The Harwich Affordable Housing Trust is shifting its strategy toward asset liquidation, moving to sell off two town-owned parcels that have proven difficult to develop due to significant environmental constraints. During its May 11 meeting, the Trust identified lots at Zero Depot Street and Zero Oak Street as prime candidates for sale, with the goal of using the proceeds to fund larger-scale developments or "buy-down" programs for existing homes. This pivot comes as the board looks to maximize the impact of its current $2.9 million fund balance following a series of successes at the recent Town Meeting.

Dave Bennett of Shore Things Environmental presented a site suitability report highlighting the regulatory hurdles facing several trust-owned properties. At Oak Street, a 2.9-acre parcel assessed at $555,500 is heavily encumbered by buffer zones and its location within a Zone 2 wellhead protection area. Bennett explained, A Zone 2 is a wellhead protection area. Each public water supply has a protective radius around it with certain restricted covenants. The only meaningful covenant for this board is the number of bedrooms allowed is limited to one per 10,000 square feet. These restrictions, combined with a vernal pool on an abutting property, leave only a small portion of the land viable for construction.

Faced with the prospect of high costs to build just a single home on the Oak Street site, board members favored selling the land to a neighboring property owner or the Harwich Conservation Trust. Economy of scale comes into play, said Bob Spencer. If we have a parcel where we could put four homes, there's a reduced cost compared to building one home at a time. I would rather we were talking genuinely about a cluster of homes as opposed to an individual property. Brendan Lowney agreed, noting the high assessed value of the two parcels. One parcel is assessed at $280,000, the other at $275,000. My preference would be to sell this, Lowney said. Motion Made by B. Lowney to engage an RFP with MHP as a consultant for the property Zero Oak Street (Map and parcels 61 B1A and 61 B1B). Motion Passed 5-0.

A similar fate is planned for Zero Depot Street, where 50% of the lot is encumbered by wetlands. Chair Michael Ford noted that while the land was originally intended for housing, the topography makes it an uphill climb for the Trust. Given the topography and the vernal pool, I would certainly entertain selling that lot, Ford said, suggesting the proceeds could be put in the bank for another project. Claudia Williams inquired about local partnerships, asking, In terms of working with the Conservation Trust, is this anything that we would approach them about or just notify them? Ford clarified that while the Harwich Conservation Trust owns an adjacent lot, the town must follow a fair bidding process. Jeff Ribeiro cautioned that any Request for Proposals (RFP) should be structured carefully to ensure the town gets the best value. It would be an awful shame if conservation bid $200,000 and a developer bid $210,000 and we couldn't check off the open space preservation box for a $10,000 delta, Ribeiro noted. Motion Made by B. Spencer to start the RFP process to sell the lot at Zero Depot Street and bring the information back to the June meeting. Motion Passed 5-0.

While smaller lots head to market, the Trust is eyeing a 15-acre tract at Zero Orleans Road for a potential "big statement" in homeownership. Although much of the land is in a sensitive Zone 2 area, Spencer suggested that the vast acreage could be used to leverage density on the buildable portions of the site. Motion Made by C. Williams for B. Spencer to explore housing opportunities and combining land for density at Zero Orleans Road. Motion Passed 5-0.

To protect the Trust's ability to act quickly on future opportunities, Chair Ford proposed establishing a $1 million minimum balance policy. The purpose of the trust is to have money for affordable housing purposes and to be able to take advantage of opportunities. I would like to explore a policy that gives us a buffer, Ford said. Ribeiro suggested that any spending that would dip the fund below that million-dollar mark should require a supermajority vote of four out of five members to ensure broad consensus on major expenditures.

The meeting also served as a moment of reflection following Town Meeting, where five articles related to the Trust were approved by voters. I'm thrilled that we had this discussion on Town Meeting floor in its entirety because that is the single source of truth for information versus litigating something on Facebook, Ribeiro said. The public heard the trust and the passion that the trust has to do the right thing and they voted accordingly.