AGAWAM –  As the aging population across the Commonwealth grows, the need for affordable and safe housing to accommodate the elderly population is also growing.

Agawam is working to accommodate the aging population by implementing a bylaw for accessory apartments within town limits. Mayor William Sapelli told Reminder Publishing accessory apartments were “one thing we saw a need for.”

“We have a high percentage of elderly population. I think our population of 55 is 35 percent [as of] recent and growing,” he said. “[There are] people wanting to downsize and [needing] housing that is acceptable for the needs, one floor, no stairs.”

Agawam’s Director of Planning and Community Development Marc Strange said he believes the aging population is beginning to increase because of Agawam’s climate.  “A word that is common that they use is stable, Agawam is stable,” he said.

Sapelli said he’d lived in Agawam his whole life, and believes the town is “a community [where] once you move in, you stay.”

“[They’re] still hanging out and living here. People like it here and we don’t have a lot of turnover, people stay and age here,” he stated.

To begin the process of adding a bylaw, the town hosted two meetings at the Agawam Senior Center on Nov. 6, 2019 and Nov. 20, 2019. Strange and the mayor were on hand for the meetings. Strange said he thought “they went well” and received “largely positive feedback.”

Strange agreed with the mayor that many people that were in the audience at the meetings were part of the aging population and looking to downsize.

“I think this is something the town needs, this could be a benefit,” he said. “We had people in the audience looking to downsize, spend the winters in Florida and spend summers up here.”

Strange explained that while they may not want to “maintain a house” they still want to be close to family while having “minimal overhead” and “minimal expenses.” That’s when they “look to add a dwelling unit onto their son or daughters house,” Strange explained.

Sapelli explained that while there is the option for people to rent or buy a condo, it can often be expensive. “They look at the option of a condo, but they don’t like the condo situation. A home still gives them some privacy,” he said. “Not to the mention the association fees that go along with it, condo fees are on the increase.”

Additionally, Strange said the apartments would “have minimal overhead, [and] minimal expenses.”

He said in addition to people wanting to downsize, accessory apartments already exist in town and the bylaw would help make sure they were properly inspected and taxed.

“These places exist now, we’re just not aware of many of them. They’re not being inspected and taxed properly, it’s not as if they don’t exist in town already,” Sapelli explained. He also described accessory apartments as “kind of like another form of assisted living.”

Having an accessory apartment bylaw, however, comes with some questions and concerns. One concern, Sapelli said, was that anyone could just move in, including “unsavory characters” or college kids.

“Some college kids get a little rowdy, if you had young people that might be a concern to some people,” he said. “You’ve got to make sure you look at this carefully, it opens up a lot of avenues.”

However, he said Agawam is not “a community with a college located in it, so we would not have the issue some communities have with residents looking to make income.” He elaborated and said, “It’s more for the convenience of family members.”

The first draft of the bylaw went before the planning board on Jan. 2. During the meeting, the planning board brought forth concerns such as if both attached and detached units would need to go through the special permitting process.

Strange explained that the first draft of the bylaw had initially stated that units built inside homes that already existed wouldn’t need to go through the special permitting process, but those built outside of homes would have to go through the process of special permitting.

However, after the meeting it was decided that all units being built would need to go through the special permitting process.

Another concern brought forth by the planning board was what type of detached units qualified as accessory apartments. “So the question was, does that allow for tiny houses or mobile homes,” Strange explained. That question, he said, was not able to be answered during the meeting and would be a “point of discussion” moving forward.

A revised version of the bylaw is scheduled to go in front of the planning board at a later date in February. Marc said he is “hopeful” that the bylaw will be passed by the end of the year.