|
|
Photo Pru Sowers
Jennifer Cabral reads a tearful letter to the landlord of the Figurehead House pleading for more time before the planned eviction. |
|
|
Photo Pru Sowers
Local resident and former School Committee member Molly Perdue agreed Tuesday to join the Provincetown Housing Authority. |
|
Ideas lofted to aid evicted tenants
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — A flurry of activity came out of Tuesday’s public hearing on housing, with selectmen moving forward on a number of fronts to provide both short- and long-term assistance to what they all agree is a critical shortage of affordable housing in town.
After hearing several of the 30 residents attending the meeting speak emotionally about the impossibility of finding affordable rental housing, the selectmen voted to move ahead to try to provide immediate assistance to the approximately 26 residents who have recently received eviction notices, including all 11 tenants of the so-called Figurehead House, a long-time rental building known for its low rents.
Perhaps most significantly, the Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed to Selectman Michele Couture’s motion to explore the possibility of using money from the town’s affordable housing trust fund to subsidize part of new, presumably higher rents for the evicted tenants, helping them stay in town.
Couture said she wants a rental assistance program in place by Sept. 1.
“We need to commence, sooner rather than later, with a rental housing program. We need to have something to stem the tide,” she said about the wave of long-time Provincetown residents being forced to leave town because they can’t afford to live here.
While agreeing that a rent subsidy program should be explored, both Selectman Sarah Peake and board chair Cheryl Andrews tried to rein in Couture’s move for immediate action. Andrews said the board needs to know exactly how many people would need what level of assistance before selectmen could craft an effective program. And Peake suggested that other sources of funding might also be available to help defray the town’s cost if it agrees to implement a rental subsidy plan.
“What are the resources out there that already exist? Let’s not turn our backs on the organizations which are already doing this,” she said.
Other action taken by the selectmen to help solve the immediate housing crisis included asking the Cape Cod National Seashore to make its ranger housing in Truro available over the winter for evicted residents; writing a letter to the landlords who are evicting their tenants asking them to delay the process, and asking owners of the large motels in town to make winter housing available. The selectmen also voted to invite representatives from existing Outer Cape housing groups to hold workshops outlining available options for emergency housing needs.
Looking at the longer term issue of how to provide a more permanent solution in Provincetown, the selectmen unanimously agreed to look at ways of raising money to invest in developing affordable housing, including asking voters at Town Meeting this fall to approve a real estate transfer tax, where a portion of every real estate sale would be put into an affordable housing fund. However, Town Manager Keith Bergman pointed out that the state Legislature has to approve the implementation of any new tax, which could take years. Indeed, a request for a transfer tax on Nantucket was recently voted down by the state House of Representatives.
Couture then moved to explore the possibility of bringing another article to Town Meeting requiring that any large condominium conversions be required to set aside a percentage of the units as affordable housing.
“I’m thinking about the Figurehead [House]. I’m thinking about the Boatslip,” she said.
The last thing the selectmen did Tuesday was vote to spend $25,000 to hire affordable housing consultant John Ryan to put together a September housing summit which would bring residents and housing officials together to create a master housing plan.
Audience reaction after the meeting was generally positive. Two and possibly three audience members agreed to fill vacancies on the Provincetown Housing Authority, which does not have a quorum and cannot meet. The Housing Authority holds the purse strings to the affordable housing trust fund, which the selectmen want to tap, among other things, for $15,000 to help pay for Ryan. The Community Preservation Committee has agreed to pay the rest of Ryan’s fee.
Ben Thornberry, the spokesman for the tenants in the Figurehead House, said after the meeting that he was pleased with the selectmen’s action on Tuesday — in particular, their agreement to discuss rental subsidies.
“It sounded positive,” he said.
psowers@provincetownbanner.com
|
Plover myths: separating truth from tackle-shop talk
In the News
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 3rd, 2006