Amendment #154 to H4707

Office of Rural and Seasonal Communities

Ms. Peake of Provincetown moves to amend the bill in section 5, in lines 753-786, by striking out the words in their entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:

Section 32. As used in this section and section 33, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

"Affordable housing'', homeownership or rental housing which is restricted to occupancy by low or moderate income households of 1 or more persons and for which the sale price or rent is affordable consistent with funding sources.

“Attainable housing”, housing that is no more than 30 per cent of a person’s income as defined at 24 C.F.R. § 5.609.

“Executive office”, the executive office of housing and livable communities.

“Office”, Office of Rural and Seasonal Communities.

"Purchase contract", a binding written agreement whereby an owner agrees to sell property including, without limitation, a purchase and sale agreement, contract of sale, purchase option or other similar instrument.

“Seasonal community”, a city or town characterized by significant seasonal fluctuations in population and employment related to seasonal-based tourism.

“Secretary”, the secretary of the executive office of housing and livable communities.

“Short-term rental”, an owner-occupied, tenant-occupied or non-owner occupied property including, but not limited to, an apartment, house, cottage, condominium or a furnished accommodation that is not a hotel, motel, lodging house or bed and breakfast establishment, where: (i) at least 1 room or unit is rented to an occupant or sub-occupant; and (ii) all accommodations are reserved in advance; provided, however, that a private owner-occupied property shall be considered a single unit if leased or rented as such.

“Year-round housing”, housing for occupancy by persons or families who occupy either rental or other housing as their primary residence for not less than 11 months during any 1-year period.

Section 33. There shall be an office of rural and seasonal communities, hereinafter called the office, which shall be an office within the executive office of housing and livable communities, and which shall be under the supervision, direction and control of a rural and seasonal communities housing director. The director shall be appointed by the executive office and be a person of skill and experience in the area of affordable and attainable housing in rural and seasonal communities.

The office shall provide technical assistance regarding housing needs to rural communities, as defined at section 66 of chapter 23A of the General Laws, and seasonal communities, as defined at section 32 of this chapter, to address preservation and production of affordable, attainable and year-round housing. The office may administer grants and programs specifically designated for these rural and seasonal communities. The office shall have the ability to pilot innovating housing programs to address these communities’ unique housing needs. The office shall ensure compliance of all administered programs with federal, state and fair housing laws. The office shall review, on an as-needed basis, the ongoing needs of municipalities designated as seasonal communities and may deny a municipality’s continued seasonal community designation based on the municipality’s ongoing needs and eligibility.

The office shall work with the executive office to revise the Commonwealth’s Qualified Allocation Plan to ensure that the scoring criteria effectively allows for projects in rural and seasonal communities to compete for funding. The office may develop a template for municipalities that adopt programs encouraging the conversion of short-term rental units to year-round housing units.

The office shall convene an advisory council to offer expertise in issues pertaining to municipal government, the hospitality industry, the tourism industry, housing law and housing development and finance in seasonal communities. The council shall consist of: the secretary or their designee who shall serve as chairperson; 1 member of the senate, who shall be appointed by the president of the senate, who represents a district in which at least one municipality is designated as a seasonal community;  1 member of the house, who shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, who represents a district in which at least one municipality is designated as a seasonal community; and 1 person appointed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association. The council shall further consist of the following persons, all of whom shall be appointed by the secretary: 1 person who shall be a representative of the developer community and is a resident of a municipality designated as a seasonal community; 1 person who shall be a licensed real estate agent with the board of registration of real estate brokers and salespersons and is a resident of a municipality designated as a seasonal community ; 1 person to represent each regional planning agency whose jurisdiction encompasses at least one municipality designated as a seasonal community; 1 licensed attorney who practices in the area of land use and who is a resident of a municipality designated as a seasonal community; and 1 person who shall be a representative of the lending and banking community and who is a resident of a municipality designated as a seasonal community. The secretary may appoint additional members knowledgeable and with expertise in land use law, fair housing law, municipal law and operations or the housing needs of seasonal communities. The council shall adopt by-laws to govern its affairs. The council shall provide advice and recommendations to the office regarding policies or programs necessary to serve the distinct needs of seasonal communities, including, but not limited to, accessing specialized or general application grant programs and best practices on incentivizing the production of attainable year-round housing in seasonal communities. The council shall provide its initial report to the office within 180 days following appointment of its members and shall report annually thereafter with additional recommendations.

The office shall seek further input from the rural policy advisory commission established at section 66 of chapter 23A of the General Laws. The several officers, boards, commissions, departments and divisions of the commonwealth and city and town officials may consult with the council and shall furnish or make available to it on request all data and information with their knowledge and control pertaining to the area of jurisdiction of the office.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #154 to H4707

Office of Rural and Seasonal Communities