HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3173        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1111

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Kevin G. Honan and James B. Eldridge

_________________

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 housing production.

_______________

PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3173        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1111

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

An Act relative to housing production.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development shall create a small-scale housing development demonstration program that creates no less than one thousand units within four years of enactment. Small-scale development shall consist of developments with less than twenty units, constructed without the use of low income housing tax credits, and shall exclude housing built under Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2012.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 official edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 16, the words “80 per cent” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- 50 percent.

SECTION 3. Said section 1 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws is further amended by striking out, in line 20, the words “above 110 percent” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- between 80 per cent and 120 per cent upon initial occupancy.

SECTION 4. Said section 1 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws is further amended by striking out in line 22, the words “Qualified substantial rehabilitation expenditure, the cost of substantial rehabilitation” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- Qualified reuse expenditure, the cost of reuse.

SECTION 5. Said section 1 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws is hereby further amended by striking out in line 31, the words “Substantial rehabilitation and “substantially rehabilitated”, the needed major redevelopment, repair and renovation of a property, excluding the purchase of the property, as determined by the department of housing and community development and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- “Reuse”, substantial rehabilitation, new construction, or some combination of substantial rehabilitation and new construction, excluding the purchase of the property, as determined by the department of housing and community development.

SECTION 6. Subparagraph (iv) of subsection (a) of Section 4 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in line 9, the word, “80” and inserting in place thereof, the following word:- 50.

SECTION 7. Subparagraph (vi) of subsection (a) of Section 4 of Chapter 40V the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in line 13, the words, “substantial rehabilitation” and inserting in place thereof, the following word:- reuse.

SECTION 8. Section 5 of Chapter 40V of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in line 5, the following words, “substantial rehabilitation” and inserting in place thereof, the following word:- reuse

SECTION 9. Chapter 40A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following sections:-

Section 3A. All zoning ordinances and bylaws shall include districts in which multifamily housing of two or more attached dwelling units is a permitted use as of right, within two years of the effective date of this section. Such districts shall include housing without age restrictions, which is suitable for families with children, and provided further, such districts shall be reasonably proximate to schools, transportation and public services and shall accommodate a reasonable share of regional needs for multifamily housing. Allowance of multifamily housing in suitably located districts shall not preclude the establishment of low-density development zoning districts to protect natural resources. 

Section 3B. The Department of Housing and Community Development shall publish guidelines which may be used to determine if a city or town has met the requirement established in Section 3A. In establishing said guidelines, the Department shall consider the character of communities of different sizes and regions, provided further that the Department shall promote the reasonable opportunity for multifamily housing construction in each city and town by incorporating the following variables into said guidelines: (1) the land area and suitability of districts zoned to allow multifamily housing; (2) the location of said districts; (3) the types of multifamily housing permitted; and (4) anticipated market demand for multifamily housing. A city or town may elect to satisfy the requirement of Section 3A by obtaining a determination from the Department of Housing and Community Development, acting directly or through a regional planning agency as its designee, that the multifamily provisions of its zoning ordinance or bylaw are consistent with published guidelines.

SECTION 10. Section 9 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the sixth paragraph of Section 9 and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, zoning ordinances or by-laws shall provide, on or after January 1, 2017, that cluster developments be permitted upon review and approval by a planning board pursuant to the applicable provisions of sections 81K to 81GG, inclusive, of chapter 41 and in accordance with its rules and regulations governing subdivision control.

SECTION 11. The Secretary of Administration and Finance and the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development shall jointly submit a report to the Joint Committee on Housing within one year of enactment which shall detail: (1) the net fiscal impacts of new housing needed to support existing employment levels through 2040; (2) mechanisms to mitigate negative net fiscal impact of new housing on Massachusetts cities and towns, including, but not limited to, development impact fees, one-time incentive payments, recurring mitigation payments, or changes to the current local aid formula; and (3) projections of state revenue growth to support such mitigation. 

SECTION 12. Section 2 of Chapter 40S of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 official edition, is hereby amended in line 3, by adding after the words “smart growth zoning districts” the following words:-

Multifamily district, or cluster developments

SECTION 13. Section 63(a) of Chapter 23A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 official edition, is hereby amended by adding in line 16 after the words “projects supporting smart growth as defined by the state’s sustainable development principles” the following words:-

and projects that support the production of multi-family housing in mixed-use districts that are well-connected to significant employment opportunities

SECTION 14. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, property owned by the Commonwealth shall not be deemed surplus for purposes of disposition, unless it is offered and determined to be of no use to the Department of Housing and Community Development for the development of housing or mixed use development subject to the Commonwealth’s Sustainable Development Principles.

SECTION 15. The Secretary of Economic Development, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Secretary of Transportation, and the chief executive officer of MassDevelopment shall jointly submit a report to the Joint Committee on Housing within one year of enactment identifying the potential greyfields sites across the Commonwealth, options for redevelopment or reuse that may include housing, public use or facilities, mixed use development, or natural restoration and open space, and identify programs within the appropriate state and quasi-public agencies that can be used to support communities in repurposing underutilized land. For the purposes of this section, greyfields may include, but are not limited to land with development that is outdated, underutilized, failing, or vacant.

SECTION 16. Section 4A of Chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 official edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph after line 54 :

By a two-thirds vote of its legislative body, and in conformance with its charter, a town may enter into an agreement with a contiguous town or towns to establish a regional planning board, zoning board of appeals, conservation commission or board of health or, in the case of towns within the same regional planning district, to delegate the functions of such a regional board or boards to the regional planning agency established pursuant to section 3 of Chapter 40B.  Such regional boards shall have the same statutory authority as if they existed within a single city or town.  Agreements establishing regional planning boards or regional zoning boards of appeal shall be subject to approval by the Director of Housing and Community Development.   Agreements establishing regional conservation commissions or regional boards of health shall be subject to approval by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

By a majority vote of their legislative bodies, and with the approval of the mayor, board of selectmen or other chief elected official, any contiguous cities and towns may enter into an agreement to allocate public infrastructure costs, municipal service costs and local tax revenue associated with the development of an identified parcel or parcels or development within the contiguous communities generally, provided that said agreement is approved by the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development and by the Commissioner of Revenue.

SECTION 17. There is hereby established an Office of State Planning to coordinate data collection, analysis and policy relating to the orderly growth and development of the Commonwealth.  The scope of the office shall include, but is not limited to, analysis and policy relative to population, employment and business growth trends, projected transportation demand and transportation capacity, projected housing demand and housing production, state and local fiscal impacts of development, impacts of local zoning and land use regulation, school capacity and projected enrollment, open space consumption and preservation, and natural resource protection.  The director of the office shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor and for administrative purposes the office may be located within an executive office designated by the Governor.  The work of the office shall be prioritized and coordinated by a growth planning cabinet composed of the Secretaries of Housing and Economic Development, Transportation, Education, and Energy and Environmental affairs or their designees.  To the greatest extent practicable the office shall utilize and coordinate existing technical experts within the executive offices and quasi-public agencies of the Commonwealth.