(Sept. 22, 2026) – At a public hearing this week, the Planning Board voted 5-0 to recommend a zoning bylaw amendment related to Ayer’s Inclusionary Housing Bylaw. This recommendation now goes to voters at the Oct. 26, 2026 Special Town Meeting.
The Community Housing Manager shared a presentation, which got the Planning Board’s attention with the numbers. A few points from her presentation and slides which are posted on the town website:
Under the town’s current Inclusionary Housing Bylaw, when a developer creates 5 or more housing units in Ayer, 10 percent of these units must meet affordable standards.
Ayer’s bylaw doesn’t specify how much is considered affordable and by default, developers can propose units which meet 80% AMI on both rental and ownership units (at this time).
How much is this? In Ayer, the maximum “affordable” rent allowed for a one bedroom is around $2,700 per month because the town lies within HUD’s Fair Market Area for Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metro Area. This is roughly $450 per month more than Groton and over $600 more than Harvard, which are located in different counties and different HUD Fair Market Areas.
What this Proposes
Under the proposed amendment, the new requirement would be 60% AMI for the first two affordable units (rentals) in a development, then 50% AMI for the third affordable unit and all additional affordable units. 50% AMI income limits start at $60,000 for one person, which could be a new teacher who holds a master’s degree at Ayer-Shirley Regional School District, she said.
This was part of a longer presentation, which also included points about affordable housing ownership units (as opposed to rental units) and how developers could potentially seek special permits in exchange for providing more affordable units.
The Affordable Housing Committee hosts the Housing Forum at Town Hall on Sept. 29th. Here is a link to the town calendar listing.