When Town Meeting approved Article 34, the Planning Board’s groundbreaking multi-family zoning proposal to comply with the MBTA Communities Act last year, candidate Michael Schanbacher saw the fruits of his labor pay off. 

Michael Schanbacher

Schanbacher described it as a monumental effort by Planning Board staff, the Select Board and Town Meeting, and also credited the constituents who showed up for the Article’s public hearings and were a major part of the discussion. At one point, the Planning Board had a public meeting at the Community Center, where staff had printed out large maps of Lexington, and constituents put sticky notes where they felt the best locations in town would be for multi-family developments.

“We had meetings every single week that ran from 6 to at least 10:30 p.m., from December all the way through until early February,” he said. “It was relentless. But it was all worth it.”

The Article, which created 227 acres of overlay districts for multi-family zoning in 12 areas around Lexington, is intended to help alleviate the state’s ongoing housing crisis.

But this success is only the beginning for ensuring residents with various needs and income levels can come and live in the town, Schanbacher said. 

“There is a lot of work left to do, but (Article 34) was one big bounce,” he said.

Schanbacher is re-running for one of two open seats on the Planning Board against three challengers, including another incumbent and two newcomers. When he first entered the race for the Planning Board three years ago, Schanbacher ran on a platform of equity in housing in Lexington and the Greater Boston area to try to get housing initiatives passed through the Select Board and Town Meeting.

“We all know that we have a severe housing shortage, and the only way we’re going to get out of that is to build our way out of it,” he said. “Over the last three years, I’ve built up a network of folks in town who share my positions on increasing housing options in Lexington.”

If re-elected, one of the initiatives Schanbacher wants to start looking into is how the town allows accessory dwelling units and to inform residents of additional housing opportunities they can take advantage of. Accessory dwelling units —secondary dwelling units on the same parcel — have been allowed in the town since 1983. 

“Maybe [residents] have elderly parents and rather than put them in very expensive places like Brookhaven, they could move them into an accessory dwelling unit. Or, a child comes home from college and can’t afford to live in Lexington but would like to be in Lexington. There’s an opportunity for that.”

“We allow accessory dwelling units in town, but nobody knows about them. So, nothing’s getting built. We need to do a little bit of work from a marketing standpoint of like, ‘Hey, you can actually do this. And you can do this anywhere in town,’” he said. 

Of course, talk of the cost of the new high school, which, to Schanbacher, everyone “knows is not going to be a low number,” will also be on his radar. 

“We need to look for ways that we can pay for that without making a massive burden on the residential taxpayer,” he said. “We as a board and as a town need to understand the importance of approving these sorts of initiatives so that the Capital Stabilization Fund (which would offset the costs of a new school) grows and the cost for the high school comes back down to earth for the residential taxpayer.”

Schanbacher is a registered architect with 20 years of professional experience, having worked for different colleges and universities on public projects. He also worked for developers on multi-family buildings, helping to present plans at neighborhood meetings. He said this experience requires a thoughtful process of reaching a consensus, which he believes make him an ideal candidate. 

“I think that outside of the ability to understand dimensions and plans … it’s that history and experience in consensus building that’s really vital to being on any board,” he said. “It’s critical that you’re able to bring all of these disparate parties together.”

Learn more at https://www.michaelschanbacher.org/

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