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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3461 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2348 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Andres X. Vargas |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to exclusionary zoning. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex1/17/2025 1 of 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3461 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2348 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Vargas of Haverhill, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2348) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Andres X. Vargas that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities be authorized |
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| 20 | 20 | | to regulate exclusionary zoning. Municipalities and Regional Government. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to exclusionary zoning. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:- |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2 Section 37. (a) The executive office of housing and livable communities shall promulgate |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3regulations related to exclusionary zoning, which shall include: (i) a definition of exclusionary |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4zoning; (ii) a process by which residents, developers and other parties that believe that a |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5municipality is engaging in exclusionary zoning can bring a claim to the executive office; and |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6(iii) a review process in which the executive office may make a determination that a municipality |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7has engaged in exclusionary zoning. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 (b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, if the executive office |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9determines that a municipality has engaged in exclusionary zoning, the executive office may take |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10authority over the municipality’s zoning for a period of at least 4 years. After 4 years from the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11date of the executive office’s determination, the municipality may petition the executive office to |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12regain control of the municipality’s zoning. |
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