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It?s shaping up to be a busy winter here at the
Coalition. This month we?re launching our new
membership program for CPA communities, and you
can read all about it in this issue of CPA Update.
We?ve also begun working with the state legislature
on a way to direct more revenue to the
Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund.
The next issue of CPA Update will contain a complete
overview of our legislative plan, and we?ll be looking
for your feedback and participation. Lastly, our
technical assistance hotline has been buzzing with
activity, as many communities prepare their project
recommendations for Spring Town Meetings. We?re
here if you need assistance ? 617-367-8998.
Securing our future
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We're looking for feedback from each of the 119
CPCs on the Community Preservation Coalition's new
membership program.
Early last year, we convened an advisory group of
about a dozen CPC chairs and our steering
committee
to review future sources of funding for the Coalition.
The result was a decision to move toward
self-sufficiency by becoming a membership-based
organization in 2007.
Why the change? For the past five years the
Coalition has been funded primarily by a single grant
from a major foundation. Unfortunately, five years is
about the limit for funding to a single non-profit such
as the Coalition, and that funding source is now
ending. We have developed a sliding scale of
membership dues based on the local CPA tax
surcharge collected in each community. We are
hopeful that each CPC will vote to join the Coalition
and then approve the payment of dues from the CPC
administrative account.
We'll be sending more information on this program to
each CPC Chair in the next 10 days. If you are in
the final stages of budgeting for FY08, you can see
an advance copy of our membership brochure,
including the schedule of dues, by viewing the .pdf
below.
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CPA 101: Historic Preservation Restrictions
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Have you or members of your Community
Preservation Committee often been confused about
the CPA?s requirements for historic preservation
restrictions and/or easements when granting CPA
funds for historic preservation projects? Well, help is
finally here, thanks to Sarah Korjeff of the Cape Cod
Commission!
Sarah recently put together a very clear, concise,
and informative fact sheet on CPA and historic
preservation restrictions for the benefit of the Cape
Cod Commission?s monthly CPA Round Table series.
We are grateful to Sarah for pulling this article
together, and have included it here for your
information
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A truly brilliant CPA idea!
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Here?s a situation faced by many CPA communities,
and a unique solution developed by the town of
Rowley.
CPA cities and towns are often presented with
opportunities to purchase critical pieces of land that
come on the market, and there is usually tremendous
pressure to act quickly before the opportunity is
gone. That leaves very little time to figure out which
of the potential CPA uses would be appropriate for
the land. Can the land be used for affordable
housing? How about soccer fields, or open space?
Better yet, how about a combination of all three?
The problem is that it can take a year or more of
engineering work, environmental and other studies,
land use planning, public hearings, and political
negotiations to answer these questions. By then,
the land will be gone.
Rowley faced exactly this situation when presented
with an application for $2.75 million of CPA funding to
purchase a critical parcel, the 102 acre Bradstreet
Farm.(shown in photo above) There was even a
historic farmhouse on the parcel that would qualify
for CPA historic funds.
Their solution was to craft a warrant article which
would allow the town to buy the parcel now for
any of the four allowable CPA purposes
(open space, recreation, community housing or
historic). The warrant article further required that
once the town closed on the property and a land use
plan had been completed, the project would have to
come before town meeting a second time to approve
the plan.
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Is our project eligible for CPA funding?
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This is probably the most frequent question that is
asked of local CPCs, and of us here at the Coalition
too: ?Is our project eligible for CPA funding??
As you undoubtedly know, this isn?t always the
easiest question to answer!
The answer can be found buried in Section 5(b)(2) of
the CPA legislation, the paragraph that describes the
types of projects that qualify for CPA funding. But if
you?ve ever read that paragraph, you know that it is
difficult to follow. The Department of Revenue (DOR)
turned that paragraph into a simple chart that we
keep up on our bulletin board, and it?s the first place
we start when examining a project?s eligibility.
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CPA in the news
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Jennifer Goldson is a professional planning consultant
who specializes in the Community Preservation Act.
Jennifer?s article ?How to Create Affordable Housing
with CPA Funds? appeared in the American Planning
Association?s November 2006 edition of New England
Planning.
Click here to read Jennifer?s article
Click here to learn
about the services Jennifer
provides to Community Preservation Committees
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CPA Community loses a good friend
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The Community Preservation Coalition was deeply
saddened to hear of the recent death of Mary Ellen
Herd, Chair of the Needham Community Preservation
Committee.
Mary Ellen was a committed, community volunteer in
Needham, and was instrumental in helping Needham
adopt the Community Preservation Act. We will miss
Mary Ellen, and extend our deepest sympathies to
her family, friends, and Needham colleagues.
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Details on this issue?s CPA project photo
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The CPA project featured in this edition is an
affordable housing project in the town of Stow . In
May of 2004, Stow Town Meeting voters approved
the appropriation of $350,000 of CPA funds for the
purchase of thirty-seven permanent affordability
restrictions on dwelling units at the Pilot Grove
Apartments on Warren Road .
read on...
Another innovative housing program from
Stow
The Stow Community Preservation Committee is
establishing an innovative program to convert existing
residences into permanently affordable housing for
low- and moderate-income families via acquisition of
permanent Affordability Restrictions. It is a creative
approach to advancing affordable housing, and may
be of interest in your community.
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