Anti-snob zoning

Anti-snob zoning is a nickname for Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 40B which is also known as the Comprehensive Permit Law. Chapter 40B is a state statute which allows housing developers to bypass certain aspects of Massachusetts municipality zoning regulation, under some circumstances. Chapter 40B was enacted in 1969 to help address the shortage of affordable housing statewide by reducing barriers created by local approval processes, local zoning, and other restrictions. Its goal is to encourage the production of affordable housing in all communities throughout the Commonwealth.

For the purposes of this statute, affordable housing is defined as a unit which could be purchased by a family making 80% of the median income of the area and which is deed restricted.

Comprehensive permitting process

Under Chapter 40B, in any municipality where less than 10% of its housing qualifies as affordable under the law, a developer can build more densely than the municipal zoning laws would permit with more units per acre of land, when building a new development, if at least 20% of the new units have long-term affordability restrictions. As of December 2007, 51 of 351 municipalities in the state have greater than the 10% threshold of affordable housing units, mostly cities. cite news | first= Jennifer Fenn | last= Lefferts | coauthors= | title= Town seeks housing goal in a fell swoop: 350-unit project set for Concord | date= 2007-12-09 | publisher= | url = http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/09/town_seeks_housing_goal_in_a_fell_swoop/ | work = Boston Globe | pages = | accessdate = 2007-12-10]

Chapter 40B continues to be controversial and it has not overcome the multiple barriers that exist to building affordable housing in the state. A recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition rated Massachusetts as being the least affordable state in which to rent an apartment in 2003. [cite web
last =Michael D.
first =Goodman, Ph.D.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Winners and Losers in the Massachusetts Housing Market
work =Agricultural and Resource Economics
publisher =Director of Economic and Public Policy Research, University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute
date = 2004-01
url =http://www.chapa.org/pdf/WinnersandLosers.pdf
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-17] Despite the law very few new houses are built in Massachusetts relative to its needs. The state is very interested in increasing the supply of inexpensive homes. The shortage contributes to sprawl as workers move further away from jobs in order obtain affordably prices houses. The high price of housing is one reason that young adults move away from Massachusetts. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Massachusetts residents leaving for new borders
work =Serghino René
publisher =The Boston Bay State Banner
date = 2004-02-15
url =http://www.baystatebanner.com/issues/2007/02/15/news/news02150705.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-17] However, municipalities resist the permitting and building more houses because the services demanded by the new occupants with children, largely for education, cost more than the taxes received for the housing unit.

Municipalities have repeatedly attempted to gain "affordable" classification for existing inexpensive housing units which are not deed restricted to maintain the future affordable status of the units. Many municipalities have requested that mobile homes be allowed, but this has been denied. Others attempted to include prisons and school dormitories to little avail.Fact|date=December 2007

Developers continue to use Chapter 40B to circumvent local zoning and build large scale luxury apartment developments in areas zoned for single family homes. With the long term effect of increasing housing density in the outer suburban ring without the infrastructure to make such development sustainable or desirable. The consequences of which have been to reduce the housing quality in the suburban ring with a resultant shift to an urban elite with lower income housing shifting to the suburbs.

Enforcement

The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, in 2005, 2006 and 2007 issued several reports criticizing lax enforcement of developers and profits surrounding "40B" developments, and has described numerous subterfuges used by developers to earn more profit on affordable housing than the statute and regulation permits, and that the municipalities and the state have inadequate supervision, auditing and enforcement of the municipal agreements with developers and developers' reporting of sales and profits under the agreement and law. [ See the [http://www.mass.gov/ig/igpubl.htm Publications List] of the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General for a comprehensive listing. Retrieved December 23, 2007.] cite web | last = Sullivan | first = Gregory W. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Letter to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Housing, Massachusetts General Court| work = | publisher = Office of Inspector General, Massachusetts | date = 2007-10-23 | url = http://www.mass.gov/ig/publ/40b_hearing_letter.pdf | format = PDF | doi = | accessdate = 2007-12-23 ]

ee also

* Inclusionary zoning
* List of towns in Massachusetts
* List of cities in Massachusetts
* Massachusetts government#Local government
* New England town

Notes

References

*
* [http://www.mass.gov/dhcd/components/hac/ZONE.HTM Comprehensive Permit Law (Chapter 40B, Sections 20 - 23)] Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
* [http://www.mass.gov/dhcd/regulations/760030.HTM 760 CMR 30.00: Procedural Regulations of the Housing Appeals Committee] Code of Massachusetts Regulations. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
* [http://www.mass.gov/dhcd/regulations/760031.HTM 760 CMR 31.00: Housing Appeals Committee: Criteria for Decisions under MGL c.40B, §§20-23] Code of Massachusetts Regulations. Retrieved 2007-12-10.