Mayor Hedlund seeks residents’ input on Housing Production Plan

Weymouth, MA – Mayor Robert Hedlund announced today that the Town has released a public survey to help determine Weymouth’s current and future housing needs. Survey results will be one of several sources of information used to develop the Town’s Housing Production Plan.

“To properly plan for our Town’s future, we seek to determine what we have for housing and what people will require in the coming years,” said Mayor Robert Hedlund. “I encourage any person who lives, works, or has a connection to Weymouth to respond to the survey and help set goals and strategies for meeting these needs.”

Weymouth’s housing survey is not a scientific poll, but will help the Town learn more about what respondents think about housing needs in Weymouth and what their personal experiences with housing have been. The survey is available on the Town’s website or through the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XM7PYVS.

Respondents are encouraged to share the survey with neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else in their personal network that has a connection to Weymouth. All survey responses are recorded anonymously and will remain strictly confidential.

“This is the first time we have ever undertaken a housing needs analysis, apart from the Town Master Plan,” said Planning and Community Development Director Robert Luongo. Once completed, and approved by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Housing Production Plan may provide a “safe harbor” for the town from undesirable Chapter 40B Housing projects. Chapter 40B is a state program created in 1969 that allows developers to override local zoning bylaws in order to increase the stock of affordable housing in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is defined as affordable. If a municipality falls below this 10 percent threshold, it may still be exempt from Chapter 40B projects so long as the municipality can claim a DHCD-approved Housing Production Plan and show evidence that progress is being made towards the Plan’s goals.

For more information on the Housing Production Plan survey or the planning process, please contact Weymouth’s Housing Coordinator, Jane Kudcey, at (781) 340-5015 or send an email to jkudcey@weymouth.ma.us. Kudcey is the Town’s first full-time housing coordinator to be hired in more than three years.