Citing balance, some towns try to limit the over-55 housing boom
By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff | March 4, 2007
It began as a way to build housing without burdening small-town school systems with more children.
But throughout southern New Hampshire, residents are growing wary of over-55 housing developments as the number of units has steadily increased and the prospect of mounting demands on municipal services from aging homeowners looms.
In Hudson, residents last summer voted to decrease the number of such units allowed on each acre. In Salem, officials approved a similar measure, to go along with an existing bylaw that caps the construction of age-restricted housing at 120 units each year. And in Derry last week, residents debated a measure that would halve the number of age-restricted units allowed per acre. Three years earlier, the town restricted the number of 55-and-older units to no more than 3 percent of the housing stock.
Officials of the towns say the measures are needed to ensure a balanced housing stock, enough for older people but also for young families who provide a community's workforce. Moreover, some say, 55-and-older housing can be pricey for municipalities. While the residences tend to be children-free and therefore not a burden on schools, some say they have higher numbers of calls to emergency services.
A study commissioned by the town of Salem -- where there are 520 age-restricted units built or under construction -- reported that while Fire Department response rates were highest for assisted living residences, at 1.06 per unit per year, there were also high rates in age-restricted units, with 0.59 per unit per year. By contrast, single- and two-family home response rates were 0.14 and 0.15 per dwelling unit.
"Many communities have embraced the concept," said Ross Moldoff, Salem's planning director. "But in fact, you do get some negative impacts. If you get too many of these projects, you can be overwhelmed and the demands for services can rise fast."
Building trade groups dispute the finding, saying that their reviews of fire marshal and police reports show that calls for residents between 55 and 70 are lower than those for families.
Town officials say they also worry that the market will peter out, forcing developers to try to get over-55 restrictions changed to allow them to sell units within dense housing clusters to anyone -- putting a strain on town and school services.
"What happens if these units don't sell?" said Virginia Roach , chairman of the Derry Planning Board. "What will happen then? Will the developer try to get a variance to make them into residential?"
Trade groups say the market is robust. According to the National Association of Home Builders , there are an estimated 67 million Americans age 55 or older, a cohort that is projected to grow by more than 2 percent every year for the next decade and will reach 85 million by 2014.
About 15 percent of this population will want to live in an "age-qualified" community, said Jane M. O'Connor , former chair wo man of the 50 + New England Housing Council for the National Association of Home Builders and publisher of Mature Living Choices guides.
As such, she said the demands for such housing will grow in the next decade.
"The giant wave of baby boomers has not yet hit us," O'Connor said. "In another two to three years, they are going to be reinventing what this market segment is going to be demanding."
And what baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, demand is distinct from their parents and grandparents. While their forebears endured the Depression and World War II, baby boomers did not and have little patience for privations, she said. In turn, they want larger empty-nester homes -- averaging 1,900 square feet compared with 1,100 five years ago -- with amenities such as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Many are couples who are still working, and demand two offices.
"This is housing for a lifestyle, not for the elderly," she said.
Rick Hanafin is among the wave of baby boomers drawn to the 55-and-older housing. Hanafin, 62, an architect who recently returned to his native New England after three decades in South Dakota, purchased a two-bedroom condominium in a Derry 55-and-older community where he says the atmosphere is "peaceful and private."
"It's a bit more selective," he said. "It seems to be a group looking for the same thing -- so you feel a sense of community."
Hanafin's condo is in a restored mill complex set on 10 acres where 36 units, some overlooking a brook, range in price from $234,900 to $419,900 . Under the town's new proposed rules, such a community probably would not be allowed because it has too many units per acre, according to town officials.
The boom in 55-and-older housing began, industry watchers say, in metropolitan areas more than a decade ago and quickly spread to suburbs. Now, it is reaching into rural and outlying areas, including Western Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where state figures show a graying population, with the number of people 55 and older growing at a faster rate than those younger.
Trade groups say there are no figures totaling the number of 55-and-older housing units in New England. In Massachusetts, a survey by the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association found in 2005 that at least 10,000 units for residents 55 and older were under construction or had been built since 2000 and that 14,000 units were in the planning stages. The association estimated that 55-and-older housing represented 10 to 15 percent of the new housing built in the state between 2000 and 2004.
Aaron Gornstein , executive director of the association, said his association acknowledges the need for 55-and-older housing. He said a concern is that it is crowding out other needed residences.
"There is a significant demand for family housing," Gornstein said. "It is the greatest need for keeping our work force here."
But trade groups say the market has not yet answered the clamor for 55 and older housing.
"Builders are rising to the demands and meeting a need," O'Connor said.
