WOODSTOCK — A new task force is seeking ways to get more housing built despite barriers to development.
Since September, members of the Housing Task Force and other residents have met monthly and now twice monthly to tackle the town’s lack of affordable housing.
At its meeting Thursday, the task force agreed to focus on seven areas that shape housing availability: supply, demand, location, regulations, financing, community and economics.
Stephanie Appelfeller, chief of staff for the town of Woodstock, led the task force’s most recent meeting Thursday. She told the Valley News that Woodstock has a “housing crunch.”
Broadly, she said, Woodstock has few home options under $500,000, and lacks senior and workforce housing. Some Woodstock workers commute 45 minutes each way because they cannot find affordable units, she said.
As of Thursday, the 58 active listings in Woodstock on Realtor.com showed a median asking price of slightly under $1.2 million. The site noted that homes sold for 5.14% below asking price in October. The site listed one rental listing.
Appelfeller said former Director of Economic Development Abbie Sherman initially created a broader Housing & Economic Development Task Force. The town later narrowed the scope of the group to just housing because it thought the issue was the town’s primary economic challenge.
At Thursday’s meeting, the four members of the task force and several members of the public brainstormed how the task force could drive change. Some task force members suggested considering whether the town could bring in modular homes, or partner with the Woodstock Inn & Resort to create housing.
Multiple task force members agreed the town needs to conduct another housing survey to understand the depth of the crisis. Appelfeller said the town last completed a housing survey around 2019.
Task force member Peter Jungbacker, a real estate developer and Woodstock homeowner, presented a matrix showing the cost of a 40-unit development as an example to illustrate what he viewed as challenges preventing growth.
The model outlined financing projections, operating costs and net income. In the model, a studio rents for $1,400, a one-bedroom for $1,700 and a two-bedroom for $2,400. The model did not include federal tax credits or subsidies.
Jon Spector, a task force member and retired business executive, said Jungbacker’s model showed the development would yield about a $75,000 annual net return for the developer. But most developers would want a return of about $1 million to build, he said.
“The gap is 100%,” Spector said.
Jungbacker said he was trying to put others in the mind of a developer.
“Going out and having market-rate, 40-unit housing developed in Woodstock is a real, real reach,” he said.
State Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, who chairs the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, attended Thursday’s meeting as a Woodstock resident. She said some cashiers in Woodstock earn $16 an hour and cannot afford rent in the town.
“I want to put a real face on who we also want to have live here,” Clarkson said of the cashiers.
Clarkson briefly suggested developing a mobile home park similar to Riverside Mobile Home Park. She said the park has become the area’s affordable housing.
Ben Jervey, a task force member, said the group needs to consider the presence of second-home owners and short-term rentals.
“As we struggle with the economics of building new supply, we have to very seriously answer the question of whether the supply we need exists,” he said.
Appelfeller told the Valley News that the task force will meet in perpetuity. She said the group hopes to eventually produce clear suggestions for initiatives that can spur development and identify roadblocks preventing the development of affordable units.
“We want to do everything we can to attract people of all incomes and backgrounds to Woodstock,” Appelfeller said.
The task force meets next at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Woodstock Town Hall. Woodstock officials have encouraged members of the public to attend. The task force currently has one vacant seat.
