RE: another thought--Re: Last Night re. Arthur St parcel

[Joel A Feingold]

Doea anyone know whether Framingham has a standard policy in place for "linkage fees" such as Boston has? Or whether they have been considered? This might be a way to begin to generate revenue for the same purposes as the CPA - land acquisition, historic preservation and affordable housing - without the onerous burden on current property owners. It also might have the great advantage of being far less divisive for Town residents, who seem to polarize on so many issues about money.   I believe that Boston charges a 5 percent fee to developers; they know about it in advance and plan on it as part of the cost of their development. There was a fuss a few years ago when the City contemplated raising it to 7 percent I think, and that was considered too high and would have stifled growth. This is different than a "tax" on the sale of property and, I think, it is based on the construction costs, but someone would have to check this out. It would be very interesting to know what the gross amount of revenue generated by such a fee would be.   In any case, the moneys thus generated could be used to fund the purchase of open space, some of the small parcels left that might make good neighborhood playgrounds for kids or be sufficient, perhaps, for monthly payments on long term purchase agreements for larger parcels. Perhaps we might designate our own percentage split in advance, so developers and Town Officials would have knowledge of how the money would be directed? Reflecting my own impressions maybe 60% land, 20% historic and 20% affordable housing could be successful in Framingham.   Hoping everyone is enjoying the spectacular weather! Joel A. Feingold -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Kathy Vassar Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 11:04 AM To: NICOLA CATALDO; frambors; sue bernstein; helen lemoine; Larry Marsh; tom mahoney; Ann Welles Subject: another thought--Re: Last Night re. Arthur St parcel some of the discussion last night centered around the costs to create a safe open space and maintain it.  there seemed to be quite a large number of people interested in forming a group to maintain the parcel.  there was a person who worked for the state who had information re: possible grant monies.    it occurred to me that there are several plans that will be coming before the planning board that will contribute to the density of that area of town.(dennison is the closest, but a couple of others nearby)  i believe they are all special circumstances of some sort and some may be looking for things not currently allowed under our rules and regs.  maybe they could contribute mitigation money and/or service to help get this off the ground?          kathy vassar