PUTNEY-"I love old houses and I love the idea of fixing them up," said Dawn King, who is among seven property owners who are working with the Putney Housing Solutions Task Force to add to the town's housing stock. "The more rundown they are, the more I love them."
The dilapidated, 150-year-old house on Main Street next to the post office needed a lot of love.
"The house was an eyesore," said King. "It needed absolutely everything. The foundation was gone. The roof was leaking. Most people thought it should be demolished."
But King saw potential. Believing that housing was the only ethical investment she could make with a small inheritance she received, she had a vision to create three affordable rental apartments in the house.
It took four dumpsters to empty the house and yard of the junk left behind by the previous occupant: TVs, bed springs, broken glass, and plastic. A rusted 1964 Brockway dump truck was sunk halfway up its hubcaps into the mud in the yard.
King rehabbed the first two apartments using what money she had, plus a line of credit from the bank and tax credits to bring the building up to code. She initially looked into using the Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP) to help defray expenses but said the grant program's requirement to take tenants experiencing homelessness "wasn't a good fit" for her.
Recent changes to the VHIP program provide a 10-year forgivable loan to grant recipients and eliminate the requirements for tenant selection. King has applied for these funds to renovate the third apartment.
She estimates final construction costs for the three apartments will be $400,000 to $450,000.
King's first two tenants moved in this spring. The two-bedroom apartments rent for $750 and $850. "People tell me that's ridiculously low," she said.
But she has empathy for people who can't afford housing and recalled supporting herself and her children on $500 a month. "Now that would go nowhere," she said.
Small-scale, entrepreneurial housing solutions
King is part of a cadre of Putney residents who are working to develop affordable housing in town by renovating existing homes to create apartments and adding small accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or other additional housing to their properties.
"We're focusing on innovative, entrepreneurial housing solutions, with an emphasis on building the most affordable housing," said Marcella Eversole, co-chair of the Putney Housing Solutions Task Force.
The group was formed in 2023 as a result of a community-wide planning process that identified the need for affordable, safe, quality housing for seniors and people of all ages and income levels.
Eversole said that when it comes to developing more housing in town, infilling - generally defined as building housing on unused land in towns and village centers and renovating existing buildings into duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes to complement the character of the town - is what the Putney community wants.
"Because it's not controversial, it's easy to do," she said.
'That's more density than our community can handle'
Often referred to as "gentle infill," infilling puts a positive spin on what may not be universally acceptable: increased density.
Density is typically defined as the number of housing units per acre. Like many Vermont communities, Putney grapples with the tension between the need for more affordable housing and the increased density that additional housing can bring.
The type and quantity of new housing that Putney needs will be estimated through the planning commission's housing needs assessment later this year, but there is consensus that the demand for more housing outstrips the current supply.
However, how dense this new housing should be, where it should be located, and the shape and form of the housing are questions that often inspire intense debate.
In its aim to create affordable housing on a smaller scale, the Putney Housing Solutions Task Force is building on the work of a 2005 report by the Windham Regional Planning Commission, "Visualizing Density in Putney Village."
The report presented renderings of potential residential and commercial infill development on three sites in the village "in a manner that would be consistent with the existing small-scale rural village character."
The task force is exploring several sites identified by the planning commission for future development.
Eversole is working with seven property owners in town to build approximately 15 new housing units that, if funding comes through, might be brought online in the next 15 months.
The task force is exploring funding from VHIP, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and the Vermont Council of Rural Development to assemble the estimated $3 million needed to support these projects.
"I have found that some community development and municipal grants are pushing for developments with eight homes/apartments on one parcel!" said Eversole in an email. "That seems to be taking the infill housing density conversation further than our community can handle."
Eversole said that while some local developers have proposed building six units on their property, neighbors are far more comfortable with four units.
"Just an additional 500-square-foot ADU feels like too much density for some neighbors who want to see open space, gardens, and playgrounds prioritized," she said.
"However, through conversation, we find that if the developer is willing to make adjustments that consider their neighbors' concerns, people can move forward and more housing gets built," Eversole added.
The task force is also working to create and manage a Community Housing Fund to raise funds and distribute them to small, local developers.
Eversole is hoping that the town can also create a revolving loan fund for housing, citing as inspiration Rockingham's fund, which is administered by that town's development director.
Given the complexities of navigating permits, grants, and other funding associated with development, the task force has also discussed having a town employee dedicated to helping local developers.
Task force members have so far been supporting one another through the process.
Eversole said this networking is a key objective of the task force's work.
"Two members of our group, who together will bring on seven new units this year, wouldn't be doing it if our group wasn't supporting the process," she said.
Building it cheaper
Vince Cioffi of Furnace Brook Builders in Williamsville has worked on several construction projects in Putney and is helping to develop budgets for additional projects.
"We're trying to make these projects as affordable as possible because grants are limited and construction costs are high," he said.
According to the state, current small-scale housing development costs on average $350 to $450 per square foot.
That cost excludes land acquisition and soft costs like permits, fees, design, and engineering, and it assumes hookup to town water and sewer.
Under this scenario, a four-unit development with one-bedroom units of approximately 1,000 square feet would cost $1.4 million to $1.8 million to build.
For a "gut rehab" of one of the oldest houses in Putney, Cioffi's construction costs came in under $300 per square foot, including the creation of a driveway and a small parking lot for tenants.
After "entirely new structural engineering," Cioffi said, the project was like a new build. The house now contains three apartments and an office.
Cioffi is designing a 500-square-foot model ADU that is estimated at $250 per square foot to build. The model is designed to be built quickly using standardized lumber dimensions that require fewer cuts, thus reducing labor costs.
"We're trying to be as creative as possible to bring these projects in at a price that makes sense for homeowners to finance and then rent at a fair market price," Cioffi said.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development sets fair market rents so that renters aren't "cost-burdened" by paying more than 30% of their income on rent. Putney Housing Solutions Task Force members are committed to creating housing that can be offered in this sector.
Fair-market costs in Windham County range from $1,091 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,785 for a four-bedroom home.
According to Vermont's 2020 Housing Needs Assessment, 26% of Windham County renters pay 30% to 49% of their income on rent. An equal percentage of renters pay more than half of their income on rent.
Affordability is what's missing
Vermont is promoting the practice of small-scale, infill development to meet the need for affordable, "missing middle" housing - housing that falls between large, expensive, single-family homes on big lots and large, multi-family developments that comprise the largest percentage of home production in the state today.
The Agency of Commerce and Community Development's "Homes for All Toolkit" project includes a step-by-step how-to workbook for small-scale home builders, like King, who may not have the knowledge or experience to take on housing construction.
The project also provides technical assistance to small-scale development in five pilot projects around the state, including Bellows Falls, which has been working on this type of development since 2021.
Amy Tomasso, project manager for the Homes for All Toolkit project, led a walking tour of Putney in December to discuss the potential for infill development.
"The Putney Housing Solutions Task Force is leading a grassroots coalition to match local developers with tools, resources, and support on the often-overwhelming development journey," said Tomasso. "It is soliciting community buy-in and hosting large and important conversations around balanced growth and development in the village setting."
"This is exactly the kind of local action that will help implement creative housing solutions," said Tomasso.
This Special Focus item by Ellen Pratt was written for The Commons.