Community Members Invited to Discuss Plan for New Housing in Maynard

Maynard residents and stakeholders are being asked to provide input on priority policy strategies for the Town’s Housing Production Plan Update

MAYNARD — The Town of Maynard will hold the first of two public forums to help develop a five-year update of its Maynard Housing Production Plan (HPP).

An HPP Advisory Group, made up of residents and Town staff, is being assisted by
Cambridge-based urban planning consultancy CommunityScale to develop goals for the updated plan. Draft plan goals will be presented to the public at the forum and may be revised based on the input gathered.

HPPs are intended to proactively strategize for the planning and development of
housing within a municipality with an emphasis on “affordable” housing. Maynard
Planning Director Bill Nemser points out that “affordable” means affordable to someone whose income is no higher than 80% of the federally designated Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in which their municipality is located.

“Maynard is in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA–NH MSA,” said Nemser. “The incomes used for calculation are an aggregate of 188 different towns, including some of the wealthiest in Massachusetts. What this means is that the average household income for the MSA that Maynard is in is approximately $119,450. So, a Maynard household making $95,560, which is 80% of our MSA’s AMI, would qualify for affordable housing. The Town is very concerned about maintaining affordability for its residents. An HPP allows us to plan as best as we can for the needs of the community as a whole.”

HPP’s are certified by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities

(EOHLC) for a five-year period. Maynard’s HPP was first adopted in 2016 and last

updated in 2021. An HPP helps a community to:

• Better understand local housing needs and demands.
• Influence the type, amount, and location of mixed-income and affordable housing.
• Help communities meet the Commonwealth’s mandate requiring that 10% of housing units be affordable by setting a numeric goal for annual housing production (Maynard is at 9.9% currently).
• Possibly prevent unwanted 40B development through a certified HPP in favor of residential development that complies with local zoning.

Maynard is inviting the community to participate in this very important public forum on July 29, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom. The format of the meeting will be
interactive with several ways for attendees to offer input and ideas.

You must register in advance for this meeting:
Click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

For more information about the Maynard Housing Production Plan Update (HPP),
contact Bill Nemser at bnemser@townofmaynard.net.

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