The 2025 Housing Production Plan (HPP) is underway! Stay up to date on surveys, events, and meeting dates. 

Completing a HPP that gains approval from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) provides a document that guides future Town decisions pertaining to residential development, particularly affordable housing.

Questions or Feedback?
Amanda Wolfe, Housing & Land Use Planner | awolfe@westwoodma.gov | 781-251-2598

Materials & Drafts

New materials will be posted here as they become available. Please send all feedback and input to awolfe@westwoodma.gov. Note that the formatting of the Microsoft Word files may be distorted depending on the computer or software used to open the file.

Events & Activities

Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee Public Meetings
Dates and, if applicable, Zoom information are posted on the Town calendar at westwoodma.gov. Meetings will be more frequent throughout the HPP development process and are always open to the public. 

• August 13, 2024
• October 10, 2024
• November 14, 2024
• February 6, 2024 
• May 8, 2025
• June 26, 2025
• August 7, 2025
• October 16, 2025
• December 2, 2025 - Planning Board Hearing to be Continued Without Discussion
• December 3, 2025 - Vote to Recommend Plan to Planning Board & Select Board 
• December 16, 2025 - Planning Board Hearing 

Past Events

Community Visioning Session NEW DATE
December 12, 2024 | 7-8:30 PM | Westwood Public Library Community Meeting Room
Join the Housing Division and Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee for an inclusive session filled with hands-on activities to share your vision for housing in Westwood. Public input will be used to shape the 2025 HPP. Special thanks to Wegmans for providing funding for snacks and refreshments. 

• View Revised Flyer
• View Presentation

Westwood Public Library Display
Beginning September 2024
Visit our display at the Library to fill out a housing vision card, check out a book on housing, and visit our mascot Housey!

Property Manager/Developer Survey 
September 3 - November 27, 2024
Developers and property managers both play a pivotal role in housing. Housing providers were invited to share their experience and the experience of tenants in either role in Westwood.

Housing Survey
September 3 - November 27, 2024
Whether you rent or own, live with a guardian or on your own, have lived here for 20 years or are brand new to Westwood, all residents were invited to take our survey. Paper surveys were available at the Housing Division (Carby Street Municipal Building), Town Hall, or Council on Aging. Over 200 residents responded. Results will be available by December 19, 2024. 

Forum on Housing for Seniors & Persons with Disabilities
September 16, 2024 | 1-2 PM | Westwood Council on Aging
The Housing and Land Use Planner will lead an open discussion on the unique housing needs, desires, and experiences of seniors and persons with disabilities of any age. We invite seniors and persons with disabilities, along with their friends, family, advocates, and caretakers to share at this forum. Public input provided at this event will be used to identify relevant goals and implementation actions for the 2025 HPP. The event will be filmed by Westwood Media Center and available for viewing on their YouTube channel afterward.

• View Flyer
• View Presentation

2020 Housing Production Plan 

View 2020 Plan

The Housing Partnership, with the support of Town staff, developed Westwood's first HPP in 2020.

• August 2018 - Began data collection and research for the Needs Assessment.
• October 2018 - Began collecting public input.
• October 15 - November 5, 2018 - A survey was published both online and in paper format and received 200+ responses. It was advertised in a variety of media, including Westwood Wire, the Town website, social media, the school newsletter, local newspapers, and email listserv.
• November 13, 2018  - A Community Visioning Workshop was held at the Downey School Cafeteria. The workshop was open to the public and was advertised using the same marketing strategy as the survey. About 25 participants attended and participated in a series of small group discussion exercises. Participants received a presentation detailing preliminary highlights of the Needs Assessment, survey responses, and of Chapter 40B. Group exercises were designed to foster collaborative discussion of the town's vision for housing and strategy for affordable housing production. 
  • Presentation: Community Visioning Workshop Presentation 11.13.18
  • Westwood Media Center's recording: https://youtu.be/HRcDIKfgXG8
• November 19, 2018 - The Planning Board  voted to adopt the Housing Production Plan in a hearing that opened on November 5th and was continued. Members of the public contributed at both hearings and changes recommended by the Planning Board were incorporated into the draft.
• December 9, 2019 - The Select Board voted to adopt the Housing Production Plan at a public meeting. 
• Previous Drafts of the Housing Production Plan:
  • March 1, 2019
  • July 30, 2019
  • August 9, 2019
  • September 10, 2019
  • September 17, 2019
  • November 13, 2019
  • November 18, 2019
  • November 21, 2019 (with Planning Board amendments)
• December 30, 2019  - The Housing Division submitted the final draft of the Housing Production Plan to the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for approval.
• January 3, 2020 - DHCD issued an approval.

Exhibits

• Group Exercise Materials: Introductions
• Group Exercise Materials: Perfect World
• Group Exercise Materials: Obstacles
• Group Exercise Materials: Strategies
• Group Exercise Materials: Parcel Mapping
• Group Exercise Materials: Strategic Mapping
• Zoning Map May 2018
• Survey of Housing Needs in Westwood Results