Nahant Housing Production Plan

In conjunction with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Nahant is developing its first ever Housing Production Plan (HPP). A community’s HPP must consist of three major parts:

• Assessment housing of housing needs
• Housing Goals
• Strategies to achieve housing goals

Nahant has a subsidized housing inventory (SHI) of 4%, far below the 10% requirement set by the state. Because Nahant is below the 10% threshold, affordable housing projects can be approved in Nahant without needing to comply with local zoning regulations.

Creating a Housing Production Plan could allow Nahant to achieve temporary “safe harbor” status from 40B projects, if the following goals are reached:

• 2-year safe harbor if SHI is increased by 1% in one calendar year
• 1-year safe harbor is SHI is increased by 0.5% in one calendar year

MAPC has set the following timeline for the development of their Housing Production Plan:

• Fall 2022: Housing Needs/Demand Assessment and Goal Setting
• Winter 2023: Development Constraints and Opportunity Analysis
• Spring 2023: Strategy Development and Deliverable Production
• Summer 2023: Plan Finalized and Submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development

Beyond outlining goals and strategies to diversify and expand housing opportunities, Nahant is also partnering with MAPC to reach compliance with the multifamily zoning requirements for MBTA communities (3A). Nahant must create a zoning district(s) where 84 units of multi-family housing is allowed by right, with a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre.

Dates of future public meetings related to developing Nahant’s HPP will be posted on the NSR Blog.