Community Housing Forum in Orleans to Encourage Resident Participation

ORLEANS – Officials have worked for over six months on a population demographics and housing needs study. Now, they’re about to show the results at a community housing forum.

The April 11th event will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the senior center, 150 Rock Harbor Road.

Town planning director George Meservey said that officials realize that there are specific sectors of the communities who are in desperate need of housing.

“We welcome any residents who have an interest in the town and the housing issues to come along and lend their opinion,” he said.

Elected officials and representatives from housing service providers, such as Housing Assistance Corporation, will attend the forum.

Meservey said that the biggest challenge is that the Cape’s seasonal economy does not allow local incomes to support housing values.

He said there is a need for a long-term solution for people who no longer wish to own a single-family home, such as the elderly.

“The town is looking at some zoning that would allow a higher density of apartments in the downtown area, and a portion of those would be built and provided for people who don’t want to live in their home anymore,” Meservey said.

The forum is free, and a copy of the study results is available at town.orleans.ma.us.

The study indicates that population and housing growth has steadily declined since the year 2000.

It also suggests that the affordability gap, or the difference between the price of the median priced single-family home ($575,000) and what a median income household can afford ($265,000) is about $310,000.

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