City Council Reverses Course: What the Stretch Code Pause Means for Housing

The Rundown is a weekly discussion of the top local news stories in Central Massachusetts, featuring host Hank Stolz, Mark Henderson of the016.com, and Tom Marino of thisweekendworcester.com.

This week the primary topic was the Worcester City Council’s decision to pause the recently adopted specialized stretch code, a green building initiative. The debate focused on whether this was a pragmatic response to the housing crisis or evidence of poor long-term planning by the council. “It just seems like, oh, this seems like a good vote to take now. This looks good. And then we get to a different point and go, ‘Oh, well, we’ll just put this on pause or we’ll go back and revise it because it feels good now.’ Just a lack of thorough decision making.” – Tom Marino “I don’t think we should ever bang on the city council or the city for learning. And they’re starting to be able … They’re learning what these things that they want to do that sound good, that are good, these things have consequences and they’re negative consequences for people who want to put up new housing in Worcester.” – Mark Henderson

They also discussed the development of new, desperately needed income-capped condominiums aimed at first-time homebuyers, and how Community Preservation Act funds were being directed almost exclusively to housing. Another significant topic was the contentious local debate over allowing residents to raise backyard chickens, which was framed as both a practical and a cultural issue.