Rural Franklin County, Massachusetts is facing housing issues like the rest of the commonwealth, but regional leaders say unlike other counties, it isn’t getting an equal level of support.
“Housing may be more affordable compared to eastern Mass., but our residents still can't afford it…” said Linda Dunlavy, executive director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments on Monday.
Joined by state and local leaders in Greenfield for a forum on housing needs, Dunlavy said while things might seem cheaper in the county loaded with farms and forests, the county's 70,000 residents are struggling to afford housing costs that often outpace wages.
“For the last 30 years, a statistic that we are not proud of is that Franklin County has had the lowest wages compared to every other county - our average wage, per job, is $51,000 versus $91,000, the state average,” she said. “We have the third highest rental cost burden and the lowest vacancy rate in the state… and despite the fact that we have few planners and we rely on volunteer committees, we are doing a lot to try to move housing production forward.”
It was one of several realities touched on during the FRCOG’s “Rural Realities of Housing” presentation, one highlighting how in a county of just over two dozen towns, getting housing built is no cheaper than anywhere else in the state.
Alyssa Larose, real estate project manager and housing development director for Rural Development Inc., pointed out that the area also has very little in the way of access to state housing production programs and subsidies compared to other parts of Massachusetts.
“Currently, there's no small-scale rental funding available and no homeownership funding for developments of any size, other than MassHousing’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which focuses on distressed properties,” Larose said. “In stronger markets, as we've seen, smaller scale development can be accomplished through tools like inclusionary zoning or housing trust and CPA-funded activities, but we show that that's not generally viable in our market.”
Dunlavy says that, right now, there’s a shortage of at least 3,000 units considered “affordable to existing residents” in Franklin County. A study by the UMass Donahue Institute estimates another 2,200 will be needed by 2035.
Some statewide efforts to foster housing, like paving the way for accessory dwelling units, are welcome, says Megan Rhodes, FRCOG’s housing and livability program manager.
However, because the region does not have the same level of water and sewer infrastructure as other parts of the state, it means a lot of ADUs need access to septic tanks. As it stands, Rhodes says current state regulations translate to homeowners having to outright upgrade their septic systems if they want to add such a unit – not a cheap venture for many.
“… because of Title 5 requirements, we’re having a very hard time having ADUs be built here in Franklin County if they’re going to go on septic. Basically, if a homeowner wants to put an accessory dwelling unit in, they’re going to have to upgrade their entire septic system based on Title 5 regulations, unless it was built very recently,” she explained. “That adds at least $50-$70,000 for an accessory dwelling unit, which is too much for what you’re going to be able to rent it out for.”
Local leaders say efforts to address housing have taken shape in the county, including the creation of a “Small Town Housing Work Group” and a five-year “Improving Housing to Improve Health” initiative.
Larose also highlighted a handful of housing projects and proposals in the works, while adding that efforts like one to add affordable senior and multi-generational units in Erving at Evergreen Circle are relying heavily on grants, plus the town itself contributing the land and infrastructure dollars.
Among their requests to state leadership, conference organizers called on the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to create a “Cornerstone Communities” designation for “rural, market-constrained municipalities.”
They say the hope is that in doing so, more targeted assistance from the state could make its way to spots like Franklin County – similar to designations like "Gateway Cities" for communities across the state or “Seasonal Communities” in the Berkshires and Cape & Islands.
“What we would see is acknowledging the very real challenges in big, rural markets and we've suggested attributes to this program so that it is constrained and the attributes would include low population… limited or no sewer and water, low housing production, high-cost burden, etc.,” Dunlavy said. “And what we would dream about is that this designation could be used to help fill the gaps and help us with housing production, so that it would increase our access to existing and future programs, that we would integrate rural criteria into the Qualified Allocation Plan and create a “Rural Set Aside Program” … we would establish a flexible, rural, small-scale program for affordable rental and home ownership development.”
Attending the conference, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Housing Secretary Ed Augustus voiced no opposition to the proposal.
After officials like Dunlavy and State Senator Jo Comerford noted a lack of housing is exacerbating the area’s population decline, Driscoll added that with certain state funding tied to populations, decreases carry compounding effects wherever they happen and need addressing.
“… so many of our formulas are tied to, ‘How many students do you have? What's the population look like?’ and if we continue to have bleeding populations, it just makes it harder, the hill is that much steeper,” she said.
Augustus noted there could soon be help for area in the form of “soon-to-be-rolled out” affordable housing production tax credits, as well as a commercial conversion tax credit initiative– one designed to support transitioning buildings like commercial offices into housing.
