Worcester city leaders are considering mandating that a certain percentage of new housing units within private development projects be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.
City Manager Edward Augustus and several councilors say the requirement — known as inclusionary zoning — would help address a shortage of affordable housing in Worcester. During a City Council meeting Tuesday, councilors voted unanimously to hold a public hearing to discuss the matter further, after which the city manager could submit an inclusionary zoning ordinance for City Council to review over the summer.
“Some people are having to choose, ‘Do I pay rent over food?’” Councilor Sarai Rivera said during the meeting. “[Inclusionary zoning] will provide dignified living in housing for hard-working individuals.”
In a letter to City Council before the meeting, Augustus noted that although hundreds of housing units are currently under construction or being planned across the city, most are market-rate. Just 13.5% of Worcester’s housing stock is considered affordable for low- to moderate-income households, Augustus said, and that percentage could decrease if the new market-rate units aren’t balanced with a proportionate number of affordable ones.
Massachusetts’ two other largest cities have a higher proportion of affordable housing: 21% in Boston and 16% in Springfield.
Worcester housing activists point to another statistic they say demonstrates Worcester’s alarming affordability crisis: about 50% of residents are cost-burdened, according to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, meaning they pay at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
“The waitlists are long for affordable housing,” said Yvette Dyson, executive director of Worcester Common Ground, a nonprofit that builds affordable housing around the city. “We need to be inclusive and maintain affordability options for all income levels.”
Worcester currently allows developers to build market-rate housing without setting aside any units for low- to moderate-income households. Inclusionary zoning would change that by requiring that developers include a minimum percentage of affordable housing in all new housing developments of a certain size.
Dozens of Massachusetts communities already have some form of inclusionary zoning, including Boston, Cambridge and Quincy, though Springfield does not. The ordinances around the state vary by the number of affordable units developers must include in new housing projects and the income level of households that qualify for the units.
In a report to Augustus, Worcester Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn said the city’s inclusionary zoning mandate should apply to all new complexes with at least 12 rental or for sale units. Developers would have to ensure that 15% of the habitable square footage is for renters and buyers who earn 80% of the area median income or 10% of the habitable square footage be available to renters and buyers who earn 60% of the area median income.
Joseph Landers, executive officer with the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Massachusetts, which represents developers in Worcester, said he’s not opposed to inclusionary zoning in the city. But he noted that building affordable units isn’t always as profitable for developers as building all market-rate units.
As a result, the ordinance must be flexible with developers, Landers said, giving them the option to build denser housing and include fewer parking spots than what local zoning rules usually require.
“If there’s going to be a mandate for a certain amount of set aside units, the project has to make sense financially,” Landers said. “Otherwise, developers aren’t going to build [new] units.”
Dunn said the city will look into ways to loosen some zoning requirements for developers as well as offering them the option to pay their way out of affordability minimums. The payments would go to Worcester’s new affordable housing trust fund, a pot of money that can be used to fund new affordable housing, rehab existing housing and assist low-income homebuyers.
“This would provide some flexibility as we understand how the market will respond to the new policy,” Dunn wrote.
City councilors are expected to hash out the details of an inclusionary zoning ordinance when they discuss the issue during a public hearing. The city’s clerk office said that hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet.
The Worcester Chamber of Commerce supports inclusionary zoning in the city. David Sullivan, the chamber’s economic development and business recruitment associate, said more affordable housing will help Worcester grow economically.
In the past, inclusionary zoning hasn’t been feasible because Worcester struggled to attract housing development, Sullivan said. That’s no longer a concern now that developers are planning thousands of market-rate units around the city.
“We’ve become the fastest growing city in New England,” Sullivan said. “We want to make sure that everyone enjoys the benefits of our city.”
