Rachel's comment assumes that developers have large multi-acre lots. That will not always be true. For example, consider Lewis Street. The majority of lots on Lewis Street are smaller than a half acre. if Lewis St. were rezoned to 15 units/acre, developers of these small lots could easily opt for maximum profit while producing no affordable units. The decision for them would look something like this:
Shall I build 5 units and avoid the town's affordability requirement, or should I max out my development potential and build six or or seven units but be forced to provide an affordable unit? Faced with this decision, I suspect that developers will build 5 luxury units rather than deal with the affordability requirement. Bob Domnitz To the point about a lack of affordability in the HCA - any housing developed in zones that comply with the HCA will have to meet existing town requirements, which already mandate that any development with at least 6 residences include designated affordable housing (and at least 15% affordable in developments of at least 30 units). So it is not the case that "all housing developed can be luxury, high-end housing", unless a developer opts to build at no more than a one-residence-per-acre density (e.g. 5 residences or less on a zone of at least 5 acres, as all HCA zones are required to be) - which would seem to me to be a poor use of land that allows density of 15 residences per acre. Rachel Drew
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