No one likes change but Salisbury has been changing for decades. The population of young people in Salisbury has been declining while the older population has increased. 57% of people living in Salisbury and Lakeville are age 50 or older, and young people are marrying later, if at all.
These trends mirror the national trend of shrinking household size, which contributes to a growing demand for smaller residences. For the 19 months prior to May 1, 2019, the average home sale price was $627,000. Data from the first quarter of 2019 indicate the median listing price was $825,000. There are almost no studio, 1 or 2 bedroom rental apartments available in all of Salisbury or Lakeville.
As Michael Klemens, Chairman of Salisbury’s Planning and Zoning Commission states:
“The challenges of providing a diversity of housing options including affordable housing was not anticipated as a community need when Salisbury's zoning regulations were adopted 40 or more years ago. At that time, the focus was on maintaining the single-family residential character of both the villages and rural residential zones. For many years, modestly priced homes were within the financial reach many of the town's full-time residents. The economics of Salisbury becoming increasingly a second-home community have resulted in even modest village homes commanding prices out of reach of many local residents who work in and are the backbone of our community.
“The Planning and Zoning Commission has been working to create more flexibility in our village center zones to encourage greater density of housing. As land remains the most expensive commodity of the housing equation, by allowing more residential units on village lots, including adaptive reuse of existing buildings, the per unit cost of housing should decrease. We are also proposing density bonuses for developers dedicating a portion of their building(s) to be affordable units. Our goal is to encourage private investment as a vehicle to create much needed multifamily housing. We need revised regulations that incentivize these goals, as opposed to discouraging them.”
By embracing the carefully considered changes being proposed by the Planning and Zoning Commission, we can take a positive step towards addressing our current and future housing needs.
This article was published in The Lakeville Journal on 8/1/19.