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Summit: Partnerships, incentives will create workforce housing
Business asked to
do its part
By Alan Pollock
CHATHAM -Emerging
from a six-hour summit on
the region's housing crisis
Monday, more than 150
civic leaders didn't have any
quick fixes. But they had
a clear realization that, if
local working people can't
find housing they can afford,
Cape Cod willnot be able to
sustain a healthy economy.
The first-ever Workforce
Housing Summit was con-
vened at Chatham Bars Inn
by the Cape Cod Business
Roundtable and the Housing
Assistance Corporation, and
addressed the housing need
for allworkers, from entry-
level laborers to managers.
Panelist Patrick Butler,
the Hyannis realestate at-
torney, said he saw evidence
of the problem when he
served on a search commit-
tee for a new school superin-
tendent in Barnstable. There
was an outstanding candi-
date from Maine, whose wife
scouted out the local real
estate market while he was
in the job interview. ,
"He was an innovative guy,
a great guy," Butler said,
but the candidate withdrew
from consideration once he
learned the cost of housing
on Cape Cod.
From firefighters, police of-
ficers and teachers to hospital-
ity workers and people in the
trades, housing is a critical
need. Though there is a need
for both, there is often a differ-
ence between subsidized low-
income housing and workforce
housing,Butler noted.
There are a number of
zoning tools available to
towns to help create work-
force housing, which is typi-
cally designed as housing
priced for those who earn
between 80 and 120 percent
of the area median income,
Butler said. Some towns use
inclusionary zoning bylaws,
which require an affordable
housing set-aside for new
developments, or allow ac-
cessory apartments or top-
of-the-shop housing. But
there are other innovative
ideas, like the new Growth
Incentive Zone in downtown
Hyannis, which will allow the
town to review its own de-
velopment up to thresholds
set in an agreement with the
Cape Cod Commission.
Joe Polcaro, longtime
homebuilder on Cape Cod,
said developers of workforce
housing projects should find
ways to build community
support "before it gets to
the ZBA (zoning board of
appeals)." When residents
show up at meetings and
express their support to
elected officials, it puts a
face on the issue of afford-
able housing, he said.
Still, public support is not
enough to create homes,
Polcaro noted. Encourag-
ing workforce housing
development means provid-
ing builders with density
incentives and other zoning
accommodations.
"We're talking about a
production issue here," he
said. "Allowthe private sec-
tor to make a profit, and get
out of the way."
Lynn Alley,regionaldirec-
tor of the federal housing
finance corporation Fred-
die Mac, said businesses
can turn to their Employer
Assisted Homeownership
Initiative for ideas and sup-
port.
Alley said Freddie Mac
can help employers develop
a package ofbenefits and
communicate the options to
their workers. The group can
also recruit regional orga-
nizations -like the Housing
Assistance Corporation -to
provide benefits to a group
of very small businesses
when those companies are
too small to take on the pro-
grams on their own, she said.
Alley said the cost to
employers is offset by higher
employee retention, and an
improved ability to recruit
quality workers. Also, em-
ployees are more reliable
when they don't have to
commute long distances to
work, she said.
The Mount Washington
Hotel in New Hampshire is
building its own condomini-
ums expressly for workers,
Alley noted.
But not everyone at the
meeting embraced that
concept. Dan Wolf of Har-
wich, CEO of Cape Air, said
he would be worried about
creating a relationship with
employees "that starts
to sound like indentured
servitude." It doesn't make
sense to put the burden on
small business owners when
"there's an entire leverage-
able resource that hasn't
been touched yet," Wolf
said. On Nantucket, there
was a proposal for a surtax
on houses over a certain
square footage , to tap the
most affluent residents, who
have driven up the price of
real estate, he said.
Real estate agent Keith
Bradley said he was dis-
tressed by Wolf's proposal,
which he sees as a "rob-
from-the-rich" approach.
"You'll ruin your economy
totally that way," Bradley
said, adding that it makes
no sense to punish people
"who have worked hard to
get more."
Harwich Town Planner
Sue Leven said taxes de-
signed to tap the wealthiest
residents often snare others,
like working people who've
inherited underdeveloped
properties like camps and
cottages, or retirees hop-
ing to subdivide their land
someday to provide a lot for
their children.
Butler said surcharges for
seasonal residents or split
tax rates would not unite
the community behind the
need for worker housing.
"I think it raises the spec-
ter of dividing, rather than
conquering,"he said.
While placing more of
the housing burden on the
wealthy is a divisive pro-
posal, Wolf said, it's one that
needs to be discussed.
"It's an issue of economic
justice," he said.
In the bid to create worker
housing, people shouldn't
lose track of the need for low-
er-income homes, said Vicki
Goldsmith, executive direc-
tor of Habitat for Humanity
Cape Cod. From school bus
drivers to nurse aides, a large
portion of the workforce
earns 50 to 60 percent of the
area median income, and
many won't qualify for mort-
gages because they've ruined
their credit , using credit
cards to pay for child care or
medical bills.
A number of those at the
meeting stressed the impor-
tance of changing the public
image of workforce housing.
Butler said he is a pro-
ponent of creating a medi-
cal overlay district in West
Yarmouth, which would
allow some existing proper-
ties -like old motels -to
be converted to medical or
housing uses. And while
the proposal didn't call for
affordable housing, "or all
those words that scare peo-
ple,"it encountered public
opposition because of "fear
and mindset," he said.
Panelist Amy Anthony of
Housing Investments, Inc.,
said communities should
recruit housing supporters
whose role is to show up at
appeals board meetings and
speak in favor of affordable
housing proposals.
"I think that's something
that faith communities could
promote ," Anthony said.
Signs of spring
DAVID STILL II PHOTO
HEY, BUD - Saturday's April shower and this week's sun are bringing out the best in flowering trees,
including this West Barnstable plum tree.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:7
Third,the Commissionhas encouraged the creation of clean
lightindustryonthe Capeinorder to diversitythe economyand
providehigher payingjobs.Between 1994and 2004,Barnstable
County had higher job growth (20 percent) than Plymouth
County (20 percent) or the state (10 percent). During that
same period, Barnstable County's wage growth (21 percent)
also exceeded Plymouth County (15 percent) and was only
slightly under the state average (24 percent).
Fourth, the funds that towns pay to support the services
provided by the Commission are appropriated outside the
towns' levy limits and cannot be used for other purposes.
The Commissionsavestownsmoney byproviding grant funds
and technical expertise for traffic improvements, affordable
housing, and water quality protection.
Mr. Wheatley should review the results of the 2005 Cape
Cod Resident's Survey, released last week, which indicates
that the Cape Cod Commission and towns need to do more
to manage growth and its impacts.
We urge Barnstable voters to learn the real facts about the
Cape Cod Commission by attending an information session
to be offered at a Town Council meeting soon.
Alan Piatt
Chairman
Cape Cod Commission
Questions about representation
My maternal grandparents came to America through Ellis
Island as young persons from Sweden to settle in Somerville.
I am descended from John and PriscillaAlden,who also came
to settle eventually in Duxbury as young citizens. My great
grandfather George Coppins fought with the Union Army at
Gettsyburg. I grew up in Concord, Mass. Also, I am a U. S.
Armyveteran (1961 through 1964).
The recent debates about open meetings in the town of
Barnstable have piqued my interest as a voter and taxpayer
in Hyannis. The meeting at the town-owned Barnstable Air-
port recently (Re: Abolishing Cape Cod Commission) was a
definite violation. My representative from Precinct. 8 (Mr.
Tobey) made a second mistake since being re-elected by his
attendance there. He did not wish to disappoint his financial
backers. His first misstep was his feeble flip-flop vote on the
split tax last fall.
Also, Jim Crocker must remember he represents all of this
town (not just Osterville). Hyannisshoulders the responsibil-
ity of providing social service for the downtrodden. Not only
should these services be spread across the Cape, but also to
the suburbs of Hyannis.
Hope all is well and maybe town meetings are better at
providing us open democracy...
John Alden
Hyannis
AG Reillys bad deal on electric rates
I have been wonderingwhythere have been noloud screams
at the new electric rates connived at between our esteemed
Attorney General Reillyand our electric companywithalmost
no public discussion. Well, here is my scream. And I suspect
that when the steam really begins to rise, people like me, on
fixed incomes, willdecide that public servant does not in any
way merit moving into the Corner Office of the State House.
I'll admit that my wife and I inhabit an all-electric condo-
minium; thus our bills have been relatively high. The press
releases mentioned anincrease of 12 percent,Ibelieve.I might
suggest that our ratepayers check out their recent bills, taking
into account that these months were winter months. Such an
exercise should be a lesson in economic greed and politics.
Here are our billsfor the last five months:
November $204.38
December $201.99
January $414.50
February $296.65
March $277.78
Just for fun I figured out 12 percent of the first two charges
is about $26. The increase in the last two months is almost
50 percent.
Admont G. Clark
Orleans
A Barnstable Allegory
Allegories help cultures develop through time.
What'san allegory?Fictions and symbolicactions explaining
human existence. C.S. Lewis on love comes to mind.
Barnstable's current conundrum over the Cape Cod Com-
mission can be clarified by Edmond Taylor's "Upon a Spider
Catching a Fly." Reverend Taylor served God in Westfield ,
Mass. 1668-1729. His poems were found in a 400-page manu-
script in 1937.
Don't let the syntax throw you. Think symbols: Cape Cod
Commission is the fly; the wasp, a larger issue like rampant
extortion; the last two verses a colonial celebration of God's
Grace and democratic inclinations.
Thou sorrow, venom Elfe:
Is this thy play,
To spin a web out of thyselfe
To Catch a Fly?
For Why?
I saw a pettish wasp
Fallfoule therein:
Whom yet thy whorle pins did not hasp
Lest he should fling
His sting.
But as afraid , remote
Didst stand hereat ,
And with thy little f ingers stroke
And gently tap
His back
Thus gently him didst treate
Lest he should pet,
And in afroppish , aspish heate
Should greatly fr et
Thy net.
Whereas the silly Fly,
Caught by its leg,
Thou by the throate took'st hastily,
And 'hinde the head
Bite Dead.
This goes to pot , that not
Nature doth call.
Strive not above what strength hath got ,
Lest in the brawle
Thou fall.
This Frey seems thus to us:
Hells Spider gets
His entrails spun to whip Cords thus,
And wove to nets
And sets.
To tangle Adam 's race
In 's stratagems
To their Distructions Spoil'd , made base
By venom things
Damn 'd Sins.
But mighty, Gracious Lord ,
Communicate
Thy Grace to breake the Cord: afford
Us Glorys Gate
And State.
We'l Nightingaile sing like ,
When pearcht on high
In Glories Cage, thy glory bright:
Yea, thankfu lly,
Forjoy.
Peter Doiron
Barnstable Village
Thanks from MDA Association
In April the Muscular Dystrophy Association launched the
first ever gene therapy trial for muscular dystrophy. We'd like
the opportunity to thank the local community for helping to
make MDAs important scientific progress possible. It's been
a long road to this significant event , and the local citizenry
has fueled the effort .
We're deeply grateful to all the people across the country
who have helped through their contributions to the MDA,
and we feel a special affinity for those among them in our
own hometown. Thank you once again for all your effort s
and contributions as the march toward a cure just took a big
step forward.
Nicole Grimes
District Director
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Raynham
L T
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