As a resident of Yarmouth, I was disappointed by the recent Forecaster article pertaining to the inclusionary zoning proposal in Yarmouth (“Yarmouth moves forward on ordinance to require new affordable housing in town,” Feb. 6). I feel it only covered one side of the issue and, frankly, missed many of the community’s concerns and questions.

I am a supporter of affordable housing and, given the nationwide housing crisis, would love to see a concrete plan for real affordable-housing production emerge in Yarmouth. Inclusionary zoning is a policy that should be considered when it is based on sound housing production goals, metrics and a feasibility study with a management entity and funding.

I believe Yarmouth’s Affordable Housing Committee has proposed inclusionary zoning without these prerequisites.

Many citizens, stakeholders, housing producers and affordable-housing advocates have been requesting the proper due diligence analysis from the committee to support this inclusionary zoning policy proposal. We are also interested in seeing the committee’s comprehensive strategy as promised, with “tax incentives, zoning changes, subsidies, land banks and more.”

Given Yarmouth’s historically low housing production, restrictive zoning and lack of a housing authority, the committee may discover that inclusionary zoning will not work in Yarmouth, just as many other similar towns that have considered such zoning have realized.

Carrie Martin
Yarmouth

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