Proposal Includes Affordable Housing Units

By Bob Bumcrot
An initial plan for a housing development of 12 to 20 units was presented to Norfolk’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) at their February meeting. The plan, still in the very early stages of planning, envisions a type of cluster housing not covered by current zoning regulations. P & Z expressed initial enthusiasm in favor of the proposal.
The future development would be on a 44-acre tract owned by Norfolk resident Mark Burke on the north side of Old Colony Road. The property runs along the lower slope of Haystack Mountain, from the Town Garage down toward Greenwoods Road West (Route 44). Burke has formed a cooperative venture with partners Dennis Fisher and Allan Groningstater and the Foundation for Norfolk Living, Inc., a local non-profit group created to find affordable housing solutions in Norfolk.
Cluster housing is designed in an effort to leave 80 to 90 percent of the land as open space. Firm plans are not yet made, but the preliminary proposal calls for six to ten units of affordable housing in one cluster of single, double or triple unit townhouses and another cluster of six to ten more expensive, single family homes. New water and sewer lines would be installed, which would also service the Town Garage.
Lou Barbagallo, Chairman of the Foundation for Norfolk Living, explained that the affordable housing units would be offered to families with incomes between 80 and 120 percent of the Norfolk median of $65,000, annual incomes of roughly $52,000 to $78,000. HUD guidelines define affordable housing as a family’s annual housing costs being equal to or less than 30 percent of a family’s annual income.
“Building good housing for this income level will be a challenge,” said Barbagallo. One idea is a housing trust model in which the foundation buys and holds the land itself and the houses are then sold with special restrictions. “This is going to require a major fund raising effort,” he said. One way to keep building costs down is to involve Habitat for Humanity. One of the members of the Foundation for Norfolk Living, Erick Olsen, also serves on the Habitat for Humanity board.
Another cost problem is the installation of the combined water and sewer line, at an estimated cost of $100 per foot. “We hope the Sewer District and Aquarion will participate [in the funding],” said Barbagallo.
P&Z members and Barbagallo are studying cluster development regulations and housing trusts in other communities in preparation for the March 27 P&Z meeting. Detailed plans for the proposed development are expected to take some time to complete.