Apartments made easier: Planners hear idea

SALISBURY — Byron Stookey of Brattleboro (Vt.) Area Affordable Housing spoke to interested parties as the Northwestern Connecticut Planning Collaborative kicked off its accessory apartment initiative  at a breakfast session Tuesday, June 30, at Town Hall in Salisbury.

Northwest Corner towns are trying a variety of approaches to create affordable housing, in part to meet state mandates.

Salisbury’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee has finished several months of preliminary work and will issue a report in the fall. One housing option, the accessory apartment, emerged from their meetings as a practical way to provide affordable housing without new construction.

 â€œSix years ago in Brattleboro [population 12,000 in 2000] there was a shortage of decent housing for people making $10 or $12 per hour,†Stookey said at the meeting June 30. “Homeowners faced rising costs. We tried to address both problems.â€

The Brattleboro group’s first proposal was to create a permanent municipal tax exemption for value added by an apartment. The town, concerned about possible revenue loss, declined, said Stookey.

“So we scraped the bottom of our bank account and offered technical support and a $2,500 reimbursement [now $3,000] for apartments in existing homes.â€

In 2004, the Brattleboro group went back to the town and obtained partial funding to continue the program.

“Grants took care of the rest,†Stookey said.

And the result?

“Twenty-five apartments in six years.â€

In Brattleboro, the process of creating an accessory apartment begins with an interested homeowner making a call. Stookey said that about 10 percent of the calls from homeowners actually result in an apartment as property owners consider the cost, the loss of space, the vagaries of septic systems, or otherwise lose interest.

“People often like the idea but haven’t thought it through. After we’ve put the fear of God into them, if we fail to scare them off, we look at the available space, which comes in all types,†said Stookey.

The Brattleboro group, with limited resources, can only do so much to assist, but apparently it’s enough.

“We don’t do financing, we’re not contractors. We do offer referrals if asked,†Stookey said.

But the group does connect the homeowners with assistance from volunteers — architecture students and a property manager who advises new landlords on taxes and tenant relations. On average, each apartment requires about eight to 10 hours of volunteer work.

And  the homeowner receives a $3,000 reimbursement after the construction is finished. The typical cost of conversion is $15,000.

“When we started we had two misconceptions. We thought we’d be dealing with empty nesters; rather, it’s been death and divorce.

“We thought we’d be doing big old houses, but that’s only two of the 25. Most of the homes are quite modest.â€

The Northwestern Connecticut Planning Collaborative, armed with a $25,000 grant from an anonymous donor and working with the Tri-Corner Alliance, an initiative of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, has begun by focusing on Salisbury, Sharon and Norfolk.

The goal is to create a guide for homeowners on how to create an accessory apartment, from initial design through permitting and tenant selection.

“The biggest thing that we learned from Brattleboro is that we need to find a real support mechanism for homeowners going through the process of creating an accessory apartment — people who can help them every step of the way, when needed,†said Jocelyn Ayer of the Collaborative.

“In Brattleboro this is all done by volunteers. Can we do that here? Might it be better or more sustainable to do it with at least one paid staff person to manage it? And if so, who might pay for that?â€

After his presentation, Stookey fielded questions from the audience, mostly people with some connection to either planning and zoning commissions or private organizations dedicated to affordable housing.

Asked if there are income limits for tenants for affordable apartments created by the Brattleboro group, he replied in the negative.

“It would be difficult to administer, it would have to be case by case, and rents and income eligibility limits would have to be adjusted yearly.

“We don’t make fancy apartments. They are affordable by their nature, they don’t attract the wealthy.â€

Which led to the next question: Who rents these apartments?

“Predominately working people,†Stookey said. “We don’t make apartments larger than one bedroom.â€

And the benefits, as described by Stookey, are considerable: The newly created apartments are inexpensive to build and to live in. They are designed to be as energy efficient as possible.

“And it’s land efficient, creates no sprawl, and increases density without changing the face of the neighborhood.â€

For more information see Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing at  baahvt.org and the Northwestern Connecticut Planning Collaborative at nwctplanning.org.