Letter To The Editor: What Is Affordable Housing?

To the Editor,

Is what SLV hopes to build on Shingle Hill affordable?  They propose a mixed use project that will have 75% market rate units and 25%  “affordable” units (102 apartments at market rate and 34 apartments “affordable”).

The affordable units are targeted for families that make 80% of the Area Median Income.  For Cape Ann that is 80% of the AMI which is more than $100,000 for a family of four and keeps rising.

How does this qualify for affordable housing when three quarters of the apartments will be very expensive?  There must be a better way to address our town finding more “affordable” housing and the effort is underway.  All of us can help to make this happen in a more inclusive way without major changes to the town’s natural resources or disturbing conservation land.

Susan H. Harrington

Manchester