LYNN — The city’s new housing-production plan, Housing Lynn: A Plan for Inclusive Growth, was approved by the Massachusetts Department of Community Development (DHCD) this week.
The five-year plan was submitted to DHCD after it was approved by the City Council on Sept. 7 and the Planning Board on Oct. 12, after months of work and input with community members.
The approval allows the city to meet its affordable-housing needs, while also allowing for preferences in many state-housing grants and infrastructure programs.
The city has never had a comprehensive housing plan and now joins 168 other
Massachusetts communities with approved housing-production plans that are making an effort to solve the state’s affordable-housing crisis.
Mayor Jared Nicholson said this approval by DHCD is another step in the right direction.
“It continues the momentum that we have witnessed over the past few years during the development of the plan to address one of the top issues our residents face,” said Nicholson. “The preparation of the Housing Lynn plan relied heavily on feedback from Lynn residents and a detailed review of market conditions, and as we look towards the implementation of the recommendations, we expect that to continue. We know how important these recommended actions will be to supporting growth that benefits the whole city and the impact they can have for cost-burdened residents.”
Housing Lynn was created from a community-driven process, which was implemented to establish goals and strategies that would expand and diversify the city’s housing stock and increase affordability for people with a range of incomes.
The 15-month process of creating this plan began in November 2019 at the Lynn City Summit held at North Shore Community College.
The grant-funded plan was drafted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) with the facilitation of the Housing Lynn Steering Committee, Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND), and the city’s Planning Department.
LHAND Executive Director Charles Gaeta said when the process of creating this plan began two years ago, the initial goal was to have the plan locally adopted and approved by DHCD.
“I am pleased that a milestone has been reached, but this is just the beginning,” Gaeta said. “A lot of time and hard work went into the development of this plan and it will take a similar effort to carry it out.”
Housing Lynn includes a commitment from the city to guide new development to include deed- restricted affordable housing at a 15-percent rate of all new units built for the next five years.
The plan outlines five main recommendations that are aimed at meeting the city’s five-year, affordable-housing commitment. Those strategies are centered around potential zoning and development changes, the use of city resources, tenant protections, municipal-culture improvement, and housing preservation.
City Council President Jay Walsh said the plan and its strategies represent significant input and participation by Lynn residents.
“The state approval continues to validate our voices and our needs for the community,” Walsh said. “Although the approval does not implement the recommendations, through this process we know the priorities of constituents and the work that lies ahead.”
The city is now working to establish an Implementation Steering Committee to prioritize and coordinate the efforts among various departments and working groups.