On Saturday, Sept. 27, the town of West Windsor will host an Affordable Homes Forum in the Town Hall from 10 a.m. to noon, where residents will be provided with more information on the local housing situation and hear potential paths forward from members of the West Windsor Planning Commission.
Chair of the Planning Commission (PC), Alan Keiller, alongside fellow PC member and Homes Study project manager Jill Appel, sat down with the Standard to discuss their progress and future plans for the housing landscape in West Windsor.
“Housing is a state-wide problem,” Keiller began. “Our community is beginning to look like a retirement center. The median age in our area went from 45 to 56 years old. Our goal with this Affordable Homes initiative is to create infrastructure in our community that will build density and bring younger families into our town.”
Appel echoed this sentiment, telling the Standard, “Our buzzword for this project is ‘pocket neighborhoods,’ small groupings of homes, usually around six to twelve parcels, with homes ranging from 800 to 1,600 square feet, that rely on each other, create a connected community, and share in local amenities. Along with houses, we also hope to develop a mixture of apartment buildings, condos, duplexes, and small homes to afford families the opportunity to move to our beloved town. Our housing initiative seeks to support families across a range of income, as we strive to offer market-rate and subsidized housing.”
She added, “Our goal with affordable housing means that the cost of housing does not exceed 30% of household income. Our focus is on the ‘missing middle’ income level, which takes into account a person or family’s income, in relation to the cost of mortgage, rent, and home expenses for a mixture of long-term rentals and owned homes.”
This project began in January of this year, as Keiller and Appel sought to find parcels suitable for building and/or renovation. Appel continued, “We began with 21 parcels, and after holding a forum in February, found that members of our town were eager to recommend more potential build sites. Since then, we have partnered with Brian Lane-Karnas, senior civil engineer at DeWolfe Engineering in Montpelier, as well as Matt Giffin with Banwell Architects in Lebanon to assess the properties and help determine if they were viable sites. Out of the 21 potential parcels, they deemed four to be adequate properties that could support infrastructure, water, and sewage disposal, along with two potential renovation sites.”
Now, Appel and Keiller plan to hold a public forum to show the town their findings for each location, along with their building plans for the future.
Appel and Keiller say they are excited for the future of West Windsor and ask for the residents of the town to come together on Sept. 27 to share ideas and brainstorm next steps. “We want feedback from our town each step of the way,” Appel said. “Together, I think we can build a stronger and more vibrant community.”
For more on this, please see our September 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.
