As said so well by the Globe’s editorial on Saturday, the state may be near a legislative breakthrough in dealing with some of the symptoms and roots of the housing crisis in Greater Boston. The State Senate’s Ways & Means Committee released a “working draft” of a bill that would make major changes in the state’s zoning laws for the first time since 1975. The Senate may vote on the bill in early June. This is from the Globe editorial on why the effort is important:
In the four decades since the last substantial update of the zoning law, some towns have used its provisions to fight all significant housing development, instead of trying to gently accommodate a modest amount of growth. Not coincidentally, much of the state is now in the grip of a housing shortage — evident in spiraling home prices — that hampers economic growth and discourages younger families from putting down roots in Massachusetts.
Speaking for the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance (and as a longtime, but largely silent, BMGer), we believe that the State Senate has done a thoughtful job balancing the needs of municipalities, developers, and the environment. The bill filed this session by Senator Dan Wolf and Representative Stephen Kulik was a zoning reform bill (S 122, now S 2144) focused on modernizing state law by recognizing new tools (believe it or not, that includes “inclusionary zoning,” which is not in the state’s zoning laws), making existing tools more effective (e.g., by allowing municipalities to make zoning changes and approve special permits by simple majority), and providing incentives for municipalities to do more compact housing and adopt pro-environmental measures. State Senate leadership combined these measures with three significant housing production provisions, making it for the first time a bill that takes direct aim at the housing crisis.
The most powerful, and controversial, housing production measure is a requirement that every community have at least one zoning district “of reasonable size” that allows multi-family housing as-of-right in a good location and with no age restrictions or other barriers to housing families. Over the years, the legislature and executive branch have tried incentives to accomplish this goal (most notably, “smart growth zoning districts” under Chapter 40R), and while many cities and towns have responded, we are still not producing enough multi-family housing to meet the demand. The result is the pressure that is pushing up prices and pushing out those who can’t afford to live in “hot” areas.
The bill also promotes cluster development, by requiring every community to have these districts as well. Cluster configures homes more compactly on a parcel, saving land that is protected by restrictions from future development. This is both a housing production and pro-environment measure.
Finally, as emphasized in the Globe editorial, there is a “granny apartment” provision, which would require cities and towns to allow small, accessory apartments and, therefore, facilitate the inter-generational arrangements that are once again popular. By liberalizing zoning law this way, aging Baby Boomers and housing-strapped millennials can live on the same property, but with independence.
This is a significant bill and deserves the attention of the Blue Mass Group community. If you want to learn more, we have a video webinar and other materials here. You can also jump right into the fray.
(The author is deputy director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance.)