Attainable Housing on Horizon
Joanne Messner, the town’s social service director and vice chairman of the Old Saybrook Housing Opportunities for People
Everywhere, HOPE, Partnership Steering Committee, said a recent study concluded that of the town’s 327 hotel rooms in the seven hotels that offer weekly rentals, 57 were rented by the week.
Residing in the weekly rentals were 36 individuals, 12 couples, 9 families, and 18 children.
The results of a 1991 needs assessment, according to the report, identified the needs for “housing for low and moderate income employees of local businesses, housing to meet the changing needs of a growing elderly population, and starter homes and rental housing for young adults.”
“There are seniors on five to seven year waiting lists to be able to get into affordable housing, it’s hard for those on fixed incomes,” Messner said.
The committee aims to assist residents who cannot live in traditional affordable housing which is based on a percentage of the town’s median income.
In a town, like Old Saybrook with a median income of $72,000, the state’s definition for affordable housing would be $1,400 a month, a value, Messner said, is too far out of reach for some low-income households.
The town’s many retail stores and restaurants often do not pay enough for people to afford houses of their own, Messner said, and unlike the neighboring towns of Clinton and Westbrook, Old Saybrook has no apartment buildings.
In fact, Messner said, some employers of stores and restaurants are constantly seeking to hire because employees cannot afford to live in town and with the high price of gas, many seek jobs in towns they can afford.
Messner expressed a concern for volunteers, such as those serving on the volunteer fire department, to be able to afford to live in Old Saybrook as well as a concern for the young and the elderly who are financially stretched.
The HOPE partnership report stated that housing for volunteers was a goal of Old Saybrook First Selectman Michael Pace as well.
According to the report, Pace proposed an “attainable housing” plan in 2004 to “provide for the housing needs of persons and families with incomes below the 80th percentile of the median household income.”
Pace wanted to create single family homes on a long-term rental basis for “those families with low incomes who are current residents of Old Saybrook, are willing and able to be a volunteer for the fire or ambulance departments, who are presently employed, and who do not presently own a home,” according to the report.
Proposing the unit portion of the rent be deposited to an equity account, Pace wanted to create the program in a way so the tenant could purchase another home at the end of the lease term.
The report suggests that “small town or state-owned parcels be developed as single family homes for civic volunteers and their families for two-to-six year periods”, “larger town or state parcels for mixed-income multi-family development”, and implementing a housing plan “work with private housing developers and businesses to identify opportunities to include affordable housing setasides in subdivisions and commercial developments.”
In the report, the committee stated it wanted to develop housing opportunities for lower income working households, allow community volunteers to be able to live in town, and allow those who grew up in town to not be forced out because of the high housing cost.
Messner confirmed the committee wants to create sporadic housing and not build large apartment building complexes like that in New London.
The HOPE partnership’s three-year plan includes the goal of affordable housing for a long-time basis, creating a range of housing types for people at all income levels, encourage people to work hard to build wealth and work toward their personal goals, and for employers to give incentives linking affordable housing to commercial development.
Specifically, the report believes incentives should be provided to develop second-story rental units along Main Street and Route 1 as well as other potential sites either town-owned or privately owned.
Municipal and state representatives, banks and financial institutions, community and service groups, education and school officials, economic development agencies, social services agencies, regional entities, faith communities, and local leaders have all shown support in making affordable housing a reality for Old Saybrook.
