SOUTH HADLEY — After a year and a half of research and public engagement, South Hadley has an updated plan to generate more affordable housing.

Both the Planning Board and Select Board approved the 200-page Housing Production Plan in December, a document outlining goals, strategies and potential housing sites for the next five years. The plan spells out six objectives and 18 strategies to build 312 additional affordable housing units and meet the state requirement that 10% of the town’s housing be deed-restricted affordable units.

Now approved by the local government, the plan will be sent to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities for state approval.

“It’s meant to not just be what’s punitive or what the number to get to is, but also what are the opportunities for us to look at and what kind of town involvement (or) what kind of incentives we should provide,” Town Administrator Lisa Wong said during a joint meeting between the Select Board and Planning Board.

As long as South Hadley remains under the 10% affordable housing requirement, mixed-income housing developers can use a comprehensive permit to sidestep local housing laws, such as zoning. Once the town reaches the 10% threshold, South Hadley receives safe harbor, preventing any comprehensive permitted projects. The Housing Production Plan helps guide the town toward safe harbor.

Currently, the town has 426 units in its sustainable housing inventory, and 245 are deed-restircted. An additional 312 deed-restircted units are needed to reach safe harbor. South Hadley can reach temporary safe harbor if a certain number of affordable housing units are built within a year. If the town constructs 34 units, it earns a year of safe harbor. If 74 are built, it earns two years.

“The only (safe harbor) eligible units that are on the docket is the Way Finders project that’s proposed at Woodlawn Plaza,” said Anne Capra, director of Planning and Conservation, noting that project would mean 60 units of affordable housing. “They have not broken ground yet and they’re still putting together their funding, so we may not see those units come online, best-case scenario, for two, maybe three years.”

South Hadley isn’t new to housing production plans. The regulation for these documents began in 2008. The town last submitted a plan in 2017, with each plan lasting five years. A nine-member Housing Production Plan Advisory Committee reviewed the old plan and wrote a new draft using feedback from consultant June McCarten and affordable housing architecture firm Utile. The committee collected public opinion on the plan through two community surveys, three focus groups, three community forums, a 60-day public comment period and two public hearings and review by the Planning Board.

The new plan, twice as long as the old one, updates old strategies and goals with possible housing sites, environmental and accessibility initiatives and zoning adjustments.

The plan outlines potential plots for housing and development scenarios for 15 properties, such as Mill 6, the SHELD building, 36 Bridge St. and 506 Granby Road. Capra clarifies that these are not permitted or proposed housing developments, but rather a theoretical exercise.

“In many cases, the properties were locations where the property owners have expressed interest in some sort of redevelopment of their property,” she said. “These projects are not permitted or on the books moving forward.”

In fact, the high-priority strategies are related to funding sources and zoning rather than specific projects. The plan suggests seeking federal, state and local money for land purchases, project funding and home renovation. An Affordable Housing Trust, an independent agency that builds and supports affordable housing on behalf of the public, may help handle funds and move projects along.

Incentives outlined in the document include density bonuses, a relaxation on restrictions on dimensions and parking relief. However, the town may offer other incentives as well. During the meeting, Capra added land and capital funds can help sweeten the deal for developers.

Seven of the 18 strategies involve alterations to zoning restriction to incorporate more mixed-use housing like duplexes, townhouses and small apartment buildings, the addition of accessory dwelling units to existing property, the alignment of zoning restrictions with past developments and zoning for sustainability. Wong adds that all zoning strategies must go before Town Meeting and will involve the public.

She also said that all of the strategies involve some public or governmental board involvement. “I would say we have a lot of hard work ahead, and if people feel excluded from the development of this plan, there’s many many ways to engage,” Wong said. “If you have a concern, you have an opportunity, you have an idea, that’s actually where we need you.”

Capra said the first step in implementing the Housing Production Plan will include public opinions. The Planning Board received a grant to begin a study of the Route 202 and Route 33 corridor zoning.

“That will be a two-year planning process that will involve the residents along the corridor as relevance to the residents town wide. It will be a very comprehensive process,” she said.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.