Housing initiatives make ‘notable difference’ in Brattleboro
By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, published October 4, 2024
BRATTLEBORO — Efforts by the town and state to increase the number of housing units are working here.
“Brattleboro is doing a great job creating new housing, for multiple reasons, including that the Town started updating its regulations years ago to encourage housing,” Vermont Sen. Wendy Harrison, D-Windham County, said in an email response to the Reformer. “Those changes plus the new state requirements and allowances, and the efforts of local developers and property owners, and the availability of contractors, are making a notable difference.”
Harrison, who lives in Brattleboro, said the current pace of new housing creation hasn’t been seen in town since 1989. She called the development “exactly what we need.”
“It’s a mix of price levels, types of units, rehab and new development and it’s occurring in a variety of locations throughout the town,” she said.
She applauded the Brattleboro Planning Commission for its initiative to reach out to the Putney Road property owners to let them know their redevelopment opportunities now include housing.
“As these owners contemplate replacing underused commercial space or excess parking lots with residential, it’s more likely that there will be a financial benefit to redeveloping,” she said. “For the town as a whole, in addition to the needed housing, residential buildings on a per foot basis are often more valuable than commercial or industrial, which contributes to the grand list.”
Harris suspects that Brattleboro is one of the leading towns in terms of the proportion of new units being created in Vermont.
“It’s certainly understood to be one of the towns that would likely be eligible for Tier 1A Status, the highest level of competency and capacity,” she said, referring to a designation made by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. “The best part of this news to me is the combination of the highest numbers since 1989, that most of the new housing is infill rehab that preserves our historic character, and that there are multiple types in terms of affordability and size for current and new residents.”
A housing study for the town from 2021 determined Brattleboro had a need for about 500 units. This year, the town issued permits for 60 housing units.
“That’s the highest we’ve had in quite a number of years,” Brattleboro Planning Director Sue Fillion said during an update on zoning at the Select Board meeting Tuesday.
Local zoning had been amended to make projects easier and shorter to complete. Builders and developers appreciate the changes, Fillion said.
“We’re seeing private development of multi-unit projects for the first time in several years,” she said.
Fillion said she’s heard from project leaders that temporary Act 250 state permitting exemptions put into place by the Legislature have proved helpful on this front, construction supply shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to ease, and construction costs are coming down. While labor still remains an issue, she’s seeing contractors coming from outside the region and Massachusetts to do business.
New projects include 10 units at 12 and 14 Elliot St., 18 units at the former Estey Organ factory and 29 units in the former motel in West Brattleboro, with talk of adding 70 units at The Chalet and as many as 300 at the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development, and redeveloping of remaining buildings at Melrose Terrace. Fillion noted 13 units at TD Bank on Main Street recently received an occupancy permit from the state.
“World Learning approached the Planning Commission about upzoning some of their land,” Fillion said. “They are thinking about doing some housing development on some parcels that they own, not on the main campus.”
Fillion estimated her office has been part of discussions related to about 30 units of multi-family projects for private development. Select Board Vice Chairwoman Elizabeth McLoughlin thanked Fillion for her leadership on the issue.
Vermont is experiencing a “housing crisis,” Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of commerce and development in Vermont, said at Retreat Farm on Wednesday at an event celebrating the first year anniversary of the Vermont 30 Collective campaign. She pointed to a housing needs assessment recently released by the Department of Housing and Community Development that estimates Vermont needs to add 24,000 to 36,000 rentals and owner-occupied units by 2029, and Windham County will need about 1,400 to 2,200.
“The administration is tackling this problem on several fronts, including supporting the construction of new units, rehabbing older units and pushing for regulatory changes,” she said in a keynote speech that focused heavily on housing. “The state of Vermont has invested nearly $400 million since March of 2020 to support new construction, fix up existing units and expand shelter capacity, but clearly that isn’t enough. There’s a dearth of housing across all price points, and taxpayers cannot fund all new construction. It’s imperative that the private sector helps in this effort to house more.”