The Housing Committee of the 495/MetroWest Partnership will host its first meeting on Thursday, March 25th at 8:30 AM. We are excited to host two presentations, to be followed by Question and Answer periods:

This event will take place remotely via Zoom; click here to register. Partnership committee meetings are open to all interested persons, with advance registration.

The 495/MetroWest Partnership’s Housing Committee was established by vote of the Partnership’s Executive Steering Committee in the Fall of 2020, and will focus on the issue of housing in the region, addressing topics including but not limited to affordable housing, workforce housing, senior housing, transit-oriented and mixed-use development, zoning as it pertains to housing, and the impact of housing on the region’s economy and resources.

Chapter 358 of the Acts of 2020 included a series of revisions to MGL Chapter 40A, commonly known as the Zoning Act, which applies to 350 cities and towns in Massachusetts (the City of Boston operates under its own enabling act). The Commonwealth's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has published guidance for municipalities regarding key provisions of the new law, passed as part of the Economic Development bill at the end of the previous Legislative session.

The Zoning Act was amended to add the following definition of “MBTA Community”: a city or town that is: (i) one of the 51 cities and towns as defined in section 1 of chapter 161A; (ii) one of the 14 cities and towns as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; (iii) other served communities as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; or (iv) a municipality that has been added to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority under section 6 of chapter 161A or in accordance with any special law relative to the area constituting the authority.

The new section 3A of the Zoning Act states that an MBTA community shall have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets other criteria set forth in the statute:

Click here to download complete guidance for MBTA Communities. 

The statute requires DHCD to issue guidelines that define compliance with this new section of the Zoning Act. Compliance criteria will be developed in consultation with affected MBTA communities and other stakeholders. For purposes of EOHED and DHCD grant programs, MBTA communities will be deemed to be in compliance with this new section until more detailed compliance criteria have been established.

The new law made several amendments to Chapter 40A of the General Laws, commonly known as the Zoning Act. Among these amendments are:

Section 100 of said Chapter 358 directs “[t]he executive office of housing and economic development [to] issue guidance to assist local officials in determining the voting thresholds for various zoning amendments. Such guidance shall be assembled in consultation with the department of housing and community development, the Massachusetts attorney general's municipal law unit, and Massachusetts Housing Partnership.” Click here to download the complete Housing Choice/ Voting Thresholds guidance, which is intended to comply with that directive.

If there is uncertainty about whether a zoning proposal affects an eligible location, a municipality may request an advisory opinion from EOHED. Such a request must be made by the mayor, city council, board of aldermen, or planning board (when the zoning amendment is proposed in a city); or by the select board or planning board (when the zoning amendment is proposed in a town). A request may not be made by an individual member of the council or board. EOHED will endeavor to provide a written advisory opinion within 30 days of receipt of a complete request. Click here to submit a request for an advisory opinion. 

As indicated above, the 495/MetroWest Partnership will host Chris Kluchman, Deputy Director of the Community Services Division at DHCD, to present an overview of the new Housing Choice legislation and its implementation, and answer audience questions. This presentation and Q&A will take place during the second segment of our Housing Committee's first meeting on March 25th; click here to register for the meeting. 

Click here to access complete DHCD guidance materials on the new Housing Choice legislation.