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