Mass CPTC The Citizen Planner Training Collaborative

Assisted Living Facilities and Affordable Housing

BYLAW: Interim Policies on Assisted Living Facilities and Affordable Housing

MUNICIPALITY: Lexington, MA

DATE ADOPTED: 1995

TEXT OF BYLAW:

1. Inclusionary Housing Units Designated for Older Persons.

Given its extraordinary concentration of adults over the age of 60, Lexington needs to increase its inventory of specialized housing units for older residents. When a developer submits a proposal for rezoning for an assisted living center, the inclusionary housing requirement must be satisfied on site by the provision of assisted living units for older residents. When applied to an assisted living facility, the requirements of the Inclusionary Housing Policy may not be satisfied by the provision of non-specific affordable housing units for a general population, such as affordable housing units for younger age groups.

2. Inclusionary Housing Units Provided On Site.

To meet the needs of Lexington's aging population, units for assisted living should be provided on-site by assisted living providers. A financial contribution made to LEXHAB or L.H.A. is not appropriate.

3. Percentage of Affordable Living Units To Be Provided.

If all of the affordable units are to be occupied by low income occupants, at least 20 percent of the total number of units shall be available to low income occupants. If all of the affordable units are to be occupied by moderate income occupants, at least 25 percent of the total number of units shall be available to low income occupants. A combination of low- and moderate-incomes living units is desirable. There shall be not more than four market rate units for each low income unit and there shall be not more than three of the remaining market rate units for each moderate income unit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS BYLAW CONTACT:
Planning Director, Maryann McCall-Taylor x-242
mmccall@ci.lexington.ma.us
(781)862-0500 x 245 Fax (781)861-2748

TEXT OF THE BYLAW

INTERIM POLICIES ON ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Pending Amendment of the Inclusionary Housing Policy

(Approved December 11, 1995)

1. Inclusionary Housing Units Designated for Older Persons

2. Inclusionary Housing Units Provided On Site

Comment: In Policy 4.12 of the Inclusionary Housing Policy a financial contribution is seen as a "last resort" among the alternatives listed. That is because the Planning Board's objective has always been to increase the number of affordable housing units. Simply providing money shifts the responsibility for building, or otherwise providing, affordable housing units to others. That responsibility is likely to include acquiring another site, obtaining approval of a zoning change and overcoming other hurdles in the development process.

In the case of affordable assisted living units for older persons, providing cash means that the Town must also find a certified provider of services in addition to the rezoning and other real estate development responsibilities that apply in developing off-site housing for younger age groups.

3. Percentage of Affordable Living Units To Be Provided

A combination of low- and moderate-incomes living units is desirable. There shall be not more than four market rate units for each low income unit and there shall be not more than three of the remaining market rate units for each moderate income unit.

Comment: These minimum percentages of units for low and moderate income occupants are necessary to maintain housing opportunities for older persons who have lived in Lexington for many years. Older persons, on limited incomes, have difficulty remaining in a high cost community like Lexington.

The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency's "Elder Choice" program is a good model and provides a source of financing. It offers the developer the incentive of below market interest rate financing. The Elder Choice program requires that at least 20 percent of all units be available to low income seniors.

In addition to providing needed assisted living units for elders in need, the use of the MHFA Elder Choice program [or other State subsidized housing or below market rate interest borrowing programs] allows all the units in the development to be counted in the "Subsidized Housing Inventory", maintained by the Executive Office of Communities and Development (EOCD). The Subsidized Housing Inventory shows the percentage of low and moderate income housing units that each town has for the purposes of Chapter 40B, Massachusetts General Laws. Chapter 40B, often called the Anti-Snob Zoning Act allows developers to obtain a "comprehensive permit" to override local zoning to construct subsidized housing. Once a town has 10 percent of its housing units on the Subsidized Housing Inventory, a developer is not able to obtain a comprehensive permit.

4. Schedule and Cost of All Services

Where a developer proposes an assisted living facility, at each stage of presentation to the Planning Board and other Lexington boards and, if applicable, the Town Meeting, the developer shall present the estimated daily, monthly and annual cost, as applicable, of:

a. housing which shall include:

1) for owners - payments for principal and interest on a mortgage, real estate taxes, and condominium fees, if any, or

2) for renters - rent including heat, hot water and furnishings, if provided, but not utilities;

b. meals; the number of meals provided must be specified and clearly identified;

c. core services included in a monthly fee; the services provided must be specified;

d. a schedule of optional services offered, including the fee for each.

In describing services, the terminology of 651 CMR 12:00 Assisted Living Residence Application and Certification Procedures and Standards for Assisted Living Residences issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Elder Affairs, shall be used. That document uses and defines terms such as activities of daily living (ADL); instrumental activities of daily living (IADL); personal care services; resident services; self administered medication services; ancillary health services; optional services.

Comment: This policy applies throughout the planning and development approval process. Once the facility is open, a monitoring procedure would need to be in place to insure compliance.

5. Percentage of Income for Housing

The expenditure for housing costs for an occupant who qualifies as a low-income or moderate-income person shall not exceed 30% of the gross annual income* for an owner and 28% of the gross annual income* for a renter in the previous calendar year, as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan Definition of Households With Incomes Qualifying for Affordable Housing.

Comment: The Comprehensive Plan Definition of Households With Incomes Qualifying for Affordable Housing. is updated every year. It is based on the median income for the Boston Metropolitan Area. The 1995 income limits for a single person are low income $18,585 and moderate income $29,736. The maximum rents that may be paid are low income $465/mo ($15.50/day) and moderate income $743/mo. ($24.77/day)

6. Percentage of Income for All Services

The expenditure for all services, including housing and the other services described in #4 above, for an occupant who qualifies as a low-income or moderate-income person shall not exceed 80% of the gross annual income* for that occupant in the previous calendar year, as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan Definition of Households With Incomes Qualifying for Affordable Housing. The expenditure for all services may exceed 80% with the prior written approval of the Council on Aging.

The gross annual income* of an occupant of a living unit shall mean the income of the occupant from his/her own sources, as reported on the most recently filed Federal income tax return, irrespective of third party reimbursements or payments from other sources.

Comment: This adds a second control on costs so that a provider does not "low ball" the housing costs and load the other services so that the low and moderate income occupant cannot afford to live in the facility.

7. Nondiscriminatory Provision of Services, Confidentiality

Where an assisted living center provides different levels of services, at different costs, all levels of service shall be available to low or moderate income residents on a nondiscriminatory basis without any resident, low income or market rate, being aware of the different levels of such services.

Comment: This is the 'only the bookkeeper knows' principle that no occupant be aware that there is any difference in the services offered to the occupants on the basis of income.

8 . Budegetary Provision for Low and Moderate Income Occupants

Where an assisted living center provides different levels of services, a t different costs, for budgeting purposes, the sum of all the units for low-income and moderate-income occupants shall be assumed to be at the middle level of those costs.

Comment: This is designed to provide an averaging of costs over time. Some low- or moderate-income occupants will receive the higher level of services while others will receive the lower with all costs averaging out.

9. Monitoring, Compliance

There needs to be a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the policies. As that involves administrative and budget responsibilities that require the Planning Board to consult with other agencies, that feature of these policies is deferred until later.

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Policies on Assisted Living Facilities