermitted apartments were allowed to get permits if those units were rented at "affordable" rates.

Falmouth has never done this.

Every summer, Falmouth's working population swells as college students and H1B immigrants come to fill vacant jobs. Where do those people live?

There's housing out there somewhere; we need to count it.

5) Police. Police. Police.

In addition to permitting 40B developments, the Zoning Board of Appeals oversees the projects to make sure the developer adheres to the 20 percent profit rule.

But do they?

Fresh Pond Farms and Little Pond Landing are good examples of what happens when developers are not policed. In the former case, the developer took the liberty to try to maximize his profit by offering amenities such as garages to the market rate homes but not to the affordable homes. Little Pond Landing hasn't even passed all of its hurdles and the developer is selling it. If he makes 20 percent, what will the next owner of that project be able to make?

If there is no oversight, 40B becomes a money grab.

6) Fix 40B.

Mr. S didn't want me to blame our legislators, so I won't. However, we do need to put some pressure on them to fix 40B.

For example, 40B developments must allow people from outside our town to purchase a workforce house if they can afford the mortgage. Someone from Springfield could, conceivably, relocate to Cape Cod. This is great for folks in Springfield, but what about the young family with roots in Falmouth that need a home? If they don't get that house, they'll end up moving away.

More importantly, this provision makes it nearly impossible to provide adequate housing for our own residents. Instead of building homes for the people who actually live here, we're building them for everyone else.

Consider also that lax enforcement of the 20 percent rule could simply be avoided if we remove the limit entirely. If there's no profit limit, then there's no need to police it.

However, we should get something in return. Like 50 percent affordable housing. Or 75 percent. Let the developer make all the money they want, but give us the housing units we need to catch up to that magic 10 percent and stop the urbanization of Falmouth.


Addendum...After I wrote the above, a couple of other thoughts occured to me...

Under the "Fix 40B" category, the state should prohibit "flipping", where a developer gets all the necessary permits and then sells the project to another developer. This has happened with several 40B projects in Falmouth, most recently - and most notably - the Little Pond Landing project.

Aside from the fact that flipping allows developers to make more than 20 percent, it is revealing. If the developer would prefer to sell the property than develop it, is the project really economically feasible?

7) Get the LIP done.

The Local Initiative Plan is a provision in 40B that allows the town to create a set of local guidelines for affordable housing developments. Developers then have the option of submitting a project under 40B or the LIP. Our town administration has done nothing with LIP until recently, and it still isn't ready yet.