Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3963 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2065 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3963
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Lindsay N. Sabadosa
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to the housing emergency.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/19/2023Mike Connolly26th Middlesex6/28/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex7/2/2023 1 of 6
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2065 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3963
18	18	By Representative Sabadosa of Northampton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3963)
19	19	of Lindsay N. Sabadosa, Mike Connolly and Vanna Howard relative to zoning and the
20	20	alleviation of the housing emergency. Municipalities and Regional Government.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to the housing emergency.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Section 1A of chapter 40A of the General Laws is hereby amended by
30	30	2inserting after the definition of “As of right” the following 2 definitions:-
31	31	3 “Cottage cluster”, groupings of no fewer than 4 detached housing units per acre with a
32	32	4footprint of less than 900 square feet each and that include a common courtyard.
33	33	5 “Duplexes”, a residential building that contains 2 dwelling units located on a single lot
34	34	6that share a common wall, common floor or common ceiling.
35	35	7 SECTION 2. Section 1A of chapter 40A of the General Laws is hereby amended by
36	36	8inserting after the definition of “MBTA community” the following definition:-
37	37	9 “Middle housing”, cottage clusters, duplexes, quadplexes, townhouses and triplexes.
38	38	10 SECTION 3. Said section 1A of said chapter 40A is hereby further amended by inserting
39	39	11after the definition of “Permit granting authority” the following definition:- 2 of 6
40	40	12 “Quadplexes”, a residential building that contains 4 dwelling units located on a single lot
41	41	13that share common walls, common floors or common ceilings.
42	42	14 SECTION 4. Said section 1A of said chapter 40A is hereby further amended by inserting
43	43	15after the definition of “Special permit granting authority” the following definition:-
44	44	16 “Townhouses”, a dwelling unit constructed in a row of 2 or more attached units, where
45	45	17each dwelling unit is located on an individual lot or parcel and shares at least 1 common wall
46	46	18with an adjacent unit.
47	47	19 SECTION 5. Said section 1A of said chapter 40A is hereby further amended by inserting
48	48	20after the definition of “Transfer of development rights zoning” the following definition:-
49	49	21 “Triplexes” or “Triple deckers”, a residential building that contains 3 dwelling units
50	50	22located on a single lot that share common walls, common floors or common ceilings.
51	51	23 SECTION 6. Section 3 of said chapter 40A is hereby amended by adding the following 2
52	52	24paragraphs:-
53	53	25 No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit the development of multi-family housing.
54	54	26 No zoning ordinance or by-law shall impose additional approval standards or
55	55	27requirements on government-assisted housing that aren't applied to similar but unassisted
56	56	28housing.
57	57	29 SECTION 7. Said chapter 40A is hereby further amended by inserting after section 3A
58	58	30the following section:- 3 of 6
59	59	31 Section 3B. (a) A municipality with a population more than 2,500 persons, based on the
60	60	32last federal decennial census, shall adopt a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for the
61	61	33development of an accessory dwelling unit, as of right, on each lot or parcel zoned for residential
62	62	34use as of January 1, 2023 that allows for the development of detached single-family dwellings.
63	63	35Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a municipality from the development of middle housing
64	64	36in addition to accessory dwelling units.
65	65	37 (b) A municipality with a population of 10,000 or more persons and less than 25,000
66	66	38persons, based on the last federal decennial census, shall adopt a zoning ordinance or by-law that
67	67	39provides for the
68	68	40 development of a duplex, as of right, on each lot or parcel zoned for residential use as of
69	69	41January 1, 2023 that allows for the development of detached single-family dwellings. Nothing in
70	70	42this subsection shall prohibit a municipality from the development of middle housing in addition
71	71	43to duplexes.
72	72	44 (c) A municipality with a population of 25,000 or more persons, based on last federal
73	73	45decennial census, shall adopt a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for the construction of
74	74	46middle housing, as of right, in any area zoned for residential use as of January 1, 2023.
75	75	47 (d) A municipality that provides for the construction of middle housing may regulate the
76	76	48siting and design of middle housing required to be permitted under this section; provided, that
77	77	49the regulations do not, individually or cumulatively, discourage the development of all middle
78	78	50housing types permitted in the area through unreasonable costs or delay. Municipalities may
79	79	51regulate middle housing to comply with protective measures adopted pursuant to statewide land
80	80	52use planning goals. 4 of 6
81	81	53 (e) The executive office of housing and livable communities may grant an extension to
82	82	54the requirements of subsections (a) through (d) under this section. The extension may only be
83	83	55applied to specific areas where the municipality has identified water, sewer, storm drainage or
84	84	56transportation services that are either significantly deficient or are expected to be significantly
85	85	57deficient and for which the municipality has established a plan of actions that will remedy the
86	86	58deficiency in those services; provided, that is approved by the executive office. The extension
87	87	59may not extend beyond the date that the municipality intends to correct the deficiency under the
88	88	60plan.
89	89	61 (f) Annually, each municipality in the commonwealth shall submit a report to the
90	90	62executive office of housing and livable communities explaining how the municipality plans to
91	91	63meet its share of needed housing capacity, as determined by its regional planning agency
92	92	64pursuant to section 31 of chapter 40B, and how new housing construction can meet that goal.
93	93	65 (g) Each municipality in the commonwealth shall review local, regional, state and federal
94	94	66assistance to make housing construction affordable and feasible including but not limited to:
95	95	67grants, loans, rental assistance, tax credits, tax abatements, tax increment financing, bonds,
96	96	68mortgage financing, mortgage insurance, assistance pursuant to any government program or any
97	97	69other form of construction assistance.
98	98	70 (h) Annually, a municipality with 10,000 or more persons, based on the last federal
99	99	71decennial census, shall submit a report to the executive office of housing and livable
100	100	72communities with the number of housing units permitted under this section, broken down by
101	101	73type of housing. 5 of 6
102	102	74 (i) Subject to appropriation, each fiscal year the executive office shall receive and
103	103	75expend, in addition to any other grant or appropriation from the commonwealth or the federal
104	104	76government, $2,000,000 for technical assistance for municipalities to administer this section and
105	105	77develop guidance for the construction of middle housing.
106	106	78 SECTION 8. Chapter 40B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
107	107	79following section:-
108	108	80 Section 31. (a) The board of executive directors of the Massachusetts association of
109	109	81regional planning agencies shall develop a housing needs plan to be submitted annually by each
110	110	82regional planning agency to the executive office of housing and livable communities.
111	111	83 (b) The model plan shall direct each regional planning agency to conduct an evaluation of
112	112	84its member cities' and towns' housing needs using economic and demographic data to determine:
113	113	85(i) the housing needs that their region will face, including projected growth over the next 20
114	114	86years; (ii) how much housing each municipality would need to reasonably contribute to meet that
115	115	87capacity; (iii) how much buildable land their region has, and what new buildable land they could
116	116	88acquire to help meet their needs.
117	117	89 (c) The executive office of housing and livable communities shall promulgate rules and
118	118	90regulations to implement the purposes of this section.
119	119	91 SECTION 9. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the board of
120	120	92building regulations and standards, in coordination with executive office of housing and livable
121	121	93communities, shall review all building codes that might hinder the rehabilitation of single-family
122	122	94residential dwellings into middle housing as that term is defined in section 1A of chapter 40A of 6 of 6
123	123	95the General Laws, and to amend the building code to make it easier to convert buildings into
124	124	96middle housing.
125	125	97 The review shall be filed by the board with the clerks of the house of representatives and
126	126	98the senate no later than June 30, 2024.