Gardner Planning Board Adopts Housing Production Plan, Sends It to City Council

GARDNER — June 9, 2026 — Gardner Planning Board unanimously adopts Housing Production Plan, flagging cost burden and expiring affordable units. The board voted at its June 9 meeting to adopt the plan prepared by Barrett Planning Group, which found that nearly a third of Gardner households spend more than 30 percent of their monthly income on housing and that the city's median household income stands at approximately $69,000. Gardner holds just over 1,300 Subsidized Housing Inventory units — the most among surrounding communities — but the plan warns that up to 255 of those units could fall off the inventory as affordability restrictions expire, potentially jeopardizing the city's safe harbor status above the 10 percent SHI threshold. The plan sets annual production targets of 47 units at the 0.5 percent goal and 94 units at the 1 percent goal. Community planner Lily Kramer of Barrett Planning Group told the board that "there's always a chance units could fall off, and careful maintenance and monitoring of those units is important to keep Gardner over 10 percent." The plan next goes to the City Council housing subcommittee on June 24.