BELCHERTOWN — On June 1, as a part of the Housing Master Plan process, a public forum was conducted by Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Planning Department to solicit input and feedback on plan goals and strategies.

Town Planner Doug Albertson said, “I thought it was a pretty good discussion. I was impressed. Sometimes you hold these things and people show up and listen or like to complain but here we had a productive discussion where people had good comments and ideas.

The town of Belchertown, in collaboration with the PVPC is drafting a Housing Master Plan.

Following the adoption in 2022 of a Housing Production Plan, the Housing Master Plan will help further develop the town’s housing goals and strategies including needs analysis, identification of housing gaps, potential future opportunity sites and key housing trends and issues.

Albertson said, “Our intention is to update that section of the town’s Master Plan so this was an opportunity for a progress report and to get some input.”

The Housing Master Plan will be incorporated in the future as a portion of the updated Town Master Plan which will demonstrate how housing goals will be connected to other key planning elements such as economic development, open space, and sustainability.

The presentation outlined Belchertown’s demographics, housing assessment, housing needs, constraints, analysis, recommendations and strategies.

Since 1950, Belchertown’s population has increased from 4,487 to approximately 15,000 today.

The graph showed that there will be a steady population growth until 2040 where it is projected to reach 16,000 people.

The senior population has seen a substantial increase, according to PVPC Senior Planner Karen Martin.
Residents who are 65 and older made up 8.8% of the population in 2000 and has risen to 16% of the population.

“The housing needs of older adults may be different than those of their younger counterparts. The senior population is booming and there is a decrease of 35- to 59-year-olds as well as young children which mean families may be leaving town,” Martin added.

Eighty-one percent of all homes in Belchertown are single-family detached and there is also some diversity of housing types with 5% duplexes, 10% three-plus unit structures and 5% mobile homes.
According to the presentation, only 16% of homes in Belchertown are rented which is much lower than the percentage of renters across the state and county and income distribution shows that a quarter of households earn between $100,000 to $150,000.

Home prices have also nearly tripled since the early 2000s from $115,000 to approximately $330,000 today.

Albertson said, “We always must be cognizant of trying to not make things so expensive that no one can live here. We need to provide for those who are not wealthy while also protecting what people value about the place and providing opportunities for pretty much everyone. That is the key to it all.”

The Select Board and Planning Board both approved a Housing Production Plan in December 2022.

The purpose of the housing plan is to meet the state mandate that requires 10% of total year-round housing units be affordable by setting a numeric goal for annual housing production.

Some recommendations Martin offered from the housing production plan is to establish a housing trust fund and adopt inclusionary zoning bylaw.

Some other potential strategies include more of a mix of housing types, adaptive reuse, zoning changes, mixed use development, conversion of larger dwellings or a cluster development.

Some of the constraints that Martin and the residents brought up is zoning, infrastructure, environmental and transit issues.

Albertson said, “Some of the comments were zoning changes that may be recommended. That is one of the key things. Of course, you can make all the plans in the world but if you don’t have zoning to go with it to help it then it is not going to happen no matter what you do.”

Albertson said another thing the town needs to look at is where it would be beneficial for growth to happen.

He added, “Where would we like to see more housing and where would we not like to see it. Also how do we prepare for societal changes that might be coming such a telecommuting, people being able to work from home and maybe take a rain into the city once a week. We need to be ready for that.”
The housing master plan is still being drafted but Albertson said he will solicit other boards and offices to work on the plan and goals.

Albertson said, “I think everyone needs to be invested with the plan. I think the Planning Board will come up with a list of approaches. We are starting immediately with this and have to decide what we want to work on so that they are ready to go by this winter to have it ready for public hearings before next Town Meeting.”