H 4977 - NYU Furman Center

State Land Use Enacted Legislation

Bill #	State	Year	Party	Topic
H 4977	MA	2024	D	Accessory dwelling units regulations, Affordable housing incentives and financing, Enforcement, Funding, Planning Requirements, Publicly-owned, Tax Incentives

Provided by Furman

Summary

Section 1 provides funds for a capital outlay program to support state-aided public housing, preserve mixed-income, affordable state-assisted multifamily developments, support housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income citizens, and promote housing production for the elderly, disabled, and homeless.

Section 3 amends Chapter 23B, Section 1 of the General Laws to empower and authorize the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to develop and implement a comprehensive, written housing plan at least once every five years.

Section 4 amends Chapter 23B, Section 27.5 of the General Laws (regarding the HousingWorks infrastructure program) to give preference in awarding grants to “multi-family zoning districts” and “projects that support housing in rural and small towns” in addition to previous preferred categories, and to remove a requirement that certain projects be located on public land or leasehold.

Section 5 adds Section 31 to Chapter 23B of the General Laws, establishing an Office of Fair Housing within the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities tasked with developing strategies and policies to eliminate housing discrimination and reporting on progress.

Section 5 adds a Section 32 to Chapter 23B of the General Laws to address the needs of “seasonal communities” (meaning those localities with large population fluctuations from season-to-season), including by establishing an advisory committee on seasonal community issues, authorizing seasonal communities to take measures to create and preserve affordable housing, and, with an opportunity for exemptions and with further conditions, requiring seasonal communities to permit undersized lots to be used for the creation of year-round housing.

Section 7 updates the definition of “accessory dwelling unit” to provide that “no municipality shall unreasonably restrict the creation or rental of an accessory dwelling unit that is not a short-term rental.”

Section 8 prevents zoning ordinances and by-laws from unreasonably restricting or requiring discretionary zoning approval for the construction of a single accessory dwelling unit in a single-family residential zoning district. Reasonable regulations, including on use as a short-term rental and parking requirements, are allowed.

Section 10 amends Section 6 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws to add a paragraph providing that certain adjacent lots under common ownership shall not be treated as a single lot for local zoning purposes (e.g. lot size or setback requirements) if they conform with prior requirements.

Section 11 makes two changes to a court’s ability to impose a bond requirement on plaintiffs judicially challenging the approval of a special permit, variance, or site plan: Increasing the maximum bond amount from $50,000 to $250,000, and Providing specifically that there is no bad faith or malice required for the court to impose a bond requirement.

Section 14 enables cities and towns that enable measures like inclusionary zoning and incentive zoning to enter into an agreement with a housing developer to offer affordable housing preference to low- or moderate-income veterans.

Section 15 amends Section 22 of Chapter 40B of the General Laws (Massachusetts’s “builder’s remedy” statute) to provide that when the Housing Appeals Committee (to which developers may appeal denials of their affordable housing projects) agrees with a developer to extend the timeline for its decision, it must report the reason for the delay to the Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities. Also provides that the Secretary must annually issue a report on all such delays to the Governor and Joint Committee on Housing.

Includes numerous funding, tax and financing incentives to support new construction, including affordable, single person occupancy and supporting housing (Housing Stabilization and Investment Trust, Supportive Housing Pool Fund), creates tenant protections for residents of public housing projects when ownership is converted, allows individuals to petition the courts to seal their eviction records, includes provisions to protect homebuyers, and establishes a foreclosure mediation pilot program.

Funds a “healthy homes program” aimed at rehabilitating homes to address habitability concerns, establishes a supportive housing program for veterans, a program providing a tax credit for qualified conversions of commercial property to primary multi-unit residential use or mixed-use, with additional conditions, and a Fair Housing Fund. Also extends the term for and doubles the funding for the historic rehabilitation tax credit.

Authorizes a court to allow the receiver of a vacant residential property to sell it to a nonprofit entity which will rehabilitate the property for sale to a first-time homebuyer whose income is not more than 120 per cent of the area median income. Provides the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities an option to purchase, upon expiration of affordability restrictions, properties that received state financing under certain programs for community-based housing or supportive housing for persons with disabilities.

Section 119 directs the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to establish a competitive grant program for commercial-to-residential conversions.

Provisions on disposition of public lands for housing: Permits public universities to identify surplus public land and dispose of it for housing purposes, with various procedural requirements. Enables cities and towns to permit the residential use of real property, even in districts zoned for non-residential use. A city or town may impose reasonable regulations, as long as not less than 4 units of housing per acre are permitted. Establishes a Surplus Real Property Disposition Trust Fund, the funds from which may be transferred to the state agency that had originally controlled the property, transferred to a municipality, or expended for disposition-related costs, depending on the circumstances.

Established a special commission to study accessibility in housing for persons with disabilities and seniors, and to study expanding the supply of housing affordable to tenants with a household income of not more than 30 per cent of the area median income.

Provided by lawmakers