Erving Housing Committee Votes to Consult Select Board and Voters Before Proceeding

ERVING -- March 3, 2021, Erving's Housing Committee put its long-running senior housing project at a crossroads, debating whether to pursue a mixed-income apartment model or a private cluster of tiny homes on the parcel behind the town library. Consultant Brian of Rural Development Inc. relayed clarification from a representative named Peter that a building of 30 to 40 senior-only units carries greater economic risk when competing for state and federal low-income housing tax credits, and that a mix of senior-reserved and family units, in a range of 34 to 45 total, would be more competitive for funding. Committee member Keith Ball proposed an alternative: a cluster of roughly 60 prefabricated homes sized 600 to 900 square feet each for residents 55 and older, with some tiny-home builders pricing units between $16,000 and $150,000. Members acknowledged that a cluster development would require Erving to either amend its zoning or create an overlay district, since the town's current rules require a half-acre lot and 125 feet of frontage. The committee voted unanimously to adjourn, tasking staff member Mariah with researching a non-binding ballot question for the annual May election and scheduling a joint meeting with the Select Board to present both models, the first time in the committee's two-plus decades of work that voters may be directly asked to weigh in on the project's direction. Erving currently has no units counted toward the state affordable housing inventory.