We need help to repeal the Chapter 40B law that still represents a significant threat to Harvard.
On Sept. 2, Attorney General Coakley approved an Initiative Petition to repeal Chapter 40B, the law that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules and build large housing developments. To get the question on the 2010 ballot, almost 70,000 signatures now need to be gathered around the state.
By most measures, 40B has been a failure. It was passed in 1969, yet Massachusetts ranks 49th in the United States for housing affordability. Other states have found better ways to gain affordable units and, with 40B out of the way, so can our commonwealth.
A statewide signature-gathering effort is now under way (see repeal40b.com). There are numerous Harvard residents who have already committed themselves to help get the “repeal 40B” question on the ballot. We need the help of as many other people as possible.
First, we ask people to sign the petition that will be available at the transfer station and other locations in town.
Second, we hope that people will take some of the petition forms that we will have with us to gather a few more signatures themselves. Perhaps friends, family, or neighbors, in Harvard or other towns, will also want to sign the petition.
Preserving the Harvard we all love is worth a little time and energy.
Anthony J. Marolda
Jacob Gates Road
