At the Housing Board meeting on Oct. 11, members pored over a property survey of the “Brown-Smith” parcel, Plat 14, lot 55, on Cooneymus Road, and discussed their plans for developing it into affordable housing units.

Members agreed that they would need to meet with the Planning Board to know its requirements, especially for density regulations. However, the Housing Board also discussed reaching out to potential affordable housing candidates to see what their suggestions would be in terms of layout and number of bedrooms.

The board would specifically like to know what the demand is for one, two, or three bedrooms affordable housing units.

Amongst other discussion points were whether the development should be for rentals or housing. Chair Cindy Pappas said that while there is a higher need for rental units, and she favors them, she doesn’t believe it’s feasible for this property because of both financial and siting reasons. Later, members discussed the possibility of combining some rental units and some housing in the same development.

Also discussed were how many units would be installed, and members seemed inclined to stay between the limits of four to six houses. Board member John Spier gave suggestions as to what different layouts with each number would look like. The board discussed clustering the housing units close together, or spreading them out over the property.

The board acquired the 4.5-acre parcel off Cooneymus Road from Marianne Brown and Steve Smith in 2008.

Members also discussed possible candidates for the upcoming elections, with the possibly of a write-in candidate. They also mentioned that most outstanding construction issues with the Jacke property — the two affordable homes built by the board located off Champlin Road — have been fixed.

The board then ended its meeting in executive session to discuss possible properties for housing opportunities.