Housing to Protect Cape Cod launches its vision

HYANNIS ― On Cape Cod, TV's "Golden Girls" lifestyle would violate zoning laws.

At a housing summit last week, Ryan Castle, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors, made that point, saying it is illegal in most parts of the Cape for more than three unrelated adults to live together.

That would put the kibosh on Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia's living arrangements.

Before a standing-room crowd at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis last week, he asked to laughs from the audience, "Why are these girls so threatening?"

"Their set up is illegal in almost every town on the Cape," said Castle, calling a "home share movement" one of the solutions to the region's housing crisis.

At the summit, a new coalition formally launched its vision to solve Cape Cod's dearth of affordable housing.

Housing to Protect Cape Cod will mobilize residents and local businesses to push for policies that promote more year-round housing while protecting the environment and maintaining the character of the community. Solutions discussed at the summit include more accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and placing greater numbers of units on smaller lots.

The public policy initiative is a partnership of Housing Assistance Corp. Inc., Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, CapeBuilt, and the Homebuilders & Remodelers of Cape Cod.

Cape Cod losing 800 middle-income households a year

Keynote speaker Tim Cornwell, an economist who leads The Concord Group, a real estate consultancy, presented a new report by his company that examines how Cape Cod's housing crisis has sparked a severe labor shortage in the retail, service, and elderly care sectors.

The study found the Cape is losing more than 800 households making $100,000 or less a year each year, projecting a loss of 829 of those households per year due to an inability to find housing.

"When we talk about the housing balance, the housing crisis … remember it's your kids," Cornwell said. "In many cases, we're talking about your kids, their ability to live in those communities where they've grown up and have their own roots."

HAC: 'Nontraditional clients' sought help to find housing

The report was commissioned by the Housing Assistance Corp. after the nonprofit noticed an influx of "nontraditional clients" seeking help with finding housing on Cape Cod.

"The people coming into our office were fully employed, they had lived in their rental for 10-15 years, and they were now being displaced and they were looking for a place to live," Housing Assistance CEO Alisa Magnotta said. "We started to ask ourselves, 'This seems bigger than just the context of the situation that's happening right now because of COVID.'"

Staff wanted to bring an expert on board to help understand the data and trends, so they could make different decisions and create new solutions that fix the root cause of the problem, she said.

Cape Cod's housing crisis hurting workers, businesses

During a business panel, speakers from fields such as health care, child care, nonprofits, and construction, dove into how the housing crisis has made it challenging to hire and retain workers.

Anne McManus, CEO of Latham Centers, which works with children and adults who have developmental disabilities, said if the nonprofit was fully staffed, it would have 314 employees. Instead, the organization employs 244 workers and has a growing vacancy rate of more than 30%.

"Every month, I hear stories on my staff about their inability to afford to live on Cape Cod," she said. "I've had staff members move to North Carolina because it's cheaper to live there."

Finding a place to live:Are there any year-round rentals on Cape Cod? Real estate agents tell us where to look

Another staff member lost their rental apartment and found a small one-bedroom apartment, but needed $6,000 to afford the first and last month's rent as well as a security deposit.

"The problem is huge for us and we see it every day," McManus said.

She pointed to Housing Assistance Corp.'s THRIVE, or Tools to House Residents in a Vulnerable Economy, as a helpful resource. Participants receive a fixed subsidy of $450 per month for up to 24 months paid to their landlords.

The program specifically targets those who occupy an in-between space where they make too much money to qualify for most affordable housing programs, but not enough to afford market-rate housing.

"Most of my employees right now fall in that dark hole in the middle," McManus said.

Cape Cod residents urged to get involved to promote housing solutions

Housing to Protect Cape Cod is asking residents to sign an online petition urging towns to update zoning to allow for multi-family, higher-density housing in appropriate areas; quickly issue and review requests for proposals for housing developments and streamline reviews and public comment processes for proposed housing projects.

The petition can be found on the coalition's website.

In an email to attendees on Thursday, Magnotta said the next steps include creating sub-regional groups and town-specific working groups to educate and engage local residents about changes necessary to protect year-round communities. Those groups are scheduled to convene during the first quarter of 2023.

Hot market:Cape Cod's condo market is red-hot. Here's why

Solving the housing crisis will need a regional approach rather than just local.

"It's not a one-town or one-organization solution," Magnotta told summit attendees.

Castle and other speakers urged attendees to get involved in housing efforts in their towns and to join zoning boards and select boards.

"You have to approach town meeting as a political campaign," Castle said. "People hate politics, but politics is how you actually make change."

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

Get the Cape Cod news that matters delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletters.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Housing to Protect Cape Cod is a new coalition to foster housing growth