To increase the supply of housing in the Town of Salisbury that is permanently available to and affordable by low- and moderate-income households;

To encourage greater diversity of housing accommodations to meet the needs of Salisbury residents and certain local employees; and

To develop and maintain a satisfactory proportion of the Town's housing stock as affordable housing units.

The requirements of this Article XIII shall apply to:

Development shall be defined as any effort to improve land on a single parcel, or on one or more contiguous parcels, creating housing in which the parcels are under common ownership or common control, as determined by the Building Inspector. Development shall not be segmented to avoid compliance with this section. Segmentation shall mean one or more divisions of land that cumulatively result in a net increase of three or more lots or dwelling units above the number existing five years prior to an application to develop any parcel or set of contiguous parcels held in common ownership or under common control on or after the effective date of this Article XIII.

Motel or cabin units shall not be considered as dwelling units under this bylaw. If requested by the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals, based on advice from the Assessor, the Building Inspector shall determine, in writing, the number of pre-existing, legal dwelling units on a development site.

Consultation with Affordable Housing Trust. Applicants are encouraged to consult with the Affordable Housing Trust early in the development process concerning the Town's affordable housing needs and the optimum manner in which the Town's needs and the developer's affordable housing requirements can be met by the proposed development consistently with any affordable housing planned production plan then in effect in the Town. The Affordable Housing Trust may consult with and give advice to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals during the development process and, as a part of the process, may submit written reports to the board reviewing any proposed development subject to the bylaw.

Comparability. Unless otherwise approved by the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals, as applicable, all on-site affordable housing units shall be dispersed throughout the site and shall be indistinguishable from market-rate units except in interior finish, fixtures and appliances. For both on-site and off-site units that are a part of any development proposal, the number of bedrooms in affordable housing units shall be comparable to the bedroom mix in market-rate units in the development.

Selection process. The selection of qualified purchasers or qualified renters shall be carried out under an affirmative fair-housing marketing plan submitted by the applicant and approved by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, following consultation with the Affordable Housing Trust. The marketing plan shall comply with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Local Initiative Program (LIP) guidelines in effect on the date of the application for a special permit or other approval from the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals.

On-site units. Construction of affordable units on the site of the project is the preferred approach to creating affordable housing and shall be required for any development that includes 20 or more dwelling units. However, on-site affordable units shall not be required in any development in the Salisbury Beach Overlay District or any development that includes 19 or fewer dwelling units.

The Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, as applicable, may approve one or both of the following methods, alone or in combination. In no event shall the total number of units provided through such methods be less than the number of affordable housing units required under § 300-76.

Approval. The inclusionary housing payment may be met if the developer makes a binding, written agreement with the Town of Salisbury (with appropriate payment security) to make affordable housing contribution payments to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in lieu of building affordable housing units that is approved by:

Amount. Except as provided in Subsection C below for the Salisbury Beach Overlay District, the housing contribution payment for each market-rate housing unit in the development shall be equal to $10,000 for all housing units with a sales price of $300,000 or less and shall be equal to 3.5% of the selling price of all market-rate housing units with a sales price higher than $300,000, provided that the housing contribution for any market-rate housing unit shall not exceed the maximum contribution. The maximum per-unit housing contribution payment amount as established by the Planning Board shall be adjusted annually by the Planning Board as set forth herein. For any development that includes rental housing units, but does not include on-site affordable units or off-site affordable units, the housing contribution payment shall be equal to $20,000 for each rental housing unit in the development.

Exception. Developments in the Salisbury Beach Overlay District shall be required to make a housing contribution payment of 1% of the selling price of each market-rate unit in the development or, in the case of developments that include rental housing units, the housing contribution payment shall be $5,000 for each rental unit.

Adjustment. The Planning Board shall adjust the maximum housing contribution payment annually, effective March 1 of each year. The annual adjustment shall be equal to the percentage change in the median sale price of single-family homes in the Town of Salisbury during the previous calendar year, as reported by the Warren Group (or another independent reporting agency selected by the Planning Board if the Warren Group no longer reports such information), and rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent. For example, if the median sales price of single-family homes was $275,000 for the previous calendar year and was $250,000 for the calendar year before that, the Planning Board would adjust the maximum housing contribution payment by +10%. The adjusted maximum payment amount shall apply to all housing contribution payments made on or after March 1 of any year until the last day of February of the next year.

Method of payment. The following methods of payment may be used at the option of the applicant:

As an alternative to Subsections B through D above, the applicant's housing contribution payment may be satisfied under an affordable housing tax incentive agreement approved by the Board of Selectmen.

Building permit conditions. All agreements with the Town of Salisbury and other documents necessary to ensure compliance with this Article XIII shall be executed and delivered to the Department of Planning and Development prior to and as a condition of the issuance of any approval required to commence construction. The Building Inspector shall not issue a building permit with respect to any project or development subject to this article unless and until the Department of Planning and Development has verified, in writing, to the Building Inspector that all conditions of this Article XIII, including any conditions that may be established by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals in any decision or approval, have been met.

Occupancy conditions. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any market-rate units in a development subject to this article until all deed restrictions, agreements with the Town of Salisbury and/or other documents necessary to ensure compliance by the applicant (and any purchasers of the affordable housing units) with the requirements of this bylaw have been executed and recorded and any required housing contribution payments with respect to the unit have been made. Occupancy permits for any market-rate housing units shall be issued at an equal ratio to the occupancy permits for required affordable housing units for the entire project.

Timing of construction: Where feasible, affordable housing units shall be provided coincident with the development of market-rate units, but in no event shall the development of affordable on-site or off-site housing units or payment of fees in lieu of units be delayed beyond the following schedule. Fractions of units shall not be counted.

To award a density bonus for a development that includes more than the minimum number of affordable units required under § 300-76, if the affordable units are provided on site. For each additional affordable unit over and above the minimum, the board may approve three additional market-rate units, up to a maximum density bonus of 75%. Example: for a development of 12 housing units, compliance with this Article XIII would require two affordable units. The applicant who agrees to provide two more affordable units on site may request an additional six market-rate units three per additional affordable unit), bringing the total development to 20 units.