Corrected and updated March 18, 2022
Town officials are closing in on their response to a new state law that would require communities near MBTA stations to create zoning for multifamily homes.
Harvard, which now lacks functional multifamily zoning, is one of the 175 towns affected by the law and must implement it by the end of 2024. But before the law is fully codified, the town is entitled to submit comments to the regulatory agency, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. Feedback on the regulations is due by March 31.
According to a draft letter discussed at this week’s Select Board meeting, Harvard will acknowledge the state’s housing shortage, but will also object to the regulations that would require Harvard to create a multifamily zone for 750 units across a total of 50 acres. The “one-size-fits-all” approach, the letter says, puts an “undue burden on small, rural communities” such as Harvard.
The letter was written by Planning Board Chair Justin Brown and member Richard Cabelus. By unanimous vote of the Select Board, a final draft will be approved by Brown and Select Board Chair Stu Sklar and sent off to the state in hope that it will scale back its definition of a “reasonably sized” multifamily zone, and thereby allow for fewer than 750 units.
In addition to specifying a multifamily zone of reasonable size, the law also requires the zone to contain at least 15 units per acre, and be “without age restrictions” and “suitable for families with children.” It does not mandate affordable units as such. And unlike the comprehensive permit law, 40B, which requires 10% of a town’s housing to be affordable and allows developers to bypass local bylaws in communities that haven’t reached that goal, this law simply requires local zoning to allow for multifamily housing.
Notably, at least one of the multifamily districts must allow housing to be built “as of right,” which means construction can proceed without special permits or Planning Board hearings as long as the buildings comply with the zoning bylaw. This serves the state’s goal of addressing what it says is a housing shortage by streamlining the process. The law’s provision that lets Town Meeting pass some housing production bylaws by simple majority instead of supermajority—including the zoning that will be required for multifamily housing—is another example of the state’s strategy for addressing the housing shortage.
In preparation for the 2024 deadline to create compliant zoning, Chris Ryan, director of community and economic development, has developed several approaches for the Planning Board to choose from, including mixed use, a new multifamily zone apart from the commercial district, or a short-term expansion of the existing Ayer Road Village Special Permit district. He said the required zoning might also be implemented under another law, 40R, the Smart Growth Overlay District Zoning Act, which offers financial incentives that could help with the additional school children that could move to town.
The possibility that 750 new units could add as many as 500 students was a concern that Select Board member Kara Minar insisted be added to the board’s letter to the state. Although Brown pushed back, saying that he and Cabelus wanted to demonstrate that the Planning Board understood the scope of the law and the regulations—which do not specifically mention schools—he agreed to include the risk of school overcrowding in the letter.
The penalty for not implementing the law is ineligibility for three state grant programs, including MassWorks, which provided $1 million to Harvard last year for road improvements. The withholding of other, unspecified aid is also allowed in the regulations.
The next deadline is May 1, when the town must submit a simple plan attesting to its intent to comply with the law.
An addition to the Zoning Act to encourage multifamily housing
An MBTA community shall have a zoning ordinance or bylaw that provides for at least 1 district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right; provided, however, that such multi-family housing shall be without age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children. For the purposes of this section, a district of reasonable size shall: (i) have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code established pursuant to section 13 of chapter 21A; and (ii) be located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.
Source: mass.gov
Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify that changes to most housing-related zoning bylaws can now be passed by Town Meeting with a majority vote. Prior to a recent change in state law, a supermajority was required.
