Massachusetts Repeal 40B (2008)
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| This measure was not put on an election ballot |
Repeal 40B did not appear on the November 4, 2008 statewide ballot in Massachusetts as an initiated state statute. The measure called for repealing four housing provisions from Chapter 40B.
Chapter 40B is a Massachusetts state statute passed in 1969. 40B allows developers who include a certain percentage of affordable housing (25% for owner-occupied units) to appeal local zoning board denials or restrictions to the state Housing Appeals Committee (HAC).
Appeals can be initiated when the developer has been denied a comprehensive permit by the ZBA or has been issued a permit with conditions that the developer claims would make the project uneconomic.
Under 40B, affordable housing is defined as units which can be afforded by households making 70% of the local median income, have been subsidized by certain state or federal housing subsidy programs, and have long-term deed restrictions.[1][2]
Supporters
The Committee to Repeal40B and their supporters were the leading proponents of the measure.
Arguments against 40B are listed by The Better Not Bigger Alliance on their website:[3]
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Other support included the Harvard Slow Growth initiative which has released a report criticizing 40B.[5]
Opponents
The leading opposition of the initiative was the Citizen Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) which advocated that 40B should remain or even be increased in size in order to create more affordable housing in Massachusetts. Some of their arguments included:[6]
- Without 40B there would be less affordable housing
- Chapter 40B has been responsible for the production of affordable housing developments that in most cases could not have been built under traditional zoning approaches.
- Zoning boards work with developers to modify the project
- 40B has created affordable housing and serves the people who really need it.
The Massachusetts Housing Partnership had also encouraged cities and townships to use 40B.[7]
Status
The group submitted signatures for the first phase of approval from the Secretary of State, which required 66,593 signatures.[8]
The measure failed to submit enough signatures to qualify for the first phase of the approval process. Fewer than 34,000 signatures were submitted by proponents. Of the signatures submitted 2,442 were disqualified because the signatures sheets were not exact copies or had extraneous markings. The proponents promised to return for the next general election cycle with a larger campaign.[9]
See also
External links
- Repeal40B
- Citizen Housing and Planning Association
- Repeal 40B Ballot Question Clears Hurdle, Garden City, Nov. 25, 2007
- Chapter 40B Petition, The Wanderer, Sept. 11, 2007
- Repeal Chapter 40B, ShrewS Buried, Oct. 11, 2007 (dead link)
- YouTube, REPEAL 40B - Inspector General testifies about the failures of the Chapter 40B Law (Affordable Housing)
Footnotes
- ↑ Citizen Housing and Planning Association, FAQ (dead link)
- ↑ the Better Not Bigger Alliance, "Affordable Housing and Chapter 40B FAQ," accessed August 25, 2015
- ↑ The Better Not Bigger Alliance, "Dissecting the False Case for 40B," August 25, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Harvard Slow Growth Initiative
- ↑ CHAPA Fact Sheet
- ↑ Chapter 40B, MHP
- ↑ 4 ballot petitions clear 1st obstacle, Boston Globe, Nov. 24, 2007 (dead link)
- ↑ Push for anti-40B ballot question fails, South Coast Tribune, Dec. 20, 2007
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